Will the Dogefathers transform digital governance in Trump regime?

The US has nothing to match the Aadhaar ecosystem. Their election process is without I-cards, EVMs and takes days to count by hand. While UPI was launched in 2016 and is already a global market leader, the US launched the equivalent FedNow only in 2023. The truth is that when it comes to digital governance the US is way behind India, China and many other countries.

The reason for that is that most politicians are not tech-savvy. They may be social media savvy at best. There are very few technocrats at the top. This time there may be a difference with the way Donald Trump’s second presidency is shaping up.

A tech-enabled cabinet?

President elect Trump has been involved with real estate, was the owner of Miss Universe and hosted a popular reality show The Apprentice. In 2021 he launched the Trump Media & Technology Group Corp which founded the social media platform Truth Social. While the venture did not do well, how many heads of state can boast of founding a tech-social media company? In some ways he was briefly like a startup founder. Trump doesn’t think like a politician but like an entrepreneur.

Vice President JD Vance elect has had a varied career being in the marine corps, a law clerk and a cashier at a grocery store. He became a Senator in 2024. But before that he was a VC. He co-founded the VC firm Narya Capital and invested in companies like Rumble, an online video platform. 

Make way for the Dogefathers

More than anyone, Elon Musk is the man that may make the Trump cabinet a techie one. He has transformed many industries and there’s nothing to suggest that he won’t be able to make the government better. He fully has Trump’s ear and will head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Vivek Ramaswamy is a biotech specialist, and he founded Roviant Sciences which applied tech to drug development and focused on HealthTech. They also launched the data management company Datavant, specializing in health information tech. Vivek emerged as a strong voice in the 2024 election campaign and will head the DOGE along with Trump.

That makes Musk and Vivek the new Dogefathers in town. Their task is cut out. They will have to make the US government as efficient as possible. That applies to all department and employees.

Said an official Trump statement of the duo: “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies…”
This will involve a lot of cutting flak and employees, identifying and creating new processes, innovation and thinking outside the box. There is no way you can do this without tech and the US has the right people for the job in the form of Musk and Vivek.

Musk slashed most of the Twitter staff when he took over and things continued to function normally. Recently Argentinian President Javier Milei embarked on such a venture. It would be interesting to study him. Be sure that more people from Silicon Valley may join the Trump regime.

Finally, if the Dogefathers succeed then there could be a lesson for all the governments of the world.