Since 2011, the UK's Government Digital Service has radically transformed the way Britons interact with their government, streamlining bureaucratic processes, opening up data, and making APIs available for community groups and commercial players — alas, the GDS has become a political football in Westminster and has hemorrhaged talent, becoming a sad reminder of a once-glorious dream of government delivered humanely, with the public in mind.
But California — which has the world's sixth-largest economy — is picking up the GDS's fumbled baton, beginning with a gorgeous usability-centered overhaul of the California’s Child Welfare Digital Service.
Government software procurement is a shitshow, plagued by terrible procurement rules and contractors who bill huge sums to deliver code that barely works, if it works at all. GDS has shown how this can be addressed, and as a Californian, this excites me.
Oh, and they're hiring.
Our work in modernizing and building delivering new digital services for the state means we need people who're experienced in designing and delivering shared services across multiple technical platforms.Across the Department of Technology, the Office for Systems Integration and new teams like the Child Welfare Digital Service, we're looking for researchers, designers, content designers, strategists, architects, developers and more to deliver digital services that meet user needs.
Join us, and help deliver simpler, clearer, faster digital services for everyone in California.
Digital Services for the State of California
[California Department of Technology/Github]
(via Dan Hon)
