The executive actions Obama outlined this week lean heavily on steps like modernizing the background check system, with help from the White House’s digital strike force, and developing the market for "smart guns" that know their owners. It’s yet another example of the administration’s emphasis on finding tech solutions to policy problems, such as its push to reduce health care costs by encouraging the use of electronic medical records...

“There are limits of what technology can accomplish in terms of improving [government services],” said Abhi Nemani, former head of Code for America, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the government up to par with private sector technology. "Often what you find is by tackling an issue from a technology perspective it illuminates some of the procedural or operational issues in place."