USG CTO should operate under the premise that:

1. Ninety-Five Percent (95%) of all innovation needed to fulfill the USG's mission has likely been initiated.

2. Expect that within the realm of USG Departments, commercial concerns, and US higher education institutions, the key components of an effective technology strategy have already been considered, prototyped and and in many cases deployed,

3. The primary goal of USG CTO must be to prune an overgrown forest of ideas and from it define a coherent, broad, yet practical technology strategy that addresses the full scope of challenges facing USG,

4. When Innovating, the CTO should focus like a laser on the two persistent technical challenges of USG:
   Innovation Challenge #1: USG CTO must develop means to execute strategy in time frames that are situationally relevant,
   Innovation Challenge #2: USG CTO must work with Homeland Security to develop a capacity to continuously assess, improve and secure the aggregate USG technology infrastructure.