News and Updates

Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government

/Developer Kit

These are the elements that make up a well-rounded developer hub. Homepage The API efforts of any agency should all be accessible via one easy to reach developers hub. This Web page should provide a path to all public APIs and any associated resources. Once an agency has begun to publish multiple APIs, certain resources

May 21, 2013

Google Analytics and the New Healthcare.gov

The new Healthcare.gov will sort content according to user demand with a new plugin developed for the site. For a content-heavy site like healthcare.gov, this option will allow HHS to serve popular content to readers quickly. In April we told you about Jekyll. The new Healthcare.gov will use this

May 21, 2013

API Release Kit

These are the elements you should include in your federal API release. Homepage Each of your public APIs needs a page to serve as a hub to provide access to all information and tools associated with it. By using the page’s sidebar, footer, and sub pages, you can directly include or link to each of

May 16, 2013

CDC Mobile Tools

The Center’s for Disease and Control has developed a mobile website and a mobile app so users can access information anytime, anywhere, on any device. The mobile website was developed to allow users to access a subset of CDC’s content on mobile devices. These sections include

May 16, 2013

What is a Civic Hacker?

The National Day of Civic Hacking is bringing together thousands of civic hackers on June 1st and 2nd. But what is a civic hacker, anyway? “Civic hackers” as we think about it for the National Day of Civic Hacking are technologists, civil servants, designers, entrepreneurs, engineers –

May 15, 2013

Federal Mobile Code Sharing Catalog Is Here

Federal agencies have a new resource to help them make content and services available anytime, anywhere, and from any device–the federal Mobile Code Catalog sponsored by the Digital Services Innovation Center. This catalog is hosted on GitHub (more on why that matters in a moment).

May 13, 2013

USPS Mobile App Updates

The U.S. Postal Service Mobile app can help you find a post office, calculate shipping prices and track packages. Since we last featured this app, the USPS has added the ability to schedule pickups and order supplies. Last month, USPS Mobile version 3.8 was released. The new version allows users

May 09, 2013

Planning an Apps Challenge

Apps challenges are a great way to spur innovation and help your agency meet its mission. But before you jump in, learn about how apps challenges work, to ensure yours is successful. Design Concept or Functioning App? What kind of product do you want from your apps challenge? A working app; or A concept for

May 08, 2013

Cracking the Mobile Contracting Nut

Mobile is a fast moving technology leaving many agencies feeling behind the contracting eight-ball. Between finding those rockstar mobile developers, figuring out what to ask for in a statement of work (SOW), the time it takes getting a contract to get those expert resources, agencies are challenged in making

May 06, 2013

The National Gallery of Art has released a free mobile application about the treasures in the permanent collection. Your Art app, available for iOS, enriches the experience of on-site visitors and expands the Gallery’s reach by bringing its masterpieces to art lovers across the globe. Some of this app’s

May 02, 2013

Why Government Websites Need SEO

As the SEO Specialist for Brighton College, I have come across many frustrating, un-optimized, information-rich government websites which are difficult to find on the Internet. Although government websites may have an advantage over commercial websites pertaining to search engine optimization (SEO), without an intentional SEO strategy

May 02, 2013

New Healthcare.gov is Open, CMS-Free

Recently HHS CTO Bryan Sivak outlined a new vision for healthcare.gov. The site will relaunch this June with a completely rethought design and architecture. The new healthcare.gov follows a new CMS-free philosophy. It will be a completely static website, generated by Jekyll. This shift will allow HHS to move away from

May 01, 2013

APIs in Government

This page is about what an Application Programming Interface or API is and what it does and how government agencies are using them to operate more efficiently.

Apr 30, 2013

Producing APIs through Data.gov

One way agencies can offer APIs for their data is to use the built–in functionality of Data.gov. The information that is hosted as interactive datasets have an API layer which agencies can make available through documentation in the developer’s section of the agency’s website. The guide below will help you do this. Process Upload a dataset

Apr 30, 2013