I can't imagine government employment and software engineering culture ever meeting. In a government job seniority and time in job counts more than competence. You sit on your ass for long enough and you get more for it. In the Bay Area the new and young eat the still beating hearts any of the old and cranky people who made the poor decision to mentally check out later in their career and stopped learning. Most engineers who want a career don't check out because they know this, the fire inside them never dies.

This field is fast paced, and the government bureaucracy is antithetical to fast moving changes. It crushes souls, it does not inspire innovation. Not even powerful technology behemoths with lots of brain power can save themselves from new kids beating out new technology in their dorm room. How could the federal government ever adapt to such a system? Expect more healthcare.gov disasters until they figure this out.

I am specific about the Bay Area although I know some other places are similiar because I've seen cultures clash when a big company from Texas acquire some new SF startup and the cultures collide when you have a place where being friendly is important meet a startup where competence is the only currency that counts. It doesn't matter if you're friendly, it doesn't matter how long you've been in that position, here nobody cares about these things, although being friendly is nice it is not enough, and in many places you can get by somehow in a way you can't in the Bay Area tech scene.