So the biggest challenge we have right now is what I call hyper-specialization.
So while individual pockets of knowledge are getting deeper and deeper,
finer and finer, and people are really becoming super-duper subject matter experts
and domain specialists in their own areas, when you think about the opportunity I described,
which is how do you bring it together, it becomes a difficult task to manage.
So one thing I definitely say is that this notion of how do you bring
people together to share knowledge, to build these communities of practice,
to build these professional networks where knowledge acquired in one domain can not
only help that domain, but can also transfer over in an effective and
efficient way to help other domains.
That's truly the opportunity, but that's also truly the challenge.
I'm one of those people who truly believes that technology is a solution to many things.
It's a necessary condition, but certainly not a sufficient condition.
Culture is a big part of it. I think that we need to have a
organizational dynamic where people feel comfortable in sharing knowledge,
people feel comfortable in working together. This has to do with not just culture
in terms of the interpersonal bonds that people feel with each other,
but also having proper, for example, let's say incentive structures, compensation, pay,
things like that.
So it's truly not just a technology-only solution,
it's technology plus a human solution.
So I think that my view of the world is nobody knows everything
and everybody knows something.
So the reality is that even though we have a lot of experts in our department,
in the federal family we have lots of experts on a lot of things,
the private sector also has a lot of domain experts, subject matter specialists
in their own areas. So for sure, I'm very open to the notion of
collaborating with innovative partners from outside and has to be... could be companies,
also could be academic institutions, research centers and the like.
Really here the main thing is for everybody to know what their competency is.
Nobody is an expert in everything and really where I find that
we generate the truly win-win relationships is where everybody knows
what their competencies are, but also what their limitations are.
And as long as there's enough overlap for them to collaborate
I think it can be a truly success story for collaboration.
I found it to be very helpful.
I notice that my EnerCan colleagues are in the mix here.
I also look around and I see a lot of my federal family colleagues,
lots of booths, lots of interaction, lots of activity.
Also, what I like about this format is
that it wasn't so much just a discussion or a presentation
where people are talking just at the audience.
There was a lot of participatory nature,
there was a lot of engagement from the audience,
so I really found this to be an interesting event.
Like I said, going back to my original goal of collaboration,
lots of opportunities for people to meet and network,
lots of opportunities for people to come together to share knowledge and
ultimately build these long-standing communities of practice, which ultimately
can help elevate everybody's collective game.