The White House's digital arm is using Steve Jobs' words to lure tech talent

With only a few days left in President Obama's administration, the White House branch that handled some of his most important technological endeavors is looking to raise its profile in Silicon Valley.

The U.S. Digital Service, an Obama-founded White House branch dedicated to improving and expanding the federal government's various online services, launched a new marketing campaign on Tuesday that appeals to potential tech industry recruits with a familiar face: Steve Jobs.

The group claims the campaign is the first marketing material to ever feature footage of the late Apple co-founder outside of the Cupertino company's own advertising.

The hope is that Jobs' words — a passionate recital of his worldview culled from a 1994 television — will inspire at least some technologists to come to Washington, D.C., and serve for one of the temporary tours of duty on which the agency relies.

"This campaign is part of an effort to really inspire a tradition of public service in Silicon Valley," said David Kaufman, the USDS' head of public engagement. "That's the message we want to get out and what Steve's words really did a good job of conveying."

The USDS was founded in the wake of the administration's botched Healthcare.gov rollout under the leadership of Mikey Dickerson, the engineer credited with playing a key role in fixing that website. Since then, it's helped to revamp the Veteran Affairs application process, partially digitize the immigration system and beef up Pentagon cybersecurity.

The group is fond of referring to itself as a startup within the White House.

The new campaign, created by ad agency Havas' New York office, marks the first marketing effort of its kind for the group.