DC's shutdown is hurting government tech workers - and everyone else

"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."

"Lane wasn't a veteran employee. He had recently joined the government as a Presidential Innovation Fellow and, in some ways, a skeptic. He was raised questioning government programs that meddle in people's lives. But after a couple of short months, his perspective had changed. "I'm no longer libertarian because of it," he says. Working on financial aid, among other systems, gave Lane an appreciation for the impact of public-sector technology. "That process working or not working, the privacy, the security ... just equipping the next generation year after year. That kind of bureaucratic machine [is] super important and super critical for my daughter to go to school," he says."

Kin Lane worked on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in 2013 and gained an up-close view of the system. He observed the need for financial data to be stored securely while remaining accessible to Internal Revenue Service tools. The role felt tangibly meaningful because he expected to use FAFSA when his daughter attended college. Lane joined the government as a Presidential Innovation Fellow and began skeptical of government programs. After months on the job his perspective shifted and he said, "I'm no longer libertarian because of it." The 2013 shutdown created financial strain that forced him to leave Washington, and he now works in the private sector.

Read at The Verge