Legislation to Make Permanent the Presidential Innovation Fellows Program

Policy
The White House established the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program in
2012, in the same tradition that created the White House Fellows and Presidential
Management Fellows programs. The PIF Program is built on four key principles:
(1) recruit the best our nation has to offer; (2) partner with innovators inside
government; (3) deploy proven private sector strategies; and (4) focus on some of
the Nations biggest and most pressing challenges.
In August 2015, President Obama signed Executive Order 13704, formally
institutionalizing the program. Legislation has already been introduced and
passed in the House to make the PIF program permanent.
Accomplishments
The PIF program has proven a successful framework for encouraging leading
entrepreneurs, executives, and innovators to join the Federal Government and work
in close cooperation with Federal Government leaders. Example achievements:

Making government more open Fellows helped design a better Data.gov

to make it easier for agencies to provide data to the public, and have helped
the government release over 130,000 datasets which non-profits and private
companies are leveraging to create valuable new tools and services.

Ensuring access to your own health information Fellows worked with

Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve data interoperability and ensure that 150
million Americans have access to their own electronic medical records.

Addressing Sexual Assault on our nations campuses As part of a

recommendation from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from
Sexual Assault, Fellows contributed to the launch of NotAlone.gov, a resource
for students to learn how to respond to and prevent campus sexual assault.

Improving education access and outcomes through technology - Fellows

working at the Department of Education helped develop The Future Ready
District Pledge, signed by roughly 2,000 district superintendents
representing millions of K-12 students. This pledge acts as a roadmap to
achieve successful personalized digital learning and ensure that 100% of
public schools benefit from broadband access in the classroom.

Providing employment opportunities to veterans - A team of Fellows

working with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of
Labor (DOL) developed the Veterans Employment Center. This is the first
interagency website connecting veterans, transitioning servicemembers, and

their spouses to meaningful employment opportunities. The portal has

resulted in cost savings of over $27 million to the VA.

Improving the way the government builds and buys technology The
Presidential Innovation Fellows program helped launch two critically
important efforts aimed at adding technology acumen across the federal
government, 18F and the United States Digital Service (USDS).

Noteworthy Fellows
This highly competitive program recruits talented innovators and technologists
from outside government to work alongside federal employees inside government
leveraging the best expertise available to improve our government.

CEO of GarageBand.com (acquired by Apple), Patrick Koppula

Director of Digital Innovation at Boston Childrens Hospital, Alexandra
Pelletier
Founder of Weather Underground (acquired by IBM), Alan Steremberg
Co-Founder of DMV.org, Vidya Spandana
President and CFO of Shutterstock (Nasdaq: SSTK), Adam Riggs
Director of Enterprise Information for City of New Orleans, Denice Ross
Lead Software Engineer of Slingbox (acquired by EchoStar) & U.S. Air Force
Veteran, Robert Sosinski

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the fellowship? Fellows serve for between 6 and 24 months.
Where does it live? The Program operates out of the General Services
Administration. Organizationally, it is part of the newly created Technology
Transformation Service.
How is the program administered? The PIF program is administered by a
Director, appointed by the GSA Administrator. GSA provides necessary staff,
resources and administrative support for the Program to the extent
permitted by law and within existing appropriations. The Program also
receives guidance from an Advisory Board, which includes leadership from
both the White House and executive agencies.
How is it funded? The Presidential Innovation Fellows program operates
under the Economy Act, 31 USC 1535, which allows for the funding out of
the Acquisitions Services Fund provided that the requesting agencies
reimburse both direct and indirect costs incurred by the program relating to
the services provided.
How are projects selected? The Programs director and program office
facilitate placement of Fellows in projects that reflect national priorities.
How are Fellows selected? Appointments to the Program are made under
the Schedule A hiring authority in a fair and competitive hiring process.