The civics class we probably needed

It's Thursday, Baltimore, and an unseasonably warm one, too. Got plans to enjoy the heat? 

Today, you'll see two stories related to the government: one about RareBreed Ventures' Mac Conwell* testifying before Congress yesterday, and another announcing the civic innovation-focused Hutch incubator's latest class. 

Taken together, these two pieces have me thinking that as much as I loved my high school civics class (I mean, it actually taught me useful things about government functions that I see elected officials routinely don't know), I wish my teacher could tell us about something that defines our interactions with government: its contracts with private companies. 

It's a huge buyer of services and tech from companies throughout the world, and especially in Maryland. We cover the many ways that federal, state and municipal agencies allocate their money to local companies' benefit, but the specific pipelines and how they develop often remain shrouded in mystery, or at least buried in user-unfriendly spreadsheets. 

What do you wish you knew about government contracting? And if you're fluent with it, what do you think more people should know? Let us know at [email protected], and please don't say "state your value proposition clearly and to the right agency" — we know that already.