18F, a federal team of digital services experts within the General Services Administration (GSA), celebrated its 10th anniversary this week with a focus on ongoing projects with key government agencies.
The 18th floor, named after the address of GSA's headquarters in Washington, DC, is the digital consulting office of GSA's Technology Transformation Services (TTS). First launched in March 2014 by a group of Presidential Innovation Fellows, he became part of TTS in 2016. 18F acts as a digital consultancy that helps federal agencies buy, build, and share modern software.
“18F will help show agencies what's possible with government technology, while at the same time enabling TTS to provide governments with a wide range of technology services and best practices. He has also contributed to the evolution of the organization into a meaningful organization.”
In the 10 years since its founding in 2014, 18F has completed 455 projects for 34 government agencies and collaborated with the Office of the President, the Library of Congress, and the U.S. House of Representatives. However, when announcing his 15th anniversary, 18F also mentioned his three current initiatives. Enhancements to get.gov, directfile.irs.gov, and weather.gov are underway.
18F is working with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to improve how government agencies can claim and use .gov domains on get.gov.
Moving government agencies to a .gov domain has been an important recommendation for years by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers because it provides enhanced security features. Federal cybersecurity grants can help governments achieve this goal, and state governments can help build the capacity of small agencies within their states, as seen in New Hampshire and Indiana.
“Reducing the barriers to entry and reducing the amount of friction in the process was our leadership role in this time,” said Alexander McElrea, senior analyst and external communications officer for CISA's .gov program. . government technology During February.
The get.gov interface digitizes the previous process, which involved a mailed letter signed by the agency's highest-ranking official. The new process will take approximately 15 minutes.
18F also supports the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Direct File Project in collaboration with the United States Digital Service to provide taxpayers with free digital tools to prepare their taxes. Currently in a pilot program, approximately 50,000 people have used the tool so far.
The group's third project includes working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help emergency members and the public better understand weather information and guidance through a reimagined Weather.gov. I am.
A number of notable projects completed by 18F include improving the Forest Service's online permit and application process and facilitating the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division's civil rights complaint filing workflow. The organization has also developed risk avoidance guides to help federal and state agencies complete their own technology projects.
