How to get started in Public Interest Tech

Are you:

• a policy wonk who is disenchanted with bureaucracy?

• a designer or software engineer with a desire to use your technical skills for good?

• interested in the ability to make organizations work better, but don’t want to step intothe trenches of management consulting?

Welcome to the world of Public Interest Technology and Government Digital ServiceDesign.

Public interest technology is a field that emphasizes leveraging technology andthe skills required to build products and design services for the common good.

The opportunity to use technical, design, and management skills for public good havegrown as teams across the country have taken on issues ranging from helping eligibleCalifornians register for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) toupgrading software that helps NATO military advisors determine mission-readiness.

Whether you come with an interest in community organizing, management consulting,tech start-ups, or user experience design -- this might be the path for you.

Government:Know Before You Go

main issues

frameworksfor thinking

major themes design to scale

human centered

data-enabled

experimental

procurement

data ethics

be respectful

datasecurity

cross agencycommunication

legality ofuser testing

agile projectmanagementlimitations

bureaucraticnavigation

don't assume -listen

design with,not for

acknowledge workalready being done

acknowledgehigh stakes

move purposefully& fix things

UI/UX/ServiceDesigners

Product/ProjectManager

ContentStrategists &Storytellers

Policy Makers withan Interest in Tech& User Research

DataScientists

SoftwareEngineers &Coders

machine learningknowledge of data mining

natural language processingperform analysis on large sets of dataknowledge of data security & ethics

communicate data-driven insights andrecommendations to non-technical stakeholders

extract actionable insights to drive decisions

familiarity with DevOps & site reliabilityengineering

ability to communicate technical conceptsto non-technical stakeholders

engineering managementfamiliarity with web/app

development full-stack engineering,legacy software reengineering

interest in using plain language to help membersknowledge of government services interactionproduct/service/user experience/interaction designcontribution to research synthesisvisual/content designknowledge of design processprototyping

familiarity with agile methodologiesdeveloping evaluation metricstechnical recruiting and talentoperationsquality assurance testing of productstechnology procurementclient engagement management

intangibleskills

problem solving

collaborative

respectful

entrepreneurial

experimental

flexible

attentive to details

datascience

engineeringman

agem

ent

design

think Healthcare.gov

think Depts.of HomelandSecurity, State & Health

& Human ServicesRefugee Resettlement

think US Department ofAgriculture Smokey the Bear

for Wildfire Prevention

Developing PR campaignsand communication

strategies for governmentservice roll-outs

Facilitating cross - agencycommunication

Improving the user interfacesof critical, public-facing

digital services

What this work might look like

Common skills

Measuring & increasingthe effectiveness of existing

government services

Advising Congress on howto regulate & legislatearound new technology

Make better use ofgovernment data &

modernizing outdatedsoftware

think the World Bank GlobalGovTech Partnership

think anti-trust, data privacy,cryptocurrency, facial

recognition

think enablingMedicare to integratetheir health records withthird-party applications

Start Digital ServiceTeam within

Another Govt.Department

Go Back to thePrivate Sector/

NGO/Contractor

Grad School

Network your way toa job with existing Govt.

Innovation Team

Tour of Civic ServiceFellowships &Internships

Still in SchoolOR

Graduated

Start in Govt. (Local, State, Federal)Be an Advocate for Technology & Human-Centered

Design Within your Department (OR join a digital services team)

Presidential Innovation Fellows (18F)U.S. Digital Service

Presidential Management Fellows(requires graduate degree)

Private Sector OR NGOOR Government ContractorHone your skills, Build your confidence,

Find good mentorship, Work with like-minded colleagues

Designated digital service/data teams within the federal government

Where it happens

Agencies that are experimenting with innovative (digital/design/data/agile) practicesv

Management & strategic consulting groupsNonprofits and startups

A sampling of states and cities that have dedicated digital service, research & development, or data teamsv

Potential pathways

3 to 5 years 1 to 4 years

Our Advice for Getting Started? AVOID career paths that will burn you out early and START somewhere where you can practicesolving complex problems early on.