Supporting innovation through the American Rescue Plan

In March 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) was passed to provide direct relief to the public, rescue the American economy, and beat the COVID-19 virus.

GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) includes a portfolio of over 40 initiatives that are using ARP funding to improve the public’s experience and access to government services. While these investments initially focused on immediate needs to recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, the TTS ARP team and our partner agencies saw an emerging long-term need to support services in an increasingly digital world.

The ARP initiatives empower agencies to reimagine how the government delivers services to the public. We are using technology as a catalyst to build communities, simplify and improve the public’s experience with government, serve the underserved, and share expertise across agencies along the way.

Effecting change in digital space isn’t just about what we do; it’s also about sharing how we do it. The ARP initiatives are pairing technical expertise with federal program know-how, and fostering technical solutions that empower users and reduce barriers.

We’re excited to share four success stories of how ARP has supported innovation in TTS so far.

Success story 1. Improving collaboration for veteran research

Supporting those who serve our nation is a priority.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needed a secure platform to connect with veterans and inform the work of its Veteran Research Studies. It identified Box, a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP®)-approved cloud service, that is more interactive than traditional email or physical mail to support better collaboration between veterans and the VA research community.

Thanks in part to ARP funding, the VA embraced FedRAMP.gov to streamline the review process and increase access to trusted cloud services more quickly. As a FedRAMP-authorized service, Box has been used across 146 different VA offices with approximately 1,400 users.

Success story 2. Simplifying the public’s experience with search

Often the best user experience is built on thoughtful backend design.

Search.gov is a search engine by and for the federal government—supporting one third of domains. It simplifies search processes by scanning acrossing agencies and websites summarizing results in one, simple view. Using ARP funding, Search.gov improved its public search results, increased support for more types of websites, and gathered insightful data to improve the public’s ability to find the resources they need.

Search.gov worked with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve the search results on SSA.gov to make it easier for eligible users to access their benefits using the website. SSA prioritized user needs and compiled feedback over nine months in 75 sessions and 100 interviews.

With the support of Search.gov, the navigation experience is not only quicker and more direct on SSA.gov, the search experience is more effective, too. People clicked on search results more often, indicating it’s easier for people to identify what resources are most useful after they have run a search.

Success story 3. Understanding equity in identity verification

From government agencies to financial institutions, the public often needs to prove their identity, with documents like a driver’s license, or passport, before accessing information on their websites. Traditionally, these documents are examined physically by a human — in person — to confirm their authenticity. However, it’s not always feasible or practical to require everyone to appear in person.

As agencies continue to transition to newer technologies and enhance experience for users, they must develop strategies to combat inequities that harm disadvantaged populations.

With ARP funding, GSA created the equity study on remote identity proofing to identify and address potential biases in facial matching and other methods used to verify identities remotely. In 2024, the ARP team welcomed participation from thousands of individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Using the results of this study and findings from other federal agency efforts, GSA will establish recommendations and inform future product iterations. The results from this study will pave the way for a more inclusive future, and help ensure fair and equal access to government services for every community.

Success story 4. Investing in innovative ideas

Continuing to foster change and cross-agency support, TTS invested ARP funds in 10x to fund, support, and develop ideas from federal employees on how to use technology to improve the public’s experience with government.

10x performs this research to understand which ideas have the greatest impact, and a few of these included TTS programs. By sharing 10x data resources and expertise, TTS supported:

• FedRAMP in streamlining security assessments,
• The Federal Audit Clearinghouse in simplifying audit processes, and
• The launch of beta.Notify.gov as a pilot for government agencies to reach people where they are with government-powered text messages.

10x also partnered with technical experts from the Presidential Innovation Fellows and U.S. Digital Corps to work with agencies across government.

By building this collaborative environment, TTS maximized ARP funding, providing more value to the government and ultimately to the public.

Stay informed

ARP investments are helping to spur change to digital government services to build stronger communities, improve the public’s experience, and serve the underserved.

Check out the FY 2023 American Rescue Plan success stories on GSA.gov to learn more about this work, including how agencies are tracking grant funding more effectively, improving federal benefits program enrollment and engagement using Notify.gov, and tackling challenges like homelessness and Long COVID.

Moving into the new fiscal year, GSA will continue to design and deliver a digital government with and for the public.

Disclaimer: All references to specific brands, products, and companies are used only for illustrative purposes and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. federal government or any federal government agency.