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

翻译人员: CHAWLIN GU 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

Hi everybody.

大家好，

My name is Matt Cutts,

我的名字是马特·卡兹，

and I worked at Google for almost 17 years.

我在谷歌公司工作了将近十七年。

As a distinguished engineer there,

作为那里一个杰出的工程师，

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

我曾经十分接近 硅谷生态系统的顶层。

Then I decided to follow some inspiring folks

随后，我决定追随一些 让我深受启发的人们，

and do a short tour at the US Digital Service.

在美国数据服务中心 来一次简短的“旅行”。

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

正是这群人，在 2013 年政府的 健康关爱网站（HealthCare.gov）

when that website went down hard in 2013.

陷入绝境时，出手拯救了这个网站。

Yeah.

是的。

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

我申请了一个三到六个月的工作，

and almost three years later,

将近三年后，

I'm still in Washington DC,

我仍然在华盛顿特区，

working for the federal government,

为联邦政府工作，

because the government really needs technologists right now.

因为政府现在真的需要技术人员。

At my old job,

在我过去的工作中，

every room had videoconferencing

每个房间都有视频会议

integrated with calendars,

和日程表，

power cables were built right into the furniture.

电缆直接埋进了办公设施中。

When I moved to a government agency,

当我进入政府部门时，

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

我不得不打电话 叫人来开电话会议。

And when we moved to a new office,

当我们搬到一个新的办公室时，

we didn't have furniture for a while,

最开始连家具都没有，

so we set up the phone on a trash can.

所以我们在垃圾桶上 安装了一个电话。

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

其中一件令我震惊的事是， 无论我何时去华盛顿特区，

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

政府需要处理的 纸质文件数量都大到惊人。

This is a facility in Winston-Salem,

这是一个在北加利福尼亚州

North Carolina,

温斯顿-塞勒姆的机构，

where people were worried

那里的人们在担心那个建筑，

that the building might be structurally unsound

也许会由于那里 纸张的总重量过于庞大

from the weight of all that paper.

变得摇摇欲坠。

Yeah.

没错。

Paper has some downsides.

纸制品有一些缺点。

Here's a pop quiz:

给大家一个突击测验：

如果你的姓由 H 或更后的字母开头，

If your last name starts with H or higher,

H or higher, would you raise your hand?

有人是这样的吗？请举手！

Wow.

哇哦。

I have some bad news:

我有一些坏消息：

你的退伍老兵记录也许已经 在 1973 年的大火中

Your veteran records might have been destroyed

in a fire in 1973.

被焚毁了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Yeah.

很遗憾。

纸张处理也是更缓慢， 更容易产生错误的。

Paper processes are also slower and more prone to errors.

If you're a veteran

如果你是一个退伍老兵，

and you're applying for your health benefits

并且你正在以纸质申请表的形式

申请医疗福利，

using a paper form,

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

你也许不得不花上几个月 来等待你的申请表被审核。

We replaced that with a web form,

我们用网络申请表的形式 代替了纸质表格，

and now most veterans find out

现在大部分的退伍老兵发现，

if they can get access to their health benefits

他们能在 10 分钟内得到

in 10 minutes.

所需要的医疗福利。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

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

这是另一个我引以为豪的平台，

We worked with the Small Business Administration

我们跟小型企业管理局合作，

to move one of their systems from paper to digital.

来将其中一个系统数字化。

So this is a picture from before,

这是之前的一张图片，

and this is afterwards.

这是之后的。

Same cubicles, same people,

同样的小隔间，同样的人，

just a better system for everyone.

改变的只是一个惠及所有人的系统。

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

有一天，我们想庆祝 使一个不同的系统现代化了，

and so we went to a local grocery store

所以我们去了一个 当地的食品杂货店，

and we said, "Can you make a cake

说，“你能做一个蛋糕

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

并且用我们已经 数据化了的表格来装饰吗？”

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

店员明显对那个请求 感到不可思议，

They wanted a letter on official government letterhead.

于是他们想要一个 有官方题头的信。

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

既然我们为政府工作， 就顺手写了一封信，

"You can use this public-domain form

信上说：“你可以在蛋糕上

on a cake for celebratory purposes."

用这个公共的表格来庆祝。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

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

这就催生了关于在三层蛋糕上 填写表格的冷笑话。

Yes, dad jokes in government.

对，政府让人尴尬的低级笑话。

Now I've talked a lot about paper,

现在我已经讲了很多 关于纸张的事情了，

but we also bring up computer systems that go down.

但是我们也讲了 被大众接受的计算机系统。

We bring in modern technology practices,

我们进行了现代技术实践，

like user-centered design and the cloud,

比如以用户为中心的 设计和云端系统，

and we also help improve procurement.

并且我们也帮助改善了采购系统。

It turns out government buys software

我们发现，政府购买软件

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

和购买椅子，糕点， 坦克用的是一样的方式：

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

根据超过一千页长的政府条约。

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

所以，现在政府内部有些混乱。

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

但是如果你认为在这个故事中 硅谷是那个救世主，

(Laughs)

（笑声）

you've got another thing coming.

你最好再重新思考一下。

Some of the best and brightest minds in technology

一些最优秀，最聪明的技术人才

are working on meal-delivery start-ups

正在围绕送餐，

and scooters

小轮摩托车，

and how to deliver weed to people better.

和烟草递送开办创业公司。

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

这些真的是现在最应该 重点研究的事情吗？

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

硅谷工作人员倾向于谈论 让世界变得更好。

But you feel your impact in a much more visceral way

但在政府中，你能更真切地感受到

in government.

自己的影响力。

This is somebody whose dad passed away.

这位先生的父亲去世了，

He hunted me down on Twitter

他在推特上找到了我，

to say that a system that we had improved

说我们改进的一个系统帮助他

worked well for him during a tough time.

度过了非常艰难的一段日子。

Those tough times are when government needs to work well

这些困难的时刻正是 政府需要好好工作的时候，

and why we need innovation in government.

也是我们在政府内部 需要创新的原因。

Now I have a confession to make.

现在我要坦白。

When I came to DC,

当我初到华盛顿特区时，

I sometimes used words like bureaucrat.

我有时会用官僚主义者这类词汇。

These days,

这些天，

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

我更倾向于用人民公仆这类词汇。

Like Francine, who can make you cry.

像弗朗辛，她能让你们感动。

Or at least, she made me cry,

或者至少她让我很感动，

because she's so inspiring.

因为她的言辞是如此的激励人心。

I am also deeply, fiercely proud of my colleagues.

我也深深的，强烈的 为我的同事们自豪。

They will work through illogical situations

他们会克服很多困境，

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

为了得到正确的结果 而废寝忘食的工作。

The government can't pay huge salary bonuses,

政府没有能力支付高昂的奖金，

so we ended up making our own awards.

所以我们会自己提供奖励。

Our mascot is a crab named Molly.

我们的吉祥物是 一个叫茉莉的螃蟹，

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

更确切的说， 是一个螃蟹形的钱包，

screwed into sheet metal.

固定在一块金属板上。

These days, I believe less in silver bullets

这些天，我越来越不相信

that are going to fix everything.

什么万全的解决方案。

I believe more

我更相信

in the people who show up to help.

愿意挺身而出，提供帮助的人们。

If you're looking for something deeply meaningful --

如果你正在寻找一些 有深刻意义的事情——

and full disclosure, sometimes incredibly frustrating --

完全的公开， 有时令人十分的沮丧——

here's what you need to know.

那么你需要知道：

There is something difficult

当公务员与城市、

and messy and vital and magical happening

州和国家层面的技术人员合作时，

when civil servants partner with technologists

一些困难、混乱而又重要

at the city and state and national level.

和神奇的事情就会发生。

You don't have to do it forever.

你不必永远做这件事情。

But you can make a difference in public service

但是你能对公共服务 做出贡献的时机，

right now.

就是现在。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）