It sounds more like a job advertisement for a
Silicon Valley startup than state government
— and that’s the point. Newsom wants the $26
million, 50-person office to throw away the old
playbook and find ways to be more user-friendly
for the state’s 40 million residents when they do
such things as seek benefits, start a business or
renew a driver’s license.
California government has tried to infuse
innovation before.
The state’s technology department runs a
digital innovation academy and an innovation
lab, and it issued guidelines to make state
websites more usable last year. The Government
Operations Agency, which will oversee the new
office, already has a director of innovation and
accountability. The health and human services
agency has its own innovation office.
“Only Sacramento can take innovation and
make it more bureaucratic,” said Assemblyman
Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, who noted problems
persist with the state’s technology, from the
Department of Motor Vehicles to a new state
accounting system.
Even the DMV, which has been plagued by
hours-long lines and other hang ups, already has
a Newsom-appointed “strike team” focused on
improving its operations. The agency is closing
its offices statewide for a half-day in July for
employee training.
Members of the Newsom administration said
the new office can bring a fresh perspective
to state operations, ideally helping the state
run more like a business. They want people to
access state services with the ease of ordering a
ride, a meal or nearly anything else with the tap
of a smartphone.
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