#technologists

Joseph Dicksonjosephdickson
2025-05-02

There's a reason I, and many other , , , use a plain text editor. I assure you it's not for

Notepad text editor in Windows 11 reads: I don't Need Copilot in notepad. The Copilot dropdown menu within the app appears on the right side with options.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️ZhiZhu@newsie.social
2025-03-02

A letter to the American People:
18f.org/

"18F was doing exactly the type of work that #DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated.

When former #Tesla engineer Thomas Shedd took the position of #TTS director... he acknowledged that the group is the “gold standard” of civic #technologists... He repeatedly emphasized the importance of the work, and the value of the talent that the teams bring to #government"

#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #USPol #18F #News #USA

Headline and text from article:

Headline:
We are dedicated to the American public. And we aren't done yet.

Text:
March 1, 2025
A letter to the American People:

For over 11 years, 18F has been proudly serving you to make government technology work better. We are non-partisan civil servants. 18F has worked on hundreds of projects, all designed to make government technology not just efficient but effective, and to save money for American taxpayers.

However, all employees at 18F – a group that the Trump Administration GSA Technology Transformation Services Director called "the gold standard" of civic tech – were terminated today at midnight ET.
18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated.

When former Tesla engineer Thomas Shedd took the position of TTS director and met with TTS including 18F on February 3, 2025, he acknowledged that the group is the “gold standard” of civic technologists and that “you guys have been doing this far longer than I’ve been even aware that your group exists.” He repeatedly emphasized the importance of the work, and the value of the talent that the teams bring to government.
Despite that skill and knowledge, at midnight ET on March 1, the entirety of 18F received notice that our positions had been eliminated.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️ZhiZhu@newsie.social
2025-03-02

Skilled technologists are being forced out of government

18F and USDS are gutted by DOGE
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/ski

"Musk is not just destroying core #government functions, he is also destroying the actual #tech capacity of govt. Because there are, in fact, skilled #technologists who work in govt. They are not enough of them, & they lacked power to make big changes. They worked mostly in the US Digital Service and 18F... And now they are mostly gone."

#Musk #Coup #Trump #GOP #USPol #News #USA

Text from article:
Here is a thumbnail sketch of the two units: USDS offered support and guidance to agencies, but could not dictate a governmentwide approach on most issues. In times of crisis, or when a President prioritized a policy outcome dependent on digital innovations, it could play a more prominent role, serving as a de facto firefighter for digital governance. The General Services Administration set up its own digital consultancy team, 18F in 2014. This team’s mission is to work with agencies to “[transform] the way the federal government builds and buys digital services.” 18F was a cost recoverable office, meaning that they charge partner agencies for their work rather than being funded directly through a congressional appropriation. Both organizations use similar managerial technologies, which includes agile, iterative design, a user-centric approach, a reliance on data-driven decision making, directly managing relationships with vendors, favoring open-source solutions, the prioritization of platform models, and a flatter organizational culture.

USDS and 18F represented a hopeful trend for American government: embedding serious tech skills inside the bureaucracy, rather than relying on private vendors. They care about public services, and represented the most visible public sector manifestation of “civic tech” in government.

DOGE, by contrast, appears to be a temporary wrecking crew paving the way for aligned Silicon Valley vendors to fill the gap.
Deborah SampsonDSDJ3147
2025-01-30

Some really horrible sh*t about to go down…

“At a broadest level, the concern is that are playing a role to monitor & to target those who will be

“It is difficult in the to actually evaluate who is performing well or performing poorly.
So doing it on some sort of mass automated scale where you think using some sort of analysis or would automate that process, I think, is an invite to make errors.”
apple.news/A0wVFiuyVTpW_MExDCZ

☮ ♥ ♬ 🧑‍💻peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange
2025-01-30

🚨 #TechWeenie Alert
Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley

“An influential Silicon Valley publication runs a cover story lamenting the “pussification” of tech. A major tech CEO lambasts a Black civil rights leader’s calls for diversifying the tech workforce. #Technologists rage against the “PC police”.

No, this isn’t #SiliconValley in the age of Maga. It’s the tech industry of the 1990s, when observers first raised concerns about the rightwing bend of Silicon Valley and the potential for “#technofascism”. Despite the industry’s (often undeserved) reputation for #liberalism, its reactionary foundations were baked in almost from the beginning. As Silicon Valley enters a second Trump administration, the gendered roots of its original reactionary movement offer insight into today’s rightward turn.”

#BeccaLewis / #oligarch / #TechOligarch <theguardian.com/technology/ng->

2024-10-31

Summit 2024! :blobcat_rss:

Join us at the Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu, #Nepal, on December 6-7 for two days of connection, collaboration, and conversation with #journalists, #activists, #technologists, and others from around the world.

📝 Register at lnkd.in/eyaemwtK!

2024-08-06

Is the work of contemporary #writers, #poets and #artists impoverished from not being well-versed in #science and #technology and #IndustrialLife?

Conversely, is the work of contemporary #scientists and #engineers and #technologists impoverished from not being exposed to #arts and #literature and #economics?

What does this circus of the #arts and #humanities, and the #science and #technology folks, and the larger #fediverse hive mind think?

(continues)

Fausto De La Torre, Head of Enterprise Modernization, Platforms and Cloud, Europe, shares a memorable moment from putting the Radar together.

You can see the passion our #Technologists carry for the radar right here!

Get the latest volume of radar here: ter.li/vw1xnw

#TWTechRadar #Tech

Ecologia Digitaljosemurilo@mato.social
2024-03-30

"The defining political question of the 20th century was: “What should be governed by the state, and what should be governed by the market?”

The defining political question of the first half of the 21st century is: “How much of our lives should be governed by technology, and under what terms?”

In the last century, economists drove public policy. In this century, it will be #technologists."
#publicinteresttech
schneier.com/blog/archives/201

NORDUnetnordunet
2024-02-22

The 32nd NORDUnet conference 🐦 Early Bird Registration - Now open!
📅 Date & Location: 10th-12th September, 2024 in Bergen, Norway.
🎯 Who Should Attend? , practitioners, , and focused on research and infrastructure, partners, and stakeholders.
🌍 Networking Opportunity: Connect with European and global peers to exchange significant outcomes, current trends, and discuss future directions for NRENs.
nordu.net/NDN2024reg

Neil Hopkins (He/Him)interacter@lgbtqia.space
2024-01-15

This is AMAZING #technology - especially if it helps folks comunicate: nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ton

Personally, it also reinforces the belief that #technologists sit around reading @GreatDismal and trying to make what he comes up with a reality. This feels like tech straight out of #ThePeripheral!

sharanxsharanx
2023-12-16

This is an eye-opening (and hopeful) short that is so important to watch for , and . Two things that stood out to me were:

youtu.be/I19btmIBhx0?si=8nRvKw

Alexandre B A Villares 🐍villares@ciberlandia.pt
2023-11-14

«Most of us think of a #Luddite as someone who is anti-technology or fearful of it, but as LA Times tech columnist Brian Merchant points out in his new book Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the #Rebellion Against #BigTech, they were #technologists themselves who simply questioned the ways it was being used against them.»

thedailybeast.com/tech-columni

skuaskua
2023-11-09

@terrygrundy@mas.to @breadandcircuses

Great to see science news recognizing the manipulation of a global political conference as being "science news".

Easy to forget that most of the globe's scientists want climate change stopped.

How might a of and steer government action on climate change?

I see scientists numbered at ~9 million globally.

A far higher number of technologists?
Technologists are essential to climate change continuing.

The #UnitedNations stands at the forefront of promoting a more sustainable and inclusive future.

In line with this commitment, we co-created a playbook for #technologists at the UN and beyond that will help identify strategies to be more inclusive, aware of bias, and to mitigate negative unintended consequences.

Get the playbook here: thght.works/3FCrnKN

#ResponsibleTech #InclusiveTech #DataPrivacy

2023-09-10

It reflects a sense of urgency among #antitrust enforcers that, w/o action, #SiliconValley giants will transplant their established #MarketDominance into the #NextGeneration of #technology, potentially stifling #innovation in futuristic fields such as #AI.

#Technologists say the arrival of advanced #generative AI signals an inflection point: a chance for new players rise to the top, or for the established victors to extend their lead.

#DOJ #Law #legal #monopoly

The Coding Beard :verified:thecodingbeard@techtoots.com
2023-09-01

Happy #Friday! Please #boost!

Techtoots.com is a #Mastodon #community focused on #tech (any vintage!). We #welcome #technologists, #coders, #engineers, #gadget lovers, self professed “#geeks” & anyone with an interest and love of tech.

#home #welcome #spreadtheword #tellyourfriends #nicepeople #introduction #pleaseboost #spreadtheword #builders #community #happy to #have #you #letsdothis #safespace

Also our #greatdanes - because #dogtax and #cattax is a something I also believe in!

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