Nick Sinai Explained

Nick Sinai
Office:Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States
Under Todd Park
Term Start:January 2013
Term End:December 2014
President:Barack Obama
Successor:Ryan Panchadsaram
Office2:Energy and Environment Director, Federal Communications Commission
Term Start2:August 2009
Term End2:December 2010
President2:Barack Obama
Alma Mater:Harvard University
University of Chicago[1]

Nick Sinai is a venture capitalist, adjunct faculty at Harvard Kennedy School, author, and a former senior official in the Obama Administration.

Nick Sinai was the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States.[2] He assumed this role under the second Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Todd Park, and continued under Megan Smith. Sinai was formerly a Senior Advisor to Park as well as to the first U.S. CTO, Aneesh Chopra, starting in 2010.[3]

Sinai was a volunteer on the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign and was selected to the leadership team of her Tech and Innovation transition team. During the campaign, he contributed to the Hillary for America policy proposal on technology and innovation, and a policy memo on transforming procurement.[4]

Sinai is a regular contributor to the TV Show Government Matters,[5] and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal[6] and the Economist.[7]

Harvard Kennedy School

As Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, he teaches a class on policy implementation. Previously, he designed and taught the field class “Technology and Innovation in Government.”[8] His students learned user-centered design, prototyping, user-testing, and how to hack bureaucracies with empathy to get stuff done.[9]

Sinai was the inaugural Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he focused on data as public infrastructure and the media, policy, and economic implications of providing greater public access to government data.[10] [11] Sinai is currently a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, as part of the Technology and Public Purpose Project, and was previously a faculty affiliate of the Shorenstein Center.[12] [13]

At the Belfer Center, Sinai has written about Improving Veterans’ Digital Experience Across Presidential Administrations, Human-Centered Policymaking, and Modernizing the Regulatory State.[14] [15] [16] [17] Sinai co-authored a 2017 Harvard Business School case about the U.S. Digital Service, a Politico op-ed on digital government, and is a regular blogger about modernizing government.[18]

Sinai is a faculty mentor to the Harvard Open Data Project, a group of over 40 Harvard College students showcasing uses of Harvard University data—including predicting the results of the undergraduate student government election.[19] He is an advisor to Coding It Forward, a non-profit by and for early-career technologists creating new opportunities into public interest technology, including the Civic Digital Fellowship, a summer fellowship program for early-career technologists, designers, and product managers to innovate in the federal government.[20] [21] Since its founding in 2017, Coding It Forward has hosted over 300 Fellows as part of the Fellowship across 12 federal agencies.[22] [23]

U.S. Digital Corps

Sinai co-founded the U.S. Digital Corps, with Chris Kuang and Caitlin Gandhi.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] The U.S. Digital Corps, a two year federal fellowship for early career technologists, was launched in August 2021 by the Biden administration, in a collaboration between the General Services Administration (GSA), the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.[30] [31] It is a cross‑government fellowship opportunity operated by the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS).

Insight Venture Partners

Sinai is a Senior Advisor and Venture Partner at Insight Venture Partners.[32] Founded in 1995, Insight Venture Partners has raised more than $30 billion in capital commitments, including $9.5 billion in its Fund XI in 2020. Insight has invested in more than 400 companies since its inception.

Sinai joined Insight in late 2014.[33] He is a board member at Rebellion Defense,[34] LeoLabs,[35] HawkEye 360,[36] and BrightBytes[37] and helped invest in Virgin Pulse and Recorded Future.[38]

Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States

As U.S. Deputy CTO, Sinai led President Obama’s Open Data Initiatives to liberate data to fuel innovation and economic growth.[39] [40] [41] A prominent advocate and frequent speaker for Open Data,[42] [43] [44] [45] he has said “government data is a valuable asset and should be available wherever possible”[46] and that data “should be thought of as infrastructure."[47] He contributed to President Obama’s Executive Order 13642,[48] the re-launch of Data.gov,[49] Project Open Data,[50] the U.S. Digital Services Playbook,[51] the G8 Open Data Charter,[52] the White House Big Data report,[53] and the U.S. Open Data Action Plan.

Sinai led Administration efforts to give Americans easier access to their own data and to advance the idea that Americans deserve secure access to their own healthcare (Blue Button),[54] energy, student loan, tax, and other personal data in machine-readable formats. He launched the White House’s Green Button Initiative,[55] a public-private effort to provide electricity customers online access to their own energy usage data.[56]

He led the Open Government Initiative[57] and developed the second U.S. Open Government Plan,[58] to ensure that the federal government is more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Improvements underway as part of the plan include greater fiscal transparency,[59] opening up the We the People online petition platform, and improving service for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.[60] Sinai was part of the U.S. delegation at the Open Government Partnership Head of State event,[61] where President Obama unveiled new transparency commitments to improve accessibility to federal financial data, improve federal digital services, strengthen patient privacy in the health care system, and develop a federal open source software policy.[62] [63]

Sinai also helped start and grow the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which brings tech-savvy entrepreneurs into the federal government for year-long "tours of duty", with a particular focus on data innovation projects.[64] [65] He also contributed to the launch and growth of U.S. Digital Service, including co-authoring part of the Digital Services Playbook.[66] [67] In January 2017, with less than an hour left in office, President Obama signed the TALENT Act, bipartisan legislation that made the Presidential Innovation Fellows Program a permanent part of the Federal government. Sinai’s role in the legislation and the details of the dramatic signing was captured in a WIRED piece entitled “The Race to Pass Obama’s Last Law and Save Tech in DC.”[68]

Sinai also played a key role in developing the Administration’s $4.5B grid modernization strategy[69] to build a smarter and more secure electric grid,[70] and helped develop President Obama’s ConnectED initiative[71] to bring fast broadband and digital learning to 99% of students.[72]

National Broadband Plan

Prior to the White House, Sinai served at the Federal Communications Commission, where he helped draft the National Broadband Plan.[73] [74] [75] The plan included recommendations that the U.S. should modernize the electrical grid, improve the energy efficiency of the IT industry, and unleash “energy innovation in homes and buildings by making energy data readily accessible by consumers.”[76] In 2009, Congressman Ed Markey introduced legislation, the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act (e-KNOW Act), H.R.5696, in the 111th Congress (2009–2010), based on the policy recommendations in the National Broadband Plan.[77] President Obama also put forth a recommendation in the National Broadband Plan that “Congress should make clear that state, regional and local governments can build broadband networks”[78] as a policy proposal in the build up to his 2015 State of the Union.[79] [80]

Earlier career

Sinai was a venture capitalist at Polaris Partners and Lehman Brothers Venture Partners (now Tenaya Capital).[81] At Polaris, he invested in LogMeIn, a company that went public in 2009.[82] He also served in executive and advisory roles with two Boston area start-up technology companies, and served as a senior advisor to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.[83]

Sinai earned an M.B.A from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an A.B. from Harvard University.[81]

Works and Publications

Notes and References

  1. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=20492154 BusinessWeek Executive Profile: Nick Sinai
  2. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/about/leadershipstaff The White House: OSTP Leadership & Staff
  3. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/01/26/building-strong-lasting-economy-energy-innovation White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: Building a Strong, Lasting Economy With Energy Innovation
  4. Web site: Clinton Campaign: We Would've Made Procurement Great Again. December 28, 2016. Bloomberg News. 2018-12-18.
  5. Web site: Government Matters. 2018-12-18.
  6. News: Tech Firms Find Washington Isn't So Hands-Off Anymore. McKinnon. John. September 15, 2017. The Wall Street Journal. December 18, 2018.
  7. News: Big technology firms are newly in the hot seat at home. 2017-09-21. The Economist. 2018-12-18. 0013-0613.
  8. Web site: Tech and Innovation in Government. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  9. Web site: Harvard Students Hack Government with Empathy. Sinai. Nick. 2018-06-26. Medium. 2018-12-18.
  10. Web site: Aneesh Chopra and Nick Sinai announced as the inaugural Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellows. 2014-11-03. Shorenstein Center. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  11. Web site: Nick Sinai: Writing and Events. Shorenstein Center. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  12. Web site: Technology and Public Purpose: Experts. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  13. Web site: Faculty and Staff. Shorenstein Center. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  14. Web site: Improving Veterans' Digital Experience Across Presidential Administrations. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  15. Web site: Human-Centered Policymaking. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  16. Web site: Data, Not Documents: Modernizing the Regulatory State. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  17. Web site: Senior Fellow Nick Sinai. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  18. Web site: Nick Sinai. Medium. en. 2018-12-18.
  19. Web site: Hacking Harvard open data to fight crime, save energy, and improve student life. Kan. Athena. 2016-10-27. Medium. 2018-12-18.
  20. Web site: How SOCOM tapped college students to work on new tech. FedScoop. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  21. Web site: Here's what year two of Coding it Forward's Civic Digital Fellowship looks like. FedScoop. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  22. Web site: Coding it Forward fellowship propels next generation of government IT leaders. Government Matters. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  23. Web site: The TechCongress Podcast. TechCongress. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  24. Web site: U.S. Digital Corps Expands Government Expertise. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  25. Web site: The U.S. Just Launched A 'Digital Corps' To Attract More Young People Into Government Tech. Forbes. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  26. Web site: Entry-level tech talent the focus of GSA's new Digital Corps fellowship. Federal News Network. 30 August 2021 . en-US. 2022-02-08.
  27. Web site: Experts want a Biden fellowship targeting young technologists. FedSc. 17 December 2020 . en-US. 2022-02-08.
  28. Web site: White House launches US Digital Corps. FedScoop. 30 August 2021 . en-US. 2022-02-08.
  29. Web site: The Digital Corps. The Day One Project. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  30. Web site: United States Digital Corps. United States Digital Corps. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  31. Web site: Biden administration to launch US Digital Corps. CNET. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  32. Web site: Insight Venture Partners. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  33. U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Nick Sinai Joins Insight Venture Partners. PR Newswire. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  34. Web site: Exclusive: Rebellion Defense raises $150 million at $1 billion valuation. Axios. 15 September 2021 . en-US. 2022-02-08.
  35. Web site: Space debris tracker LeoLabs raises $65 million as satellites launch to orbit at unprecedented rate. CNBC. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  36. Web site: HawkEye 360 raises $145 million in Series D round. Space News. 9 November 2021 . en-US. 2022-02-08.
  37. Web site: BrightBytes raises $33M to help schools everywhere gauge the impact of technology in classrooms. 2015-07-21. VentureBeat. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  38. Web site: Recorded Future Raises $25M to Keep Tabs on the Dark Web. Fortune. en. 2018-12-18.
  39. http://fcw.com/articles/2013/12/17/open-data-500.aspx NYU project touts 500 top open-data firms
  40. http://fedscoop.com/white-house-hails-new-study-open-data/ White House hails new study on open data
  41. http://fedscoop.com/research-data-lost-soon/ Could research data be lost soon?
  42. http://csreports.aspeninstitute.org/Forum-on-Communications-and-Society/2013/participants Aspen Institute FOCS Participants
  43. http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/panelists-talk-tech-say-government-can-get-it-right-103464.html Panelists talk tech, say government can get it right
  44. http://www.politico.com/events/outside-in-launch-event/ Politico Outside, In Launch Event
  45. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTINFORMATIONANDCOMMUNICATIONANDTECHNOLOGIES/0,,contentMDK:23400742~menuPK:282859~pagePK:64020865~piPK:51164185~theSitePK:282823,00.html G8 World Bank Open Data for Agriculture Agenda
  46. http://www.ideaslaboratory.com/2014/01/24/open-data-power-to-the-people-projects-and-prosperity/ Ideas Lab Open Data: Power to People, Projects and Prosperity
  47. https://medium.com/@ShorensteinCtr/data-as-infrastructure-651b6a952a91 Shorenstein Center: Data as Infrastructure
  48. http://www.data.gov/consumer/white-house-open-data-round-up/ Data.gov: White House: Open Data Round Up
  49. http://www.informationweek.com/government/open-government/white-house-launches-more-open-data-initiatives/d/d-id/1316732 Information Week: White House Launches More Open Data Initiatives
  50. http://www.fedtechmagazine.com/article/2014/04/open-data-interview-us-deputy-cto-nick-sinai FedTech Magazine: Open Data: An Interview with U.S. Deputy CTO Nick Sinai
  51. http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2014/09/why-cant-government-websites-be-more-amazon/93437/ NextGov: Why Can't Government Websites Be More Like Amazon?
  52. https://github.com/project-open-data/G8_Metadata_Mapping/blob/master/index.md Nick Sinai Github: G8 Metadata Mapping
  53. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/06/24/big-data-open-data-federal-agencies White House: Big Data, Open Data, and Federal Agencies
  54. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/02/07/leading-pharmacies-and-retailers-join-blue-button-initiative Leading Pharmacies and Retailers Join Blue Button Initiative
  55. http://www.demandresponsesmartgrid.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1275725 Green Button Q&A with Nick Sinai of the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP)
  56. http://www.opendatanow.com/2013/05/white-house-interview-the-new-open-data-policy/#.UzzFKlzUCLE White House Interview on the New Open Data Policy
  57. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/open White House Open Government Initiative
  58. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/06/united-states-releases-its-second-open-government-national-action-plan United States Releases Its Second Open Government Plan
  59. http://usaspending.gov/ USASpending.gov
  60. https://18f.gsa.gov/2014/09/04/a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act/ 18F: A New Look at the Freedom of Information Act
  61. http://www.opengovpartnership.org Open Government Partnership
  62. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/24/celebrating-open-government-around-globe White House: Celebrating Open Government Around the Globe
  63. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-assembly-obama-idUSKCN0HJ1VU20140925 Reuters: Obama at U.N. pledges steps to more open government
  64. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2014/03/27/u-s-deputy-cto-looking-for-a-few-good-data-fellows-in-boston/ U.S. Deputy CTO Looking for a Few Good Data Fellows
  65. https://web.archive.org/web/20140310012748/http://www.whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows/projects White House: Presidential Innovation Fellows Projects
  66. Web site: USDS = taxpayer value, former White House deputy CTO says. Mitchell. Billy. January 24, 2017. FedScoop. 2018-12-18.
  67. Web site: What Is the Future of the U.S. Digital Service?. Goldstein. Phil Goldstein. 2017-03-15. FedTech. en. 2018-12-18.
  68. The Mad Dash to Pass President Obama's Last Law—and Keep Technology at Work in Washington. Lapowsky. Issie. 2017-01-27. Wired. 2018-12-18. 1059-1028.
  69. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/nstc-smart-grid-june2011.pdf White House: A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future
  70. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/02/26/taking-action-stronger-smarter-cleaner-electric-grid White House: Taking Action for a Stronger, Smarter, Cleaner Electric Grid
  71. https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/connected White House: ConnectED Initiative
  72. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/press-releases/inaugural-walter-shorenstein-fellows Harvard Kennedy School: Aneesh Chopra and Nick Sinai Announced as Inaugural Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellows
  73. http://www.broadband.gov/plan/12-energy-and-the-environment/ National Broadband Plan
  74. http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Video-Education-and-Information/Smart-Grid-Innovations-in-the-National-Broadband-Plan-2384.html Smart Grid Innovations in the National Broadband Plan
  75. http://www.technewsdaily.com/178-national-broadband-plan-crucial-for-smart-power-grids.html National Broadband Plan Crucial For 'Smart' Power Grids
  76. http://gigaom.com/2010/03/15/fcc-broadband-plan-goal-use-broadband-to-manage-energy-consumption/ FCC Broadband Plan Goal: Use Broadband to Manage Energy Consumption
  77. Web site: H.R. 5696. Markey. Edward J.. www.congress.gov. 2018-12-18.
  78. Web site: National Broadband Plan. 2014-06-23. Federal Communications Commission. en. 2018-12-18.
  79. https://www.wired.com/2015/01/white-house-community-broadband/ Wired: White House Backs Cities That Want to Build Their Own Super-Speed Internet
  80. http://recode.net/2015/01/13/white-house-says-u-s-broadband-market-needs-more-competition/ Re/Code: White House Says U.S. Broadband Market Needs More Competition
  81. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2007/12/07/polaris-senior-associate-and-greenfuel-vp-nick-sinai-joining-lehman-brothers-venture-arm-in-boston/ Polaris Senior Associate and Greenfuel VP Nick Sinai Joining Lehman Brothers Venture Arm in Boston
  82. Web site: LogMeIn's IPO Prices At $16/Share As Second Quarter Closes. Austin. Scott. 2009-06-30. WSJ. en-US. 2018-12-18.
  83. http://www.affirm.org/luncheon/Smart-Grid Association for Federal Information Resources Management March Monthly Luncheon
  84. Book: Hack Your Bureaucracy. Hachette Book Group. 3 January 2022 . 9780306827778 . en-US. 2022-02-08 . Nitze . Marina . Sinai . Nick . Hachette Books .
  85. Web site: U.S. Digital Corps Expands Government Expertise. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  86. Web site: Improving Veterans' Digital Experience Across Presidential Administrations. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  87. Web site: Human-Centered Policymaking. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  88. Web site: Data, Not Documents: Modernizing the Regulatory State. Harvard Kennedy School. en-US. 2022-02-08.
  89. Web site: Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan. Federal Communications Commission. fcc.gov. December 18, 2018.

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