He promised "government by app" and the ability to interact with public services through a mobile phone as easily as shopping with Amazon, communicating via WhatsApp, or streaming on Netflix. "In the future, you'll be able to get all your government admin done in the time it takes to make a cup of tea," said Jones, in a video posted on social media.
What I walked through wasn't just an immigration gate. It was a node in a rapidly expanding global infrastructure of digital identity, one being constructed at extraordinary speed, across dozens of countries, by a mix of governments, multilateral organizations, and private technology vendors. The people building it believe they are solving real problems: fraud, statelessness, inefficient public services, financial exclusion.
For over 35 years, FCW and now Nextgov/FCW has recognized those people in the federal government, industry and academia who have made an outstanding impact on the technology landscape in the last year. Rising from the ranks of a record number of nominations, this year's 100 winners have demonstrated exceptional dedication and ingenuity in achieving the mission of public service through technology.
This flashlight was from the 1970s. It was heavy, dim and clunky - and yet he had invested more in the toggle switch than it would have cost to buy a brand-new, energy-efficient LED flashlight. For me, that flashlight became a metaphor for how government still approaches technology: instead of replacing outdated systems with modern, efficient ones, we keep bolting on fixes, hoping the old framework will keep up.
Kin Lane fondly remembers working on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in 2013. FAFSA is used by millions of college students each year to help access scholarship money, and Lane, an API expert, had an up-close look at the system. He saw the importance of ensuring financial data remains stored securely and can be accessed by Internal Revenue Service tools. The job wasn't flashy, but it was tangibly meaningful - when his own daughter went to college, he would use FAFSA himself.
The Trump administration has quietly expanded technological efforts with Palantir, aiming to consolidate various data streams from agencies to potentially compile a comprehensive list of American citizens.
