[jashkenas]

For folks interested in helping solve the root cause of these sorts of things ... the White House is looking for people to help build a streamlined procurement process:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows/rfpez

... hopefully making it possible for vendors build government web projects with bids for less than $150k, instead of millions of dollars per web site.

[bostonvaulter2]

In terms of streamlining a procurement process, you should definitely take a look at Cyber Fast Track which is a huge streamlining of the DARPA process for awarding grants (maybe procurement) done by Peiter Zakto (Mudge).

http://www.cft.usma.edu/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peiter_Zatko

[tomjen3]

Sorry, but for a hacker streamlining procurement procedures sounds like a huge and extreemly boring timesink.

Wouldn't this be something an mba would love anyway?

[jashkenas]

Some folks might consider it a boring timesink. But it also happens to be the important meta-problem that stands between us and increased government transparency and accessibility. Take almost any government data set, request / report interface, tax service, or help center you can imagine. It's very hard to believe that we'll ever have a quality online version without first fixing the procurement process.

[GFischer]

A hacker that's also an MBA? :)

I'm sure somebody thinks this is an interesting challenge to tackle. The Uruguayan equivalent (AGESIC) did make a pretty nifty website for government procurement:

http://comprasestatales.gub.uy

explanation in Spanish:

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/Other/...

English translation (Google):

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=...

It's a good initiative, but it has the side effect of making my blood pressure rise when I see the awarded projects (all relatively transparent, but still bad contracts)

[trentmb]

It's no more boring than half the stupid start-ups that get mentioned here.

[nine_k]

If you are a citizen and want to make federal government more effective and less expensive, why not?

[wpietri]

I think it would be something awesome to work on. I'm in software to make a difference, and dropping a digit or two off the cost of government projects could be quite an impact.

[BHSPitMonkey]

More money to allocate to the defense budget!

[mseebach]

If that's the democratically decided priority and it can be achieved without cutting other budgets, raising taxes or running a deficit, then that's a good thing.

Conversely, fighting a bloated military by wasting money on IT boondoggles is not a strategy with a whole lot of long term potential IMO.

[bradleyjg]

Tell that to the people being bombed.

Defense my ass.

[mseebach]

Tell what to the people being bombed? That you're hard at work changing their fortune by refusing to reform the IT procurement process of the US government? They will be eternally grateful.