As the federal government's longest-serving CIO, David Shive has a knack for being on the ground when innovation is happening.
In addition to being the General Services Administration's technology director, Mr. Scheib is vice chair of the Federal CIO Council and director of the Technology Modernization Fund, an agency created by Congress to make strategic investments in technology upgrades for government agencies. He is also a member of the Board of Directors.
One reason Shive is closing in on the 10-year chip as GSA CIO is because of the agency itself. The company's status as a major supplier of technology to federal agencies is “one of the things I like about him about GSA,” he said in an interview. He calls his position “an engineer's dream job.”
“One of the things that excites me about coming to GSA and always keeps me in mind is the fact that we don't do things to our partners that we haven't tried ourselves,” Scheib said. “What this means is that many of our outward-facing products and services start from within, where we come up with ideas and try them out at scale first within the agency.”
Scheib achieved a long string of firsts in GSA, some of which were recorded prior to his arrival. The company was the first agency to have an internet connection on every desktop, the first agency to adopt an open source software strategy, the first agency to hire a chief customer officer, and the first agency to implement an agile implementation. It was also a store.
“And these firsts are due to our tendency to slouch. But we don't do it just because it's cool,” he said. “We do this as a testing ground for us to extend some of that good thinking through our products and services and offer it to government agencies and the public, who are the end users of these services. Because it is used as
Scheib has also seen the role of CIOs in government and the private sector change over the years, from being the “chief technology bean counter” managing a portfolio of technology investments to being a true business advisor in the front office. I'm here. And it's increasingly common to find technology experience on the resumes of top leaders, Scheib points out.
“In government, you may not see former CIOs coming on board and running federal agencies, but they are gaining meaningful experience in technology, as 21st century executives should be. You're going to see CEO types who can have and hire technology strategies to better support the business mission.”
Scheib has also seen the pace of change accelerate dramatically within government, with a recent focus on cybersecurity, customer experience, digital identity and cloud adoption.
“When I talk to my fellow CIOs in the private sector, they are amazed at how fast government moves. There has been a long-standing misunderstanding,” Scheib said. “And you know what? That's not true. From my experience working in both, the quality of the technology output that supports the businesses of the agencies we serve is second to none of the best in the private sector.” I know it's as good or better than that.
