Editor’s note: Nicole Cook is the director of strategic partnerships at Dwolla, where she leads the company’s government programs.
In many ways, the technology industry and government
couldn’t be more different: one is brash, aggressive and risky; the
other is rightfully thoughtful, slow-moving and cautious. But as
demonstrated recently by events like the White House Cybersecurity
Summit at Stanford and through continued collaboration efforts across
the public health and banking spaces, both sectors can learn a lot from
each other. The key is to embrace our differences – not run from them.
Why we need to work together
As much as we in technology like to think we’re the ones
changing the world, the public sector still impacts more people on a
daily basis than most technology companies will over the course of
a year.
Government’s ability to execute on a
large scale is admirable (though, like the tech industry, it’s not
infallible) as is its capacity to drive consensus around traditionally
thorny issues. A great example of this is the recent debate around net neutrality, a contentious issue that exemplified the very notion of public dialogue.
By bringing together a range of opinions, in a variety settings the FCC
was able to come to an informed opinion that in my opinion ultimately
benefited the American public.
But for all the things that government
can do well, the public sector is simply not built to innovate as
quickly or aggressively as a nimble technology company can. Development
cycles in government take years, whereas some companies in Silicon Valley are doing four-week iterations.
Playing to each other’s strengths
Expecting government to develop
technology as quickly as the private sector is unrealistic, but it is in
the catbird seat when it comes to identifying the broad challenges that
technology should be helping to solve. The challenge is especially true
at the state and local levels, where the need for innovation is felt
most and the budgets are tightest. Using my home state of Iowa as an
example, this is also where the most interesting collaboration is
happening.
<span class="il">Government</span>’s ability to execute on a large scale is admirable as is its capacity to drive consensus around traditionally thorny issues.
For instance, last year the Hawkeye State became one of the first in the nation to trial digital driver’s licenses,
a bold move that will explore the benefits (like streamlined processes
and cost reductions) and challenges (such as privacy and logistics) that
the program will present to taxpayers. To make this program possible,
the Iowa statehouse recognized that it would need private-sector
partners to make it happen. It’s early days still, but the effort is
already starting to see some success.
Likewise, Iowa has been a leader in the area of electronic
payments, recognizing more than three years ago that its citizens wanted
a more streamlined approach to pay for government
services. Today, the state processes thousands of payments, saving
taxpayers thousands of dollars while removing sensitive financial data
from the transaction. Moreover, by proving the technology out in a
relatively small market, it has allowed the federal government to recently start deploying this approach on a national scale.
Ambitious collaboration
Technology has the power to fundamentally change the way we
govern. At a purely functional level, processes as routine as storing
and accessing government data are already being modernized by programs like Microsoft’s Azure, which is providing one of the first truly secure cloud platforms for local, state and federal government.
And at the infrastructure level, local governments from
Seattle to New York City are working with leading technology leaders to
deploy ultra-fast gigabit Internet. Neither of these programs could be
achieved without input from both public- and private-sector players.
Another promising example of collaboration is the federal government’s application of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, or CRADAs to fund innovation across the private sector. CRADAs enable private companies to work closely with government agencies like the National Institutes of Health
and Department of Defense to develop technology with initial
application within the public space, but with long-term commercial
viability.
CRADAs are working to cure cancer, analyze big data from
satellites and develop lightweight, super-efficient batteries that could
one day power our electric cars. Once again, none of this would be
possible if the public and private sectors hadn’t realized their own
limitations and sought assistance from the other.
The opportunity ahead in the financial sector
No other initiative is perhaps more emblematic of these ideals than the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payment Initiative,
where the nascency and openness of today’s technology must combine with
the trusted and conservative approach of 40-year-old institutions and
processes to make change a reality.
Right now, our financial network is based on technology
designed in the 1970s, relying on security measures that are far less
sophisticated than those that wish to do it harm and processes that seem
Kafkaesque even to insiders. But for first time decades, there’s debate
at the highest levels of the public and private sector about how to
change this.
Technology has the power to fundamentally change the way we govern.
But actually making this happen will take true leadership
and collaboration, as there are hundreds of millions of Americans
relying on its smooth operation every day. From small businesses to
multinational corporations, and everything and everybody in between,
streamlining the U.S. payments network will impact everyone, which is
exactly why this effort deserves the attention of the country’s best and
brightest, not just those directly affected.
By working with hundreds of partners from across the
private and public sectors, academia and the international community,
the Fed is hoping to meld the best of what each has to offer. (In full
disclosure, Dwolla hopes to play a part in this ecosystem.) The government
realizes that real structural change takes a combination of skills,
including vision and technology prowess, but also large-scale deployment
expertise and the ability to execute with minimum risk.
Like any relationship, time will tell whether tech and government
will play nicely together on this and other initiatives, but the
opportunity is huge. Using each other’s strengths will allow each to
focus on areas that they can show the most value, while enabling them to
sideline activities that don’t. Doesn’t that sound nice?