10x Round Two: Submit Ideas by August 5

10x is a technology investment program housed in the Technology Transformation Services (TTS) office within the U.S. General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service that funds new ideas to help the federal government deliver better products and services to the public.

The 10x program believes that the government can use technology to improve how it serves the public. And, 10x strongly holds that public servants – those who provide these important services – are best able to identify the very areas that need improvement the most.

We seek ideas from government employees about problems that can be addressed through the better use of digital services.

10x counters traditional government funding practices where investments are typically large and require a full project plan before funding is granted. The program is modeled after modern venture capital practices that use small, gated investments and give projects the flexibility to become more focused and prevent massive sunk costs as the idea matures. This approach is designed to spend fewer taxpayer dollars while also ensuring the best products and services are funded.

A project can progress through four key phases — investigation, discovery, development, and scale. At the end of each phase, project teams either justify continued investment or recommend that the work stop.

We believe the best ideas come from the people who work closest to the problem — those on the front lines. We welcome anyone in the federal government to submit project ideas to 10x.

10x welcomes all ideas, and is particularly interested in ideas that are related to:

• Disaster management efforts. These ideas could include problems or opportunities for improving the management of resources that are critical to the government’s handling of emergencies (preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery). Areas of interest include the COVID-19 health crisis and ensuing economic impacts, as well as natural disasters.
• Direct public services. These are digital services for which the primary customer (or end user) is a member of the public, as opposed to agencies, government systems, or government employees.
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. These are ideas that further diversity, inclusion and accessibility for all members of the public. Areas of interest could include expanding access to government services for populations that may be traditionally underserved, and/or efforts to ensure equity of service across diverse segments of the population.

For more information on how to submit an idea, please visit 10x.gsa.gov. Idea submissions close August 5, 2020.