Too few people inside government understand how technology works: Mark Headd

Government procurement — when it comes to IT services — is broken, said the city’s Chief Data Officer Mark Headd, clad in an Indy Hall hoodie, at this year’s Code for America Summit, headlined by Clay Shirky.

One of the reasons?

“We have too few people inside government that understand how technology works,” Headd said, and that leads to cities being risk-averse when it comes to procurement. “Wouldn’t you want some insurance if you were uncertain about something?”

Watch Headd’s talk below, where he talks about Philly’s effort to rethink procurement using Github.

Also check out Headd’s blog post on five ways to improve government procurement.