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    "title" : "Updates on 21st Century IDEA: Key Insights & Lessons Learned |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Updates on 21st Century IDEA: Key Insights & Lessons Learned",
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    {"kicker" : "21st Century IDEA","title" :"Updates on 21st Century IDEA: Key Insights \u0026 Lessons Learned","deck" : "","summary" : "We spoke to Ammie Farraj Feijoo, GSA’s 21st Century IDEA implementation lead, to get the rundown on what’s been accomplished and what’s on deck for 2020.","date" : "2020-03-17T12:00:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"stephanie-santana" : "Stephanie Santana"},"topics" : {
        
            "analytics" : "Analytics",
            "design" : "Design",
            "digital-service-delivery" : "Digital service delivery",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
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      "filename" :"2020-03-17-updates-on-21st-century-idea-key.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2020/03/2020-03-17-updates-on-21st-century-idea-key.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2020/03/2020-03-17-updates-on-21st-century-idea-key.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2020/03/2020-03-17-updates-on-21st-century-idea-key.md","slug" : "updates-on-21st-century-idea-key","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2020/03/17/updates-on-21st-century-idea-key/","content" :"\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image image-right\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/21c-idea-icon-w600sq_w200.png\"  alt='A line drawing of a lightbulb in white, on dark blue background'\n    srcset=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/21c-idea-icon-w600sq_bu.jpg 48w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/21c-idea-icon-w600sq_w400.png 400w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/21c-idea-icon-w600sq_w200.png 200w\"\n    sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 40vw, 400px\"\n  /\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you’ve been following the Digital.gov site, you may be familiar with our articles focusing on the \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/21st-century-integrated-digital-experience-act/\"\u003e21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act\u003c/a\u003e (21st Century IDEA). In a nutshell, the Act is intended “to improve executive agency digital services.\u0026quot; There are five substantive parts to the Act, which reflect efforts to enhance the user experience. We spoke to 21st Century IDEA implementation lead, Ammie Farraj Feijoo, at the General Services Administration (GSA), to get the rundown on what’s been accomplished—and what’s on deck for 2020.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"completed-in-2019-modernization-planning\"\u003eCompleted in 2019: Modernization Planning\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Farraj Feijoo explains, there’s a “two-pronged” approach to modernizing websites under 21st Century IDEA. That includes focusing efforts on:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEnsuring all \u003cstrong\u003enew\u003c/strong\u003e, public-facing websites adhere to the eight requirements seen in \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/resources/21st-century-integrated-digital-experience-act/#what-does-it-mean-to-modernize-websites\"\u003eWhat Does It Mean to Modernize Websites\u003c/a\u003e (section 3(a) of the Act)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlanning out how to modernize \u003cstrong\u003eexisting\u003c/strong\u003e websites that are “most viewed or utilized by the public” or “otherwise important for public engagement” (section 3(b) of the Act)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-steps-are-helping-to-achieve-21st-century-idea-goals\"\u003eWhat Steps Are Helping to Achieve 21st Century IDEA Goals?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlanning for the Future\u003c/strong\u003e: Agencies developed plans on modernization progress. These plans included cost and schedule estimates to modernize high-priority and high-impact sites.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDocumenting Efforts\u003c/strong\u003e: Agencies submitted comprehensive reports on their plans in December 2019 to OMB and to Congress. Many agencies have published their digital strategy on an agency.gov/digitalstrategy page of their main website (e.g., \u003ca href=\"https://www.gsa.gov/technology/government-it-initiatives/digital-strategy\"\u003egsa.gov/digitalstrategy\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"gsa-case-study-key-methods-and-lessons-learned\"\u003eGSA Case Study: Key Methods and Lessons Learned\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike all executive branch agencies, GSA is working to better understand its digital footprint, prioritize its websites and digital services, and create a plan to modernize those that need it. Below are a few key methods and lessons learned from GSA’s efforts to improve their digital services.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEstablish a cross-agency team\u003c/strong\u003e: That method was critical in gaining buy-in on all steps in the planning process. GSA’s team included representatives from its IT office, communications office, and customer experience office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnderstand the “landscape”\u003c/strong\u003e: GSA’s small, but resourceful team made a strategic choice to inventory their websites, which helped determine the range of content GSA was producing online as well as GSA’s overall digital footprint.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEnsure buy-in from senior level management\u003c/strong\u003e: In addition to the cross-agency team, GSA also established a digital governance senior steering committee. This way senior executives across the agency had multiple opportunities to give their input and support on deliverables.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDetermine points of contact before a data call\u003c/strong\u003e: GSA’s team worked to identify what areas of critical feedback they wanted. They also made sure they had key points of contact for each of their determined domains, such as how searchable or accessible GSA sites are. The data call ultimately resulted in four target areas GSA identified to improve their digital presence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCross reference website data with analytics\u003c/strong\u003e: GSA found only about a dozen of its sites accounted for 95% of the web traffic. Those stats combined with information acquired from the data call helped GSA narrow down their focus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eForm a practice network\u003c/strong\u003e: GSA created a Content Management Community of Practice for its employees who manage websites and digital services. This enabled staff across the agency to share news, information, and resources all in one location.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUse the Maturity Model\u003c/strong\u003e: GSA has issued and is using the \u003ca href=\"https://designsystem.digital.gov/maturity-model/\"\u003eU.S. Web Design System (USWDS) Maturity Model\u003c/a\u003e to improve its web presence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n        src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/uswds-maturity-model.png\"alt=\"An illustration showing the three levels of progression through the USWDS maturity model.\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn illustration showing the three levels of progression through the \u003ca href=\"https://designsystem.digital.gov/maturity-model/\"\u003eUSWDS maturity model\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"up-next-for-2020-digitization\"\u003eUp Next for 2020: Digitization\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe next 21st Century IDEA deadline is for forms to be digital by \u003cstrong\u003eDecember 2020\u003c/strong\u003e. Agencies will have to create additional guidance on digitizing government services and forms. Here are four things you can do to tackle that task:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnderstand your agency’s forms landscape by conducting an inventory of its forms and the data the forms collect\u003c/strong\u003e: How many forms does your agency have? How is the data being collected? What information is needed?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEngage with your agency forms program manager\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVisit \u003ca href=\"http://pra.digital.gov\"\u003ePRA.digital.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e to learn more about the Paperwork Reduction Act.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, if you’re overwhelmed by 21st Century IDEA tasks or similar huge digital undertakings, we close out with a few of the many inspiring examples of federal websites that have done work to improve their customers’ online experience:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGeneral Services Administration - \u003ca href=\"http://www.cio.gov\"\u003eCIO.gov\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://www.digital.gov\"\u003eDigital.gov\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://www.gsa.gov\"\u003eGSA.gov\u003c/a\u003e (plus read the respective blog posts about each team’s work on \u003ca href=\"https://www.cio.gov/highlights-of-the-updated-cio/\"\u003eWhat\u0026rsquo;s New on CIO.gov\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2019/12/19/a-new-digitalgov/\"\u003eWelcome to the NEW Digital.gov\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/2020/01/08/a-look-at-new-gsagov/\"\u003eA Look at the New GSA.gov\u003c/a\u003e)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepartment of Homeland Security - \u003ca href=\"http://www.ready.gov\"\u003eReady.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepartment of Commerce - \u003ca href=\"https://www.commerce.gov/\"\u003eCommerce.gov\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"http://www.NIST.gov\"\u003eNIST.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepartment of Justice - \u003ca href=\"http://www.amberalert.gov\"\u003eAmberAlert.gov\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://nij.ojp.gov/\"\u003eNIJ.gov \u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepartment of Health and Human Services - \u003ca href=\"https://findtreatment.gov/\"\u003eFindTreatment.gov\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://www.stopbullying.gov\"\u003eStopBullying.gov\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"http://www.foodsafety.gov\"\u003eFoodSafety.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSmall Business Administration - \u003ca href=\"http://certify.SBA.gov\"\u003ecertify.SBA.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDepartment of Agriculture - \u003ca href=\"http://www.farmers.gov\"\u003eFarmers.gov\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIf you see a federal government site that you think warrants a shout out, \u003ca href=\"mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov\"\u003esend us an email\u003c/a\u003e! Maybe it can become our next UX design feature post.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}