Biden Administration Announces Tech Talent Fellowship Effort
Alisa Zahoruiko/istockphoto.com
By
Frank Konkel
The program is geared toward attracting young technologists to government work.
The Biden administration Monday announced the U.S. Digital Corps, a two-year fellowship program designed to attract early-career technologists to the government ranks.
The program will be housed within the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services alongside the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which also specializes in term-limited roles.
“One of my priorities is building a pipeline of diverse talent to GSA and recruiting the next generation of public servants,” GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said in a statement. “The Digital Corps fellowship offers technologists just starting out in their career the opportunity to work on some of the most pressing challenges that we face and develop innovative solutions that make government work better for the American people.”
According to GSA, Digital Corps will begin accepting applications this fall for up to 30 fellows housed within at least five federal agencies, including GSA, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services. Thus far, GSA aims to recruit “passionate, mission-driven technologists” with software engineering, data science, design, cybersecurity and other tech skills.
The program is a collaborative effort among several federal agencies, including GSA, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Selected fellows will work to advance Biden administration priorities of coronavirus response, economic recovery, cybersecurity and streamlining government services.
“Technology enables mission delivery across government. To provide best-in-class service delivery, agencies must have the right combination of workforce talent in place as their existing personnel accelerate towards retirement,” said Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana. “The U.S. Digital Corps is a forward-looking solution that will build a deep bench for technology modernization and digital transformation across the federal government and meet the Biden Administration’s goals of advancing federal IT and cybersecurity.”