Accelerating government innovation through shared knowledge

Across the federal landscape, agencies are confronting increasingly complex missions at a time when technology is advancing faster than ever. Leaders and innovators alike are navigating a constant balancing act: keeping pace with emerging capabilities while ensuring responsible, secure and mission-aligned adoption. The stakes are high, and every agency is under pressure to deliver better, faster and more equitable services to the public.

I recently sat down with James Cook, ACT-IAC’s Strategy and Engagement Executive and the chair of the Institute, for a conversation about the critical importance of sharing knowledge and best practices to advance innovation. I am proud to represent CGI on the Institute’s board of directors and appreciate the discussion with Jim on this important topic.

A growing challenge is that teams across government and industry are often solving similar problems in parallel. Lessons learned in one mission area are frequently unknown to another. Valuable innovations happen every day, yet the information isn’t widely shared or even discoverable. Emerging technologies, from AI to advanced analytics to automation, expand possibilities, and agencies need a more coordinated way to understand what works, what doesn’t and how to scale proven solutions efficiently. A curated library of both government and industry best practices can fill this knowledge gap and help eliminate trial and error, which slows the pace of adoption and change. 

This is where shared innovation knowledge becomes a strategic advantage.

Why shared innovation infrastructure matters now

Federal leaders consistently reinforce a critical truth: innovation is no longer optional and is essential for mission delivery. But without mechanisms to capture, share and replicate what’s working, agencies risk:

• Relearning the same lessons instead of accelerating progress
• Missing opportunities to scale successful solutions across mission areas
• Slowing adoption of emerging technologies due to fragmented insights
• Duplicating investments, increasing cost and time to value

As highlighted throughout the ACT-IAC Innovation Institute discussion, agencies need tools that allow them to innovate at speed and with confidence. A governmentwide resource that curates real use cases, outcomes and proven approaches can become a turning point for modernization efforts. 

CGI supports a vision in which government and industry share knowledge seamlessly to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies. A cohesive, accessible innovation data source, developed in partnership across agencies and industry, can help:

• Reduce duplication by surfacing proven solutions others can reuse
• Promote responsible and secure adoption by highlighting what worked and why
• Build collective experience so innovators strengthen each other’s efforts
• Improve mission speed by removing barriers to accessing insights and real examples

This collaborative model aligns with CGI’s experience supporting federal modernization, whereby shared visibility drives better decisions, smarter investments and faster mission impact.

How agencies can begin applying this mindset today

Even as national innovation resources continue to evolve, organizations can take practical steps now:

• Document innovations as they happen—capture lessons learned, outcomes and decision rationales to make them accessible beyond the project team.
• Share beyond your immediate network—present solutions at community forums, interagency working groups or collaboration platforms.
• Look for reusable patterns—when starting a new modernization effort, begin by asking who has already solved a similar problem.
• Engage industry early—partners often have cross-agency visibility that can accelerate discovery and help avoid common pitfalls.

Small, consistent actions like these help build the culture and community needed for shared innovation at scale.

Closing thought: Innovation grows when knowledge is shared

Join us in building the pathways to drive innovation. The message from the ACT-IAC leaders is clear: accelerating mission delivery requires a unified approach to innovation and one where agencies contribute, learn and advance together

As emerging technologies continue to reshape what’s possible, the question for every agency becomes: What knowledge can you share today that will help another team move faster tomorrow?

Support the Federal Innovation Council by becoming an ACTIAC member or by volunteering to help identify and advance innovative federal practices.

For more information, visit: Federal Innovation Council | ACT-IAC