0:00:00.792,0:00:02.059
Hi everybody.

0:00:02.083,0:00:03.351
My name is Matt Cutts,

0:00:03.375,0:00:07.809
and I worked at Google[br]for almost 17 years.

0:00:07.833,0:00:09.726
As a distinguished engineer there,

0:00:09.750,0:00:13.893
I was pretty close to the top[br]of the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

0:00:13.917,0:00:16.934
Then I decided to follow[br]some inspiring folks

0:00:16.958,0:00:21.018
and do a short tour[br]at the US Digital Service.

0:00:21.042,0:00:24.226
That's the group of geeks[br]that helped rescue HealthCare.gov

0:00:24.250,0:00:28.018
when that website went down hard in 2013.

0:00:28.042,0:00:29.309
Yeah.

0:00:29.333,0:00:31.934
So I signed up for[br]a three-to-six-month tour,

0:00:31.958,0:00:34.393
and almost three years later,

0:00:34.417,0:00:36.476
I'm still in Washington DC,

0:00:36.500,0:00:38.226
working for the federal government,

0:00:38.250,0:00:42.143
because the government[br]really needs technologists right now.

0:00:42.167,0:00:43.434
At my old job,

0:00:43.458,0:00:46.059
every room had videoconferencing

0:00:46.083,0:00:48.268
integrated with calendars,

0:00:48.292,0:00:52.393
power cables were built[br]right into the furniture.

0:00:52.417,0:00:54.976
When I moved to a government agency,

0:00:55.000,0:00:57.934
I had to call a person[br]to set up a phone conference.

0:00:57.958,0:00:59.684
And when we moved to a new office,

0:00:59.708,0:01:01.559
we didn't have furniture for a while,

0:01:01.583,0:01:04.250
so we set up the phone on a trash can.

0:01:05.625,0:01:08.893
One of the things that surprised me,[br]whenever I moved to DC,

0:01:08.917,0:01:12.667
is how much the government[br]still has to deal with paper.

0:01:13.500,0:01:15.518
This is a facility in Winston-Salem,

0:01:15.542,0:01:16.934
North Carolina,

0:01:16.958,0:01:18.518
where people were worried

0:01:18.542,0:01:21.976
that the building[br]might be structurally unsound

0:01:22.000,0:01:24.268
from the weight of all that paper.

0:01:24.292,0:01:25.559
Yeah.

0:01:25.583,0:01:26.851
Paper has some downsides.

0:01:26.875,0:01:28.143
Here's a pop quiz:

0:01:28.167,0:01:32.101
If your last name starts with H or higher,

0:01:32.125,0:01:35.125
H or higher, would you raise your hand?

0:01:36.667,0:01:37.934
Wow.

0:01:37.958,0:01:39.226
I have some bad news:

0:01:39.250,0:01:41.434
Your veteran records[br]might have been destroyed

0:01:41.458,0:01:42.768
in a fire in 1973.

0:01:42.792,0:01:43.809
(Laughter)

0:01:43.833,0:01:45.101
Yeah.

0:01:45.125,0:01:49.934
Paper processes are also slower[br]and more prone to errors.

0:01:49.958,0:01:51.226
If you're a veteran

0:01:51.250,0:01:53.351
and you're applying[br]for your health benefits

0:01:53.375,0:01:54.643
using a paper form,

0:01:54.667,0:01:58.851
you might have to wait months[br]for that form to be processed.

0:01:58.875,0:02:01.268
We replaced that with a web form,

0:02:01.292,0:02:03.018
and now most veterans find out

0:02:03.042,0:02:05.393
if they can get access[br]to their health benefits

0:02:05.417,0:02:06.934
in 10 minutes.

0:02:06.958,0:02:09.726
(Applause)

0:02:09.750,0:02:11.684
Here's another launch that I'm proud of.

0:02:11.708,0:02:13.976
We worked with the Small[br]Business Administration

0:02:14.000,0:02:17.226
to move one of their systems[br]from paper to digital.

0:02:17.250,0:02:19.226
So this is a picture from before,

0:02:19.250,0:02:21.726
and this is afterwards.

0:02:21.750,0:02:24.184
Same cubicles, same people,

0:02:24.208,0:02:26.500
just a better system for everyone.

0:02:27.417,0:02:30.643
At one point, we wanted to celebrate[br]modernizing a different system,

0:02:30.667,0:02:32.559
and so we went to a local grocery store

0:02:32.583,0:02:34.226
and we said, "Can you make a cake

0:02:34.250,0:02:37.184
and decorate it with the form[br]that we've digitized?"

0:02:37.208,0:02:40.768
And the grocery store[br]got really weirded out by that request.

0:02:40.792,0:02:43.893
They wanted a letter[br]on official government letterhead.

0:02:43.917,0:02:47.059
Well, we work for the government,[br]so we wrote a letter that said,

0:02:47.083,0:02:49.476
"You can use this public-domain form

0:02:49.500,0:02:52.601
on a cake for celebratory purposes."

0:02:52.625,0:02:54.643
(Laughter)

0:02:54.667,0:02:57.601
Which led to bad jokes[br]about filling forms out in triplicake.

0:02:57.625,0:02:59.476
Yes, dad jokes in government.

0:02:59.500,0:03:02.309
Now I've talked a lot about paper,

0:03:02.333,0:03:05.976
but we also bring up[br]computer systems that go down.

0:03:06.000,0:03:08.351
We bring in modern technology practices,

0:03:08.375,0:03:11.601
like user-centered design and the cloud,

0:03:11.625,0:03:14.476
and we also help improve procurement.

0:03:14.500,0:03:17.351
It turns out government buys software

0:03:17.375,0:03:22.143
the same way that it buys chairs[br]and brownies and tanks:

0:03:22.167,0:03:27.268
from government regulations[br]that are over 1,000 pages long.

0:03:27.292,0:03:30.976
So yes, there's some stuff[br]that's messed up in government right now.

0:03:31.000,0:03:34.143
But if you think Silicon Valley[br]is the savior in this story,

0:03:34.167,0:03:35.434
(Laughs)

0:03:35.458,0:03:37.226
you've got another thing coming.

0:03:37.250,0:03:40.101
Some of the best and brightest[br]minds in technology

0:03:40.125,0:03:42.101
are working on meal-delivery start-ups

0:03:42.125,0:03:43.393
and scooters

0:03:43.417,0:03:47.309
and how to deliver weed to people better.

0:03:47.333,0:03:50.875
Is that really the most important thing[br]to work on right now?

0:03:51.792,0:03:55.893
Silicon Valley likes to talk[br]about making the world a better place.

0:03:55.917,0:03:59.684
But you feel your impact[br]in a much more visceral way

0:03:59.708,0:04:00.958
in government.

0:04:02.042,0:04:04.809
This is somebody whose dad passed away.

0:04:04.833,0:04:06.851
He hunted me down on Twitter

0:04:06.875,0:04:09.893
to say that a system that we had improved

0:04:09.917,0:04:12.375
worked well for him during a tough time.

0:04:13.333,0:04:16.434
Those tough times are[br]when government needs to work well

0:04:16.458,0:04:19.309
and why we need innovation in government.

0:04:19.333,0:04:20.857
Now I have a confession to make.

0:04:20.881,0:04:22.226
When I came to DC,

0:04:22.250,0:04:26.101
I sometimes used words like bureaucrat.

0:04:26.125,0:04:27.393
These days,

0:04:27.417,0:04:30.601
I'm much more likely[br]to use words like civil servant.

0:04:30.625,0:04:33.518
Like Francine, who can make you cry.

0:04:33.542,0:04:35.434
Or at least, she made me cry,

0:04:35.458,0:04:38.101
because she's so inspiring.

0:04:38.125,0:04:42.101
I am also deeply, fiercely proud[br]of my colleagues.

0:04:42.125,0:04:45.518
They will work[br]through illogical situations

0:04:45.542,0:04:48.875
and put in late nights[br]to get to the right result.

0:04:49.833,0:04:52.434
The government can't pay[br]huge salary bonuses,

0:04:52.458,0:04:55.726
so we ended up making our own awards.

0:04:55.750,0:04:58.726
Our mascot is a crab named Molly.

0:04:58.750,0:05:02.643
And so that award is actually[br]a crab-shaped purse,

0:05:02.667,0:05:04.333
screwed into sheet metal.

0:05:06.208,0:05:09.059
These days, I believe less[br]in silver bullets

0:05:09.083,0:05:11.417
that are going to fix everything.

0:05:12.250,0:05:14.059
I believe more

0:05:14.083,0:05:16.125
in the people who show up to help.

0:05:17.333,0:05:20.018
If you're looking for something[br]deeply meaningful --

0:05:20.042,0:05:24.851
and full disclosure,[br]sometimes incredibly frustrating --

0:05:24.875,0:05:26.893
here's what you need to know.

0:05:26.917,0:05:28.809
There is something difficult

0:05:28.833,0:05:33.976
and messy and vital and magical happening

0:05:34.000,0:05:36.893
when civil servants partner[br]with technologists

0:05:36.917,0:05:40.393
at the city and state and national level.

0:05:40.417,0:05:42.434
You don't have to do it forever.

0:05:42.458,0:05:45.768
But you can make a difference[br]in public service

0:05:45.792,0:05:47.393
right now.

0:05:47.417,0:05:48.684
Thank you.

0:05:48.708,0:05:51.750
(Applause)