News and Updates

The API Briefing: CDC’s API Delivers Free Up-To-Date Health Information for Your Blog or Website

The recent Ebola outbreaks demonstrate the need for current and authoritative health news. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the federal information source for Ebola and other infectious diseases, along with other public health data. Data.CDC.gov lists 48 datasets and views containing statistics from smoking to infectious diseases. Developers can use the

Bill Brantley

Oct 08, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: Are QR Codes Still Relevant?

Recently, I was designing new outreach materials and needed a way to connect this offline collateral with my agency’s digital content. Using a QR (or Quick Response) code immediately came to mind, followed by the question, “Are QR codes still relevant?” Opinions differ on their utility and I couldn’t find any objective data on how

Treci Johnson

Oct 06, 2014

Pillbox Google Hangout for Developers

Tuesday, October 7 at 2pm ET, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health will host a Google Hangout to talk about developing with the API, data, and open source code from Pillbox. I (Pillbox project manager), Mark Silverberg of Social Health

David Hale

Oct 06, 2014

User Acceptance Testing Versus Usability Testing…What’s the Dif?

Building off the great discussion started around Customer Experience, we’re looking at the difference between User Acceptance Testing and Usability Testing.

Joël Virothaisakun

Oct 06, 2014

Multimedia Storytelling in Government: Ghazni Towers Documentation Project

“Content is king” is a generally accepted truth for those of us who produce digital media. But once you have compelling content, how to best present it to your audience becomes the next challenge. In recent years, Web innovators started emphasizing the effectiveness of “digital storytelling,” or content focused on individual, human experiences using compelling

Stephanie Sharpe

Oct 03, 2014

Introducing the New Challenge.gov

Challenge.gov now hosts the full federal-wide listing of crowdsourcing competitions and has a back-end platform for agencies to create and manage their competitions. The site is managed and produced within GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technology (OCSIT) group. The main feature is a complete

Tammi Marcoullier

Oct 02, 2014

No More Beta in Congress.gov’s Responsive Website

Congress.gov ushered in the new fiscal year by removing the beta label from its URL two years after it launched. During this period, the Library of Congress not only extensively tested how the site would display on any device, but in a series of releases and enhancements, completely transformed the ability to find legislative information

Oct 02, 2014

The API Briefing: A Great Start For an API – NLM’s TOXNET Web Service

Glad to be back after a three-week absence. I was preparing for the South Eastern Conference on Public Administration held in Atlanta this year. Great conversations and I can tell you that the academic community is hungry for more government data and APIs. A great example is this week’s API Briefing: the U.S. National Library

Bill Brantley

Oct 01, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: Meet the Mobile Power Users

U.S. Hispanics are ahead of the digital curve, according to an analysis of strategies of leading brands and forward-thinking marketers by Lisa Gevelber, Vice President of Americas Marketing. As we’ve noted before, Hispanics not only lead in adoption of new devices, they are also power users of mobile.

Treci Johnson

Sep 30, 2014

Advice from USAID on Prize Competition Communication Strategies

A well-developed communications plan is critical to the success of a challenge competition, but too often it is one item managers leave to consider at the end of prize design. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Jarah Meador shared the Desal Prize plan and results in the September 16 webinar, “Why Your Gov

Karen Trebon

Sep 29, 2014

Member Spotlight – Hannah Rubin, Library of Congress

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. In addition to her “real” job, she’s also currently working as a “20%-er” with the

Rachel Flagg

Sep 26, 2014

Getting to Work for the American People

Over the last 6 months, 18F has embarked on a mission to transform the way the U.S. Government builds and buys digital services. We’re currently working with more than half a dozen agencies to help them deliver on their missions in a design-centric, agile, open, and data-driven way. How do we say yes to a

18F Team

Sep 25, 2014

Saving the Whales With Just Your Smartphone: West Coast Edition

Saving the whales just got easier for West Coasters with the latest version of the popular Whale Alert app. This free “feel-good” iPhone/iPad app, developed by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and a long list of partners, now enables users on both U.S. coasts

Genevieve Contey

Sep 25, 2014

The Federal Register: Improving Visitors’ Search Experience on Agency Websites

The Office of the Federal Register’s mission “informs citizens of their rights and obligations, documents the actions of Federal agencies, and provides a forum for public participation in the democratic process.” As the winner of the Bright Idea Award, FederalRegister.gov is clear and easy to use, but most citizens rarely frequent it. More frequently they

Rachel Mundstock

Sep 24, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: Avoid the Testing Black Hole

Remember the Golden Age of Web development? A time long ago when there were only five desktop browsers to support, a few different screen sizes and every user connected via broadband? Well, those days are over. With the advent of mobile Web

Treci Johnson

Sep 23, 2014

USGS Picture Puzzle: Do You See Changes to the Coast?

If you are a coastal resident, go to the beach, or are interested in digital volunteering, you can be a tremendous help in identifying and classifying changes that storms make to our coast after severe storms. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has launched iCoast, a Web application where you can view aerial photographs and help classify

Tammi Marcoullier

Sep 22, 2014

New Tools to Help You Innovate Within the FAR

Outdated development practices and narrow interpretations of acquisition regulations have prevented the federal government from taking advantage of technologies that can help agencies deliver better digital services to the public. OMB is developing new tools to help you take advantage of existing procurement authorities in the FAR, or the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the nearly 2,000

Andrea Sigritz

Sep 19, 2014

CDC App Aids in Prevention of Neonatal Disease

The Centers for Disease Control has added another tool to its suite of mobile applications for healthcare providers and clinicians. The “Prevent Group B Strep” app provides specific, timely guidance to obstetric and neonatal providers to aid in

Sep 18, 2014

Save the Date: Tech@State Mobile Diplomacy Event

Sign up now to join fellow MobileGov Community of Practice members for Tech@State’s Mobile Diplomacy conference on Friday, October 3, 2014! Your attendance will let you participate in a variety of panels, ignite and breakout sessions about mobile development relevant to all digital government innovators. Members of the

Jacob Parcell

Sep 17, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: The Mobile Tipping Point?

The International Data Corporation (IDC) is forecasting a strong outlook for smartphone sales during the remaining months of 2014. So, what might this mobile-driven world look like?

Treci Johnson

Sep 16, 2014