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  • 18F

    We help government agencies fix technical problems, build products, and improve how government serves the public through technology.

News and Events on 18F

122 posts

Catching up with the TANF Data Portal project

Around 800,000 low-income American families receive cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) each month. 18F and the Administration for Children & Families’ Office of Family Assistance partnered on building a new data portal for TANF. We caught up with Office of Family Assistance leaders to see how their agency is continuing with the work. — via 18F

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Sep 07, 2023

The four operating levels of 18F projects

At 18F, we partner with government agencies to help them deliver new or modernized digital services and help set them up for success after we conclude the project. To support these outcomes, we set up our work to track on four levels: Project management, Product development, Post-18F sustainability and Learning to the broader government community. — via 18F

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Jun 13, 2023

The 18F design chapter

Designing technology-enabled public services requires deep expertise in how different elements of the experience come together (or don’t!). The 18F design chapter comprises four discipline-specific cohorts — service design, user experience (UX) design, product design, and content strategy — each of which has a primary focus, with corresponding tools, methods, and techniques. — via 18F

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May 02, 2023

18F Checks in With the Dawson Project at the U.S. Tax Court

In December 2020, the United States Tax Court introduced DAWSON, a modern open-source case management system developed with assistance from an industry partner and 18F. DAWSON streamlined Court operations and changed the way the public interacts with the Court. — via 18F

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Apr 25, 2023

18F Checks in With Jerome Lee and the eAPD Project

18F partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from December 2017 to June 2020 on the development of a product called eAPD — a user-friendly, modern product to streamline the creation, submission, review, and approval of the Advance Planning Documents that states use to request IT grant funding from CMS. We caught up with Jerome Lee of CMS, the product owner of eAPD. — via 18F

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Nov 29, 2022

Creating a Culture of Innovation at Your Agency

When we talk about innovation in government tech, what do we mean? During a recent project, 18F partnered with a government innovation lab to help them understand the impact innovation can have at their organization. — via 18F

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Sep 12, 2022

The 18F Engineering Sandwich for Cloud-based Web Apps

The 18F Engineering Sandwich for Cloud-based Web Apps—18F Engineering is often thought of as a technology shop, but that’s too broad. There are very few technology choices we actually make at the project level, so, more often than not, we combine a limited set of technologies to make our applications. To explain this, we’ll use the metaphor of a sandwich shop. — via 18F

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Sep 06, 2022

Senior Executives Part 5: Use Stories as Leading Indicators

Senior Executives Part 5: Use Stories as Leading Indicators—Executives often rely on productivity metrics to measure success, but these measures can obscure whether the software is actually working for users. Stories are a better resource to build a strategy between a senior executive and a product team. This is part five in a series on how senior executive and tech teams can be better allies. — via 18F

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Aug 25, 2022

Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1

Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1—Successfully delivering software in government requires people to work differently. Without clear answers for how to do this, well-intentioned executives and teams default to existing processes that risk undermining their own success. This is part one in a series on how to evolve that relationship. — via 18F

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Jul 20, 2022

Finding post-award balance with quality assurance

If you’re one of the many federal employees carrying out your mission through contracting, you might have an important question: how do I know if my contractor is doing a good job? Even if you don’t have a strong technical background, there are steps you can take to build your confidence in the project’s maintainability and sustainability. — via 18F

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May 01, 2022