Digital Government

Mobile Livestreaming: The Next Social Frontier

By Josh Delung, ICF International Every day, it’s estimated between about 300 and 600 new apps launch in Apple’s App Store alone, not counting other storefronts such as the Google Play store for Android devices. There’s a similarly overwhelming deluge of social networking sites that seem to emerge for some new niche each week. It’sRead… Read more »

Silicon Valley: Give Gov a Digital Reboot

Attention Silicon Valley talent: “Uncle Sam” wants YOU! That is, to help reinvent government via mass digitalization of citizen-facing services across the sprawling federal bureaucracy. Several generations ago, in January 1961, President John F. Kennedy famously stated in his inaugural address: Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you canRead… Read more »

Three Ways To Improve Federal Digital CX On A Shoestring

Have you read the results of the Government Business Council’s new “Digital Disconnect” survey? The results are fascinating, and I could go on for quite some time about them (just ask my dogs, who have been listening to me rant about the survey all morning). However, at the moment I will focus on the resultRead… Read more »

Collaboration, Not Enforcement in New Zealand

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed increasing references to government agencies as enablers rather than enforcers or regulators. I think that this is a side effect of 2 ideas that are gaining acceptance: the shift in the public sector to focus on trust rather than compliance seeing the public sector as an inter-connected systemRead… Read more »

Plan Your Summer Vacation Around Customer Experience

It’s finally here. That time of year when seemingly half of the federal workforce flees the city for a well-deserved vacation. It’s a magical time for those of us who stay behind: Less traffic shortens our commutes, the Starbuck’s and food truck lines are shorter, and fewer people at meetings means more decisions get made.Read… Read more »

3 Tips for Designing Better Forms

This is the second installment of “Build Better Forms,” a series in which we review online government forms and suggest some improvements. As we discussed in our first post, a clear and intuitive form reaps many benefits: lower data processing costs, fewer support requests, higher completion rates, and greater citizen satisfaction. Let’s run through threeRead… Read more »

Updating the Department of Defense with Open Source

This interview is an excerpt from GovLoop’s recent guide, The DoD of Tomorrow, which explores how the department is transforming its operations, technology, workforce, and acquisitions process to confront 21st century challenges. When you think of DoD’s information infrastructure, you might think mostly of complex, secret networks. Yet the reality is that the department maintainsRead… Read more »

How the Social Security Administration Hit A Customer Experience Trifecta With A Mobile App

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program had a problem: it was paying out way too much in unearned benefits to program participants. This was happening because participants weren’t reporting their income often enough. As participants’ incomes went up, their SSI eligibility went down – but they continued receiving SSI benefits basedRead… Read more »

Video Tutorial Sites to Learn All You Need to Know

Virtual trainings are an easy way to up your game in just about any skill. They are often recorded so you can listen to them at your convenience, whenever and wherever you can give them your full attention, whether that’s at home or in the office, on your smartphone or computer. Many trainings are available for freeRead… Read more »