_posts/2014-03-27-uncle-sam-wants-you-to-be-a-hero-hacker.md
---
layout: post
tumblr_url: http://18fblog.tumblr.com/post/80900714466/uncle-sam-wants-you-to-be-a-hero-hacker
date: '2014-03-27T15:37:00-04:00'
title: "Uncle Sam wants YOU to be a hero hacker"
description: The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is now accepting applications from creative, energetic policy hackers, entrepreneurs, user experience experts, designers, front-end developers, back-end developers, system architecture wizards, data wranglers, and more to serve their tours of duty to radically improve the delivery of government digital services.
excerpt: The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is now accepting applications from creative, energetic policy hackers, entrepreneurs, user experience experts, designers, front-end developers, back-end developers, system architecture wizards, data wranglers, and more to serve their tours of duty to radically improve the delivery of government digital services.
image:
authors:
- robert
- mhz
tags:
- presidential innovation fellows
- talent
---
The [Presidential Innovation Fellows](https://wh.gov/innovationfellows/)
program is now [accepting applications](https://pif.gsa.gov/) from
creative, energetic policy hackers, entrepreneurs, user experience
experts, designers, front-end developers, back-end developers, system
architecture wizards, data wranglers, and more to serve their tours of
duty to radically improve the delivery of government digital services.
Why should you (yes, YOU) take time out of your busy schedule to apply
(**deadline: April 7**)? Three important reasons:
### 1. Uncle Sam wants YOU to help millions
Working with Innovation Partners inside government agencies, Rounds One
and Two of the Innovation Fellows program touched millions of lives in
many important ways.
Here’s a taste of some Round Two projects:
- The [Green Button](http://www.greenbuttondata.org/) initiative gives
American families and businesses secure and easy access to their own
utility energy information, giving them opportunities to save energy
and money.
- The [Blue Button](http://healthit.gov/bluebutton) initiative
provides individuals with secure online access to their own health
data.
- [FBOpen](http://fbopen.gsa.gov/) gives small business owners with a
new, easier way to learn about and compete for federal contracts.
- [Project Open Data](http://project-open-data.github.io/) unleashes
freely-available data from the federal Government that was
previously difficult to find and use (think National Parks, climate,
and government spending) back to the taxpayer.
- [Disaster Response and
Recovery](http://energy.gov/oe/articles/presidential-innovation-fellow-leveraging-technology-and-innovation-help-americans)
leverages technology to provide with a helping hand (tools, apps,
services and more) when they need it most.
- Work at the Smithsonian Institution gives Americans their own
[history, digitized](https://transcription.si.edu/).
- Adverse Drug Effects gives doctors the
[information](http://open.fda.gov/) they need to treat patients
safely.
### 2. Uncle Sam wants YOU to work with amazing people on big problems
Fellows come from many backgrounds and have a wide range of skills, but
they share two characteristics: excellence and dedication. Do you long
to work with a team that constantly challenges you? Do you long to work
with peers who are all top-of-class problem solvers and creative minds?
And not only are the people you’ll work with extremely technically and
creatively intelligent, but they’re also a group of people who have
chosen to use their precious time and energy in exchange for a
reasonable government salary to move their country forward. Instead of
disrupting the dog clothing market, you’ll be disrupting government
bureaucracy and improving services for millions of people. You want a
more participatory democracy? Here’s your chance.
As an Innovation Fellow, you will have extraordinary leverage to solve
big problems and implement game-changing solutions. Some of the projects
in the diagram above were not planned, but discovered as opportunities
in the course of other projects.
### 3. Uncle Sam wants YOU to serve and return
Becoming a fellow is a commitment to work as hard as you can on behalf
of the American people. It is a commitment to patiently run through
walls that exist in the government bureaucracy. It is a commitment to
spend a lot of time in DC.
But it is not a never-ending commitment. You are not signing up to
become a permanent federal employee. You will contribute your industry
and entrepreneurial expertise to improve government and take what you
have learned from other fellows with you when you leave.
### So what are YOU waiting for?
**[Apply](https://pif.gsa.gov/) by April 7, 2014.** Throw your hat into
the ring to make digital services in America an extension of the civic
innovation that Franklin and Jefferson pioneered while collaborating
with some of the smartest, most dedicated people you will ever meet,
solving some of the most important, challenging problems of this
generation.
**Even if you choose not to apply, please help spread the message.**
Please republish this article or the following links to promote the
Presidential Innovation Fellow program:
- Read: [a blog post by Todd Park, U.S. CTO and GSA Administrator Dan
Tangherlini.](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/03/05/presidential-innovation-fellows-round-3-serve-create-innovate)
- Watch: U.S. Deputy CTO Jen Pahlka [issue a call to the innovation
community](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK0HOIqOcHw) to join the
ranks of the Presidential Innovation Fellows and serve their
country.
- Find: The list of [Round 3 Presidential Innovation Fellows program
projects
here.](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/innovationfellows/projects#section-round-3)
**P.S. Consider saving the taxpayer money by contributing to
Presidential Innovation Fellow open-source projects**
The fellows’ projects are in the public domain by default and can be
found at github under the team [Presidential Innovation
Fellows](https://github.com/presidential-innovation-fellows).