Digital Services Innovation Academy 2019 Graduation

The California Department of Technology’s Digital Services Innovation Academy (DSIA), a 10-week program that introduces the tools and skills required to transform a business problem from concept to product using modern design and development principles, honored it graduating class July 25 in Sacramento.

This year’s class produced three projects:

Digital currency, or CalCoin, is a cryptocurrency that can assist California in its pursuit of public health. Those receiving public assistance would be able to use CalCoin, with their smartphone, instead of vouchers or a debit card system. CalCoin deposits into an account that the user can access via a smartphone scan app and the purchase is made – easy, safe, and secure.

A new Amber Alert approach called eAmber is an enhanced, cloud-based approach that would help citizens and law enforcement in the recovery of an abducted child. It allows users to take advantage of mobile devices by using GIS, social media and crowdsourcing to share information quickly and widely in order to find the abducted child as fast as possible.

A homeless assistance app named CALiAM takes advantage of blockchain technology to verify identification and offers citizens access to services such as housing, medical assistance and food. Future iterations could take advantage of artificial intelligence and biometric scanning.

This year’s cohort came from both State and local government. Course topics included UI/UX, Human Centered Design, DevOps and Data Visualization. All students participated in a digital services team challenge where they had the opportunity to apply concepts and knowledge learned. The program includes 18 days of formal instruction in addition to designated lab days to prepare for the challenge.

DSIA is open to developers, web designers, graphic artists, program managers, data analysts, data scientists, project managers and communication specialists.