Today, along with the heads of several tech companies, I will be attending a meeting at the White House convened under the auspices of the American Technology Council (ATeC). I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post explaining why, but I wanted to share a bit more about the decision with the Code for America community here.
This is not a decision I have made lightly. I personally believe that, outside of the issues discussed at this meeting, the policies of the Trump administration are dangerous and harmful to the American public, and that the administration has shown a frightening disregard for the principles and values of government, public service, and the rule of law. In my professional capacity, I see that the policies of the Trump administration are inconsistent with the values that our movement holds to serve all Americans equally with dignity.
Why Code for America Must Be at the Table
The stated purpose of the ATeC is to modernize federal government IT so that it can deliver the digital services that the American public deserves. The meeting has been convened to gather feedback and brainstorm “the what as well as the how” of this agenda. The principles and values of the movement for 21st century government MUST be in that room. Any discussion of modernizing government should put the fundamental premise of our movement front and center, and that premise is that government can work for the American people and by the American people — ALL the people. Code for America’s work to make the social safety net perform as it should in a digital age means that we represent those for whom government works least now, and those most in need of assistance. It also means that we know more than possibly anyone else in that room (besides our USDS and 18F colleagues) HOW to change notoriously change-resistant government programs to better meet the needs of their users. I’m attending because we have something unique and important to say among this group of tech executives and public servants.
[For more of this story, written by Jennifer Pahlka, go to https://medium.com/code-for-am...e-today-54a0edbaecaf]
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