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I always get excited at the beginning of a new year. I think here is something important about moments like these that allow us a collective opportunity to not only enjoy time with friends and family, but also take stock of where things stand, and what we might like to change. While I remain humbled that you’re now listening to the 132nd episode we’re publishing here on TOR, I’ve also spent the closing of last year receiving feedback, working with our team and getting energized for how we will continue to grow, shape and evolve this show to do our part in helping to make aid and development better. As you are no doubt aware, we’re standing at the precipice of a time when the aid and development sector will come under unprecedented scrutiny and pressure. With Brexit, and now the election of Trump, it is not a question of if, but when, this will happen. The time couldn’t be more ripe for taking bold steps to better define why what we do to help others not only matters, but is effective in ending suffering and creating change. I, for one, am up for the challenge and I hope you’ll join me. The fact that we find ourselves at this precipice, however, is why I’m especially excited to bring you this episode. Because, you see, a little more than a year ago, the US State Department also experienced one of these reflective moments where they realized there was, potentially, a massive source of energy and innovation that had never before been tapped, right in their own back yard. What came out of that moment was the piloting of a office in Silicon Valley to learn how they might contribute to solutions for some of the world’s most difficult challenges. My guest, Zvika Krieger, has been at the forefront of that pilot and he’s here to tell us what they’ve learned and what will happen next. You can connect with Zvika here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zvika-krieger-a36b705 Tweets by zvikakrieger
IN TOR 132 YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT
- What is it like to represent the government to try to engage with the often-skeptical tech industry, but how often a sense of purpose can bring both worlds together
- The private-government chasms, including their pace, challenges and outreach
- How the aid and the tech worlds have things in common, including when development is part of tech giants bottom lines
- How letting engineers contribute to really hard problems is not only good for aid, but a top talent retention strategy
- How thanks to Zvika’s office efforts Syrian refugees are using technologies developed in the Valley in less than a year since their envision in design thinking gatherings
OUR CONVERSATION FEATURES THE FOLLOWING
Organizations:
- Facebook, Security Check
- Internet.org
- Alphabet (Google) X’s Project Loon
- Mark Zuckerberg
- US Department of State (DOS), Secretary John Kerry
- US Department of Defense (DOD)
- US Department of Justice (DOJ)
- DOS Innovation Forum at medium.com
- United Nations San Francisco Office
Topics:
- Silicon Valley, Big Tech, Tech Industry
- Government engagement with tech companies
- 2016 Syrian Refugee Crisis
- Company culture
- Design Thinking, Human-Centered design
- Global Entrepreneurship Summit
- Blockchain technology, non-financial applications
Places
EPISODE CRIB NOTES
03:40 You’re probably wondering how Zvika ended up in this situation“Long a winding, not linear road”
Journalist for a decade, covered the Middle East, the Washington
Gets a call from the DOS, to make it and the DOS more innovative
Helps set up a 10-people innovation office
#2 DOS guy looks for him to “engage with Silicon Valley”
The Valley is gaining power and influence globally, politically, diplomatically
“Technology can move the needle in many scenarios”
Government outreach and engagement becomes critical
Upon invitation, Zvika moves to the Valley
“Would people even talk to us? What are the value propositions?”
No other career path than your own
07:36 Aid entryMany Valley companies got into aid through disaster relief
Facebook’s Security Check
Good thing about this subject is that relief is politically agnostic
Over time the interests have branched out and become more relevant to their bottom lines
internet.org
X Project Loon
“Having internet is essential for what they want to do”
Both in aid and for their business model
CSR efforts are increasing too
11:17 Tell us about Mark“We did have a meeting with Zuckerberg and John Kerry”
In the “post-Snowden” era, tech is suspicious of DOS
Encryption and backdoors make for a strenuous relationship
DOS is thought of as mighty and wealthy when it is not the case, at least not compared to DOD
“They think we are in an acquisitions mission, like other government agencies”
“We did not think they were open to talk to us”
To some extent, they weren’t. “‘You have no money? Why would you want to talk to us then?’, they said”
Different vision sets
“The Valley is run by money. But under the piles, there is a wish to make a difference”
If money is the ultimate driver, they are better off going into banking
14:58 A year inThe 1-y pilot has “proved value”
They move from pilot to permanent posting
Even though it hasn’t been long, “I can draw a line of where impact has been made through something often not possible inside regular government offices”
“Silicon Valley is about action”. This probably has helped on the success of initiatives.
On Refugee Crisis, Zvika invited companies to a meet in Stanford
“No keynotes. Just roll up our sleeves and follow design thinking experts”
The session ended with prototypes and brief pitches
To end, DOS says “we have no money to fund this”
Companies started raising their hands, large and startup, ready to move forward.
Zvika tell them “we will follow-up over the coming months”. They reply “we can do this in a week”
“Six months in government is fast”
Some refugees use technologies today that came out of the sessions. “That is measurable impact”
19:22 Thorns and pushbacks“There are few”
Cultural differences. “Government officials are out of touch, as ‘what is this facebook'”
Some power struggles. Companies say “we don’t work for you”
There are conflicts when it’s time to find the right way forward, be it the market or CSR
The issue with talent. When Zvika ask their companies why would they send engineers to brainstorming with him, their response is blunt: “we are in a war for talent”
“Top engineers do not wake up in the morning looking forward to make algorithms one millisecond faster. They want to tackle big, juicy, global challenges”
Companies let them use 20% of their time working on what they want, if that’s what keeps them happy. “For the companies it’s straight up employee engagement”
Incentive alignment. “More an art than a challenge”
Not all company cultures subscribe to this. “We have no time to talk to you”
Zvika learns how to engage and keep the momentum going, finding the right private-public partnership
23:02 Development approaches“Tech companies love ‘wicked’ problems”. Juicy, complex, non-obvious
“We have no money, butt we have great challenges”, and access
Solutions must be co-created. “It’s enjoyable for them”, as long as they are not filling out requirements on a pre-defined issue
Zvika is a design thinker
Human-centered design
Often non-techies join the sessions to open up views. Also VC, incubators. “Not just the typical players”
Philantropy is rich in the Valley
Intellectual diversity is essential to problem solving
26:53 Big fat fails and difficult conversationsAn early brainstorming session failed to set ‘pan-holding’ mechanisms. Developers just went back to their day jobs
Engagement roles were deemed necessary, as well as ‘connector’ between technologies and solutions
Three large initiatives have “gotten better and better”: refugees, nuclear weapon monitoring, energy. Other topics receive less attention
WMDs? “Technologies to track them come from the 70s while tech that is times better is in everyone’s pockets”
“VC would forbid incubees to answer DOS emails”
There are some boundary issues between DOS and DOJ. But there is outreach
Middle East Tech Bootcamps
“Partnerships aren’t sexy enough to reach the headlines”
32:40 Other governments reaching to other world tech capitals?There were energy bootcamps on energy featuring foreign startups
There are startups trying to solve critical issues everywhere
To summon them all, there is the DOS Global Entrepreneurship Summit
For 2016, thousands of people joined to think about solutions
Summits have happened in Malaysia, Kenya, Turkey, Silicon Valley
The Pages and Zuckerbergs met the social entrepreneurs of the world
Tech women programs
World incubators
Zvika’s job is to help everyone “and get the Valley out of their bubble”
36:09 To follow“To borrow another term, we are ‘in stealth mode'”
“We are waiting when we have impact to show”
DOS is allowing more public profiles
Zvika’s Twitter
DOS Innovation Forum at medium.com
“It’s a nascent space”, for others too. UN is launching a San Francisco innovation office
38:53 Zvika pays attention to“I have a no conference rule”
“Go to panels on what you know nothing about”
Connect to the Startup ecosystem. “They, not Facebook or Google, are the soul of the Valley”. Hackatons, Demo days
Venture Capital community. “Is the VC’s job to know trends”. They tend to have cross looks
Students. “I teach ‘Hacking for Diplomacy’, Stanford and Berkeley”
“Students are often at the cutting edge”
Blockchain, non-financial uses
