How the State Department can meet ongoing demand for information technology talent

Tom Temin Let’s start with some background. Tell us more about the FAIT program. It’s an annual event, what is its purpose?

Oriental Fugar Yes. The Diplomatic IT Fellowship has been running since 2017. It is a merit and need-based program that aims to attract and prepare talented students and professionals for their careers. They will apply their technical, tech skills in support of the business of diplomacy. They will become diplomatic technology officers for the State Department. We offer undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to qualify for this scholarship. You must be a U.S. citizen and be enrolled or intend to be enrolled in a full-time IT-related degree program at an accredited institution based in the U.S. The timeline for the scholarship is that undergraduate students must apply in their second year and graduate students must be seeking enrollment in a full-time IT-related master’s program. They must also have a minimum GPA of 3.2 on a four-point scale at the time of application. At the end of this fellowship program, students will be committed to a five-year service as a diplomat to serve abroad. This is the service commitment that students will make during the fellowship period. The fellowship will provide up to $43,500 per year for two years for tuition, room and board, books, other expenses, and travel. Students will also receive housing and travel allowances, one domestic and one international internship, and have access to mentoring and professional development opportunities.

Tom Temin Now, what they typically do when they’re overseas is, you know, the State Department CIO function is somewhat centralized, but we have about 100 locations around the world, and part of that is diplomatic knowledge, plus whatever knowledge you need to know about information technology, programming, applications, cloud computing.

Oriental Fugar Well, as you know, my main job is working in the IT field. My job overseas is a position called a Foreign Service Technical Officer. That means I’m responsible for all the IT operations overseas at a U.S. embassy or consulate. IT project management, data analysis, systems administration, network administration, etc. Those are the general core functions of the job. I don’t necessarily do direct diplomacy, like talking to foreign government ministries, but I support the diplomatic activities of all my colleagues who are working overseas. So I need a general knowledge of diplomacy, how to behave, because you’re a representative of the U.S. government overseas. So Orienta Huge is an IT recruiter for the State Department. Now let’s turn to Astrid Tagne, one of our students this year. Astrid, please introduce yourself. You’re a first generation American, where are you originally from? What is your hope here?

Astrid Tagne I’m originally from Cameroon. I came here at the end of 2014, so I was meant to be in my fifth year, but I only studied for a couple of months in my fifth year. Being from Cameroon, I didn’t speak English. So I had to learn English through my work. So that I could be here now. But to be honest, what I really want to do with this program is long-term. I want to get involved in diplomacy. Because one of the things that really struck me when I applied, and that I really touched on in my interview with the FAIT Fellows, is that I want to see how technology is implemented in other countries. And I don’t think there’s a better way for me to do that than to be a DTO for the federal government.

Tom Temin Yes, in fact, working overseas gives you the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people, as many of the staff working in IT and other diplomatic functions are local nationals of the country in which the State Department is located. I think that’s what’s appealing to you.

Astrid Tagne That’s really fascinating. What I really value is that you maintain your cultural background by growing up among people who have that cultural background. But I also love connecting with people. I love connecting with people. And one of the things that was definitely striking for me about this program was that I got to go abroad. I got to be exposed to different cultures. It’s an experience that money can’t buy, but I got to learn about other people’s cultures and bring that back with me. And I got to teach them something about another culture. I think that’s really cool.

Tom Temin Also, you’re pretty good at English for someone who wasn’t born with it, and I hear you speak a few other languages ​​pretty well too.

Astrid Tagne Yes, I can speak French and I can speak Spanish.

Tom Temin It seems like you can pick up anything, so who knows where you’ll be placed. It could be somewhere that uses a non-Latin alphabet, which would present a whole other set of challenges.

Astrid Tagne I love a challenge, and this is perfect.

Tom Temin Also, judging by what you said about weightlifting and sewing, it seems you have a lot of other hobbies.

Astrid Tagne So I started weightlifting in my senior year of high school. It was right when COVID started. I had friends and we were really into weightlifting. So I started a weightlifting club in high school. It was like a girls’ weightlifting club. I still do it, and it’s also a way to connect people. I think when you go out somewhere, if there’s something you’re interested in, it’s a great way to meet people. So for me, I always have a hobby as a natural connection. Because hobbies allow you to meet people and connect with them. And it enriches who I am as a person. So weightlifting helps me maintain a community in that particular aspect. And then I also have a big interest in sewing, and I don’t know how the two are connected, but the connection for me is just people. So that’s how I was able to maintain who I am as a person and also the people that I gather around me.

Tom Temin What particular area of ​​information technology interests you most?

Astrid Tagne Speaking of information technology, first of all, I want to tell you how I got into information technology. I got into information technology in the summer of 2021. I never took a computer science class in high school. But other than that, I was never interested in technology. So technology was really last on my list of what to do in high school. At the time, I wanted to be a doctor or a nurse or something like that. But data is so fast. And then through a forum called Passion for Learning, which is a non-profit organization, I was able to get a scholarship to go to a week-long camp called Tech Squad with MS gene. In that program, we learned technology, we coded in C++, we built mini robots, we built cars. And I knew that this is something that I wanted to pursue as a career. Then I did more research on what it would mean to choose technology as a field. So I knew this was definitely something that I wanted to do. But I had to look for something like VR to relate it to me. So it reminded me of when I first came to the United States. In Cameroon, the lights never go out, they go out every night. We never really slept in the light. We had to use oil lamps as a light source. And then the first time I went to school, it was about a month after I got here. Every student was assigned a Chromebook. And I was like, I’ve never used a computer in my life. I found out something that was so shocking. The fact that students can have a Chromebook. Of course, they can’t take it home. But even though we only had one computer in the whole school in Cameroon, we still had the opportunity to use it at school. And then my direct relationship with technology was that I wanted to adopt technology for the future and fill the technology gap in other developing countries. That’s why I continue to do it. When I go to the store, I want to see how other cultures adopt technology because I know that the way Americans adopt technology works well here. That’s why I want to go back to these countries and give back because it’s worked well for us and I want it to work for other people too. That’s the long-term goal.

Tom Temin Okay. Well, somehow I think the State Department is going to get a good return on their investment in you. Astrid Tagne is a student at the University of Maryland and a recipient of the Diplomatic Information Technology Fellowship. Thanks for watching.

Astrid Tagne thank you.

Tom Temin We also heard from Orienta Hughes, she’s an IT recruiter for the State Department, and we thank you for joining us.