What happened at the White House Tech Meeting

I chronicled the lead-up to the meeting last Monday here. I arrived in DC Sunday…

Is Apple About to Accidentally Kill Government as Platform?

An effort by Apple to prevent spam may unintentionally undo years of digital government app development.

At Code for America, we believe that government services can be as good as the best services you…

Which side are you on, vendors?

I am often asked how Code for America intends to deal with the…

On extraordinariness

I had a small role in recruiting this man. He’d spent the last ten years leading engineering teams on a consumer product you’ve probably used, and he’s just arrived in DC to work with the federal government. He started on Monday, and it’s now Thursday night. I run into him at an event. He…

The Tyranny of Agile

“The tyranny of agile.” Never thought you’d hear me say that, did you? We’re the folks who got all up in the State of California’s business about running the new Child Welfare System as an agile project. (And the State embraced it!) Code for America preaches the user-centered, iterative…

Beyond Tech: Policymaking in a Digital Age

“We need to be about the business of perfecting an imperfect law.”

The CIO Problem, Part 1

I get about one inbound request a week for help finding technology leadership for cities, states, and federal agencies. Leaders everywhere in government have realized how profoundly their success is tied to getting digital right (and often how frustrated they will continue to be if they…

The Problem with Dull Knives: What’s the Defense Department got to do with Code for America?

What Healthcare.gov has to do with the Hawaii false alarm — and what to do about it

By now, you’ve heard of the Hawaii False Alarm, and about the blowback and blame as people try to sort out how this could have happened. In government circles, however, there have been…

Procurement under Trump

If Trump wants to improve regulation, here’s where he should start.