INTERNSHIP

Emerging Citizen Technology Program research assistant

Through a program called The Washington Center that assists students in acquiring internship experience in Washington D.C., I was able to earn an internship with the US Government in the GSA's Emerging Citizen Technology Program. The GSA's Emerging Citizen Technology Program is the leading force behind the adoption and implementation of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual/Augmented Reality, Blockchain technology, and the U.S. Digital Registry for government use. The program has current partnerships with agencies such as the World Bank, the Secretary of State's Office of Global Partnerships, and the White House national subcommittee on Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence for continued research and developments towards the integration of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual/Augmented Reality, and Blockchain technology for government use. I was a research assistant for the program for the entire summer of 2017, spanning three months from May to August. 

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I attended and participated in meetings with the Secretary of State's Office of Global Partnerships, the White House’s National Subcommittee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, UNDP, World Bank Group, Federal Acquisition Services, IFC bank, and the founder and president of The Chamber of Digital Commerce. I’ve also attended events and meetings put together by Amazon’s Dcode, Google, and IBM. I was also able to attend a dinner and reception at the Swedish Ambassador’s residence to celebrate ongoing work on Open Government. Because of my internship supervisor wishing for me to gain as much knowledge and experience as I could, I was always allowed a seat at the table, to interact with other attendees, and to voice my own opinions as well. 

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Within the internship we were allowed to choose a point of focus and expertise, I chose to focus on Blockchain technology as I had an immediate interest and saw a rising potential in it. I was a note-taker for most of the meetings and events I shadowed my supervisor in, I was able to head the Emerging Citizen Technology’s government wide listserv on the latest blockchain news and events, and I assisted in putting together the US Federal Blockchain Forum hosted by both the Emerging Citizen Technology Program and the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnerships on July 18th 2017 which was the first interagency blockchain forum. The event was hosted at the GSA and by my internship supervisor. The event featured speakers such as Marion Cook the leader of the Illinois blockchain initiative, David Schweikert who represents the 6th district of Arizona and is a member of the congressional blockchain forum, and Alan B. Thomas the commissioner of Federal Acquisition Services. I also attended a Whitehouse Roundtable meeting on Open Data for Economic Growth as an official notetaker on July 25th 2017.

   My internship, being focused primarily on researching the implications of the implementation of emerging technologies in federal agencies, was not within the scope of my major. My supervisor was hiring interns he felt could take the initiative and adapt well to new and unknown situations through our interviewing process. Through this internship I proved to myself that I could fully educate myself on a topic that was not only new to me but also new to many of the people I was attending meetings with, and hold my ground on it too. My internship not only honed my researching, writing, speaking, and networking skills, it also gave me lifelong mentors and friends. Working in D.C. instilled in me a strong sense of what direction I wish to take my career and the sort of job markets I would be looking to break into.