Think you're a ‘badass innovator?’ The President is looking for people just like you...

NextGov - White House seeks ‘badass innovators’

"The White House is seeking 20 high-powered Web and mobile developers for short-term assignments aimed at reducing the government’s online footprint, making agency data more accessible and rendering federal contracting less onerous for small businesses, federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park said Wednesday.

The Presidential Innovation Fellows program will start in July, Park said at a TechCrunch conference in New York City.

“Basically, what we’re looking for is badass innovators," he said. "[For] the baddest of the badasses out there to come to the government for focused six-to-12 month tours of duty to partner with our best innovators on game-changing projects . . . The idea is to work in a lean startup mode [and to] score a lot of significant points within six months.”

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WhiteHouse.gov - Presidential Innovation Fellows

The Presidential Innovation Fellows will pair top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, or academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on game-changing solutions that aim to deliver significant results in six months. Each team of innovators will work together in-person in Washington, DC on focused sprints while being supported by a broader community of interested citizens throughout the country. What makes this initiative unique is its focus on unleashing the ingenuity and know-how of Americans from all sectors.

The five projects that will launch in summer 2012 have straightforward goals: to improve the lives of the American people, saving taxpayer money, and fueling job creation. This is innovation aimed at making a difference for all Americans.

1. MyGov

2. Open Data Initiatives

3. Blue Button for America

4. RFP-EZ

5. The 20% Campaign

A friend of mine turned me onto this (Thanks Alan!) and while I doubt I'm badass enough, I thought this was easily cool enough to blog about (because I know some of you ARE badass enough!). Do you whine about the government, about how it doesn't use tech enough? Think you've got the right stuff to show them just how tech can change the world? Click on through and sign-up!