Professional development on Digital.gov

Tips for building a small, scrappy digital team

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Explore hiring strategies, how to leverage contractors, and creative approaches for building your digital team.

On USDC's third anniversary, Fellows from all three cohorts reflect on their experiences

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The U.S. Digital Corps (USDC), a two-year paid fellowship program for early-career technologists, launched in 2021. USDC achievements include hiring more than 150 technologists to support high-impact projects at 25 agencies. In honor of the third anniversary, six Fellows share their experiences and offer advice for those interested in combining their technological expertise with a focus on public service.

A five-step plan for communicating with leadership

Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

How to engage leadership personally, adapt communication styles, and choose appropriate timing for effective interactions and feedback.

Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 2)

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 08:02:00 -0500

A GSA SmartPay product owner shares his experiences as a first-time product owner in a government agile development project.

Cultivating a dynamic career in user experience

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 08:48:00 -0500

Dynamic careers are derived from creativity, accountability, influence and strategic planning. Learn about how enhancing job skills builds resilience in today’s work environment.

4 steps writers and editors can take to demonstrate value

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 21:00:00 -0500

As plain language writers and editors, we need to demonstrate the value we bring to projects. This writeup explains how to calculate the costs of our work and articulate its value.

Reflections on a year in government from 11 U.S. Digital Corps fellows

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 11:41:00 -0500

To celebrate their first year in government, 11 U.S. Digital Corps Fellows reflect on what they have learned.

10 ways to recognize employees at work

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 18:26:00 -0500

Showing appreciation works best when it’s not one-size-fits all. Here are 10 ideas to get started.

Bringing design in-house

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 10:11:00 -0500

What is design, who are designers, and how can they help your agency? Learn how to build a design team that can help your agency solve “wicked problems” and be more innovative.

Serving the Public: Five Veterans' Journeys to Public Interest Tech

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 13:56:00 -0500

U.S. Digital Corps Fellows share their public service journeys from military service to public interest tech.

GSA Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) Program

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 18:11:00 -0500

Since 2012, over 200 Presidential Innovation Fellows have supported initiatives at more than 50 agencies, providing expert advice in specialized disciplines such as artificial intelligence, data strategy, product management, human-centered design, software development, and digital strategy. These efforts have enhanced agencies’ abilities to provide the best customer experience for their stakeholders and the public. The PIF program plans to celebrate the anniversary over the next year with activities to highlight the program’s impact and community since it launched.

Webinar Recap: How to Build Your Digital Dream Team

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 13:55:00 -0500

Highlights from the Web Managers Community of Practice panel that shared how to get the right team in place to create a trusted, seamless online experience for all your customers.

From Fellowship To Full-time: How a CFPB Software Engineer Helped Protect Consumers and Built a Career in Civic Tech

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 11:15:00 -0500

Anselm Bradford, a front-end engineer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is using his tech skills to protect American consumers.

The Customer Experience (CX) Symposium Series: A Thought Incubator for Federal CX Practitioners

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 11:21:00 -0500

What is the past, present, and future of public sector customer experience practice? The CX Symposium series gathers practitioners to map our way.

Webinar Recap: The Part-Timer

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 09:51:00 -0500

Learn how Joanne Short of the United States Postal Service (USPS) opened professional doors by going beyond her job description in her Plain Language Summit session, The Part-Timer.

Start Your Tech Career in Government as a U.S. Digital Corps Fellow

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 10:33:00 -0500

Applications for the first cohort of U.S. Digital Corps Fellows will open on Monday, November 8th.

From Silicon Valley to GovTech: How a Data Scientist Turned Their Passion for Helping People Into a Career in Public Service

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 10:33:00 -0500

Many opportunities are available for technologists to make an impact in public service. See how Avena Cheng, a data scientist at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), turned a passion for improving people’s lives into a govtech career.

GSA Launches New Innovation Adoption Community of Practice

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 15:55:00 -0500

GSA is launching the Innovation Adoption Community of Practice on Digital.gov to connect those who embrace innovative methods and practices that improve government service delivery.

8 Ways Community of Practice (CoP) Managers Can Improve Member Engagement on Listservs

Fri, 21 May 2021 09:31:00 -0500

Are you a Digital.gov Community of Practice (CoP) lead? Find yourself participating in a CoP discussion and wondering what else you can do? We’ve got some suggestions.

How to Present Like a Pro

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 12:09:00 -0500

Wendy Wagner-Smith of the Small Business Administration (SBA) shares her tips and tricks for presenting virtually.

How to Present Like a Pro

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0500

How to Present Like a Pro—When you are presenting on streaming video, you are essentially doing the same thing as a television news anchor. Try these common methods that television presenters use daily to improve your presentation skills in the “zoom” era.

6 Ways To Navigate the Civic Tech Sea of Newness

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 15:22:00 -0500

Two former private-sector marketers now serving as Presidential Innovation Fellows share tips for building relationships and finding your way as a civic technologist.

A Soldier's Journey from Big Tech to Government Innovation

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 15:52:00 -0500

Why I returned to government service, how I brought my tech experience with me, and why you should too.

Bringing Our Human(ity) to Work: 5 Ingredients for a Delightful Town Hall

Tue, 30 Jun 2020 10:00:00 -0500

How to design impactful and engaging Town Hall or large group meetings.

Federal Leadership and Professional Development

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 16:00:00 -0500

Providing federal employees with seminars on leadership, professional development, and strategy.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Discover opportunities across government that will help you build and make connections.

Job Board

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 03:33:00 -0500

Discover community- and technology-related job openings in the federal government.

Cultivating a dynamic career in UX

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 14:00:00 -0500

Join us for a discussion on how to adapt your career in user experience (UX) to a quickly changing world.

How to Build Your Digital Dream Team

Tue, 17 May 2022 14:00:00 -0500

Learn how to get the right team in place to help you create a trusted, seamless online experience for all your customers.

Successful Strategies for Telework and Hybrid Work Environments

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 13:00:00 -0500

Learn from and share with other federal colleagues from across the government strategies for succeeding at working, managing, supervising, collaborating, communicating, and more.

2021 Federal Plain Language Summit

Tue, 21 Sep 2021 10:00:00 -0500

On 9/21/21, PLAIN’s Fourth Federal PL Summit showcases federal employees’ plain language projects. Topics include COVID-19 agency responses, accessibility, user experience, and career enhancement.

Using Plain Language To Tell Our Stories

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Learn how to tell a story and figure out what role plain language plays in storytelling.

Positioning Yourself as a Plain Language Editor

Wed, 19 May 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Learn how to brand yourself as a plain language expert and get the credit at work that you deserve!

Federal Developmental Opportunities Workshop

Tue, 04 May 2021 09:00:00 -0500

The Federal Leadership and Professional Development Seminar Series (FLPDSS) is hosting a cross-agency workshop focusing on developmental opportunities for federal employees.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Panel Discussion #4: Veterans Day

Tue, 10 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Panelists will discuss the challenges of transitioning and the benefits of transitioning from military to civilian service in the IT field.

2020 Federal Plain Language Summit

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 10:00:00 -0500

Join us for discussion from government and private-sector leaders on how to advance plain language in government communications. Hear lessons learned and victories of every size.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Panel Discussion #3: Who’s Next?

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Panelists will discuss the importance of developing the next generation of women leaders in IT and in the Federal government.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Networking Session #2

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Participants will have the opportunity to virtually interact with top Federal CIOs, and discuss career development, leadership, and best practices on expanding a professional network.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Panel Discussion #2: Expanding Our Network

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Panelists will discuss the importance of expanding our professional network outside of our silos to become stronger leaders.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Networking Session #1

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Participants will have the opportunity to virtually interact with top Federal CIOs, and discuss career development, leadership, and best practices on developing a professional network.

Women In Federal IT & Cyber Conference Panel #1: Designing a Network

Wed, 10 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0500

The importance of surrounding yourself with those with similar technical skills, finding your niche, and designing a professional network. The concept of a professional network might be intimidating, why not start with those with similar interests and skills to create a core network. A core network prioritizes those with similar technical skills to build a strong foundation. You can expect to come away with a) the why of designing a core network, b) ways to identify people with similar skills, and c) steps you can take to design a strategic professional network.

Who's on Your Digital Dream Team?

Wed, 27 May 2020 23:00:00 -0500

This week, we’re exploring what it means to establish effective governance, and looking at ways to clarify and fill the roles of all the players on your team.

Learning Culture: 10 Personalized Employee Experiences

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 19:00:00 -0500

Employee experience solutions begin with exploring small changes with how we experience work on an everyday cadence.

10 Employee Engagement Experiences to Foster Collaboration

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 09:00:00 -0500

How do we create an agile federal culture that’s more inclusive, insightful, and efficient? Explore 10 teamwork engagement experiences with your agency to foster collaboration.

Technology Transformation Begins With People: Closing the Human-Technology Gap

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 12:00:00 -0500

GSA's Technology Transformation Services is prototyping a human-centered approach to cultivating an environment of lifelong learning to attract and retain the best talent to serve our citizens.

Federal Crowdsourcing Webinar Series, Episode 4: Open Opportunities

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 15:00:00 -0500

The Open Opportunities program is a “win-win” for federal employees looking to refresh their skills and U.S. agencies seeking talent, energy, and enthusiasm from across a diverse cross-section of the federal workforce.

Federal Leadership & Professional Development Seminar Series: Professional Branding

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 12:00:00 -0500

Reginald Gant, a human resources specialist for the Office of Learning, Strategy, and Workforce Development at the Social Security Administration, will be discussing what branding is, why it is important, and the 6-step branding process.

Go Beyond Coaching and Mentorship and Get Started as a Sponsor

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 09:00:00 -0500

One step beyond mentorship is another practice called sponsorship: action-orientated, deeply invested support that helps others in their long-term professional advancement.

Get to Know the Virtual Student Federal Service

Thu, 24 May 2018 14:00:00 -0500

Learn how U.S. college students working remotely can be virtual interns for you and your federal government teams through the Virtual Student Federal Service.

The Data Briefing: Will Artificial Intelligence Tools Replace or Augment Federal Employees?

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 11:00:44 -0400

A Washington, D.C. think tank recently released reports advocating using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to reorganize the federal government.

How Federal Leaders Can Build the Will, Skill, and Velocity Needed for Digital Transformation

Wed, 06 Sep 2017 03:00:31 -0400

Learning—and practicing—five imperatives of network leadership can help agencies improve their odds for successful digital transformation. Many organizations are undergoing digital transformation because the organizations see that it is necessary for long-term survival. However, digitally reinventing the organization is “one of the hardest journeys to make.” According to industry experts, two-thirds of organizations will fail

The Data Briefing: Ten Years of Digital Transformation—Lessons Learned

Wed, 26 Jul 2017 12:00:00 -0400

Since 2007, a major consulting firm has conducted an annual survey on organizations’ “Digital IQ.” In the ten years of organizations grappling with digital transformation, what has been learned?

The Data Briefing: The Arrival of Generation Z into the Federal Government. And Generation A?

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 14:58:31 -0400

In the last national election, the earliest born members of Generation Z voted for the first time. In 2019, the American workforce will see the influx of tens of millions of Gen Zers who, according to some researchers, will be a stark contrast to the Millennials that will make the largest part of the 2020

The Data Briefing: Finding the New Federal Government Technologists

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 02:05:17 -0400

This week, I want to briefly discuss the human resources challenges in finding the new IT technology workers for the government. As agencies move toward microservices, artificial intelligence chatbots, and deep learning application programming interfaces (APIs), the demand for experts in these fields continues to grow fast. The universities and professional development programs are not

DigitalGov University in Review: 2016 Training Trends

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:00:02 -0400

Thanks to your participation, DigitalGov University (DGU), the events platform for DigitalGov, hosted over 90 events with 6,648 attendees from over 100 agencies across federal, tribal, state, and local governments.

Collaboration and Innovation, Beyond Government Borders

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 10:00:09 -0400

How to start an innovation movement: Connect innovators with fellow innovators, and find more innovators to collaborate with.

Why People Contribute to Federal Tech Projects (And How You Can Provide a Good Experience)

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 10:00:56 -0400

Author’s note: Anyone can contribute to the development of the Open Opportunities platform via the project’s GitHub repository. The Open Opportunities program itself is only open to federal employees. Open, agile software development projects can improve government initiatives. As discussed in last week’s article on agile projects in government, the Open Opportunities platform has benefited

Digging Into the Data of Our Customer Survey

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 09:00:06 -0400

As a follow-up to the recent post about our annual customer satisfaction survey, we wanted to dig into the data and share some of the overall results to give you some more insights into how we’re using your feedback to improve our programs and services.

How Agile Development Can Benefit Federal Projects

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 11:00:56 -0400

Agile methods help agencies deliver projects and products more efficiently and effectively. The benefits aren’t limited to deliverables: Going agile can break down the silos that exist between and within agencies. And collaboration doesn’t need to end at the federal level—agile projects done in the open provide a way for the public to contribute to

New White House Innovation Strategy Promotes Increase in Challenges and Prizes

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 01:00:05 -0400

The White House released an updated Strategy for American Innovation last week, calling again on government to tap the American public’s brain trust

5 Factors to Building a Successful Government-wide Digital Analytics Program

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 03:15:07 -0400

Launched just three years ago, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) continues to drive the 2012 Digital Government Strategy’s mission to improve the citizen experience by streamlining the collection and analysis of digital analytics data on a federal government-wide scale. The DAP officially launched on October 15, 2012 with a release of its first version of

How Agencies Can Support Employee Professional Development

Fri, 09 Oct 2015 10:00:09 -0400

Providing professional development for over 100,000 employees is no easy task. To build on the existing skills of their workforce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has piloted AgOpportunity, a program that matches USDA employees with projects that need their skills and interest. The idea for AgOpportunity came from the Partnership for Public Service’s Excellence

How OSTP Crowdsourced A Crowdsourcing Toolkit

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:18:38 -0400

To promote crowdsourcing, one effective tool is, well, crowdsourcing. Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS) unveiled the Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Toolkit. The toolkit contains information, resources, and best practices federal agencies can use to harness the power

An Overview of Digital Communities

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:10:49 -0400

Digital communities of practice come in many stripes. DigitalGov communities span eight (and counting) focus areas and have thousands of members, but strong collaborations exist in all corners of government. In honor of this month’s communities theme, we are offering a list of communities that foster connections and strengthen the digital capabilities of federal agencies.

What’s in a Name? “Communities” in the Public and Private Sectors

Wed, 15 Jul 2015 10:00:21 -0400

Many of you are part of a government community. We lead a few of them here, and new ones are forming all the time. In fact, as I was writing this article, I stumbled upon a community for government Drupal users. A co-worker recently asked me for research on communities because she is trying to

Progress with Open Opportunities: Notes from the Field

Fri, 01 May 2015 11:10:51 -0400

As a task creator with an ambitious agenda and limited resources, I’ve got a great deal of incentive to make the most use that I can of Open Opportunities. And indeed, Open Opportunities participants have made a concrete and positive difference in the operations of our office, the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, part of

Open Opportunities Task Creator Toolkit

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 04:12:33 -0400

The step-by-step task creation process for Open Opportunities.

10 Tips for Creating the Perfect Open Opportunity Task

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 04:12:26 -0400

Ten tips for creating tasks in Open Opportunities on USAJOBS.

Hiring For Your Digital Needs

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 10:00:07 -0400

The increasing presence of big data and all things digital will require the federal government to hire more techies. The skills brought by techies will help the federal government, but we also must consider that success in the federal government will require more than the skills they bring.

Reaching Out To Deliver Within: Crowdsourcing Internal Agency Projects

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 01:53:33 -0400

Crowdsourcing has created new paths for public interaction with the government, as we’ve been highlighting on DigitalGov with this month’s theme. However, crowdsourcing can also be used to harness support for internal agency projects. The Department of State is using crowdsourcing to find talent within and outside of government to support agency activities. Through the

From Taste-Testers to Explorers: Developing Personas for Open Opportunities

Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:00:00 -0500

Being customer-focused means doing the gumshoe work of research and rounds of analysis to find gold by understanding user goals. For the task-based innovation network, Open Opportunities for DigitalGov, that meant developing personas in order to overcome our own biases and learn about the different motivations of our participants. In this article, we’ll talk about

DigitalGov University is Making Changes Thanks to You

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:19:17 -0400

DigitalGov University took the pulse of our participants this spring and found that our audience wants more information about events, wants us to better communicate the value of programs and wants more access to our programs. DigitalGov University (DGU) is a platform for feds to share ideas, experiences and techniques to meet 21st century public

Use Metrics to Drive Success

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:01:48 -0400

Would federal employees work on tasks outside their agency in order to support DigitalGov? That’s the question we wanted to answer as we created the Open Opportunities program. We had a built-in test case. When the Digital Government Strategy was released in May 2013, agencies were tasked with building APIs, launching mobile products, establishing digital

Member Spotlight – Hannah Rubin, Library of Congress

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:00:17 -0400

Meet Hannah Rubin, who works in the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. She’s the focus of this month’s Member Spotlight.

Getting it Done with Open Opportunities: The Case of the Mobile Code Catalog

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 10:30:00 -0400

Imagine open source code, publicly available to share, that jump starts your agency’s mobile development efforts. Pretty neat idea, huh? Well last year it became a reality with the Mobile Code Catalog. This idea was the brainchild of Mike Pulsifer, who, as the Technical Manager for the Division of Enterprise Communications, Office of Public Affairs,

Improving Content, Increasing Participation: A NARA Usability Case Study

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 10:00:49 -0400

Over the years, the staff intranet at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had become increasingly difficult to use. Old, irrelevant content routinely bubbled to the top of search results, and essential employee tools were hard to find. NARA staff agreed that the site was due for an upgrade: fixing NARA@work was voted a

Hacking the Bureaucracy One Task at a Time

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 13:00:53 -0400

Are you having trouble getting training or professional development opportunities? Federal employees can gain access to a variety of professional development opportunities and work on digital projects across the government through the Open Opportunities program.

Open Opportunities

Mon, 12 May 2014 01:41:02 -0400

Open Opportunities is a government wide program offering professional development opportunities and facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing across the Federal Government.