The creation of this website was for a class project at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. This project helped us realize that data and code are no longer just for programmers. Policymakers, from members of congress to analysts and executives, need to be equipped with the necessary skills to navigate government in the 21st century. Working on this project as a team gave us hands-on experience with programming, data, software development, agile management methods and processes, open source collaboration, and technology innovation. Specifically, we have become familiar with technologies that are a part of the modern programmers toolkit including the command-line, github, the structure of a web application, the linux filesystem, data standards (json, XML, etc.), cloud technologies, and databases. The members of our project team are as follows:
Julie Smith is a joint MBA/MPA candidate at MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Kennedy School. Before graduate school, Julie worked for a blockchain-focused venture capital firm, Medici Ventures, where she led deal sourcing and due diligence for five areas of investment: capital markets, property registry, money and banking, voting systems, and identity. Prior to that she worked in equity sales and trading at Morgan Stanley. After graduation, she will be joining the tech investment banking group at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University, where she was on the varsity swimming and rowing teams. LinkedIn Profile. GitHub Profile.
James Moore was a former Senior Government Consultant in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Bureau in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He was the first foreigner to hold such a position in Zhejiang province. He was responsible for various research, policy, and economic development projects. He has lived in Asia for over 10 years working in the retail, consulting, and now government sectors. He has personally set up and run four wholly foreign-owned enterprises in China and currently sits on the board of a global firm in Salt Lake City. He holds a BA in Chinese from Brigham Young University, a Ph.D. from Zhejiang University in Entrepreneurship Management, and is currently pursuing an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. James and his wife are the proud parents of five children. LinkedIn Profile. GitHub Profile.
John Taplett is a MC/MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before HKS, John co-founded Colvin Run Networks (CRN), an AI and blockchain software company that serves the Department of Defense and other branches of the Federal Government. Prior to CRN, John founded and led OAG Analytics, an AI software company focused on the upstream energy sector; John exited OAG in 2019. Before entering the software industry John worked as a M&A banker and an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy. He holds a MBA from the ChicagoBooth, a MS from the National Defence Intelligence College, and a BA from Columbia University. LinkedIn Profile. GitHub Profile.