Overview

The buzz around Innovation in government continues to grow. Across every level, there is a proliferation of efforts to replicate the US Digital Service model, fellows programs, seed funds, incubators, labs, hackathons, etc. But what is really being achieved by all of this innovation activity? How do we know government is serious about innovating at the scale required to match the demands of a digital age?

An amazing panel of experts will discuss the successes and challenges they are experiencing as they advance innovation in government:

George P. Bush is the Commissioner of the General Land Office, which is the oldest existing statewide agency in Texas. Among his responsibilities is overseeing the delivery of disaster recovery services, which has emerged as a massive undertaking following the Hurricane Harvey disaster of 2017. More than $125 Billion in damages were inflicted and 30,000 Texans displaced by the cyclone.

Jen Pahlka is the founder of Code for America, which is a non-profit organization building software used by millions of California citizens to access government programs like CalFresh, the state’s food assistance program, and other services. She also helped found the United States Digital Service in 2014 during her time as Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House.

Raj Shah is a technology entrepreneur, investor and an F-16 pilot in the Air National Guard. Most recently he was the Managing Partner of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx). Launched in 2015 to provide non-dilutive investments in commercial products that solve national defence problems, DIUx represents a new model for deploying part of the Pentagon’s nearly $700 Billion budget.