The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) has appointed the 2021 class of fellows, which includes 34 technology and industry leaders that will work to develop innovative solutions to national issues, the agency reported on Monday. The fellows will partner with 22 federal agencies to increase resilience.
“Innovation thrives in partnerships, and with this new cohort, Presidential Innovation Fellows is uniting the best talent between the federal government and the private sector to drive the next generation of modern, human-centered solutions for the public,” said acting FAS deputy commissioner and Technology Transformation Services director Bob De Luca.
PIF was launched in 2012, featuring leaders across data science, software engineering, product, design and entrepreneurship. The fellows will merge industry expertise into 26 projects across 22 agencies.
The fellows will work to develop digital health platforms and diagnostic technologies that address the COVID-19 pandemic with the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
PIF Will also create a technical infrastructure to combat adversarial AI with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office (AITO), as well as protect consumer rights within the digital advertising ecosystem with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Division of Litigation Technology and Analysis, Office of Technology Research and Investigation.
“Presidential Innovation Fellows have played critical roles in the government’s response to multiple crises since the program’s inception,” said PIF executive director Joshua Di Frances. “Because of this, we have become a trusted partner to government leaders — both in agencies and the White House.”
The new fellows include Marian Adly, Natasha Bansgopaul, Ted Carstensen, Agata Ciesielski, Justin Cole, Antoinette Coleman, Aaron Creel, Masha Danilova, Alex Glade, Scott Gorman, Raashee Gupta Erry, Nathen Huang, Kamya Jagadish, Krishna Juluru, Michael Kreisel, Diana Lam, Vivian Lee, Tricia Martinez, Kimberly McManus, Janine Medina, Sabrina Mohamed, Babatunde Oguntade, Maria Patterson, Abrar Qureshi, Carlos Roqué, Emily Ryan, Payman Sadegh, Arunan Skandarajah, Dave Skender, Colin Supko, Brandy Thomas, Adrianna Valenti, Aamir Virani and Pia Zaragoza.
PIF is part of Technology Transformation Services within GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service.
