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18F is a digital services agency within the Technology Transformation Services department of the General Services Administration (GSA) of the
United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...
. Their purpose is to deliver digital services and technology products.


Overview

18F is an office of federal employees within the General Services Administration (GSA) that collaborates with other agencies to improve the user experience of government services by helping them build and buy technology. The group works with government organizations to define a strategy and work towards a solution for their modernization efforts. 18F uses agile and lean methodologies, open source code, and user centered design approaches. 18F was co-founded on March 19, 2014 by former
Presidential Innovation Fellows The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver signifi ...
Greg Godbout, Aaron Snow, and
Hillary Hartley Hillary Hartley is an American technologist and government official who has served in both local and federal government in the US, and in the Canadian province of Ontario. She is currently the Chief Digital and Data Officer and Deputy Minister ...
. Its name refers to its office location in northwest Washington, D.C., on 18th and F Streets. 18F is within Technology Transformation Services, part of the Federal Acquisition Service. In addition to its Washington, D.C office, the agency has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.


History

In March 2014, a group of Presidential Innovation Fellows started 18F to extend their efforts to improve and modernize government technology. The
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
had created a similar agency in April 2011,
Government Digital Service The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office tasked with transforming the provision of online public services. It was formed in April 2011 to implement the "Digital by Default" strategy prop ...
, following their own healthcare IT issues, which saves an estimated $20 million a year over previous methods. 18F runs on a cost recovery model where client agencies reimburse the digital agency for its work. Their operation is closer to a traditional business than government organizations like the Digital Services Innovation Center. 18F's creation was announced by GSA Administrator
Dan Tangherlini Daniel Mark Tangherlini (born 1967) is an American government official who currently serves as a Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, Governor of the United States Postal Service. He served as administrator of the United States ...
on March 19, 2014 with a mission to simplify the government's digital services, but no project-specific directive. The agency started with 15 employees, including 11 former
Presidential Innovation Fellows The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver signifi ...
from both the private and public sectors. The staff previously worked in front and backend development, design and usability, and product management. ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' Adrienne Jeffries reported that the agency released a GSA website code update in a half hour, which would normally take weeks or longer. She added that the team did not appear equipped to handle a rollout similar to that of
HealthCare.gov HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated by the United States federal government under the Provisions of the Affordable Care Act, provisions of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, commonly referred to as “Obamacare”, which c ...
. Upon its opening, 18F began to host the
Presidential Innovation Fellows The Presidential Innovation Fellows program is a competitive fellowship program that pairs top innovators from the private sector, non-profits, and academia with top innovators in government to collaborate on solutions that aim to deliver signifi ...
program that had started in May 2012, before 18F's own inception, in the Digital Government Strategy. An initial list of projects was to be drafted in the months following the agency's creation. A possible program called FBOpen, an open source small business and federal contractor interface for bidding on government contracts, was discussed at a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs hearing. On March 19, 2015, 18F and collaborators launched analytics.usa.gov. On September 12, 2015, the group launched the
College Scorecard The College Scorecard is an online tool, created by the United States government, for consumers to compare the cost and value of higher education institutions in the United States. At launch, it displayed data in five areas: cost, graduation rate ...
. Other projects of 18F have included
myRA Myra ( grc, Μύρα, ''Mýra'') was a Lycian, then ancient Greek, then Greco-Roman, then Byzantine Greek, then Ottoman town in Lycia, which became the small Turkish town of Kale, renamed Demre in 2005, in the present-day Antalya Province of ...
for the
U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
,
Every Kid in a Park Every Kid in a Park is a program run by the United States National Park Service in which fourth graders in the country receive free admission to National Parks. The program was created by Barack Obama in 2015 and has been renewed annually every year ...
for the
U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
, and MyUSA for the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
, in addition to redesigned websites for the PeaceCorps and
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...
. All of its projects are
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
, meaning anyone can review and suggest updates to the code. The existence of the agency in general and such projects in particular has led to resistance from established government IT firms. In addition, the agency faces the additional challenge of staying fiscally solvent. According to a recent
GAO Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
report, 18F is currently spending on average more than $1 million per month more than it recovers. In 2016 alone, the group will receive approximately $33 million for its services, but will spend almost $48 million. 18F is not expected to break even. The following is an update to cost recovery based on FY19 data and was taken from Congressional testimony: “From a FY19 financial standpoint, 18F’s net operating loss was approximately $600k, which translated into an improvement of over $5m from FY18. The loss in FY19 was primarily attributable to the loss of approximately $1.3m in revenue during the government shutdown and limited opportunity to offset costs during this period. Billable utilization rates for 18F increased by 6.6% in FY19 from FY18 and was a primary factor in improved profitability.”


See also

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Civic technology Civic technology, or civic tech, enhances the relationship between the people and government with software for communications, decision-making, service delivery, and political process. It includes information and communications technology supportin ...
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Service design Service design is the activity of planning and arranging people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality, and the interaction between the service provider and its users. Service design may ...
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United States Digital Service The United States Digital Service is a technology unit housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology. It seeks to improve and simplify dig ...
, at the
Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...
*
Government Digital Service The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office tasked with transforming the provision of online public services. It was formed in April 2011 to implement the "Digital by Default" strategy prop ...
, for the UK's counterpart


References


External links

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"The Changelog #230: 18F and OSS in the U.S. Federal Government"
2016-11-25. {{authority control General Services Administration Government agencies established in 2014 Organizations based in Washington, D.C. 2014 establishments in the United States Federal government of the United States