The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver significant results in months, not years. It was established in 2012 and has operated continuously since then. The program focuses on generating measurable results, using innovation techniques from private industry such as Lean Startup, Design Thinking, and Agile Development.[1]
The highly competitive program features an acceptance rate in the single digits. In the inaugural round in the summer of 2012, over 700 applicants competed for 18 fellowships.[2] The second class included 43 fellows[3] selected from over 2000 applicants.[4] The third round consisted of 27 fellows selected from over 1500 applicants. The Presidential Innovation Fellows program and the fellows themselves are commonly referred to by the shorthand “PIF” (pronounced “Pif”).[5]
In 2015, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order making the Presidential Innovation Fellows program a permanent part of the U.S. federal government.[6]
- ^ Todd Park (2013-04-01). "Wanted: A Few Good Women and Men to Serve as Presidential Innovation Fellows | The White House". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2015-08-20 – via National Archives.
- ^ Steven VanRoekel. "Hitting the Ground Running With the Digital Strategy | The White House". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Presidential Innovation Fellows: Meet the Round 2 Presidential Innovation Fellows | the White House". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ^ Steve VanRoekel and Todd Park. "A Smarter, More Innovative Government for the American People | The White House". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-04-30 – via National Archives.
- ^ Tory Newmyer (2014-09-04). "Can A Tech Strike Force Fix Washington; Fortune". fortune.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
- ^ Gregory Korte (2015-08-20). "Obama Makes Presidential Innovation Fellows Permanent; USA Today". USAToday.com. Retrieved 2015-08-20.