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Staying with the US Digital Service

mattcutts.com

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Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#31

Post by Keverw »

Matt_Cutts wrote: post #28
Keverw wrote: post #13

I wonder how the USDS is different than the 18F? Seems like they both are doing the same thing, why not just merge them?

USDS and 18F serve in pretty different roles. USDS often comes in when there's a crisis or a high presidential priority, because the organization sits in the office of the President. 18F is located in the General Services Administration and is especially strong when looking at the medium- to long-term goals of an organization. I'd also say that 18F thinks more about culture change than many parts of the USDS. They al…

Thanks for the explanation. I was just curious since I know I have seen posts about 18F here on HN before which sounded like very similar work. This is the first time I heard of USDS and as an outsider to government tech, they both looked the same to me. But that makes totally sense to me now, sounds like with the different funding and offices they work on slightly different projects and problems then but still tech.

Plus I remember at one point Obama was talking about duplicate agencies/programs and consolidating them. Then Trump talks about "cutting the fat", but I do see how being separate in this case actually seems like it helps.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#33

Post by eragoins »

general_ai wrote: post #30

Great to see there are actual adults ready to take a pay cut and serve the country in spite of maybe not getting the president they like. Far too many people have fallen victim to feigned outrage and pearl clutching, and excluded themselves from the conversation completely. That's not how you effect change, folks. _This_ is how you do it. You go out there and put in the hard work.

Just wondering if you would say the same of people protesting in Hong Kong, Russia, or Saudi Arabia. Should they also "act like adults" and "go out there and put in the hard work?"

Depending on a person's life experiences, it causes them to draw the line at different places. So I don't think it's fair to say those people display "feigned outrage and pearl clutching," while _this_ specific way is the adult way.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#35

Post by spoon16 »

1888franklin wrote: post #10

Howdy Matt - will you build a Muslim registry if Trump orders it or Congress passes it?

One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need.

I do not believe a Muslim Registry does any good for anyone. Being involved in building one would require formally changing our values which would be visible to everyone in USDS.

Disclaimer: personal opinion, I am currently serving on a USDS team, my term is up in June of '17

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#36

Post by potatosoup »

1888franklin wrote: post #10

Howdy Matt - will you build a Muslim registry if Trump orders it or Congress passes it?

The registry was already there under Obama:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article...

Also, it would be silly to assume that we didn't have a database of "country from" for immigrants or visitors. "Muslim" is not a country, it's a religion, so you'd need some serious behavior profiling for that -- probably FB/Google are ones you should be after. (Disclaimer: am immigrant, am minority.)

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#37

Post by eragoins »

hnbro wrote: post #17
enraged_camel wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why this was downvoted. It's a very valid question considering the times we live in.

if not this person, someone else will. so it just boils down to asking what his personal political views are.

Or maybe he can do what Galen Erso did...

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#38

Post by spoon16 »

eikenberry wrote: post #32

Why do they not have a remote work option?

I live outside of Seattle. But nearly all of the work I do with USDS requires me to be physically present. So I travel a lot (4/5 days a week). You aren't going to find a badly broken technology project in the Federal Government that is able to leverage remote people effectively.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#39

Post by JumpCrisscross »

spoon16 wrote: post #35
1888franklin wrote: post #10

Howdy Matt - will you build a Muslim registry if Trump orders it or Congress passes it?

One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need. I do not believe a Muslim Registry does any good for anyone. Being involved in building one would require formally changing our values which would be visible to everyone in USDS. Disclaimer: personal opinion, I am currently serving on a USDS team, m…

> One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need

The USDS is a taxpayer-funded public entity. The "greatest good..." is determined by the law, written by our duly elected representatives. You don't get to serve the public and selectively reject the law. If the Congress passes a law you disagree with, you must follow it or resign--those are the only options, per your civil service oath.

Re: Staying with the US Digital Service

#40

Post by jbapple »

Matt_Cutts wrote: post #15
walrus01 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your thoughts on the theft of the entire contents of everyone's SF-86 from the OPM? I've had a security clearance in the past and all of my personal info was part of the data breach[1]. Incidents like this are one of the reasons why I would not work for the federal government again, except as contractor at much higher than standard federal scale pay rate. It's just not worth it in the personal hassle to go t…

Yup, my personal data was stolen in the OPM breach too, because I interned for the government when I was in college. But the USDS helped in the aftermath of the OPM breach. In fact, one of my first USDS projects after joining was a collaboration with 18F and the Dept. of Defense on a better version of the SF-86 and a more secure background investigation system. Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of goo…

> Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military.

Why is it good to make it easy to enlist in the military?

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