[This post will be the first in a series about agencies impacted by DOGE. To share the story of your agency, contact us at [email protected].]
Over the past few weeks, as DOGE set up camp in the offices formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service, reporting has failed to accurately describe the U.S. Digital Service--who they are, what they do, and why it matters.
There is a fundamental truth motivating the U.S. Digital Service that sets it apart from many other government agencies: You cannot build an app the same way you build a boat.
First, let's talk about apps. Think about whichever app on your phone you use the most. I bet you didn't have to read an instruction manual to figure it out. Every once in a while it might do something weird, but you can restart the app (or ignore the issue) and it goes away. And you've probably never seen an ad for the app, but somehow everyone you know uses it. This is what it's like when an app is built right--it just works.
Now, about the boats. The U.S. government has been building boats (and planes and buildings and many other physical things) for centuries. And they're built right--mostly, the boats work exactly how they are supposed to. So when the digital revolution hit, and the government started building websites and apps, it did so in much the same way it had been building boats. And this was a problem, because you cannot build an app the same way you build a boat. And so the majority of government websites and apps are hard to use--and, by extension, they make it hard to access the government programs and services you need.
Enter U.S. Digital Service.
You may have heard that they "update government software" or "design government websites." While it's true that sometimes they do these things, the reality is far more profound: the U.S. Digital Service works directly with government agencies--who until recently have only had to build boats--to teach them how to build websites and apps that actually work.
A government website that famously didn't work was Healthcare.gov, which crashed the day it launched. This is where the U.S. Digital Service began, fixing and launching a functional Healthcare.gov just three months later. (For context, the original, broken version of the website took two years to build.) This achievement required not only a deep understanding of technology, but also an understanding of how the "boat" approach to building things was causing problems and needed to be changed. Since then, the U.S. Digital Service has helped dozens of agencies rethink how they build technology for the public--for example, supporting the launch of free online tax filing with IRS Direct File, or helping to launch Online Passport Renewal. If you get the chance to try one of these, we guarantee you'll be impressed by how they just work, like all those other apps you use every day.
How do they do it? Well, the average U.S. Digital Service employee has 10-20 years of private sector experience, and they're the best of the best: many of them come from the top tech companies in the world, and only 3% of applicants make it through the rigorous hiring process. Once they do, they are typically detailed, or assigned, to other Federal agencies to work on projects that support mission-critical work, while also helping those agencies improve their overall technology practices through hiring, process improvement, training, and procurement efficiency. U.S. Digital Service staff provide expertise in a few key areas:
- Product management: Experienced product managers with proven track records leading successful product teams in the private sector. Product managers lead and collaborate with agency staff, vendors, and partners to establish user needs, build a roadmap for production and development, and define goals and trade-offs.
- Design: Experienced designers with backgrounds in visual design, user experience, research, content, and accessibility. U.S. Digital Service designers think about more than just how a product looks--they consider how systems and services are organized and how to make them better.
- Procurement: Experts in government contracting and acquisition--in other words, how money is dispersed and how contracts are written. The procurement team helps agencies hold vendors to account and ensure the government, and the public, gets the best value for the money spent.
- Data science: AI experts, data engineers, statisticians and more. U.S. Digital Service data scientists work with some of the country's most complex, critical, and sensitive datasets, prioritizing privacy and responsible data use.
- Engineering: A diverse group of engineers with different backgrounds, skills, and capabilities including front-end, back-end, full-stack, site reliability, and data science.
By design, the U.S. Digital Service is always bringing in fresh talent, who are up to date with the latest skills and content knowledge in the tech industry. Each employee joins for a term no longer than four years, and then they move on, sometimes back to the private sector, and sometimes to other positions within the government. Either way, their legacy remains--not only the websites and apps they built, but the systemic changes they supported across agencies to create a government that can be proud of both boats and websites from the very first day they launch.
On Friday, dozens of U.S. Digital Service employees were dismissed, marking a great loss both for federal technology and the public that uses that technology. We hope to share more of stories from the U.S. Digital Service, along with stories from other technologists all over the government.
Are you a federal employee working in tech? We'd love to hear your story--how you've made government technology better, how the public will be impacted by your dismissal, or the risks you see as DOGE takes over. Email us at [email protected], or reach out via our contact form (any stories shared with us are considered confidential and remain anonymous).