TechCongress’ founder, Travis Moore, recently interviewed with the Sunwater Institute about TechCongress and modernization in Congress and Washington:
TechCongress to place more technologists in Congress with a $2.5M investment from Knight Foundation
The Knight Foundation generously granted TechCongress with a $2.5 million investment:
TechCongress, a nonpartisan initiative that places early and mid-career technologists as advisers to members of Congress, will expand tech expertise on Capitol Hill thanks to a $2.5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
HOW IT WORKS
Through its Congressional Innovation Fellowship, TechCongress pairs early and mid-career technologists with members of Congress. The fellows include data scientists, computer scientists and computer engineers, who serve as advisors on technology policy and congressional modernization efforts. The program places an equal number of fellows in Republican and Democratic offices, and has also placed fellows who identify as Independents.
Knight Foundation’s latest investment in TechCongress will allow the organization to:
Upskill the tech capacity of Congress by bringing 60 technologists to Capitol Hill by 2026, expanding the Congressional Innovation Fellowship cohorts from 16 to 24 fellows annually, and converting one-third of the fellows into full-time Congressional staff
Increase representation of underrepresented groups in tech
Boost recruitment efforts to ensure political diversity on an issue critical to the future of U.S. democracy
WHY IT MATTERS
When TechCongress launched In 2015, only seven out of the 3,500 legislative staff in Capitol Hill had any formal technology training. Pew Research from 2021, however, found that 95% of American adults were online.
“Understanding the mechanics of current, new and emerging tech is critical for governing in the 21st century,” said Lilian Coral, Knight’s director for national strategy and technology innovation. “By increasing technical expertise in Congress, TechCongress fellows help our elected officials better assess how technology impacts Americans’ lives. ”
IMPACT
Since 2016, TechCongress has sent 65 fellows to Congress. They’ve worked with members such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA.) The fellows have also served in Congressional Committees, including the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Senate Banking Committee.
The impact of TechCongress was evident during the pandemic lock down in 2020. Fellows supported the House Modernization Committee to facilitate the work-from-home transition for Congress. A pilot Congressional Digital Service effort was put in place quickly and made permanent by the House in January 2022. The House Digital Service aims to adopt digital technology and platforms to improve the ability of members of Congress to deliver for constituents.
Other examples of TechCongress’s impact include:
Changing defense procurement rules to allow startups to better compete for contracts
Helping draft the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee report on tech monopolies
Advising the House Modernization Committee’s recommendations to make Congress more responsive and effective
Helping pass the OPEN Government Data Act into law
Raising the level of tech policy discussion in Congress, including around artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and tech procurement
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TECHCONGRESS?
“Our fellows are forward-thinkers that not only bring critical knowledge to urgent tech policy challenges, but also bring new and creative methods to problem solving by centering users at the heart of the policymaking process,” said Travis Moore, founder and executive director of TechCongress. “Fellows are ensuring that lawmakers are at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy challenges, while also supporting Congress to leverage new and emerging tech to make government officials more responsive to the needs of their constituents.’
Will Senate move on guns? Most Dems don't think so.
Politico recently announced the funding that the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation granted TechCongress:
BIG $$ FOR TECH CONGRESS— No, not big tech $$ for Congress. That’s different. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is investing $2.25 million in the nonpartisan TechCongress initiative that launched in 2015 to build and expand tech expertise on Capitol Hill. Through its Congressional Innovation Fellowship, TechCongress places early and mid-career data scientists, computer scientists, and engineers with members of Congress in both parties. They advise on tech policy and congressional modernization. The funding influx will expand the fellowship cohorts from 16 to 24 fellows each year and convert one-third of the fellows into full-time Congressional staff.
“Fellows are ensuring that lawmakers are at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy challenges, while also supporting Congress to leverage new and emerging tech to make government officials more responsive to the needs of their constituents,” Travis Moore, founder and executive director of TechCongress in a statement.
How Funders Can Help Fill Critical Gaps in Technology for Social Good
Katy Knight and Laura Maher mentioned TechCongress in a recent article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review on how philanthropy can help fuel an equitable innovation ecosystem.
The authors write: ”TechCongress, which pairs talented technologists with members of Congress and congressional committees, is an excellent example of this matchmaking between diverse tech talent and specialized policymaking.”
Government and Philanthropy Should Invest in Diverse Public Interest Technologists
TechCongress is mentioned by the Stanford Social Innovation Review:
More recently, seed investments in the highly effective TechCongress, a nonprofit that places technologists to serve as technology policy advisors to members of Congress through fellowships, served as a precursor to the launch of a new digital service team in congress.
Online Life Is Stressful. Reclaim Your Sanity With These 10 Tips
TechCongress’ founder, Travis Moore, recently spoke with the Washingtonian about ways to mitigate the effects of social media:
If hiding apps in folders doesn’t curb your usage as much as you’d like, try doing what Travis Moore, founder and executive director of the fellowship program TechCongress, does: delete the apps altogether and use the mobile web version. “It’s really clunky,” says Moore. For instance, videos on Instagram don’t autoplay in a web browser—unlike on the app, which doesn’t provide an option to turn off autoplay. “So all of the behavioral-targeting tricks just don’t work the same way. Like, they don’t work well at all, which makes it much better for me to be conscious and limit my time.”
Politico: Could Congress fix AI bias with privacy rules?
House Digital Services team expected to launch this summer
FedScoop announces the creation and impending launch of the new House Digital Services (HDS):
HDS is tasked with building intuitive solutions that improve on member offices’ most significant challenges. It comes after nonprofit groups, like TechCongress and others, have for years looked to inject tech talent into Congress through digital service fellowships.
Where They're Serving: Placements for our 2022 Fellows
Tech Transparency Project: Apple’s Trademark ‘Bullying’ Targets Small Businesses, Nonprofits
Alumni Celeste Chamberlain interviewed in an article about Apple’s small business targeting.
Take 3.14 Academy, a Maryland-based nonprofit that provides children with autism, their families, and communities with educational initiatives and training. In July 2019, founder Celeste Chamberlain, an autism specialist and the mother of two autistic children herself, filed what she thought would be a routine trademark application for her academy’s logo, featuring the Greek letter pi inside an apple.
But Apple’s lawyers intervened. In a 257-page filing opposing Chamberlain’s application, Apple argued that it is deeply involved in education due to the fact that, among other things, it has donated iPads and Mac computers to schools, offers educational apps in its App Store, and makes GarageBand available to music teachers. Therefore, the filing argued, 3.14 Academy’s logo was “likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception in the minds of consumers.”
In an interview with TTP, Chamberlain said that she and her lawyer were initially baffled by Apple’s opposition to her trademark and thought the company and its legal team would quickly realize it was all a big mistake.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Seeyew Mo
The fabric of the United States is made up of so many threads -- some are frayed, some have snapped, some were hastily sewn in during a bygone time, and many are beautiful. That beauty and the continuing complexities it faces and where that leaves you or me or our families is something that connects every single one of us.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Ro Encarnacion
As a Congressional Innovation Scholar, it’s important to me to bring in diverse voices from these communities and experts to address critical policy questions. By doing so, we can minimize the disparate impacts of information and algorithm-driven systems while also creating a new landscape for technical innovation without potentially harmful outcomes. I am committed to helping inform technology policy that addresses digital equity issues, as well as transparency and privacy concerns for historically excluded communities to ensure that underprivileged people have an equitable and livable future.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Christian Perez
Through the Congressional Innovation Scholars Program, individuals like me who were told it's impossible to achieve specific dreams are now making it possible! I enter this program with clear eyes and a whole heart ready to build on the legacy of those who have served before me. At the end of this year, I hope that I will have made meaningful change for the citizens of our country.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Lauren Lombardo
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.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Joel Burke
While I loved my time in Silicon Valley working on some incredible projects and companies with brilliant people, it became patently obvious that what I viewed as “world changing” was not shared with what most venture capitalists and many of my peers thought was worth investing in and building. I have nothing against people who want to build a startup that enables home delivery of groceries in 10 minutes instead of an hour, but it’s not the sort of thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. And in a city when my morning walk was past multiple tent communities full of mentally ill or drug addicted people literally dying on the streets, the cognitive dissonance of not working on solving the most urgent problems for society when you have the resources to do so got to me and I seriously began to rethink what enabled entrepreneurship, how incentives are structured, and how to really do good in the world at scale.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Jack Cable
I joined TechCongress because I want to help shape a safe, secure, and accessible future for all Americans, and grow while doing so. I've seen firsthand the ability that policy has to make or break services provided to the American people. I’m excited for the opportunity to learn in the first branch and can’t wait for what’s to come!
The Federalist: Section 230 Needs To Be Fixed So Internet Companies Can’t Feature Child Pornography
Alumni Mike Wacker authored an article for the Federalist about CSAM Laws.
In the leadup to the Communication Decency Act of 1996, America was concerned about the Internet exposing children to pornography. The July 1995 cover of Time magazine, titled “Cyberporn,” depicted a child staring at a computer with this caption: “Exclusive: A new study shows how pervasive and wild it really is. Can we protect our kids — and free speech?”
Today, our biggest problem is not children who are exposed to pornography. It’s children who are involved in pornography or child sexual abuse material — CSAM, as it’s known. When victims of CSAM seek justice in the courts, however, section 230 of the Communication Decency Act — a law that protects digital platforms from liability for third-party content— often blocks their lawsuits.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Jennifer Hernandez
For me, the Congressional Innovation Fellowship was a natural next step. And it’s part of my responsibility as an American to take my local government experience in Miami to the federal level. The same way that I’ve contributed my small grain of sand to make Miami a more resilient City, I will make Congress and our nation more resilient. Whether contributing my expertise in emerging technologies, leveraging data to measure the impact of policy making, or helping facilitate rocket launch and reentry licensing - I’m here to make sure our nation excels at being the beacon of freedom around the globe.
Meet the 2022 Fellows: Eric Lukoff
However, as I have gotten older and spent more time on the same sorts of problems over and over, I have become deeply dissatisfied focusing on the narrow scope of problems for which building technology is an actual solution, and I have seen the alarming effects that bad tech policy has had on vulnerable people everywhere. I have increasingly found that my ability to help people, even through innovative technology, has been hindered by the limitations of state and federal policy made by legislators far removed from the people affected by their decisions.
