Reviews of the technology now standing between people and the state: digital identity, benefits portals, case management, records systems. Coverage weighs vendor claims against uptime, accessibility and contract value. For technology leads in government, procurement officers and civic technologists deciding whether to build or buy.
Assessment of identity systems, case management platforms and public data infrastructure: procurement histories, failure modes and migration costs.
Federal coverage maps overstated internet availability for years because the unit of measurement was the census block — the fix took a new map, a challenge process, and a lot of arguing.
James Wellington
Between a vendor's prototype and an election-day tabulator sits a two-stage gauntlet — federal testing labs, then state certification — and the clock rules everything.
Asha Venkataswamy
The U.S. Digital Service and 18F proved top technologists will tour government service — and their institutional lesson is that tours of duty need a pipeline, not heroics.
Asha Venkataswamy
Public-sector conversational systems mislead most at exactly the points users cannot verify — eligibility, deadlines, and appeal rights — which is why guardrails matter more than fluency.
Asha Venkataswamy
Thousands of government datasets are online; the ones worth using share four properties most portals never mention — schema stability, stewardship, licensing, and a real consumer.
James Wellington