Bronson leads civic tech panels at U-M Service Design Weekend

Taubman College’s Ron Bronson recently led an afternoon of panel discussions connecting students with practitioners who built the first generation of digital government as part of Service Design Weekend. The interdisciplinary event was held at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy’s Weill Hall and brought together departments across campus for two days of reimagining government. 

Bronson, assistant professor of practice in urban technology, organized Friday’s Years Ahead panels and design workshop, which included past and present representatives of 18F and U.S. Digital Service, two civic technology organizations that were nested in the federal government; Code for America; Public Policy Lab Midwest; and the Ann Arbor District Library. Topics included “What Working in Government Taught Me As A Technologist” and “How Change Actually Works: Perspectives on Policy, Power, and What Gets Built.”

Bronson is the director of Public Capacity Lab and spent 15 years in the public sector — including seven with 18F — working across city halls, state agencies, and the federal government, leading teams and delivering digital services at scale.

“I thought it was important to bring professionals to campus to help demystify all of the slow, often difficult work that goes into making change happen — not to discourage but to inspire our students,” he said.

Service Design Weekend was sponsored by Poverty Solutions, Urban Technology at Taubman College, Better Government Lab, Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy at the Ford School, Engaged Learning at U-M School of Information, Michigan Ross Business + Impact, and the School of Social Work’s Community Change Pathway.

Read a full recap of the weekend at Poverty Solutions.

Photos courtesy of Poverty Solutions.