Meet 43 Smart People Who Plan to Make Government Work Better

The second round of Presidential innovation fellows will include a NASA veteran, a University of Massachusetts professor who builds software tutoring systems and a former operations manager for Ushahidi, renowned for establishing rapid text-based communications with victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

The list of 43 new innovation fellows published by the White House on Monday also includes dozens of software entrepreneurs, engineers and computer scientists.

The fellows will launch new projects focused on improving the government’s response to disasters, creating standards for new cyber-industrial processes, improving federal financial systems and better integrating information technology and international development.

They’ll also continue work on initiatives launched by the first round of innovation fellows such as helping Americans gain easier access to their own healthcare records, improving government contracting for small businesses and making government information easier to find online.

The innovation fellows program is the brainchild of federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. It’s aimed at coupling private sector urgency and entrepreneurialism with government expertise.

The program brings people from the private sector into government for six-to-12-month tours aimed at developing technological solutions to thorny problems.

For more details about the second round of innovation projects click here.

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