听
, an associate professor at the , has research interests uncommon in political science, but by no means unimportant. Technology leadership in government, IT governance, and cybersecurity policy are some of his key research areas. Shark is also the executive director of the Public Technology Institute, or , a non-profit organization providing outreach and consultancy to technology executives in local governments.
Shark recently completed a research project titled, which was published by IBM鈥檚 Center for the Business of Government as a special report. Shark interviewed nine government technology executives to reveal how innovations come about in government, and what inhibits that process. New technologies include blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, among others.
鈥淭he research project was as much a journey as it was an important study,鈥 Shark said. 鈥淭here were many twists and turns in learning from each subject which led me to others I had never heard of. The most surprising aspect of the research was the absolute dedication towards public service of each of the nine profiles.
鈥淲hile each was uniquely different, they shared some key common characteristics, such as entrepreneurship, collaborative mindset, adaptive mastery of emerging technologies, and imaginative leadership.鈥 Those characteristics, Shark said, are the true keys to innovative success.
鈥淒espite all the hostility and hyper-partisanship that exists today,鈥 Shark observed, 鈥渋t is good to know that beneath the political layer there exists a group of highly resourceful and dedicated individuals that focus on serving the public and has spanned many administrations over the years.鈥
The study will be useful in removing some barriers now that obstructions have been confirmed.
鈥淭he obstacles to implementing technological innovation in government often have less to do with hardware and software than people and processes,鈥 wrote Daniel Chenok, executive director of IBM鈥檚 Center for the Business of Government, in the study鈥檚 forward.
鈥淲e hope the interviewees鈥 stories about using technology in their organizations to improve the lives of Americans provides a useful blueprint, helping innovators and their teams across government to learn about and apply emerging technologies in ways that drive mission success,鈥 Chenok said.