President Obama hopes technology can make you love the government again

Amid news of a massive federal data breach, President Obama discussed the need to "yank government" into present day technology in a wide-ranging interview with Fast Company published Monday.

"What we've tried to do with the U.S. digital team — and our whole conception of technology generally — is to identify some big projects that will impact a lot of people," the president said. "We know there are very specific areas where, if we leverage the best technology teams in the world and we pair them up with some really effective government managers, then we can get a really big payoff." He offered distribution of veterans benefits and green card and loan processing as examples of systems that could be improved by updated technology.

But aside from streamlining government processes, Obama expressed hope that technology could repair the relationship between the American government and its citizens. "It's no secret that many people feel alienated and distant from government," he said. "I think the opportunities for us to think about how tech can empower citizens and make them feel ownership for their government is really important."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The president also touched on government's relationship with the private sector and what went wrong with the disastrous Healthcare.gov rollout in the interview. Read the whole thing at Fast Company.