White House adds names to tech strike team

The White House is giving new information about the minds that make up its new digital task force.

Mikey Dickerson, a former Google programmer who made a name for himself leading the fix of HealthCare.gov and is now in charge of building up the new U.S. Digital Service, announced the identities of a handful of gurus on the nascent team on Friday.

{mosads}One new addition is Erie Meyer, a senior assistant to U.S. chief technology officer Todd Park who helped start technology projects at the Consumer Financial protection Bureau and was named to Forbes’s “30 under 30” list for technology this year.

Another one is Jennifer Anastasoff, founder of a startup that tries to bring business leaders into state and local government.

Also on the Digital Service is Vivian Graubard, who led the technology efforts on a presidential task force that resulted in the creation of NotAlone.gov, a website designed to fight back against sexual assault.

Software engineer Brian Lefler and Haley Van Dyck, who helped spur major digital plans for the Obama administration, have also signed up for the team, which is looking to grow to about 25 people.

“The amount of enthusiasm and support we’ve received — from our partners at the agencies, members of the tech community, and the American people (including a colleague’s grandmother and many others who advised me to iron my shirts) — is truly inspiring,” Dickerson wrote in a White House blog post.

But he’s not done.

“We are continuing to build a team of tech experts that have mastered a variety of disciplines, including design, procurement, human resources, and finance,” he wrote. “The Digital Service team and [the White House Office of Management and Budget] will work in collaboration with agencies to improve and simplify government digital services. “

The U.S. Digital Service was created to replicate the success Dickerson had righting HealthCare.gov in other places where the government interacts with people over the Web. In an introductory video last week, Dickerson suggested that taxes could be one subject the group could help simplify and make easier to understand.