India, June 10 -- In her book Recoding America, Jennifer Pahlka recounts her experience co-leading the Employment Development Department (EDD) task force in California during Covid-19. Covid relief was delayed by weeks due to a backlog stemming from outdated technology and rigid rules. For example, minor name mismatches could trigger a manual review, significantly delaying relief payments. We are often surprised when we first read about such systemic failures in a technologically advanced nation. But this is a global problem, a combination of technological choices, government contracting modalities, and rigid administrative processes. At a very different point in our technological journey within government, we face similar challenges in I...