Aneesh Chopra, the first U.S. CTO, discusses the challenges in the government’s digital transformation and how open innovation, open data and digital technologies like APIs can be the solution. At Apigee's I Love APIs 2014 conference

1. Innovative State ~
How New Technologies Can
Transform Government
@Aneeshchopra
www.innovativestate.com

2. Government Doesn’t Work
Healthcare.gov Launches with Great Fanfare, Little Capability

3. A (Long) History of Pioneering Government
Though Last Two Decades Marked By Growing Technology Gap
Countless examples of public and private
sector keeping pace on benefitting from
new technologies – “arsenal system;”
Pension Bldg; Census tabulating machines
Source: Land of Promise; http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69746.html
Reinventing Government
Management Success Despite Tech Limits
“REGO” launch 09/93 with strong results, limited
technology – only 200+ Internet websites; no
smartphones (mobile broadband), cloud
computing, “big data” analytics tools

4. Learning the Right Lessons on Closing Gaps
Kodak’s Dramatic Stall Could Have Been Prevented
Stall Points
“When new technologies change the world, some companies are caught off-guard. Others see change coming
and are able to adapt in time. And then there are companies like Kodak — which saw the future and simply
Source: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/whats-wrong-with-this-picture-kodaks-30-year-slide-into-bankruptcy/; http://novicelab.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/11/KodakToInstagram.jpg
couldn’t figure out what to do.” – Wharton

5. Best Practices in Open Innovation
P&G, Facebook, Amazon (Among Others) Lead the Way
Source: Innovative State
Connect & Develop
strategy shifts culture
welcoming external
ideas
Facebook’s Platform
“force multiplies”
developer workforce
Amazon’s “Just Do It
Award”, Andon Cord
empower front-line workers

6. Open Innovation to Transform Government
Tapping the Expertise of the American People to Serve Smarter
Handshakes & Handoffs
Open Innovator’s Toolkit
#Open Data
#Standards & Convening
#Prizes & Challenges
#Lean (Govt) Startups
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/08/smarter-more-innovative-government-american-people; Shutterstock

7. Lever #1: Democratize Government Data
From Jefferson to Digital Services “Playbook”
On July 4, 1776, the
weather in Philly was
clear and mild with a
high 0f 76 degrees
Source: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/foundations/climate_data/image1.html; whitehouse.gov
New White Hosue “Playbook”
explicitly includes call for more APIs

8. Lever #2: Collaborate on Technical Standards
Hoover’s “Associative State” Model Boosts Nascent Air Sector
Source: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/Chapter1.html; eScholar; http://bluebuttonconnector.healthit.gov/
After dramatic reduction in aircraft
manufacturing following WWI, then-
Secretary Hoover encourages industry
collaboration on engine, wing standards,
commercialized on popular DC-3, Boeing
247
“Government as
convener” to liberate
data in regulated
sectors back the
consumer, fueling
third party
applications for
personalized services

9. Lever #3: Issue Challenges & Prizes
Proven Formula Attracts Wider Pool of Problem Solvers
After 1707 Scilly naval disaster in which more than 1,400
sailors died, British parliament offered a £20,000 ($3M today)
prize for a way to determine longitude; Harrison’s resulting
chronometer solved the problem that eluded Sir Isaac
Newton
DARPA initiates crowdsourced design competition, inspired by
Augustine’s Law (by 2054, cost of combat aircraft to exceed entire
DoD budget); Victor Garcia wins in weeks, vehicle prototyped for
Presidents “Advanced Manufacturing Partnership” Launch – June,
Source: http://www.watch-around.com/en/subscribers-zone/magazine/article/harrison-meritait-il-le-longitude-prize.html; http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22892443 ;
http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2011/2011/03/15_DARPA_XC2V_Design_Challenge_Explores_Advantages_of_Crowd-Sourced_Design.aspx
2011

10. Lever #4: Launching Lean (Govt) Startups
Recruiting a New Breed of (Tech) Leader the Active Ingredient
Presidential Innovation Fellows
Talent for Lean (Government) Startups
Leaders emphasize tech policy levers – open data,
consensus standards, R&D collaboration – and do so
in the spirit of a “lean startup” for rapid results,
iteration; RFP-EZ lowers costs 30% for web
development in trial run
Following President Wilson’s lead, Roosevelt
recruits leading CEOs (like GM’s Knudsen) as
“dollar-a-year-men” to mobilize industrial base for
WWII; Kennedy later dubbed this “best and
brightest” recruitment – “are you good enough for
government?”
Source: Innovative State; http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304451104577390192565641460;; whitehouse.gov; http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/05/15/rfp-ez-delivers-savings-taxpayers-new-opportunities-small-business

11. Re-Visiting Healthcare.gov (2010 Edition)
Ed Mullen’s Tweet Leads to API That Fuels Global Media Brand
Source: http://makinggood.edmullen.com/index.php/article/health_insurance_exchange/; www.healthcare.gov; http://health.usnews.com/health-insurance

12. Thank you