United States DOGE Service

Last updated
United States Digital Service
U.S. Digital Service Logo.svg
Agency overview
FormedAugust 11, 2014 (2014-08-11)
Headquarters736 Jackson Place, Washington, D.C., United States
38°53′59″N77°02′17″W / 38.899614°N 77.038026°W / 38.899614; -77.038026
Parent department Executive Office of the President of the United States
Website www.usds.gov

The United States DOGE Service (USDS), formerly the United States Digital Service, [1] is a technology unit [2] [3] housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology. It was established by former President Barack Obama and seeks to improve and simplify digital service, and to improve federal websites. It was launched on August 11, 2014. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Activities

The USDS has created:

The USDS sends a report to Congress each year detailing its projects and accomplishments. [14] Its federal agency work spans across the Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and Health and Human Services.

History

As U.S. Digital Service

For years, people both inside and outside of government were working on ways to make government more effective, using technology and design. This included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Code for America, Government Digital Service in the U.K., and other U.S. government entities. The idea took more concrete shape when Jennifer Pahlka, having visited the United Kingdom's Government Digital Service, [15] joined the Chief Technology Office of the United States and converged her ideas and with what was already underway in the United States Government. The HealthCare.gov technology crisis accelerated the idea and served as the United States Digital Service's first project.

The first head of the USDS was Mikey Dickerson, a former Google engineer who was involved in the 2013–14 rescue of the HealthCare.gov website. [16] He was succeeded by Matt Cutts, who maintained the position until April 2021. [17]

The third administrator of the USDS was Mina Hsiang. [18] [19] [20] During the Biden administration, Hsiang led the USDS in deploying a new website about COVID-19 vaccines. [21]

In 2021, the USDS employed 215 people and was looking to expand further. [22]

Accomplishments as the USDS:

  • For Health and Human Services COVID‑19 vaccine finder tools were created. Which includes two websites, a chatbot, and a multilingual call center. These helped people find life saving vaccines. With over 184 million visitors to Vaccines.gov and Vacunas.gov. These websites are operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • Across the whole of government the USDS modernized the way government buys technology. A program was launched that trains contracting officers best practices and how to purchase modern technology, which helps projects be delivered on time, under budget, and designed with the end user in mind. Four hundred people graduated the Digital IT Acquisition Professional Training Program by the end of FY 2020. With 9 agencies getting better contracts due to these courses. The USDS also helped educated families about the Earned income tax credit and Child Tax Credit using the ChildTaxCredit.gov that over fourty one thousand users used as tool to find free tax filing services and receive expanded tax benefits. This encouraged families to file a tax return and helped cause a 25% reduction in food insecurity among low income families who received the Child Tax Credit. The USDS also helped change the way technical talent is hired by the government. a new hiring process was championed that used fair and open access for all applicants, while shortening the hiring timeline, and ensuring those hired were qualified. Thirteen applicants were hired at the Department of the Interior, with a change in hiring time down from fourteen to sixteen days on average.
  • The USDS and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer together built the new VA.gov website for the Veterans Affairs, which was built with the input over 5,000 veteran, service members, and family members. Customer satisfactions for using the VA.gov website rose on average from 53 to 69%, the website sees over 1.7 million logins per month.
  • Homeland Security worked with the USDS to build a digital system to allow immigrants to apply and track applications online, and process them digitally. This led to 100% of naturalization applications being processed electronically. [23] [24]

Other Digital Services were created and modeled after the United States Digital Service:

As U.S. DOGE Service

On January 20, 2025, the United States Digital Service was renamed as the United States DOGE Service, in reference to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The DOGE will be established as the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, a temporary organization under the USDS. In the executive order renaming USDS, President Donald Trump ordered every agency to create a DOGE team of at least four employees in consultation with USDS to implement the president's DOGE agenda. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Establishing and Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency"". Whitehouse.gov . January 20, 2025.
  2. ↑ Zakrzewski, Cat (5 December 2018). "The government's tech unit is trying to reduce wait times for asylum seekers". The Washington Post.
  3. ↑ Lapowsky, Issie (2019-03-14). "Kamala Harris Wants to Give States Millions to Overhaul Tech". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  4. ↑ "FACT SHEET: Improving and Simplifying Digital Service". The White House. 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  5. ↑ Scola, Nancy (2014-08-11). "White House launches 'U.S. Digital Service,' with HealthCare.gov fixer at the helm". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  6. ↑ Howard, Alex (August 13, 2014). "New US Digital Service Looks to Avoid IT Catastrophes". TechPresident. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Shear, Michael D (August 11, 2014). "White House Picks Engineer From Google to Fix Sites". The New York Times . Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Digital Services Playbook — from the U.S. Digital Service". playbook.usds.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  9. ↑ "USWDS: The United States Web Design System". U.S. Web Design System (USWDS). Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  10. ↑ "The TechFAR Handbook — from the U.S. Digital Service". playbook.usds.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  11. ↑ Scola, Nancy (August 25, 2014). "How the U.S. Digital Service could upset D.C.'s 'IT vendor ecosystem'". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  12. ↑ Rockwell, Mark (March 13, 2015). "OFPP launches podcast series to talk TechFAR, playbook". FCW Insider. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Discovery Sprint Guide". U.S. Digital Service. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
  14. ↑ "United States Digital Service". United States Digital Service. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  15. ↑ Levy, Steven (January 18, 2017). "The Final Days of Obama's Tech Surge". Wired Magazine . Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  16. ↑ Brill, Stephen (February 17, 2014). "Obama's Trauma Team". Time Magazine. Retrieved April 19, 2015. (subscription required)
  17. ↑ Cutts, Matt (April 14, 2021). "The Next Chapter for USDS". U.S. Digital Service. Retrieved August 20, 2021– via Medium.
  18. ↑ "Office of Management and Budget Announces Mina Hsiang As New Administrator of the United States Digital Service". The White House. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Mina Hsiang appointed USDS administrator". FedScoop. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Introducing the Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service: Mina Hsiang". U.S. Digital Service. September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Exclusive: New boss for government's tech "SWAT team"". Axios . September 2, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Great Resignation boosts White House's tech talent hunt". Axios . January 18, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Press sheet Spring 2023" (PDF). USDS Press sheet. United States Digital Service. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  24. ↑ "USDS Impact Report 2024" (PDF). Impact Report 2024. United States Digital Service. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  25. ↑ Wood, Colin (2020-08-13). "Florida State Rep. James Grant to become state's new CIO". StateScoop. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  26. ↑ "Colorado Digital Service, First Five Years | Office of Information Technology". oit.colorado.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-22.


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