CityGrows goes to the White House!
Data, Policy, and the end of the Obama Administration
Last week, CityGrows was honored to participate in “Domestic Policymaking in the Digital Age” a convening created by The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in partnership with Code for America.
Participants ranged from representatives of transparency-focused govtech startups like ours, to state and local government employees, to White House and Departmental staff and Commissioners, academics and foundation executives.
We shared goals, challenges, and commonalities during dynamic interactive sessions — and not everyone was from the same side of the aisle. Some of the people in the room may be working on technology in the next administration, or are aligned with those who may be the next set of OSTP staff. We heard about great progress in criminal justice and health and human services technology efficiencies that any party would be proud to claim.
Participants expressed hope that the progress that’s been made at the federal, state and local levels on using technology to improve government transparency and efficiency can continue — companies like ours are founded on the belief that better tech holds the potential to create better, more responsive, and more efficient government. But there was also deep concern that some of the improvements in data collection and analysis could be used in ways that harmed vulnerable populations or exacerbated anti-government prejudices.
As someone who’s moved from political tech into govtech (with a detour through social impact digital strategy and a digital health startup), the event resonated with and reinforced two core beliefs:
- Politics are cyclical — but in the long run the country (and the world’s) political will moves towards improving opportunity and equality.
- Technology in government doesn’t necessarily promote positive change — but I believe that transparency does.
After the event I walked out of the White House for lunch with a friend spending his last two weeks at the WH Office of Science and Technology Policy while President Obama gave one of his final press conferences in the briefing room. It was cold, but after lunch I walked to the Lincoln Memorial — probably my favorite place in DC. The memorial embodies the complicated political history of our country, and serves as reminder that we’ve overcome far worse political divisions than any we face now. While the President’s helicopter flew off over the Potomac, I couldn’t help but feel an incredible mixture of emotions.
I believe that the technology-focused improvements that have happened over the last eight years can’t and shouldn’t be rolled back, and that the potential for increasing efficiency, trust and engagement with government that user-centered technology offers is and should always be a non-partisan issue.
Onward!
