I can’t e-file my taxes because the Social Security Administration has the wrong birth date associated with my file. This seemingly simple change has required hours on the phone with two government agencies, months of waiting for paper forms to arrive in the mail, several written meeting requests, and half a dozen identity verification processes.
It still hasn't changed. The reason it's wrong in the first place? A manual process and human error.
This story isn’t why I’ve spent the past 2.5 years researching government modernization globally, but witnessing government service delivery firsthand was an interesting, if not ironic, way to stay connected to why the work is so important.
For me, the headache required to fix the government’s mistake is almost worse than the consequence of living with it. For many, this isn’t the case. For those who rely on programs, such as Social Security, this same data issue leads to delayed or denied benefits. Of course, this is all in addition to wasted government resources and an unnecessary administrative burden placed on citizens.
I developed an interest in the intersection of technology and policy through various experiences in the public and private sectors. I grew up in California politics, working on congressional campaigns and for elected Republicans in the state legislative and executive branches.
When I started my career as a Senior Data Scientist for Nielsen, I intended to find ways to extrapolate what I would learn there to the political arena. I learned a lot about the impact of media on our world, especially about how people interact with and consume content. But most importantly, I saw how algorithms are built, the types of data media companies collect, and how new technologies influence behavior.
Working in tech has allowed me to come back to the public sector with a new urgency. I believe the most important policy question of our time is to figure out how to increase the government’s technical capacity. Everything from improving the technical tools a government employee uses to increasing the knowledge government officials have about ubiquitous and emerging technologies should be a priority.
Only by doing this can we ensure national security, maintain technological competitiveness, understand shifts in American life, and better provide government services. This is why I’ve spent the last several years researching ways to increase government technology capacity and why I’ve joined TechCongress. I’m excited to get to work.