What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government
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0:01 - 0:02Hi everybody.
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0:02 - 0:03My name is Matt Cutts,
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0:03 - 0:08and I worked at Google
for almost 17 years. -
0:08 - 0:10As a distinguished engineer there,
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0:10 - 0:14I was pretty close to the top
of the Silicon Valley ecosystem. -
0:14 - 0:17Then I decided to follow
some inspiring folks -
0:17 - 0:21and do a short tour
at the US Digital Service. -
0:21 - 0:24That's the group of geeks
that helped rescue HealthCare.gov -
0:24 - 0:28when that website went down hard in 2013.
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0:28 - 0:29Yeah.
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0:29 - 0:32So I signed up for
a three-to-six-month tour, -
0:32 - 0:34and almost three years later,
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0:34 - 0:36I'm still in Washington DC,
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0:36 - 0:38working for the federal government,
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0:38 - 0:42because the government
really needs technologists right now. -
0:42 - 0:43At my old job,
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0:43 - 0:46every room had videoconferencing
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0:46 - 0:48integrated with calendars,
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0:48 - 0:52power cables were built
right into the furniture. -
0:52 - 0:55When I moved to a government agency,
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0:55 - 0:58I had to call a person
to set up a phone conference. -
0:58 - 1:00And when we moved to a new office,
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1:00 - 1:02we didn't have furniture for a while,
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1:02 - 1:04so we set up the phone on a trash can.
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1:06 - 1:09One of the things that surprised me,
whenever I moved to DC, -
1:09 - 1:13is how much the government
still has to deal with paper. -
1:14 - 1:16This is a facility in Winston-Salem,
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1:16 - 1:17North Carolina,
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1:17 - 1:19where people were worried
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1:19 - 1:22that the building
might be structurally unsound -
1:22 - 1:24from the weight of all that paper.
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1:24 - 1:26Yeah.
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1:26 - 1:27Paper has some downsides.
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1:27 - 1:28Here's a pop quiz:
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1:28 - 1:32If your last name starts with H or higher,
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1:32 - 1:35H or higher, would you raise your hand?
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1:37 - 1:38Wow.
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1:38 - 1:39I have some bad news:
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1:39 - 1:41Your veteran records
might have been destroyed -
1:41 - 1:43in a fire in 1973.
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1:43 - 1:44(Laughter)
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1:44 - 1:45Yeah.
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1:45 - 1:50Paper processes are also slower
and more prone to errors. -
1:50 - 1:51If you're a veteran
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1:51 - 1:53and you're applying
for your health benefits -
1:53 - 1:55using a paper form,
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1:55 - 1:59you might have to wait months
for that form to be processed. -
1:59 - 2:01We replaced that with a web form,
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2:01 - 2:03and now most veterans find out
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2:03 - 2:05if they can get access
to their health benefits -
2:05 - 2:07in 10 minutes.
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2:07 - 2:10(Applause)
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2:10 - 2:12Here's another launch that I'm proud of.
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2:12 - 2:14We worked with the Small
Business Administration -
2:14 - 2:17to move one of their systems
from paper to digital. -
2:17 - 2:19So this is a picture from before,
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2:19 - 2:22and this is afterwards.
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2:22 - 2:24Same cubicles, same people,
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2:24 - 2:26just a better system for everyone.
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2:27 - 2:31At one point, we wanted to celebrate
modernizing a different system, -
2:31 - 2:33and so we went to a local grocery store
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2:33 - 2:34and we said, "Can you make a cake
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2:34 - 2:37and decorate it with the form
that we've digitized?" -
2:37 - 2:41And the grocery store
got really weirded out by that request. -
2:41 - 2:44They wanted a letter
on official government letterhead. -
2:44 - 2:47Well, we work for the government,
so we wrote a letter that said, -
2:47 - 2:49"You can use this public-domain form
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2:50 - 2:53on a cake for celebratory purposes."
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2:53 - 2:55(Laughter)
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2:55 - 2:58Which led to bad jokes
about filling forms out in triplicake. -
2:58 - 2:59Yes, dad jokes in government.
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3:00 - 3:02Now I've talked a lot about paper,
-
3:02 - 3:06but we also bring up
computer systems that go down. -
3:06 - 3:08We bring in modern technology practices,
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3:08 - 3:12like user-centered design and the cloud,
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3:12 - 3:14and we also help improve procurement.
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3:14 - 3:17It turns out government buys software
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3:17 - 3:22the same way that it buys chairs
and brownies and tanks: -
3:22 - 3:27from government regulations
that are over 1,000 pages long. -
3:27 - 3:31So yes, there's some stuff
that's messed up in government right now. -
3:31 - 3:34But if you think Silicon Valley
is the savior in this story, -
3:34 - 3:35(Laughs)
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3:35 - 3:37you've got another thing coming.
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3:37 - 3:40Some of the best and brightest
minds in technology -
3:40 - 3:42are working on meal-delivery start-ups
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3:42 - 3:43and scooters
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3:43 - 3:47and how to deliver weed to people better.
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3:47 - 3:51Is that really the most important thing
to work on right now? -
3:52 - 3:56Silicon Valley likes to talk
about making the world a better place. -
3:56 - 4:00But you feel your impact
in a much more visceral way -
4:00 - 4:01in government.
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4:02 - 4:05This is somebody whose dad passed away.
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4:05 - 4:07He hunted me down on Twitter
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4:07 - 4:10to say that a system that we had improved
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4:10 - 4:12worked well for him during a tough time.
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4:13 - 4:16Those tough times are
when government needs to work well -
4:16 - 4:19and why we need innovation in government.
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4:19 - 4:21Now I have a confession to make.
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4:21 - 4:22When I came to DC,
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4:22 - 4:26I sometimes used words like bureaucrat.
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4:26 - 4:27These days,
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4:27 - 4:31I'm much more likely
to use words like civil servant. -
4:31 - 4:34Like Francine, who can make you cry.
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4:34 - 4:35Or at least, she made me cry,
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4:35 - 4:38because she's so inspiring.
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4:38 - 4:42I am also deeply, fiercely proud
of my colleagues. -
4:42 - 4:46They will work
through illogical situations -
4:46 - 4:49and put in late nights
to get to the right result. -
4:50 - 4:52The government can't pay
huge salary bonuses, -
4:52 - 4:56so we ended up making our own awards.
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4:56 - 4:59Our mascot is a crab named Molly.
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4:59 - 5:03And so that award is actually
a crab-shaped purse, -
5:03 - 5:04screwed into sheet metal.
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5:06 - 5:09These days, I believe less
in silver bullets -
5:09 - 5:11that are going to fix everything.
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5:12 - 5:14I believe more
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5:14 - 5:16in the people who show up to help.
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5:17 - 5:20If you're looking for something
deeply meaningful -- -
5:20 - 5:25and full disclosure,
sometimes incredibly frustrating -- -
5:25 - 5:27here's what you need to know.
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5:27 - 5:29There is something difficult
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5:29 - 5:34and messy and vital and magical happening
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5:34 - 5:37when civil servants partner
with technologists -
5:37 - 5:40at the city and state and national level.
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5:40 - 5:42You don't have to do it forever.
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5:42 - 5:46But you can make a difference
in public service -
5:46 - 5:47right now.
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5:47 - 5:49Thank you.
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5:49 - 5:52(Applause)
- Title:
- What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government
- Speaker:
- Matt Cutts
- Description:
-
What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in the US government -- and makes the case that if you really want to make an impact, go where your help is needed most.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 06:04
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Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government | |
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Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government | |
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government |