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advertisement advertisement advertisement Editor’s note: The authors are the principals of M+D, which helped develop the Fast Government concept and may receive revenue from the partnership. advertisement advertisement Even before the spread of COVID-19 necessitated a series of large-scale government interventions, there has been a long-simmering sense that the public sector needs to up its game. The tech industry needs a regulatory overhaul. The urgent problem of climate change requires new infrastructure and public works programs at grand scale. The pace and complexity of issues like food security, economic inequality, and workforce displacement—not to mention coordinated pandemic preparedness and response—all require governments that are better, smarter, stronger, and faster than the ones we have now. Yet, the pipeline of talent dedicated to solving these monumental policy challenges is not in place. More than a third of … [Read more...] about Government needs innovators, entrepreneurs, and disruptors

advertisement advertisement advertisement In the past few years, rapid innovation has normalized technologies that would have astonished even Isaac Asimov. Machine learning, autonomous drones, gene splicing, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence went from imagination to commercially viable as soon as the infrastructure and hardware were ready. advertisement If technology has transformed the limitations of what is physically possible, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed how we imagine it. The economy has made an evolutionary shift. The economic system is repurposing itself to become more cloud-based, delivery operated, and decentralized. The changes economic soothsayers predicted for the not-so-distant future have rushed, messily and painfully, into the immediate present. Governments have access to the same technology. They have the same imperative to evolve so they can successfully deliver on their mission in a changing world. This is about more … [Read more...] about Five paradigm shifts government must embrace to modernize public services

advertisement advertisement advertisement It’s now an image forever etched into the history of America: Donald Trump descending the gold escalator of his Fifth Avenue hotel to announce his candidacy for president. The words he delivered after would be just as long-lasting. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he famously spouted, not even two minutes into his 45-minute campaign launch speech . “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” It was evident from the very start that Donald Trump’s presidency was founded on anti-immigrant sentiment. advertisement advertisement It wasn’t mere talk: His changes to immigration law will be one of Trump’s primary legacies. Border wall construction and an outright ban on people from certain Muslim-majority countries lasted throughout his presidency. He instated policies that separated families, and gave ICE … [Read more...] about Can Biden do more than just undoing Trump’s anti-immigration legacy?

advertisement advertisement advertisement The pandemic has exposed just how much we rely on workers—and just how thin the safety net is protecting those workers, and their families, and how fragile the entire economic system is. At the same time that childcare providers face business closures, for example, parents are struggling to find, and afford, childcare while they continue to work themselves. advertisement The Workers Lab, an organization that funds experiments to build power for low-wage working people, is putting money into offering some solutions, giving prizes to groups focused on supporting workers to come out of this pandemic stronger. The Innovation Fund, a competition that gives cash prizes to test these new ideas for building worker power, announces new recipients up to three times a year . The Fall 2020 grant winners responded to a theme about “coming back” from the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that puts workers at the center. … [Read more...] about These 3 bold projects want to help workers come back from the pandemic stronger

advertisement advertisement advertisement When Ron Wyden, Cory Booker, and Yvette Clarke introduced their Algorithmic Accountability Act in 2019 , which would have required tech companies to conduct bias audits on their AI, the three sponsors may have been a little early. advertisement advertisement Despite the fact that tech companies were already using artificial intelligence algorithms for a wide range of products and services that touch the lives of millions, the issue of AI bias and its real-world effects remained abstract for many Americans, including many in Washington. The Trump administration was oblivious to the issue, and Republicans showed little interest in Wyden and Booker’s bill, which was never read in committee, much less on the Senate floor. Clarke’s companion bill in the House also didn’t advance. This is part of a series on big ideas that Biden can tackle in his first 100 days . Read the rest of the … [Read more...] about Fighting AI bias needs to be a key part of Biden’s civil rights agenda