The Perfect Storm

Collaboration. Innovation. Sharing. I have thought about these concepts a great deal in the last few weeks. As part of my job, I provide assistance to technical service providers who are on the cutting edge of the new way that the government does business. Virtually every federal agency is caught between the public's desire to have additional services provided to them - with the caveat that they not to have to pay additional taxes - and the neccessity of paying for those service from tax dollars. It is, of course, a catch-22 situation. Public sector employees are paid with public monies and the reality is that unfunded, or underfunded programs, have very little of value to offer the public and cause unimaginable stress to the agency personnel attempting to implement the program.

The solution of the moment is outsourcing. My agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, developed the Technical Service Provider (TSP)Initiative. The Initiative is still in the midst of growing pains, however, their are opportunities here to revolutionize the way that the government does business. Equally important, technology is now readily available to provide agricultural producers and TSPs the opportunity to look at marketing and customer service in a way that has not been seen before in the rural agricultural marketplace.

In the last few weeks, I have shared with TSPs the idea of using blogs as a marketing and collaboration tool. The response is amazing, particularly with the Generation X TSPs, who seem somewhat amazed that the concept had never occurred to them before now. I can envision Blog sites across the country being accessed by producers looking for services and answers to technical and regulatory questions, and TSPs sharing information about Federal, State, and County environmental issues.

In my agency, Iowa is one of the States to look at in setting the trends for the country. I had a class last weekend where we were challenged with the question, "What do you want your legacy to be?" A true legacy is something that remains long after you have left the playing field. I thought about that question a lot over the weekend. Perhaps part of my legacy will be to spark that conversation that leads to agricultural producers and TSPs using emerging technology to collaborate, find innovative new ways to do business in rural America, and share information resources. Isn't that a nice thought?