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As an outsider, I hold the USDS in great regard. Probably too much because of Marianne Belotti's writings from her time there, but also from what I would like to think are more nuanced perspectives. My country does not have anything like it, but what countries do?
Australia: https://www.dta.gov.au/
I think the biggest problem any US government agency has (federal or state) in producing services that leverage modern technology is that they cannot afford to pay people market rates. We have a mentality in the US that government cannot do anything right, but it seems of late (last 40 years or so) that we are kneecapping government's ability to execute and then complaining about it when it can't and making pronounce…
I think the biggest problem any US government agency has (federal or state) in producing services that leverage modern technology is that they cannot afford to pay people market rates. We have a mentality in the US that government cannot do anything right, but it seems of late (last 40 years or so) that we are kneecapping government's ability to execute and then complaining about it when it can't and making pronounce…
Also used to do govt work. I'm sure everyone has stories.
My takeaways.
1) Understand what people need -> AND LET THEM DO IT.
2) DO NOT ADD A SINGLE NEW THING with the IT / automation. If the old system doesn't have it DO NOT ADD IT. No 20 extra fields for demographics if you didn't track that before. That can be added later IF it's a MUST.
If they would take away all various fifedoms and hassle - people actually would bring a lot more tech into gov. Let the local business / division people make a decision. The only requirement be that they go through a 1 hr training and be exposed to 3 packages in their space (ie, do demos no powerpoint).
Take away all other requirements. Be OK with smaller failures. Govt is so scared of just letting folks try stuff out that everything turns into a 100M project that goes totally of the rails in terms of scope etc (ie, what people need / want is long forgotten, it's what MANAGERS want that gets emphasized).
Result - even if successful (rarely) for downline workers the software brings TONS of extra (not less) work.
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My own examples. The IT folks say that passwords have to change every 90 days. Google for example does not default to this (stupid) rule - they push two factor without SMS (which is better). Bam - you are out or have to pay for a "security" solution on top of whatever standard platform you are using with admin rights that can force rotate passwords (and is a MASSIVE backdoor itself vs self-serve password mgmt).
Then purchasing. We need an ipad to edit some videos. OH, Apple is not supported. This is 10K employees but you can't get an apple product to use unless the city atty will sign off on a variance (no chance).
I have a lot of heartburn reading something like this. I spent a decade in government consulting trying to implement anything resembling "data science" or "DevOps" and got repeatedly shut down by higher ups or by random bureaucrats that saw any modern practices, including any technology, as a threat. Excel macros working one day, then prohibited the next by new IT policies. Directors demanding that service line bosse…
Interestingly, the 21st Century IDEA Act mandates compliance with the USWDS now (at least for publicly facing sites) and there is a maturity model built around it. We’ll see whether or not agencies comply, but it’s a step in the right direction.
I think the biggest problem any US government agency has (federal or state) in producing services that leverage modern technology is that they cannot afford to pay people market rates. We have a mentality in the US that government cannot do anything right, but it seems of late (last 40 years or so) that we are kneecapping government's ability to execute and then complaining about it when it can't and making pronounce…
Another conclusion based on the same facts is that the government has no business doing its own technology and should do what they do for weapons and roads: contract it out.
I think the biggest problem any US government agency has (federal or state) in producing services that leverage modern technology is that they cannot afford to pay people market rates. We have a mentality in the US that government cannot do anything right, but it seems of late (last 40 years or so) that we are kneecapping government's ability to execute and then complaining about it when it can't and making pronounce…
Another conclusion based on the same facts is that the government has no business doing its own technology and should do what they do for weapons and roads: contract it out.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another conclusion based on the same facts is that the government has no business doing its own technology and should do what they do for weapons and roads: contract it out.
Which is exactly what they do in 9.9/10 cases. As an example, Healthcare.gov was built via a contract with CGI.
The playbooks aren't wrong, but it's silly to think they'll actually fix the issue of technology not being a government's core competency.
I think the biggest problem any US government agency has (federal or state) in producing services that leverage modern technology is that they cannot afford to pay people market rates. We have a mentality in the US that government cannot do anything right, but it seems of late (last 40 years or so) that we are kneecapping government's ability to execute and then complaining about it when it can't and making pronounce…
I worked for a non-Federal US government, and my team was an amazing group of talented and passionate people.
Despite all of the nonsense of living in a bureaucracy where 500 people can say “no”, the mission and the impact on our neighbors was worth it. Compensation meh, total compensation was good.
But as time went on, the terms of the deal changed for new employees — generous pensions and benefits were tweaked in a way that marginally reduced cost, but dramatically reduced value to the employee. End result was average turnover of new hires was ~70% vs ~20%, and after I’m dead, the state pension fund will be sitting pretty as the new folks pay more to collect dramatically less benefits.
As an outsider, I hold the USDS in great regard. Probably too much because of Marianne Belotti's writings from her time there, but also from what I would like to think are more nuanced perspectives. My country does not have anything like it, but what countries do?
USDS is modeled after Britain’s GDS.