White House Presidential Innovation Fellows Program

In similar veins to the prestigious Presidential Management and White House Fellowship programs, Todd Park, White House Chief Technology Officer, announced today at NYC's TechCrunch Disrupt Conference, the creation of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program. A cutting edge endeavor to attract the sharpest and tech-savviest minds to serve in an advisory capacity to the United States Government on science and technology policy issues from a high growth technology entrepreneurial perspective.

As denoted in the announcement: "The Presidential Innovation Fellows will pair top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, or academia with federal government employees to collaborate on game-changing solutions that aim to deliver significant business results in just six months. Each team of innovators will work together in-person in Washington, D.C. 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."

The five initial projects of focus, starting July 2012, are MyGov, Open Data Initiatives, Blue Button for America, RFP-EZ, and The 20% Campaign. So how does this opportunity prove to be pertinent to the TriplePundit community? Well the Blue Button for America and The 20% Campaign projects seek creative solutions that only a tech-savvy social entrepreneur could help implement. BBA's focus is on making health records much more comprehensible and accessible so that the information can help empower patients responsibly. Whereas 20%'s focus is on developing better technological means in advancing the USG's foreign aid from a cash payment system to more of an electronic payment system, which will help increase efficiency, reduce wastage, and quickly aid humanitarian causes.

More details can be found in the embedded links, and as a former USG official, I can assure you, your talents will be in great demand in Washington D.C., as the USG seeks to be more innovative, creative, and enterprising in empowering U.S. citizens to help drive forward the mantra of "Triple Bottom Line" in the everyday vernacular of doing business.

{Image Credit: Javier-trackrecord}