#government-technology

#government-technology

This flashlight was from the 1970s. It was heavy, dim and clunky - and yet he had invested more in the toggle switch than it would have cost to buy a brand-new, energy-efficient LED flashlight. For me, that flashlight became a metaphor for how government still approaches technology: instead of replacing outdated systems with modern, efficient ones, we keep bolting on fixes, hoping the old framework will keep up.

Kin Lane fondly remembers working on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in 2013. FAFSA is used by millions of college students each year to help access scholarship money, and Lane, an API expert, had an up-close look at the system. He saw the importance of ensuring financial data remains stored securely and can be accessed by Internal Revenue Service tools. The job wasn't flashy, but it was tangibly meaningful - when his own daughter went to college, he would use FAFSA himself.

The MoD faces a complex challenge in managing vast and sensitive datasets in the knowledge that even a single case of data leak or loss can be catastrophic.

The Trump administration has quietly expanded technological efforts with Palantir, aiming to consolidate various data streams from agencies to potentially compile a comprehensive list of American citizens.

Rogers highlighted her contributions towards improving cybersecurity, stating, "I oversaw a staff of 1,000 employees and contractors while enforcing the implementation of critical cybersecurity measures."