Presidential Innovation Fellows

Presidential Innovation Fellows Logo (Mid-2013)

The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver significant results in months, not years. It was established in 2012 and has operated continuously since then. The program focuses on generating measurable results, using innovation techniques from private industry such as Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and Agile Development.[1]

The highly competitive program features an acceptance rate in the single digits. In the inaugural round in the summer of 2012, over 700 applicants competed for 18 fellowships.[2] The second class included 43 fellows[3] selected from over 2000 applicants.[4] The third round consisted of 27 fellows selected from over 1500 applicants. The Presidential Innovation Fellows program and the fellows themselves are commonly referred to by the shorthand “PIF” (pronounced “Pif”).[5]

In 2015, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order making the Presidential Innovation Fellows program a permanent part of the U.S. federal government.[6]

Background

Presidential Innovation Fellows Logo (original, Early 2013)

The Presidential Innovation Fellows program was founded by former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, former U.S. Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel,[7] former Department of Veterans Affairs Chief Technology Officer and White House Fellowship alumnus Peter L. Levin, and former White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Senior Advisor for Innovation John Paul Farmer.[8] Park served as the executive champion for the program and Farmer as its founding director.[5][9]

Around the time of its founding, Park said the new program "will bring top innovators from outside government for focused "tours of duty" with our best federal innovators on game-changing projects. Combining the know-how of citizen change agents and government change agents in small, agile teams that move at high speed, these projects aim to deliver significant results within six months."[1] On the White House blog, Farmer wrote, “The first five missions include creating common-sense tools for public participation, liberating government data to fuel job growth, giving everyone secure access to their own health information, streamlining the government contracting process for high-growth startups, and getting more bang for our foreign aid buck.”[10]

Those interested in the program were invited to visit a webpage that explained the program in the following terms: The Presidential Innovation Fellows program pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver significant results in six months. Each team of innovators works together in-person in Washington, DC on focused sprints while being supported by a broader community of interested citizens throughout the country. What makes this initiative unique is its focus on unleashing the ingenuity and know-how of Americans from all sectors.[11]

Originally hiring in groups of "classes" or "rounds," in 2015 the Presidential Innovation Fellows program was updated to rolling recruitment to better fit the timing needs of agencies and administration priorities. According to the White House, "Applications will be accepted throughout the year...[T]hey will be reviewed in the order they are received and candidates will be accepted on a rolling basis." [12]

Relationship to other Presidential fellowships and federal programs

In relation to other fellowship programs, the program has been described by former fellows as having a unique positioning; "many fellowships are all about just 'getting' the fellowship, you don't actually do anything. PIF is about DOING the fellowship, that's why everyone has to move their life around... there is no glory in being selected... the glory is in doing something... this is one thing I like about the PIF program."[13]

18F 18F, the digital agency of the General Services Administration, grew out of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program in 2014, originally consisting of nearly two dozen Presidential Innovation Fellow alumni.[14] As PIF alum Ben Balter has noted, "the PIF program was a success, and soon after a group called 18F was created within the General Services Administration (GSA) not only to house the PIFs, both physically and bureaucratically, but also to continue and augment their efforts — to centralize forward-thinking technologists in government under one administrative umbrella, and to provide a vehicle for change that wasn’t tied so closely to the administration and the highly political world in which it operates on a daily basis."[15]

USDS The United States Digital Service, or USDS, launched in 2014 and provides consultation services to federal agencies on large-scale information technology projects. USDS seeks to simplify and improve federal websites and other digital service delivery tools. As PIF alum Ben Balter has noted, "unlike 18F, which is approached by agencies asking for help, USDS has a shortlist of administration priorities that it actively pursues." Like the PIF program and 18F, one of the strategic aims is to "bring best-of-class, private-sector engineers into government for time-limited tours of duty," and task them with bringing a modern perspective to key technology initiatives.[15] Similar to 18F, many PIF alumni have stayed on to help staff the USDS.[14]

White House Fellows

In terms of extreme selectiveness, the Presidential Innovation Fellows program is similar to the White House Fellows program. In addition, both are non-partisan programs. However, the White House Fellows program is focused on preparing future national leaders using special assistant roles to top-ranking government officials. In contrast, the Presidential Innovation Fellows are tasked with leading highly accelerated tactical and technical projects, with many of the projects rapidly delivering new functioning systems, processes, and software applications using principles derived from Lean Startup methodology.

Presidential Management Fellows

The PIF program is distinct and separate from the Presidential Management Fellows Program, the latter of which focuses primarily on recruiting recent graduates as citizen-scholars as a pathway to long-term Federal careers.

HHS Entrepreneurs

In the same year that the Presidential Innovation Fellows program was founded, the Department of Health and Human Services created its HHS Entrepreneurs program (originally known as HHS Innovation Fellows), which is different in structure and focus, but also aims to incorporate external ideas and expertise into HHS's own innovation processes.[16]

Projects

Presidential Executive Order

On August 20, 2015, President Barack Obama issued an executive order institutionalizing the Presidential Innovation Fellows program as an ongoing part of the U.S. Federal Government. “Three years ago we launched the Presidential Innovation Fellows program,” he said President Obama as he announced the executive order, “What began as an experiment is becoming a success. That’s why I’m making it permanent. From now on, Presidential Innovation Fellows will be an integral part of our government." President Obama went on to say, "To all the Fellows who’ve served so far, I want to thank you. I encourage all Americans with bold ideas to apply. I can’t wait to see what those future classes will accomplish on behalf of the American people.”[6]

Alumni

The Presidential Innovation Fellows Foundation was formally incorporated in 2014. It exists to serve as an alumni group for all former Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) and to serve as the fiduciary agent for nongovernmental contributions for the support of the PIF program. The purposes include: furthering the mission of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program of bringing the principles, values, and practices of the innovation economy into government in order to tackle the Nation’s biggest challenges and to achieve a profound and lasting social impact; providing a conduit for nongovernmental support of the PIF program and its mission; and serving as an alumni association for PIF fellows, providing an avenue for PIF fellows and their networks to continue contributing to solving challenges of national concern.

Some alumni of the program have gone on to other innovation roles, primarily in technology-related areas, in both the private sector as well as in public sector roles at federal, state and local levels, as well as advisory roles such as sharing scientific and technical expertise at President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) workshops.

Current and Emeritus Fellows

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Fellows are listed by the year that they joined the program.

Fellows involved in the Rescue of Healthcare.gov (2013-2014)

Following the initial round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, in 2013, several recent alumni of the program including Ryan Panchadsaram and Greg Gershman[25] were called upon in an ad hoc team to assess the situation and restore the functionality of the Healthcare.gov site for health insurance enrollment, led by U.S. CTO Todd Park as well as former Google engineer and eventual Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service, Mikey Dickerson. [26]

Alumni holding notable government posts

Trivia

  1. the intersection at which the headquarters of the Presidential Innovation Fellows and 18F is located is 18th Street NW and F Street NW in Washington, DC,
  2. there were 18 Fellows ("18F") in the inaugural round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program.

References

  1. 1 2 Todd Park (2013-04-01). "Wanted: A Few Good Women and Men to Serve as Presidential Innovation Fellows | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  2. ↑ Steven VanRoekel. "Hitting the Ground Running With the Digital Strategy | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  3. ↑ http://www.whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows/round-2-fellows
  4. ↑ Steve VanRoekel and Todd Park. "A Smarter, More Innovative Government for the American People | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  5. 1 2 Tory Newmyer (2014-09-04). "Can A Tech Strike Force Fix Washington; Fortune". fortune.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  6. 1 2 Gregory Korte (2015-08-20). "Obama Makes Presidential Innovation Fellows Permanent; USA Today". USAToday.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  7. ↑ Lardinois, Frederic. "White House Receives Flood of Innovation Fellow Applications after its Disrupt Announcement". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2015-08-28.
  8. ↑ "Brainstorming New Ways to Bolster America's STEM workforce". Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  9. ↑ Colby Hochmuth (2013-10-14). "Mind behind fellows program bids farewell to White House; fedscoop". fedscoop.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  10. ↑ Doug Rand and John Paul Farmer (2012-06-07). "What It Means To Be A Presidential Innovation Fellow; White House Office of Science and Technology Policy". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
  11. ↑ "Presidential Innovation Fellows | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  12. ↑ https://www.whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows/job-announcement
  13. ↑ 2012-2013 Fellows / 1st Class / 6/16/2013
  14. 1 2 "The Push To Bring Tech Efficiencies To Government Bureaucracies". TechCrunch. AOL. 9 June 2015.
  15. 1 2 Ben Balter (2015-04-22). "The Difference Between 18F and USDS". Retrieved 2015-07-19.
  16. ↑ Archived October 4, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ "Blue Button Implementation Guide".
  18. ↑ Karen G. Mills and Todd Park. "RFP-EZ Delivers Savings for Taxpayers, New Opportunities for Small Business | The White House". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  19. ↑ "Presidential Innovation Fellows Projects". Whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  20. 1 2 Otto, Greg (2015-03-13). "Commerce Department names Ian Kalin first chief data officer". Fedscoop.com. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  21. 1 2 Herrera, Jessica (2013-05-21). "VA Taps White House Tech Adviser Marina Martin as New CTO". Nextgov.com. Retrieved 2014-04-30.
  22. ↑ Wang, Nancy (2015-02-15). "From private sector to public service". US News & World report. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  23. ↑ Hochmuth, Colby (2014-08-22). "Hacking bureaucracy' at 18F". FCW. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Otto, Greg (2015-07-31). "Like 18F, but for Commerce: Introducing the Commerce Data Corps". Fedscoop.com. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  25. ↑ "Tech companies to rescue troubled healthcare.gov site". Fedscoop.com. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
  26. ↑ Time Magazine, March 10, 2014, "Obama's Trauma Team"
  27. ↑ "EPA to grow digital services with former 18F director at the helm". FedScoop.

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