Imagine that you’re in charge of an organization with nationwide reach, one that regularly visits the front doorstep of every street address in America, and one that pledges delivery of service under any kind of condition including snow, rain, heat, and “gloom of night.” Today, keeping that promise requires maintaining the highest levels of visibility into IT issues to keep network functions online and manage advanced data analytics. […]
The U.S. Census Bureau launched a new virtual hub this year that aims to inform citizens how they can make use of the data the bureau collects, said Census Bureau Digital Marketing Lead Anthony Calabrese at the Granicus Annual National Summit today. […]
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is seeking ways to implement IT Transformation by leveraging cloud and mobile to drive improvements in its cybersecurity investments. […]
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported significant progress for 2018 in combating tax-related identity theft, while adding protection for taxpayers. […]
As the nation moves more and more online, Federal agencies are following suit to move more of their civilian interactions to an online or mobile setting. […]
Department of Justice (DOJ) CIO Joseph Klimavicz spoke about the importance of how everyday citizens should be able to reach people in leadership positions in the Federal government and the soon-to-be-released IT strategy for FY 2019-2021. […]
With the redesign of the VA.gov website for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency has made progress in providing a better customer experience. Now, alongside partners at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), the agency is looking toward other areas to improve across the department, said officials from VA and USDS today. […]
As Federal agency leaders look to modernize networks and provide better citizen services, they need to have a “Citizen First” mentality, rather than “Cloud First” or “Cloud Smart,” Claire Bailey, director of Federal, State and Local Mainframe Solutions at Compuware, told MeriTalk. […]
The Senate confirmed James Gfrerer as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs Wednesday evening on a voice vote, filling the permanent CIO role that had been vacant since the start of the Trump administration. […]
On Thursday, President Trump signed the 21st Century IDEA Act into law, requiring all Federal agencies to make sure their websites are user-friendly and support digital forms. […]
Since the President’s Management Agenda was issued in March, Federal agencies have been working governmentwide to “provide a modern, streamlined, and responsive customer experience [CX] across government, comparable to leading private sector organizations.” According to an update released Wednesday on Performance.gov, agencies have made strong progress on the cross-agency priority (CAP) of improving CX with Federal services; however, the path forward has not been without bumps in the road. […]
As MeriTalk reported earlier this month, the Senate today took action on the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA Act) and passed the legislation under unanimous consent. […]
The General Services Administration announced that Anil Cheriyan will be the new director of the agency’s Technology and Transformation Services unit and deputy commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, replacing acting director Kelly Olson in early January. […]
The Senate is expected to take action on H.R. 5759, the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA Act), via a “hotline” procedure before the end of the current session of Congress, a knowledgeable Capitol Hill source told MeriTalk. […]
The House has voted to approve bills that would two bills–one that would elevate and reauthorize the role of the Federal CIO, and another that would establish minimum standards for Federal agency website functionality and performance. […]
A new survey on the impact of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) issued in March reveals positive responses to the document but also some of the biggest challenges on the PMA’s key drivers of IT modernization, data usage, and the workforce. […]
When it comes to customer experience in the Federal government, customers can be like your children: you love them and want to help them succeed, but you don’t get to pick them, and you have to work toward their high expectations. That was the message from Anahita Reilly, chief customer officer at the General Services Administration (GSA), during a speech today at Deloitte’s Creating a Future Forward event. […]
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos highlighted the success of the Department of Education’s mobile applications during a speech on Tuesday, pointing to their convenience and ability to reach citizens in an effective manner. […]
The House has scheduled consideration later this week of several pieces of legislation impacting Federal IT issues including Federal CIO authorities and agency website functionality and performance. […]
IT officials from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) detailed progress their agencies have made so far in utilizing grants awarded by the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), and highlighted the benefits of TMF funding including the ability to repay the working capital fund through cost savings. […]
The newest round of Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) awards came after the TMF board reviewed more than 40 proposals from agencies looking to win funds from the program, according to Federal Deputy CIO Margie Graves. […]
The upcoming Federal Data Strategy, currently in development and open to comment, aims to increase transparency and drive better service for citizens, said Jay Huie, a White House leadership development fellow, who described himself as an “ombudsperson” for the Federal Data Fellows developing the strategy. […]
For agencies looking to score a touchdown with their customer experience, the General Services Administration (GSA) released its Customer Experience Playbook today, offering “a synthesis of ideas gathered from interviewing several subject matter experts and leaders in CX and Human Centered Design in government.” […]
Federal CIO Suzette Kent provided a demonstration this morning at the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) Imagine Nation ELC Conference to help envision a future for government services that may not be that far away. […]
Emily Murphy, administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), delivered a keynote address today that provided a glimpse of her vision as the head of GSA, along with recent government IT wins and the path she sees ahead for the agency serving as the Federal facilitator for IT acquisition and modernization. […]
Federal customer experience professionals offered advice this week to agencies looking to improve their customer experience and highlighted resources that their agencies have utilized to improve customer service. […]
The Federal government is seeing progress in seven out of 10 key cybersecurity metrics that are being tracked quarterly as part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), Federal CIO Suzette Kent said today. […]
Agriculture Department CIO Gary Washington laid out his agency’s IT modernization journey today, beginning with USDA’s work as the lighthouse agency for the Centers of Excellence (CoE) initiative, and continuing with the agency’s selection as one of the first three to receive an award under the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF). […]
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he is eyeing the post-midterm election “lame duck” period for further movement through Congress of his 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) bill that would empower Federal agency CTOs and CIOs to modernize and improve their websites and citizen services. […]
Matt Lira, special assistant to the president for innovation, policy, and initiatives at the White House Office of American Innovation, has a unique visualization exercise to help consider how we should address problems in the Federal IT space. […]