Digital Government

110,000 Americans Died Waiting for Social Security Disability Benefits in Last Decade 

Americans waited an average of more than two years for benefits decisions from the government during the past decade.

Modernization

Technology Transformation Acting Director Talks Service’s Business Model and Future

Bob De Luca, the acting director of GSA’s Technology Transformation Service joins Nextgov to talk about how the program stays competitive, lessons from COVID-19 and what the next director needs to know.

Digital Government

OMB Makes Major Changes to Agency Guidance on Customer Experience

The Office of Management and Budget updated its Circular A-11 guidance for agencies this month, including an expanded definition of customer experience itself.

Modernization

5 Ways the FITARA Scorecard May Evolve 

Ten scorecards later, lawmakers and experts are looking for new ways to update the metrics on which agencies are graded.

Modernization

SBA Spent $30M on Digital Service-Built App That Doesn't Work

The Small Business Administration’s Certify website—built by a team from the U.S. Digital Service—was doomed by poor oversight and failure to abide by federal IT policies, says inspector general.

Modernization

USDA Unveils Fresh Round of Farmers.gov Updates

New features on the Farmers.gov portal include a dashboard to help farmers track H-2A related application decisions in real time. 

Digital Government

The State of Customer Experience

Federal agencies had been working to improve service delivery—then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. 

Digital Government

4 Million Americans Waited Over an Hour in Line at Social Security Field Offices in 2019

Two separate Social Security Administration inspector general audits provide a detailed picture of customer experience over the past decade at the agency.

Ideas

How Government Can Deliver Business-Quality Services

Here are three actionable key steps that public sector technology leaders can take to catalyze digital transformation.

Modernization

IRS Launches New Enterprise Digitalization Office

The co-led office merges and elevates existing projects focused on digitizing processes and getting away from paper-based case management.

Modernization

Ditching Legacy Systems Will Require Adjusting Some Regulations, Experts Say

Federal investment in upgraded technology will help governments better take care of the American people, experts say, but that means rules must be updated to foster innovation

Modernization

COVID-19 Could Change Government Contact Centers Forever

The pandemic has forced major changes in the way federal agencies serve customers.

Artificial Intelligence

Study: Customers Increasingly Turn to Self-Support Amid Pandemic

Customers have increased their reliance on chatbots and self-support sessions since the coronavirus began.

Digital Government

VA, CFPB Solicit Partners to Conduct Diversity-Focused Training

Several solicitations have been launched for inclusivity-centered services in recent weeks.

Podcasts

Critical Update: COVID-19 Challenges Test Veterans Affairs' Customer Experience Office

The Veteran Experience Office has been instrumental in ensuring veterans’ voices are heard and acknowledged, even amid a global pandemic.

Modernization

HUD Officially Moves to Next Phase of Centers of Excellence Program

After 20 months of analysis under Phase I, Housing and Urban Development announced the first two awards to begin improving the agency’s cloud adoption and customer experience.

Ideas

‘Gov Clouds’ During COVID-19: The End of the Digital Fortress Era 

Simply put, many U.S. government agencies are running on less reliable, less feature-rich, fortressed versions of commercial clouds.

Ideas

Chatbots: The New Government Official in the Fight Against Coronavirus

Even though there’s a deluge of questions from thousands of people, many of these questions are the same.