Last August the White House announced that it was launching the so-called United States Digital Service (USDS), an entity that will work with government agencies to find new maneres to use technology with the aim of improving their services and the information and benefits they provide.
The team that will carry out this task is made up of experts in digital talent in the country who "are tasked with eliminating barrierseres to achieve exceptional provision of Government services as well as to take advantage of the digital experience that citizens and businesses have with their Government”. It is planned that the team will be as small as possible: a programmer, a user interface specialist and an acquisitions expert.
It should be noted that this task also involves the new office of federal technologists based in the General Services Administration, the 18F (its motto is "Building the digital government of the 18st century"). Both agencies are committed to disseminating smart technology and smart technologists to all federal agencies that have always operated as silos; the difference is that the XNUMXF is the team that deals with agencies and “gets their hands dirty” to fix things and the Digital Services office, which is located inside the Office of Administration and Budgets, will provide advice. It will basically focus on helping agencies find their weaknesses and how to fix them.
USDS takes off with a couple of suitcases in the cellar: the Digital Services Playbook which includes 13 keys to implementing digital government (“Understanding what people need”; “Making it easy and intuitive”, etc.) and a manual, the TechFAR Handbook, with the goal of advising agencies on how to take a more agile approach to federal procurement and procurement.
For more information:
Meet 18F, the GSA's bid to change federal IT
White House launches 'US Digital Service,' with HealthCare.gov fixer at the helm
