Editorial: Credit where credit is due

Federal Computer Week’s Federal 100 awards program has truly proven itself during its 17-year history. Obviously, the awards recognize people who have gone above and beyond in ways that benefit all of us. Given that many accuse the media of focusing on negative news, the pages of this issue offer refreshing tales of people who made sacrifices for others.

The awards program is also an opportunity to review the past year, which often leads us in unexpected directions. It is important to remember that FCW readers inspire the awards by nominating people who have answered that call. And the judging process is almost as significant, because the information technology community performs that function, not FCW’s editors.

This year’s list is dominated by people who came together to deal with the crisis that Hurricane Katrina created. But careful readers will notice something else about the list: It includes perhaps the smallest number of industry winners in the history of the program — only 18 people. Traditionally, the judges select as many as 40 industry winners each year.

We do not believe that industry people failed to step up to the plate in the past year, so the small number presents something of a paradox. As the government outsources more work, fewer Fed 100 winners come from the companies doing that work.

Some systemic reasons exist for the scant number of industry winners. Nominations were due in the thick of the holiday season, and because of the time necessary for running this program, we could not extend that deadline. We will address those issues before next year’s nominations are due.

But the numbers are a telling sign of the times. They seem to reflect how the once-valued concept of government/industry partnerships has degraded. Federal employees are leery about nominating a vendor out of fear they will somehow be seen as endorsing these companies or that software. Vendors, meanwhile, are unlikely to nominate one another for obvious reasons.

But in years past, feds overcame their fears because they determined — and rightfully so — that some of their industry partners’ work was so exemplary that it deserved recognition.

Next year, we will try to find ways to ensure that industry work gets proper recognition.