Workforce
What will the new Digital Corps look like?
When Chris Kuang was in college, he searched USAJOBS for an entry-level tech job in government. The only thing that came up was an unpaid position installing basic software.
He wants to change that with the new U.S. Digital Corps, a two-year fellowship set to launch with about 30 fellows in 2022, which he co-founded with the intention that it becomes an onramp into public service for young technologists.
Kuang already has experience founding initiatives to bridge divides between young tech talent and government. He helped launch Coding It Forward, a nonprofit aiming to create new pathways for social impact and civic tech for young people, and the student-initiated internship program, Civic Digital Fellowship.
Kuang spoke to FCW in a recent interview about the genesis of and goals for the program. The following conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
FCW: What’s the origin of U.S. Digital Corps?
Chris Kuang: In government, I think one thing that we’ve always seen is that opportunity hasn’t always been available to folks who are just starting out their career.
If you had five or 10 years of experience, great, you had all of these opportunities and on-ramps. But if you’re just coming out of school, perhaps, or you’ve completed a boot camp or apprenticeship program, and you’re looking for your first or your second job, you were kind of out of luck. And it wasn’t necessarily because there wasn’t work for you to contribute, or that kind of background or level of experience wouldn’t be valuable in government, the mechanisms didn’t exist.
So where the Digital Corps came from is that realization that the need in government is significant, and that early career technologists have a way of contributing, whether they’re software engineers or data scientists or really any number of technical fields.
FCW: How does it differ from other tech-centered “tour-of-duty” programs like the U.S. Digital Service, 18F and the Presidential Innovation Fellows program?
Kuang: The Digital Corps is designed to attract folks for whom it might be their first job, not just in government, but their first job, full stop. I think that is really unique. One of the long-term goals for the program is to be able to build a bridge for these folks to kick-start a career in public service.
Some of the existing programs have a tour-of-duty model, which has been very successful... One thing we hope to add to this ecosystem is perhaps that longer-term pathway.
We’re looking at about 30 or so in our first iterations in 2022 with our cohorts and partner agencies, but … we believe that it can scale perhaps a magnitude higher than that to really be meeting the size of the gap in the tech workforce.
FCW: How are you planning on competing in a tight market for tech talent?
Kuang: What the federal government can compete on and has done a really fantastic job and been successful with for a long time is competing on mission, on impact and on the work that is possible only here in government.
We feel strongly that there’s a unique opportunity, a moment in time, and I think a broader recognition than there has been in the past, that technology is crucial in the effective operation of our government. Its effect can be seen in really any interaction that folks are having today, and that impacts our view and our trust in our public institutions.
I think that is a mission and a line of work that a lot of folks will be attracted to. And I think that we’re seeing that on college campuses, we’re seeing that with the number of organizations that have been stood up in recent years, that folks who are studying technology are looking for these elements. They’re looking for their work to be meaningful, and I think the Digital Corps is designed to bridge the supply of talent that’s wanting and has been wanting to get involved and the agencies and assets of federal government that have been looking for this talent for a long time.
FCW: What will fellows work on? Will they have dedicated projects over their two-year stints, or will they work on multiple initiatives?
Kuang: We’re hoping that the Digital Corps fellows will be working on high-impact projects, many of which might be aligned to priorities across government. So whether it’s coronavirus response, or economic recovery, racial equity, cybersecurity -- a laundry list of items that touch technology.
We expect them over the course of their two years to have multiple opportunities on different areas within that agency to contribute on different projects or to understand different initiatives, but there also might be fellows who really find a niche and say, “hey this is project where I have a unique value add and I want to contribute for the duration over two years.”
We don’t necessarily have a preference, other than ensuring that the fellow has the opportunity to contribute in whatever way their skillset and interests would add the most value… It will vary from agency to agency, from project to project as it does, but we’re confident that fellows will be working on really high-impact work and meaningful initiatives.
FCW: What details can you give about the benefits and pay will fellows get?
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September 16, 2021 at 02:58AM
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What will the new Digital Corps look like? - FCW.com
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