5 ms·

Since you pitch the USDS to tech people, please let us know: how free do you feel to speak your mind on political matters, or to effect those positive outcomes?

• Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people. When a veteran can apply for health benefits online, they have a better experience. But it also saves the money from them driving to see someone in person. There's so much work like that to do that everyone agrees will make the government better, more responsive, and more efficient. I also think the USDS has built up some reputation and trust because of the good work that it's been able to do so far. I'm heartened when folks like Kevin McCarthy (majority leader in the House of Representatives) tweet things like this: https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 At Google, I didn't always agree with what the CEO decided to do, like shutting down Google Reader. Sigh. But there was a ton of important work to do, and concentrating on the common ground made it possible to do really good things.
  • easychewie 10y ago
    > First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. And there it is. One of many reasons I'll never work for the government again. The government is so PC-sensitive that dude can't even post on HN without a mildly disguised form of legalese. When I was in the Air Force, everything I said had to be prefaced with The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. One might think this is a minor complaint but after years of death by 1,000 cuts, you just can't take it anymore.
    • Matt_Cutts 10y ago
      To be fair, I often said that online when I was working for Google as well.
      • johnward 10y ago
        This is common amongst all megacorps. They can use anything you say on social media against you if it makes them look bad. The disclaimer doesn't really matter but I still put one in my profile. Basically, it's not just the government that goes too far into private life.
    • spoon16 10y ago
      It is very common on HN to put a disclaimer like this on posts. I do not think this has anything to do with Matt working for the government.
    • quanticle 10y ago
      Except that's also policy for most large corporations, as well. If you're working at some place like Microsoft or Google, it's required policy that you preface anything you say about Microsoft or Google with a statement that these statements are your personal opinions only and do not reflect the policy of the company.
    • eddieroger 10y ago
      You're pretty lucky to have never been in a position where you could be misconstrued as speaking for your employer, regardless of who they are. The Internet has basically neutralized the PR departments of any organization, governmental or otherwise, that wishes to control a message. CEOs tweeting about a bad day could have actual financial impacts. In this case, Matt doesn't speak for the USDS or the United States Government, he's sharing his opinions. That is not PC, it's protocol. That disclaimer could also have referred to his time at Google - he, personally, thought shutting down Google Reader was a bad idea, but Google, as a corporation, clearly did not, so his statement does not represent Google.
      • ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  • khuey 10y ago
    "we want to make government work better for the American people." Sadly I don't think this is a non-partisan goal these days.
    • RileyKyeden 10y ago
      The goal of better government is non-partisan outside the drown-it-in-the-bathtub fringe. How to go about it is what leads to contention.
  • chris11 10y ago
    How do you think the USDS is going to change in the next few months since you sit in the office of the president? I'm not asking for your personal opinion of the next administration, but I'm really not expecting a smooth transition. So are you expecting any major changes?
    • Matt_Cutts 10y ago
      A lot of people are coming up on the end of their one or two year terms, so we'll be managing that transition. I will say that to the degree the next administration is interesting in modernizing technology in the government, there's a ton of great work that can be done. I believe there's a solid interest in that.
  • dschep 10y ago
    > I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people. Couldn't most agencies claim the same?
    • Matt_Cutts 10y ago
      Yup. The next level down of detail would be "using technology or best practices from the tech industry."