What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government | Matt Cutts

Translator: Mario Cal Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

Hi everybody.

Ola a todos.

My name is Matt Cutts,

Chámome Matt Cutts,

and I worked at Google for almost 17 years.

e traballei para Google durante case 17 anos.

As a distinguished engineer there,

Ao ser un enxeñeiro destacado,

I was pretty close to the top of the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

estiven bastante arriba no ecosistema de Sillicon Valley.

Then I decided to follow some inspiring folks

Entón decidín ir tras persoas inspiradoras

and do a short tour at the US Digital Service.

e pasar unha curta etapa no US Digital Service.

That's the group of geeks that helped rescue HealthCare.gov

Son o grupo de friquis que axudaron a rescatar HealthCare.gov

when that website went down hard in 2013.

cando ese sitio web se colgou en 2013.

Yeah.

Si.

So I signed up for a three-to-six-month tour,

Asinei por un período de tres a seis meses,

and almost three years later,

e case tres anos máis tarde,

I'm still in Washington DC,

sigo en Washington DC,

working for the federal government,

traballando para o goberno federal,

because the government really needs technologists right now.

porque agora mesmo cómprenlle moito os tecnólogos.

At my old job,

Na empresa anterior,

every room had videoconferencing

tódalas salas tiñan equipo de videoconferencia

integrated with calendars,

coa axenda integrada,

power cables were built right into the furniture.

o cableado ía por dentro dos mobles.

When I moved to a government agency,

Cando me trasladei a unha axencia gobernamental,

tiña que chamar a unha persoa para facer unha conferencia telefónica.

I had to call a person to set up a phone conference.

And when we moved to a new office,

E cando nos mudamos a outra oficina,

we didn't have furniture for a while,

estivemos un tempo sen mobles,

so we set up the phone on a trash can.

así que poñíamos o teléfono enriba dunha papeleira.

One of the things that surprised me, whenever I moved to DC,

Unha das cousas que máis me sorprendeu cando fun para Washington

is how much the government still has to deal with paper.

foi a cantidade de papeis que xestiona a Administración.

This is a facility in Winston-Salem,

Estas son as instalacións de Winston-Salem,

North Carolina,

en Carolina do Norte,

where people were worried

onde estaban preocupados

that the building might be structurally unsound

por que o edificio non aguantase

from the weight of all that paper.

co peso de todo ese papel.

Yeah.

Si.

Paper has some downsides.

O papel ten certas desvantaxes.

Here's a pop quiz:

Pregunta sorpresa:

If your last name starts with H or higher,

Se o voso apelido comeza por H ou unha letra posterior,

H or higher, would you raise your hand?

poderiades erguer a man?

Wow.

Vaites!

I have some bad news:

Teño malas noticias.

Pode que o voso historial de veterano

Your veteran records might have been destroyed

se perdese nun incendio en 1973.

in a fire in 1973.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Yeah.

Si.

En papel, os procesos van máis lentos e cométense máis erros.

Paper processes are also slower and more prone to errors.

If you're a veteran

Se es un veterano

que solicita a súa prestación sanitaria

and you're applying for your health benefits

por medio dun formulario en papel,

using a paper form,

you might have to wait months for that form to be processed.

poderías ter que agardar meses a que o procesen.

We replaced that with a web form,

Nós substituímolo por un formulario en liña,

and now most veterans find out

e agora na maioría dos casos poden saber

if they can get access to their health benefits

se teñen dereito á prestación

in 10 minutes.

en dez minutos.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Here's another launch that I'm proud of.

Esta é outra iniciativa da que estou orgulloso.

We worked with the Small Business Administration

Colaboramos coa Administración da Pequena Empresa,

to move one of their systems from paper to digital.

axudándolles nun dos seus sistemas a pasar do papel ao dixital.

So this is a picture from before,

Nesta foto vemos como era antes.

and this is afterwards.

E así é como quedou despois.

Same cubicles, same people,

Os mesmos cubículos e a mesma xente,

just a better system for everyone.

pero cun sistema mellor para todos.

At one point, we wanted to celebrate modernizing a different system,

Nunha ocasión, quixemos celebrar que modernizáramos outro sistema,

and so we went to a local grocery store

e fomos a unha tenda local

and we said, "Can you make a cake

e dixemos: "Podedes facer un pastel

and decorate it with the form that we've digitized?"

decorado co formulario que dixitalizamos?"

And the grocery store got really weirded out by that request.

Aos da tenda amoscounos bastante ese encargo.

They wanted a letter on official government letterhead.

Pedíronnos unha carta en papel timbrado.

Well, we work for the government, so we wrote a letter that said,

Ben, como traballamos para o goberno escribimos unha carta que poñía:

"You can use this public-domain form

"Pode vostede facer uso deste formulario público

on a cake for celebratory purposes."

sobre un pastel con fins conmemorativos."

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Which led to bad jokes about filling forms out in triplicake.

Deu pé a algún chiste malo sobre cubrir pasteis por triplicado.

Yes, dad jokes in government.

Si, fanse chistes sen graza na administración.

Now I've talked a lot about paper,

Ben, falei moito sobre papeis,

but we also bring up computer systems that go down.

pero nós tamén restablecemos sistemas informáticos que se colgan.

We bring in modern technology practices,

Aportamos prácticas modernas,

like user-centered design and the cloud,

como o deseño centrado no usuario e a nube,

and we also help improve procurement.

e tamén axudamos a mellorar os procesos de adquisición.

It turns out government buys software

Resulta que o goberno compra programas informáticos

the same way that it buys chairs and brownies and tanks:

igual que compra cadeiras, biscoitos ou tanques:

from government regulations that are over 1,000 pages long.

aplicando regulamentos de xestión de máis de mil páxinas.

So yes, there's some stuff that's messed up in government right now.

Si, certas cousas da Administración están algo atrapalladas.

But if you think Silicon Valley is the savior in this story,

Pero se pensades que Sillicon Valley é o salvador nesta historia,

(Laughs)

(Ri)

you've got another thing coming.

ides descamiñados.

Some of the best and brightest minds in technology

Algunhas das mentes máis brillantes no ámbito das tecnoloxías

are working on meal-delivery start-ups

están creando empresas de reparto de comida,

and scooters

de patinetes,

and how to deliver weed to people better.

ou no mellor método de distribuír maría.

Is that really the most important thing to work on right now?

De verdade que iso é o máis importante neste momento?

Silicon Valley likes to talk about making the world a better place.

A Sillicon Valley gústalle falar de facer do mundo un lugar mellor.

But you feel your impact in a much more visceral way

Pero percibes o teu impacto dun xeito moito máis intenso

in government.

na Administración.

This is somebody whose dad passed away.

Este é alguén que perdeu a seu pai.

He hunted me down on Twitter

Buscoume en Twitter

to say that a system that we had improved

para dicirme que un sistema que nós melloráramos

worked well for him during a tough time.

funcionou ben no seu caso nun momento moi duro.

Those tough times are when government needs to work well

É neses momentos duros cando ten que funcionar a Administración.

and why we need innovation in government.

Por iso necesitamos innovar neste eido.

Now I have a confession to make.

Teño que confesarvos algo.

When I came to DC,

Cando vin á capital,

I sometimes used words like bureaucrat.

usaba ás veces palabras como burócrata.

These days,

Ultimamente

I'm much more likely to use words like civil servant.

é máis probable que use "servidor público".

Like Francine, who can make you cry.

Como Francine, que che pode facer chorar.

Or at least, she made me cry,

Polo menos a min fíxome chorar,

because she's so inspiring.

porque é realmente inspiradora.

I am also deeply, fiercely proud of my colleagues.

Tamén estou profundamente orgulloso dos meus colegas.

They will work through illogical situations

Non paran ata resolver situacións ilóxicas

and put in late nights to get to the right result.

botando as horas que faga falla ata lograr o resultado desexado.

The government can't pay huge salary bonuses,

A Administración non pode pagar grandes bonificacións,

so we ended up making our own awards.

así que inventamos os nosos propios premios.

Our mascot is a crab named Molly.

A nosa mascota é o cangrexo Molly.

And so that award is actually a crab-shaped purse,

E o premio é de feito un bolso con forma de cangrexo

screwed into sheet metal.

fixado a unha placa de metal.

These days, I believe less in silver bullets

Nos tempos que corren xa non creo tanto en fórmulas máxicas

that are going to fix everything.

que o solucionan todo.

I believe more

Creo máis

in the people who show up to help.

nas persoas que están aí para axudar.

(Aplausos)

If you're looking for something deeply meaningful --

Se buscades algo cun significado profundo de verdade

and full disclosure, sometimes incredibly frustrating --

e, para servos totalmente sincero, ás veces terriblemente frustrante,

here's what you need to know.

isto é o que tedes que saber.

There is something difficult

Algo difícil e embarullado

and messy and vital and magical happening

e vital e máxico

acontece cando os funcionarios públicos colaboran con tecnólogos

when civil servants partner with technologists

at the city and state and national level.

no nivel da cidade, do estado ou de todo o país.

You don't have to do it forever.

Non ten por que ser para sempre.

But you can make a difference in public service

Pero podedes cambiar as cousas no servizo público

right now.

desde xa.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)