Greetings Fellow Bloggers,
I hope each of you had a happy and safe 4th of July! This week, I would like to address some interesting methods in finding future talent for e-government in the very near future and other programs already in place helping our nation move forward. Ask yourself this question. The picture to right; what do you see? Two guys playing a video game? Maybe two guys "wasting" their talent by being perched in front of a video game system. I would say to look harder because there really is a positive side to what you could see in this picture. How about future code writers or two guys involved in the way the future generations will communicate? That's right! I'm talking about digital gaming and online communication. That's the way we will do things around here!
Okay okay! I'm not suggesting that young people go home and fry your brain on X-Box or Playstation; far from it. However, for those of us in the government business and who truly want our government to work, we need to do one of two things. First, we need engage our youth in the manner in which they already engage themselves. Secondly, we need to acknowledge that young people have a greater grasp of digital communication and computers than what many in government can even begin to understand. This segues into a really neat nonprofit organization known as
Code for America. Started by
Jennifer Pahlka in 2009, she sought to bridge the widening gap between technology in the government and the private sectors. Code for America "builds open source technology and organizes a network of people dedicated to making government services simple, effective, and easy to use." Do you know whom else uses open source technology besides professional computer programmers? College students, free lance programmers, digital gamers, and everyday people who have an affinity for computer and writing code. No one knows who or where the next great code will come from, but if it helps government in its mission, I say let the people have at it. Below, Jennifer Pahlka addresses the importance of coding to make government work through TED talks:
Now, I am not suggesting that we go out and find a bunch of high school and college dropouts to make our new state of the art website. I think it goes without saying the importance of a higher education pays in dividends down the road. What I am suggesting is the future talent can come from anywhere and can be anyone. So when we look to develop new systems for government use, we should encourage young people to turn that
Call of Duty mission into a reason to look at pursuing a technical career in computer programming. Another way to make this work for government is to allow open source coding so that the hobbyist who knows code can contribute as well. Remember, these are the people who are part of the population who we need to engage in government. Sometimes the best ideas won't always come from our IT department.
So how does this affect those of us in the law enforcement side of government? A lot! However, in many cases, we will be dependent upon our city, county, or state to take the lead on the code writing aspect. This does not mean we should be a silent partner taking a backseat in the quest for better government services. Law enforcement is a large part of the equation. This means we need to get in the ear of our government leaders and let them know what services our agency needs to provide to the citizens. As I said several blogs ago, law enforcement is the most visible of all government entities so we have a lot at stake here. This is also a great opportunity for some community involvement. The next time we in law enforcement have the chance to interact with youth, we should remind them that law enforcement is not always about handcuffs and being hauled off to jail. We need programmers and technical employees as well to make the whole thing work.
I hope you all have the chance to check out Code for America's website. It really is an example of people engaging in government. So the next time you stand in line for a driver's license, remember, it could be YOU that can help solve that problem. Thank you for reading, and until next time.
Gary
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