Government must be able to keep pace with the innovation and user experiences that the American people and businesses expect. Throughout 2014, the Administration piloted new and innovative approaches to increase the Government’s ability to drive impact for Americans on national priorities, including initiatives that help veterans find employment and help workers invest in safe and affordable retirement accounts. The Budget invests in scaling those pilot programs and processes that have proven successful. Ultimately, a more effective Government will more efficiently use taxpayer dollars to better deliver for citizens.
3.1.1
Ramping Up Smarter Information Technology Delivery
The Administration has embarked on a comprehensive approach to fundamentally improve the way that the Government delivers technology services to the public. Top technologists and entrepreneurs are being recruited to work within agencies on the highest priority projects. The best processes are being leveraged to increase oversight and accountability for IT spending. In addition, several efforts are being piloted to improve IT procurement and ramp up Government contracting with innovative companies.
People. Getting the best talent working inside of Government is a key component of the Administration’s Smarter IT Delivery strategy. In 2014, the Administration piloted the USDS by recruiting a select group of private sector innovators, entrepreneurs, and engineers to Government service. Since standing up, this team of America’s best digital experts has worked in collaboration with Federal agencies to implement cutting-edge digital and technology practices on the Nation’s highest impact programs, including the successful re-launch of HealthCare.gov in its second year, the Veterans Benefits Management System, and an improved process for online visa applications, among others. In addition to their work on these high priority projects, this small team of technical experts has worked to establish best practices and recruit still more highly-skilled digital service experts and engineers into Government.
Every agency in Government has citizen-facing digital projects that are critical to its mission. Too often, these services have been delivered over budget, behind schedule, and in ways that do not meet citizen needs. Unsurprisingly, since the launch of USDS in 2014, there has been significant demand for its expertise, from project design and development to recruiting technical experts. To address this problem, the Budget scales and institutionalizes this new approach to technology by providing funding to 25 agencies for the development of their own agency digital services teams. These small, high-impact teams will drive the quality and effectiveness of the agencies’ most important digital services. USDS will work closely with agencies to stand up these teams by providing support for hiring, training, and procurement.
Process. The Administration has made significant progress encouraging data-driven processes to provide effective oversight of Government IT. By establishing mechanisms such as PortfolioStat, a data-based review of agency IT portfolios, we have not only strengthened Federal IT, but made it significantly more cost effective. PortfolioStat has helped the Government achieve more than $2.2 billion in savings over the past three years while ensuring agencies are efficiently using taxpayer dollars to deliver effective and innovative solutions to the public. PortfolioStat promotes the adoption of new technologies, such as cloud computing and agile development practices. For example, as a result of these continuing efforts, the Federal Government now spends approximately 8.5 percent of its budget on provisioned services such as cloud computing, on par with leading private sector companies.
In addition, agencies involved in PortfolioStat are becoming more effective in rapidly delivering value in IT. For example, agencies have increased their use of agile development practices and are delivering IT capabilities 21 days (11 percent) faster than they were in May 2013. Agile development is an incremental, fast-paced style of software development that better meets evolving user needs. Using agile development ultimately increases the ability to deliver a better product, faster.
In 2016, the Administration will continue to use PortfolioStat to drive efficiencies in these programs, and also will continue to revise and encourage adoption of the TechFAR and Digital Services Playbook, which were released to the public in the fall of 2014. These tools provide clear guidance to agencies on using agile development and innovative contracting practices to deliver IT services that work for 21st Century consumers. Throughout 2016, the Administration will continue to scale up best practices by institutionalizing them within the agency digital service teams.
Companies. The Government must work with private sector innovators to ensure the best use of cutting-edge technologies and practices. Yet, too often, there are barriers to entry that prevent agencies from contracting with these firms. Over the past year, initial steps have been taken to address this challenge. For example, the Administration has piloted FBOpen, a tool that helps small and innovative companies search for opportunities to work with Government, and launched an online national dialogue on procurement reform to solicit ideas for reducing barriers to access. As part of the broader strategy to transform the Federal marketplace, the Administration is piloting new initiatives in IT acquisition. In 2016, these early pilots will be expanded to increase digital acquisition capability within agencies, train agency personnel in digital IT acquisitions, and test innovative contracting models.
3.1.1
Delivering World-Class Customer Service
The Administration is continuing its efforts to improve the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of Federal services. A customer service Community of Practice has been established to develop standards, practices, and tools for agencies to improve their customer service. The Federal Customer Service Awards program has also been established to recognize individuals and teams who provide outstanding customer service directly to the American people. The awards will begin in the fall of 2015, and will support innovative practices and provide performance incentives to frontline employees.
Agencies are also increasing their focus on improving the most frequently used Government services, and the Budget supports the introduction and scale-up of these programs. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched IRS Direct Pay, which provides taxpayers a no-fee electronic payment option and allows them to establish installment agreements; built an e-Authentication tool that provides taxpayers a user-friendly, low-cost way to securely access IRS online tools and applications; and launched IRS2Go, a downloadable app that allows taxpayer self-service access to IRS information and services on any device. Since its release, it has been downloaded more than 5.4 million times. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is continuing to improve passenger experience at airports, including continuing to expand and improve TSA Pre-Check, an expedited passenger screening program. TSA is exploring new and innovative ways of collecting and responding to customer feedback to provide the best possible service while keeping U.S. airports safe. Going forward, the Administration will build and expand on this progress by improving the collection and use of customer feedback data across Government to make tangible improvements in customer interactions.
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