During the Workday Federal Forum, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan teased that the agency is working on an open-source tool called “Gov CX Analyzer,” which uses artificial intelligence features to see how individuals are interacting with government websites.

“This is a way to go from a few thousand people filling out a survey, to actually knowing and seeing how people are interacting with your site,” Carnahan said. “It just completely unlocks the potential to know how you can better serve your customers, where the friction points are and how you can improve it.” 

Carnahan pointed to the U.S. Web Design System — an open-source tool that is free for agencies to use — as a shared system and tool that “makes a huge difference.” 

Similar efforts include an announcement from the Office of Management and Budget last year that detailed an analytics tool to track customer experience performance across agency sites. OMB reported leveraging the GSA’s site scanner program to use performance indicators in the tracking of agencies’ site developments.

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Surveying the global landscape of governmental evolution, we see reason for optimism. We’ve identified more than 200 cases worldwide that offer proof of radical transformation, where government agencies have achieved quantum leaps, delivering upwards of 10X improvements across areas ranging from operational efficiency to customer experience to mission outcomes.

Here are eight seismic trends redefining governance in 2024 and beyond:

• Government at Warp Speed: Government leaders worldwide are seeing ever-greater benefits of increased operational speed. By introducing new technologies – such as AI and machine learning, along with reimagined processes that break down isolated silos – governments can deliver services much faster.

• Unleashing Untapped Government Productivity: Advances in Generative AI can usher a new era of increased productivity in the public sector and diminish the adverse effects of today’s talent and workforce gaps. In order to test and scale powerful AI technologies and applications, government leaders can build solid foundations of data and digital capabilities to identify work streams that are well suited for automation.

• Agile Government: In an era of rapid change, government leaders are abandoning traditional processes and moving toward flexible approaches to policymaking, funding, technology development, and decision making. Whether it’s streamlining permitting and procurement processes, introducing flexible resourcing, or breaking down obsolete bureaucratic barriers, instilling a culture that prioritizes outcomes over rigid processes will enhance government agility.

• Radical Improvement in Customer Experience: Customer Experience (CX) serves as a primary touchpoint between government and its constituents. Boosting CX has the power to increase public trust in government. Targeted investments in digital public infrastructure – like digital identity, digital payments, and data exchange platforms – can anticipate people’s needs and enhance their experiences with government services.

• Achieving Innovation at Scale: Addressing modern challenges demands innovation at a scale that government cannot achieve alone. As a result, governments are adjusting incentives for stakeholders to foster a network of problem solvers that span private sector industries, academia, and every level of the public sector.

• Cross-Boundary Mission Effectiveness: Some of today’s most pressing problems transcend agency boundaries and require effective cross-agency collaboration. By embracing technology infrastructure like cloud-based data analytics and artificial intelligence, government agencies can compile diverse expertise and resources for a more holistic approach to complex issues.

• Government’s Resilience Imperative: Building resilience against various threats – including geopolitical shocks, climate change, supply chain snarls, and cyberattacks – is central to the continuity of effective government. By enhancing the capacity to navigate these disruptions while ensuring community safety, governments can actively combat disruptions and challenges to daily operations.

• Fair and Equitable Government: Agencies will continually evaluate and evolve to serve constituents equitably. By focusing on three primary spheres of influence within government organizations – the workforce, vendor ecosystems, and communities – government leaders can advance equity within and outside of their agencies.

As we navigate the complexities of our time, embracing these trends will be paramount in building a government that is not only responsive, but also proactive in addressing the needs of the individuals and families it serves. By harnessing the power of technology, prioritizing collaboration, and striving for innovation, agencies can overcome adversity and thrive in 2024.

To hear more about these trends, listen to William Eggers on the Daily Scoop Podcast discuss Deloitte’s Top Trends in Government 2024 report.

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Khanna told FedScoop in an exclusive interview that he would like to see key technology leaders at the White House’s U.S. Digital Service, Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration testify on ongoing delays to improving government digital services and American citizens’ frustrating experiences with them.

The Biden administration has made it a key strategic priority to enhance citizen experience with the federal government, namely by improving the digital services and websites agencies deliver. Preceding this administration, Congress took action on the matter passing the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA Act) in 2018 setting requirements for federal agencies to modernize their public-facing websites and digital products. Khanna was the lead sponsor of that law. 

However, FedScoop reported in August that the failure of senior leaders to prioritize digital experience projects — central to the Biden administration’s technology agenda — has caused severe delays to the implementation of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act.

“I would have them come in and testify,” Khanna told FedScoop during the interview. “I would look at having a metric of what is the progress, what’re the things we have implemented with the IDEA Act, what still needs to be implemented and what are the places for growth.”

“It is an appropriate role for Congress to continue to push,” Khanna said on holding federal agency leaders accountable for key digital modernization efforts, adding that he would “continue to support holding them accountable.”

FedScoop previously reported in August that four senior government officials familiar with the matter placed responsibility for the lack of traction in the Biden administration’s digital modernization efforts squarely on top government leaders like OMB Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller, USDS Administrator Mina Hsiang, and GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan.

Since then, OMB delivered new guidance promoting the principles of the 21st Century IDEA and arming agencies to take action to improve their digital services and websites in line with the law.

Khanna, who represents a significant portion of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, said he regularly hears from constituents and those in the tech industry that there needs to be significant improvements to government websites.

“I think it’s just a sense of frustration that constituents express that why can’t the government deliver better and get it delivered more efficiently? Why is it that government websites are such a mess? Why is it that I feel like I’m 20 years back when I visit a government website,” Khanna said. 

“We hear it very often in multiple town halls and calls to the office,” Khanna added. “That’s a stark contrast to the elegant designs of private sector companies in the tech space. So what we’re saying is take the best practices of AI and design” and inject them into government.

In conjunction with the IDEA Act, Khanna wants to take government digital modernization one step further with his recently introduced Government Service Delivery Improvement Act. That bill calls for increased accountability and coordination across federal agencies when it comes to how Americans interact with government technology, particularly through the use of AI and improved design.

Khanna said the Government Services Delivery Improvement Act is “designed to prod the agencies to go further” than the IDEA Act.

When asked what government websites and digital services the administration should focus limited resources on when it comes to IDEA Act implementation and customer experience enhancement efforts, Khanna pointed to the most widely used websites.

“I would focus on improving the consumer-facing websites like the Social Security Administration, the IRS, [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services], places that people interact most often with,” Khanna said.

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Federal CIO Clare Martorana on a recent episode of the Daily Scoop Podcast said the digital experience guidance “is really a framework that reflects the opportunity for a 10-year revenue stream.”

“When you’re pitching solutions to agencies, the solutions need to align with the requirements that we’ve outlined, you know, and we certainly cannot do this alone,” Martorana said. “We need the best of government working together to deliver these improved digital experiences to the public. And boy, there’s a lot of work. And there’s a lot of work for everyone in this guidance.”

OMB issued the guidance in late September, setting new standards and actions for agencies as they look to enhance and modernize the way they interact with the American public through digital services and websites, in line with requirements from the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act. The guidance was delivered nearly five years after that law was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in 2018, but it also builds off of action items in the President’s Management Agenda and customer service executive order from December 2021.

The federal CIO doubled down on her comments during remarks at ACT-IAC’s Imagine Nation ELC conference in Hershey, Pa., last week, saying the policy “is a 10-year revenue roadmap for you. We are buying what is in this memorandum.”

“We are not going to buy artisanally crafted, bespoke websites anymore. We are going to only purchase what is in this guidance,” Martorana said. “So please read it, please participate. It is essential; we can’t do this without you.”

And if commercial vendors respond aggressively enough in getting onboard with the digital experience guidance and supporting agencies on that journey, it’s possible that what’s supposed to be a 10-year plan could be accomplished in a much shorter timeframe, she said.

“If you all decide that this is the direction we’re going in, we can go and get this done in a shorter amount of time,” Martorana said during her remarks. “I keep saying this is a 10-year roadmap. … If you all decided we were doing this in five years, we could do this in five years.”

And for that reason, it’s important that industry “challenge us if we are not directionally correct on any of these things,” she said.

Of course, it also requires agencies to find the funding to support the actions laid out in the unfunded mandate. And for that, Martorana pointed to the Technology Modernization Fund as a vehicle to kickstart their transformation.

Several months back, the administration and TMF program office created an “allocation” under the fund for customer experience-focused projects that can be designated with priority implementation. This is meant to “streamline the opportunity for agencies to interact with us, run ideas by us and get the help that they need and then potentially get a funding award to be able to move out on some of this,” she said on the podcast.

But even outside of the TMF, OMB wants to work with agencies to better understand what they need from a funding and support perspective to accomplish what’s laid out in the new guidance.

“So we’ve been working since the inception, since the beginning of this administration on customer experience, digital experience and working really collaboratively with our budget partners and working collaboratively with our agency partners to understand where they are in the journey, what type of investments that they need,” Martorana said. “Some people need investments in workforce, some in training, some in technology, some in cybersecurity. So we’ve really worked with them at the agencies to make sure we understand where they are, and then are trying to meet them where they are and help continue to drive this forward.”

Martorana was recently named a winner of the 2023 FedScoop 50 awards.

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The Improving Government Services Act, sponsored by Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., James Lankford, R-Okla., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, would require certain agencies to develop an “annual customer experience action plan” within a year of enactment of the bill, providing details on how to offer a better and more secure experience for taxpayers by adopting best customer service practices from the private sector.

“Taxpayers must be able to easily and efficiently reach federal agencies when they have questions about services or benefits,” Peters, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said in a statement. “My commonsense bipartisan bill would require agencies to adopt customer service best practices that limit wait times and use callbacks to ensure taxpayers receive support in a timely manner.”

The bill, which will get a committee vote next week, would require federal agencies to develop a written strategy to improve customer experience. That strategy would include a plan to adopt customer service practices such as online services, improved protections for personally identifiable information, telephone call back services and employee training programs. 

The legislation would direct the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to designate certain federal agencies as “high-impact service providers,” such as those that deliver key services to the public or fund state-based programs. 

Federal agencies that deal with health care, public lands, loan programs, passport renewal, tax filing, customs declarations and other such key programs are likely to be designated as high impact.

“Some agencies have already successfully implemented private-sector best practices, but we need them governmentwide,” Lankford said. “Providing good customer service doesn’t have to be difficult. Let’s get this nonpartisan bill to the finish line so interacting with the federal government is less frustrating for the public.”

The bill also references the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, also known as the IDEA Act, and its push for the expansion of easy-to-use digital services through which Americans can communicate with federal agencies and programs while also maintaining in-person, telephone, postal mail and other contact options.

Nearly five years after the IDEA Act was first signed into law in 2018, OMB last month issued guidance for agencies to deliver on implementation of the legislation.

The new legislation is scheduled for a markup and vote in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Oct. 25.

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Speaking at the 2023 Service to the Citizen Awards ceremony Friday night, OMB’s Loren DeJonge Schulman highlighted a number of customer service-focused improvements federal agencies have made recently — like the Agriculture Department’s efforts to streamline paperwork for farmers and the IRS expanding its customer callback program — that “are very small steps that add up to an incredible amount” for the American public.

“They add up to a government that not only delivers but is working every day to make that delivery simple, seamless and secure,” said DeJonge Schulman, associate director for performance and personnel management at OMB. “These are the types of things that matter to Americans. They matter because they expect government to work. In a democracy, government should not be invisible. But it also shouldn’t be a burden.”

She continued: “Making forms work better, making websites work better, [reducing] the number of hours people spent on hold, that is an incredible moment for our democracy.”

“I think things like websites written in plain languages and simpler forms are the love language of democracy,” she said.

DeJonge Schulman said that OMB’s work with federal agencies that provide high-impact services to the American people has illuminated two things in recent years: The success of those services is very directly tied to “how often you hear from customers about their experience with services,” and agency leaders are essential to driving change in customer experience.

While that may seem obvious to most CX practitioners, she said, it’s led to a major transformation that’s underway in federal service delivery that can be tied back to major policy changes and additional commitment to making government more customer-friendly as part of its modernization agenda, such as prioritizing it in the President’s Management Agenda.

“Think about where you work your life in this customer experience world two years ago, five years ago, whenever you started,” DeJonge Schulman said. “It has changed so much. The work you’re doing has had so much impact. And so many people are speaking the language that you’re speaking right now. We have an incredible team amongst all of us.”

The 2023 Service to the Citizen Awards recognized dozens of federal CX personnel and teams from across government for their dedication to “excellence in delivering services that impact the public’s lives and rebuild trust in government.”

Among those honored, Alek Sripipatana, a director of data and evaluation with in the Health Resources and Services Administration at the Department of Health and Human Services​, was awarded the government executive of the year award. And, Raza Latif, CEO for NuAxis Innovations, won the award for industry executive of the year.

Wyatt Kash contributed to this report.

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Customers using the complaint process are often already in a vulnerable state, facing eviction, homelessness, or retaliation from a housing provider, Amber Chaudhry, a customer experience lead at HUD, said at a virtual Data Foundation event Thursday. 

Chaudhry said her team pitched a design concept that includes embedding trauma-informed roles and training and guidance on emotional support to senior leadership in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity on Thursday morning. She said she’s hopeful her team will soon be working on next steps, like piloting those trauma-informed roles and capabilities at the department.

“Our ultimate goal is to reduce the emotional burden on both the end customer — the participants — and FHEO staff involved in the housing discrimination complaint process,” Chaudhry said.

The effort at HUD reflects the Biden administration‘s government-wide push to improve customer experience for programs that was launched in a 2021 executive order. That order provided guidance on how impactful, large-scale government programs — termed High Impact Service Providers — should manage customer experience.

The event, titled “Improving the Government Experience: Building Trust with the Public Sector’s Customers with Better Services,” focused on success stories in improving government customer service. It included speakers from the Office of Management and Budget, the National Parks Service, and professionals focused on technology in the public sector. 

Sean Reilly, chief of budget formulation and strategic planning in the National Park Service’s Office of the Comptroller, said the agency has been able to leverage its designation as a high-impact service provider under the executive order to focus on a consolidated NPS app and improvements Volunteer.gov. 

The changes across the government, one official said, are already making a difference. Amira Choueiki Boland, federal customer experience lead at OMB, highlighted customer satisfaction metrics for the federal government as other industries have struggled.

There was a trend last year in lower satisfaction with customer experiences across industries, Boland said, but the federal government’s score statically didn’t change. That the government “absorbed” some of that trend is a “testament” to the improvements being made, she said.

“We’re seeing at least that we’re going in the right direction,” Boland said, adding there’s still “a lot to do.”

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Melinda Rogers, who oversees the Justice Department’s $3.1 billion IT portfolio and leads the agency’s tech and cybersecurity programs, told FedScoop recently that she hopes to make significant improvements to DOJ’s IT service desk program through new and recompeted contracts that will deploy cutting edge AI technologies. 

“I think something as basic as our service desk, that’s an area where we can have lots of opportunities for improvement [using AI]. And our IT service desk is just one of those areas where it’s hard to get it smooth and clean and so if I would start anywhere with AI, I would probably start there to help improve our user experience,” Rogers told FedScoop during a wide-ranging interview at the Justice Department headquarters earlier this month.  

“So we’re recompeting our IT service desk contract … but I want to be very intentional on how we go about deploying our service desk so that I can have the opportunity to bring in some artificial intelligence and make it a better customer experience,” Rogers said. 

Rogers said that the Justice Department could look to certain companies in the private sector that have excelled at IT customer service as examples of how to successfully overhaul its own program.

“For example, American Express, they have a pretty well-honed, good customer IT experience where you can chat with their reps easily online and it’s fast and super responsive. So that’s one area where we need to be more like American Express,” said Rogers.

“I could do a great job on the backend IT infrastructure stuff or our analytics or whatnot, but if I can’t get the basic customer-facing customer service desk stuff right, then I don’t think I can build the trust with people,” she added.

Rogers, who has been CIO at the Justice Department since 2020 and was CISO within the agency for eight years prior to that, started her career with Bank of America and Equifax in the private sector. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics from George Mason University and an MBA focused on marketing and finance from Emory University.

As Justice recompetes its IT service desk contract, Rogers wants the resulting contract to be more intentional and broken apart into smaller pieces rather than “a lot of different services all sort of swept into one master vehicle, which is how we’ve typically done it.”

Leidos is the incumbent holding the current contractor to support Justice’s service desk work.

She added that some sub-departments or components within the Justice Department have had success in deploying AI or other cutting-edge technologies when choosing to work with a smaller contractor.

“We’ve often had success going with smaller firms in the Beltway because maybe they have a little bit more attention to detail and a little more skin in the game, they push for that good customer experience,” said Rogers.

“Sometimes with larger firms, it’s more of a body shop, right? They just want buttcheeks in seats. And for me, it’s not just cheeks in seats. You need to know who the VIPs are when they call our phones and the system has to have gold stars next to that person so they don’t have to say can you spell ‘Garland’ for me,” Rogers said referring to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “You can’t have that.”

Rogers pointed out a frustrating personal experience she had with the need to constantly change her network password within the DOJ a few years ago, which she said was tiresome, didn’t work and pushed her to make customer experience a top priority as CIO.

“I’ve had some not-pleasant user experiences internally. And I work in IT and I thought it was, you know, cumbersome, right? It was not elegant. So my desire is to take our service desk to a place of elegance,” Rogers said.

Justice isn’t the only federal agency making customer experience — whether that’s internal or external customers — a top priority. The White House issued an executive order in late 2021 directing agencies that provide high-impact public services to make CX a top priority.

Just this week, the Navy announced a new initiative by which it — similar to what Justice is planning to do — will use AI to power a chatbot to support its IT help desk.

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Simchah Suveyke-Bogin said Tuesday at the Adobe Government Forum, produced by FedScoop, that the department in February had halved the 30-page application form required to access funding from its funding programs.

In particular, Suveyke-Bogin said launching a prototype online platform as an alternative to the submission of physical forms had helped to improve access to funding for farmers in remote communities.

“It’s about thinking … where can we not be duplicative? How can we reduce the burden over time?” Suveyke-Bogin added. “We think that the process, in the long run, will be better for customers.”

Improving the experience of all citizens interacting with government remains a top priority for the Biden administration and federal agency leaders.

In March, the administration launched nine new “life experience projects” that were intended to improve citizens’ access to government websites and services through human-centered design.

Late in 2021, President Biden signed an executive order intended to reshape digital service delivery and customer experience across the federal government.

The order mandated that federal agencies commit to placing citizens’ user experience at the center of everything they do and that departments take actions including piloting new online tools and technologies to provide a “simple, seamless and secure customer experience.”

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