Officials Encourage Agencies to Look Far and Wide for Innovation

There are hidden pockets of innovation nationwide and the federal government must tap into them, federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra told an audience of agency managers at a Washington conference Tuesday.

Chopra highlighted the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's recent crowd-sourcing initiative to gather ideas for its next combat support vehicle. Victor Garcia, an ordinary citizen, beat out nearly 200,000 entries this summer with the Flypmode, which is designed to transport personnel in and out of combat more quickly.

Agencies are increasingly using crowd-sourcing tactics and President Obama's open government initiative to spur innovation, Chopra said during the FedTalks conference focusing on information technology and personnel issues. The CTO referred to the open government initiative as rocket fuel for sparking good ideas. "But these things don't happen without human capital to push them," he added...