Bipartisan Bill to Create Data Science Jobs in the Federal Government
Representative Jay Obernolte (R-CA) introduced H.R. 3533, the Federal Career Opportunities in Computer Science Work Act, which would establish career pathways in computer science within the federal government.
The legislation calls for creating new positions in the federal government for software professionals and data scientists and establishing “software development,” “software engineering,” “data science,” and “knowledge management” positions within the federal workforce.
The legislation, which was amended during committee markup to change the field “data management” to “knowledge management,” would give the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) 270 days to establish or update occupational categories in the four fields.
In a June 7, 2021 press release, Representative Obernolte, who is also a video game developer, highlighted the urgent need for such a piece of legislation. He explained, “The recent hacks of the Colonial Pipeline and JBS meat processing have highlighted the serious gaps in America’s abilities to protect from and respond to cyber-attacks, especially when they specifically threaten our national security. As a computer scientist, I believe there is much more we can do to improve our government’s ability to preclude incidents like these. We need to ensure the federal government has the ability to hire and retain top scientists if we want to improve our national security and prevent future cyberattacks.”
Representative Carolyn Maloney, (D-NY), Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said of the bill, “This bipartisan bill will ensure that federal employees will be able to spend a career performing meaningful work in cutting-edge technology fields within the federal government.”
Job classifications in the federal workforce do not currently cover many of the skills necessary to promote data science and strengthen digital infrastructure. Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY) furthered, “Currently, federal agencies can only hire for ‘computer science,’ ‘computer engineering’ and ‘information technology management. This does not adequately capture a modern government’s need to reflect the expanding private sector fields in IT and data.”
Suzette Kent, the former federal Chief Information Officer, explained to NextGov, “We know that there are professionals inside federal agencies already contributing in these skill set areas, but without a job series, there is inconsistency and much difficulty in acquiring new talent and ensuring that there is a professional development experience that encourages individuals to stay in government.”
