This week we sit down with Matt Cutts, the former head of Google's Webspam team. His job there was to defend the quality of Google's web search results, and you may know him as the creator of the first version of SafeSearch. As Paul noted on the show, he was seen as one of the few people with whom ordinary folks could communicate about the often inscrutable world of Google search results and rankings. You can read his blog here.
In 2016 Matt joined the United States Digital Services, or USDS, initially at the Department of Defense. Since 2017, Matt has served as the Administrator of USDS and is responsible for setting the overall direction and strategy for projects. He has worked on everything from Healthcare.gov, to online services for veterans, to fraud prevention at the IRS.
Topics discussed on this episode:
The 1993 comedy film Dave, in which Kevin Kline plays a presidential body double who manages to fix government and melt the heart of Sigourney Weaver.
Open source as an ever growing trend, even inside of big government.
Which organization has more meetings and processes: Google or the US federal government?