Blogs
Government teams are improving digital experiences every day. Gain insights from their stories, case studies, and innovations.
GSA’s Fedramp Celebrates 10 Years of Impact on Cloud Security
GSA’s FedRAMP Celebrates 10 Years of Impact on Cloud Security—Today, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) celebrates its 10-year anniversary. On December 8, 2011, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) signed a memo establishing FedRAMP to provide a cost-effective, risk-based approach for the adoption and use of cloud services. This landmark reflects GSA and FedRAMP’s commitment to protecting public and federal information through supporting IT modernization and securing IT infrastructure. Over the past ten years, the program has seen an incredible increase in the adoption of FedRAMP-authorized services and will play a critical role in improving the nation’s cybersecurity. — via General Services Administration
USAGov Fourth Quarter 2021 Insights
USAGov’s Fourth Quarter 2021 Insights—From July to September 2021, people were concerned about COVID-19-related housing and international travel as they searched USA.gov. Get more user insights from our 4th quarter infographic for fiscal year (FY) 2021. — via USA.gov
Unique Vulnerability Counts with Container Scanning
Unique Vulnerability Counts with Container Scanning—As Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) start to submit their container vulnerability scans in order to meet Container Scanning Guidance requirements, stakeholders monitoring submissions should expect to see large increases in the number of unique vulnerabilities. Learn what’s different, and the potential impact for agencies and CSPs. — via FedRAMP
The Opportunity Project 2021 Summit: Open Innovation for All
Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL) at the U.S. Census Bureau is hosting a virtual, 3-day innovation conference, December 13 to 15. This year’s summit will feature keynotes, panels, workshops, and more—showcasing technology built with open data, and how to create space for conversations on government innovation, effective collaboration, the power of open data, and the inclusion of all voices. Seven federal agencies and two cities led TOP sprints focused on the World Post-COVID-19. They’ll introduce the resulting new products and announce more than $300,000 in awards to the winners of the Open Data for Good Grand Challenge. Review the full agenda and register to attend.
CIO Handbook
The CIO Council released the CIO Handbook to aide CIOs, Deputy CIOs, agency heads and other senior leaders during transition.
Three Ways USAGov Outreach Can Help with Your Agency’s Next Campaign
Three Ways USAGov Outreach Can Help with Your Agency’s Next Campaign—Does your agency have an idea for a new marketing strategy? USAGov’s Outreach team can support your agency in all stages of your campaign. We can brainstorm with your team, discuss best practices, and try new marketing approaches to grow together in serving people. Learn how to begin partnering with us. — via USA.gov
Webinar Recap: U.S. Web Design System October 2021 Monthly Call
In this recap of the October 2021 U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) Monthly Call, the USWDS team shares how their community can help teams solve problems together, and what tools and channels we can use to ask questions, get answers, and provide useful feedback.
Webinar Recap: U.S. Web Design System September 2021 Monthly Call
For our September call, we focused on the future of the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS): Where does the design system go from USWDS 2.0? What did we learn from our 1.0 and 2.0 releases? Read key points and takeaways from this month’s presentation.
Successful Strategies for Telework and Hybrid Work Environments
Create accessible meetings
In recent years, how agencies gather, collaborate, discuss, share, and learn has changed from largely in-person meetings and conference calls to virtual meetings. Now, meetings are often virtual, or a hybrid of in-person and remote participants. For this reason, accessibility can and should be seamlessly integrated into your meeting. Use this guide to make your next meeting accessible to attendees with disabilities in compliance with Section 508 and other disability rights laws. — via Section508.gov
FAR Updated To Add Revised Section 508 Standards for Information and Communication Technology
FAR Updated To Add Revised Section 508 Standards for Information and Communication Technology—On January 18, 2017, the U.S. Access Board issued a final rule (the Revised 508 Standards) that updated accessibility requirements covered by Section 508 for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Read more about the final FAR rule update and changes effective as of September 10, 2021. — via Section508.gov
Start Your Tech Career in Government as a U.S. Digital Corps Fellow
Applications for the first cohort of U.S. Digital Corps Fellows will open on Monday, November 8th.
From Silicon Valley to GovTech: How a Data Scientist Turned Their Passion for Helping People Into a Career in Public Service
Many opportunities are available for technologists to make an impact in public service. See how Avena Cheng, a data scientist at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), turned a passion for improving people’s lives into a govtech career.
The Weekly Ship: What It Is, Why Useful, and How To Create Your Own
The Weekly Ship: What It Is, Why It’s Useful, and How To Create Your Own—The weekly ship has been a staple of 18F projects for years. It is a way to engage partners, inform teammates, and reflect on our work. — via 18F
Navigating ATOs
Navigating ATOs—Authority to Operate (ATO) processes work differently at different federal agencies. As a technology and design consultancy inside the United States government, 18F has worked on ATOs at many of them. We are still learning and experimenting, but there are definite patterns we have seen work well across multiple agencies. — via 18F
How To Best Connect With Your Spanish-speaking Audience During an Emergency
Census-Led Prize Challenge Incentivizes Using Open Data for Good
The Open Data for Good Grand Challenge is now welcoming submissions from technologists and collaborators focused on deploying products with federal open data, as well as recruiting for qualified judges to score the submissions and help select winners!
Building a Tech Career in Government
Starting a civic tech career in government is not as unusual as you think. Current GSA employees share how they are building theirs.