DigitalGov University is Making Changes Thanks to You

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 expectations for digital government. We host live events and webinars to supplement the content on DigitalGov geared toward feds working in the digital space. And, we are constantly checking in with our attendees to ensure we are meeting needs and developing ever better events.

In addition to our usual post event surveys where we ask “how we are doing?”, for the second year in a row, we also sent out the Customer Experience Survey to many of our customers. This survey, modeled after Forrester’s Customer Experience Index (CXi), measures customer loyalty and satisfaction with our programs. The feedback is very important to us and we were able to see some trends and develop path to move forward.

Finding 1:You want to know the “level” of the event

More than a few of you who’ve attended an event commented that you were surprised to find out that it was basic, informational, or technical when you were expecting something advanced, hands-on, or non-technical. So we are going to work more closely with the program sponsors moving forward to indicate on the event page the type of event we are hosting. Whether it’s hands-on, informational, beginner (no experience needed), or technical (level of experience needed).

Finding 2: Not enough people know about DGU

We’ve heard from you that your boss, supervisor, colleagues or staff aren’t aware of our programs or the benefits. This year we will be looking to expand our reach. We have an Open Opportunity available for some help in developing a widget we can share across agencies to post on intranets. We will also do some additional outreach and marketing. However our largest and most successful channel for acquiring new attendees is YOU. We hope you share our daily/weekly digest subscription, and tell colleagues about our events.

Last, and most important, [tell us how the event](mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov?subject=Making%20Changes with DGU) has helped you make change at your agency.

Finding 3: You want to BE HERE when you can’t be here (and we want you here, too)

Our biggest goal this year is to start bringing our live, in-person events to you, California, and you, Montana, and everyone outside of the D.C. metro area, virtually. We realize that this above all other things will make a big difference in sharing and collaborating. We will work to pilot agency “watch parties” and have an event of your own and get to know each other. We’ll start with a live-stream later in November so stay tuned.

Our Services

DGU has morphed over the years into a program by feds for feds. We listen and help agencies share all the cool things they’re doing in the digital space. We know that across the federal government there are many events and programs you are hosting and we want to help you spread the news. If your event is:

• free
• focused on digital, and
• federally hosted

tell us, and we will put it on the calendar.

Are you using social in an innovative way to meet your agency goals? Are you working in an agile environment? Are you more focused on creating mobile apps? Has using an open sourced tool allow you to work smarter? We want to know. Submit your event ideas to us. Chances are other agencies can benefit from the awesome work you’re doing and the lessons you learned along the way. Feel free to also submit ideas on what you want to hear about or who you want to hear from.

One last thing continue to check out the events calendar to see what’s cookin’, and keep those cards and letters coming.