We at Government Futures believe that dramatic changes are needed if the federal government is going to deliver on the future policy, services, and security needs of this country. We see two emerging trends that will drive the necessary changes. Government Futures' role is to highlight the convergence of those trends and to build a community of thought leaders that will enable people and organizations to understand and shape the future.
Seizing Emerging Trends
The first trend is emerging in the government-industry marketplace. In the next thirty-six months we see major changes coming in relationships within government and between government and industry.
- Necessity, not mandate, is increasing cross-agency collaboration and cooperation.
- Government is learning from the successful commercial models of tightly integrated customer-supplier compacts.
- Budget pressures are driving tougher negotiation.
- Government demand is moving from commodity-based purchases to value-added service.
- Highly visible government-industry scandals are provoking tighter controls
Change is in the wind.
The second trend is Web 2.0,
which has a central tenet of embracing the power of the web to harness collective intelligence. Think about the Open Source model, Google, eBay, Amazon, and add on the social networking phenomena like blogs,wikis, FaceBook, MySpace, and YouTube. The collaboration environment is exploding and there are unprecedented new avenues for individuals and organizations to absorb, analyze, and disseminate information.
Building a Community of Thought Leaders
The principals at Government Futures, Bruce McConnell and Margaret Anderson, have over 50 years of experience in the government-industry marketplace--Bruce in government and Margaret in industry. We know there is an amazing reservoir of knowledge, creativity, and commitment in this community. But that reservoir has not been tapped as an integrated body of intelligence and wisdom to drive wise change. That is what Government Futures is addressing.
Government Futures is an open space
for the thought leaders in the community to build collective intelligence around tough issues. Thought leaders can express their ideas through polls and surveys (Vote the Future), collaborate with each other on complex issues through blogs and wikis (Talk the Future), and playfully predict (Bet the Future) with our Prediction Markets. Together we'll share information, learn from each other, imagine, and work through thorny issues. Participation can be anonymous but the intelligence collected will be available to everyone.
Shaping the Future
Government Futures knows that information alone cannot drive real change and shape the future. Actions by individuals and organizations foster or impede change. Government Futures' role is to enable the community to take the necessary actions. We advise companies and other organizations that desire to apply the technigues and results of collective intelligence to shape the future.
Join Us
Our initial focus is the future of government professional services, technology, and information marketplace, because that is what we know. Other areas will be developed based on input from the community and clients.
We at Government Futures are dedicated to honesty, mutual respect, and the highest ethical standards. We have built Government Futures to unleash the joint energy and capabilities of this community, in service of our country and the future. Please join us.
