Updated
Management
‘I love to solve problems’: Awards program honors feds who improved the delivery of public services
The Service to the Citizen award recognizes public servants at the federal, state and local levels as well as contractors.
Tech
TSA uses AI agent to respond to 100,000 traveler conversations per month
The technology has resolved 96% of traveler inquiries without human escalation, according to Salesforce.
Tech
Social Security expands electronic health record sharing to speed up disability claims adjudication
A health data sharing superhighway “allows SSA to access complete, structured medical records within seconds or minutes for claimants, helping to significantly reduce disability claim processing times,” an agency official told Nextgov/FCW.
Management
National crisis and support hotline operations remained consistent despite staffing cuts, watchdog found
Some staff operating mental health support hotlines at the departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs were subject to reductions in force last year and have not yet been replaced.
Management
IRS could be required to publicly report wait times and backlogs
A bipartisan Senate bill would create new transparency around the agency's customer service performance and expand callback options for taxpayers.
Management
Government service delivery needs standard definitions, former government tech leaders say
A new proposal urges Congress to align common definitions across federal programs, arguing the current patchwork creates administrative burdens and complicates service delivery.
Tech
GSA taps White House design team to revamp Login.gov
The collaboration is aimed at making the government's identity platform easier to use while leaving decisions about what changes get implemented to GSA.
Tech
How State finally got online passport renewal to stick
After a failed first rollout, the department reworked how it builds and deploys tech, bringing frontline staff into the process and scaling a system that’s now handling millions of renewals.
Management
House votes to make IRS publish call metrics online
The bill would require the tax agency to release detailed, real time and monthly call metrics. The House also passed a technology proposal meant to move the IRS off paper.
Tech
AI is helping VA speed up claims processing, but Dems worry about errors
“Speed does not equal success,” Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-N.Y., said about VA’s use of automation and AI to process veterans’ benefits claims.
Exclusive
Management
VA has touted appointment wait time reductions, but new data shows a more mixed reality
A comparative analysis of select wait-time data for new patients at more than 100 medical centers indicates the department has made progress in some areas, but not all.
Management
Why the federal government needs to stop obsessing over process
COMMENTARY | Government performance systems often reward documentation, activity and procedural defensibility more than real-world impact. Federal managers must ask three critical questions to eliminate counterproductive rules.
Tech
Much of the government’s technology isn’t accessible, internal report finds
Just over a third of the government’s most-viewed websites met legal requirements that they be accessible for people with disabilities.
Tech
New White House design team aims for ‘delightful’ websites — changing design ethos in the process
Trump’s chief design officer says that his work shouldn’t be controversial, but his team’s track record has raised questions about who their websites are for, who they leave out and whether the White House can garner trust based on sleek design alone.
Management
VA doesn't know how many calls it's answering or how long veterans are waiting to get through
The department's failure to track call data is putting "veterans who may need timely and critical care at risk," the inspector general finds.
Management
VA’s National Cemetery Administration earns top customer satisfaction scores
For the eighth year in a row, the small agency earned the highest rankings in the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Workforce
Satisfaction with government services rises, despite recent layoffs and turmoil
The Trump administration has touted some service delivery projects and launched a design initiative, but it has also fired and pushed out thousands of civil servants.
Management
I spent 50 years in government and here’s how to fix it
COMMENTARY | After serving under presidents from Johnson to Obama, David Mader has seen what works and what doesn’t in government and why improving it is about making it serve the public better, not running it like a business.
Oversight
A developing database of constituent complaints to Congress could help agencies find systemic issues in their public services
While Capitol Hill staffers help constituents when they have trouble getting assistance from an agency, there’s currently no way to track that information across congressional offices.
Management