The legislation, a revitalization of the Modernizing Government Technology Reform Act from 2017, calls on agencies to adhere to the original intent of the bill and require issued funds to be repaid or reimbursed to ensure TMF sustainability and solvency. With some new amendments, Congress struck down the act’s authorized appropriations amount requirements and extended the sunset date to December 2031.

There is not currently a companion bill in the Senate, but the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is in conversation with the chamber to support the legislation further.

A committee aide said the House bill was modified to “reflect the reality that the fund is a revolving fund, and therefore has different appropriating needs every appropriation cycle.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t intend for the fund to be appropriated,” the aide continued. “We are taking out the stagnant annual appropriations amount and allowing for more dynamic appropriations to be decided by the appropriations committees each fiscal year.”

Significantly, the bill aims to impose additional constraints on reimbursements to provide agencies with flexibility for repaying the fund.

The new bill was marked up in September and passed out of committee unanimously — a precursor to the continued bipartisan support expected by the committee. The fiscal year 2024 spending package had rescinded $100 million from the TMF, drawing calls from board chair and federal CIO Clare Martorana for Congress to “please fund the TMF.” 

The aide shared that the committee has been in “a series of positive conversations” with the General Services Administration, which manages the TMF program office. 

“I think there’s a bipartisan interest on the Hill ensuring the TMF remains a successful tool to address legacy IT for the next several years and into the future,” the aide said. “I think GSA is aligned with our vision and approach for how we hope to see that done.”

In February, GSA updated its policy for agencies seeking financial assistance from the TMF that set the repayment floor at a minimum of 50%, with room for exceptions to be decided by the GSA administrator and the Office of Management and Budget director.

Both GSA and OMB declined to comment.  

“I think we have additional conversations to have on the Hill about how to appropriately fund the TMF while ensuring that it’s a revolving fund and those funds are being best used to support legacy IT projects,” the aide said. 

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. — who is co-sponsoring the bill with Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. — said in an email to FedScoop that he believes “the federal government is only as good as the IT [it] utilizes,” a principle that he said led him to author the legislation and drives his “critical oversight efforts” of programs like FITARA.

“With this bill, we can ensure the federal government is able to modernize its IT, move away from its reliance on legacy systems, and better serve the American people who rely on government technology to deliver for them,” Connolly said.

Mace did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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The Committee on House Administration released the guardrails in a “flash report” on Wednesday, along with an update on the committee’s work exploring AI in the legislative branch. The guardrails are human oversight and decision-making; clear and comprehensive policies; robust testing and evaluation; transparency and disclosure; and education and upskilling.

“These are intended to be general, so that many House Offices can independently apply them to a wide variety of different internal policies, practices, and procedures,” the report said. “House Committees and Member Offices can use these to inform their internal AI practices. These are intended to be applied to any AI tool or technology in use in the House.”

The report comes as the committee and its Subcommittee on Modernization have focused on AI strategy and implementation in the House, and is the fifth such document it has put out since September 2023.

According to the report, the guardrails are a product of a roundtable the committee held in March that included participants such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Elham Tabassi, the Defense Department’s John Turner, the Federation of American Scientist’s Jennifer Pahlka, the House chief administrative officer, the clerk of the House, and senior staff from lawmakers’ offices.

“The roundtable represented the first known instance of elected officials directly discussing AI’s use in parliamentary operations,” the report said. The report added that templates for the discussion were also shared with the think tank Bússola Tech, which works on modernization of parliaments and legislatures.

Already, members of Congress are experimenting with AI tools for things like research assistance and drafting, though use doesn’t appear widespread. Meanwhile, both chambers have introduced policies to rein in use. In the House, the CAO has approved only ChatGPT Plus, while the Senate has allowed use of ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing Chat, and Google Bard — with specific guardrails.

Interestingly, AI was used in the drafting of the committee’s report, modeling the transparency guardrail the committee outlined. A footnote in the document discloses that “early drafts of this document were written by humans. An AI tool was used in the middle of the drafting process to research editorial clarity and succinctness. Subsequent reviews and approvals were human.”

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Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., will lead the task force in exploring how Congress can continue leading the world in AI innovation, while simultaneously considering how to employ appropriate guardrails to protect the nation against threats, according to a press release shared with FedScoop. 

“Because advancements in artificial intelligence have the potential to rapidly transform our economy and our society, it is important for Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to understand and plan for both the promises and the complexities of this transformative technology,” Johnson said in the release. “As we look to the future, Congress must continue to encourage innovation and maintain our country’s competitive edge, protect our national security, and carefully consider what guardrails may be needed to ensure the development of safe and trustworthy technology.”

The task force is responsible for producing a comprehensive report that addresses “guiding principles, forward-looking recommendations and bipartisan policy developed in consultation with committees of jurisdiction.” 

Jeffries said in a statement that Congress “has a responsibility to facilitate the promising breakthroughs” that the technology could provide, while also ensuring that the public can benefit from those gains “in an equitable manner.” 

“The rise of [AI] presents a unique set of challenges and certain guardrails must be put in place to protect the American people,” Jeffries added. “Congress needs to work in a bipartisan way to ensure that America continues to lead in this emerging space, while also preventing bad actors from exploiting this evolving technology.”

Jeffries noted that the members selected by him and Johnson bring a variety of expertise and different experiences across committees with relevant jurisdictions.

The 12 Republican-appointed members of the task force are: Reps. Obernolte, Darrell Issa, Calif., French Hill, Ark., Michael Cloud, Texas, Neal Dunn, Fla., Ben Cline, Va., Kat Cammack, Fla., Scott Franklin, Fla., Michelle Steel, Calif., Eric Burlison, Mo., Laurel Lee, Fla., and Rick McCormick, Ga.

The 12-Democratic-appointed members of the task force are: Reps. Lieu, Anna Eshoo, Calif., Yvette Clarke, N.Y., Bill Foster, Ill., Suzanne Bonamici, Ore., Ami Bera, Calif., Don Beyer, Va., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, N.Y., Haley Stevens, Mich., Sara Jacobs, Calif., Valerie Foushee, N.C., and Brittany Pettersen, Colo. 

Beyer, one of the House’s top AI voices and a graduate student in machine learning, said in a release that he expects the task force’s focus to span safety, transparency, health care, civil rights, elections and more. Congress needs “to get this right,” he said, “and we have no time to lose.”

“While much of the work of Congress has been engulfed in chaos and dysfunction, AI has remained a bright spot of good faith cooperation between the parties, and I am determined to help keep it that way,” Beyer said in the release. “The impacts of AI on our society, positive and negative, are profound and require forward-looking solutions. It is my hope that Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries’ AI task force will continue in this spirit to develop real, practicable ideas that will help our country reap the benefits of AI and put guardrails in place to safeguard against risks.”

Neither Johnson nor Jeffries responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.

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The fifth Congressional Hackathon will be held Sept. 14 with new support from the House’s Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, which is serving as a co-host for the first time alongside party leaders. That growing institutional backing is a milestone for the event, which was held for the first time in 2011 as an experiment and has endured through multiple majority changes and increasing polarization.

“It’s a place where staffers and technological experts get together and brainstorm, completely beyond any silo of their individual affiliations, which is all too rare on Capitol Hill,” said Matt Lira, who helped bring about the first hackathon as a then-staffer to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. “But each Hackathon has been defined by that, and it’s been interesting to see that carry on through multiple different political eras and personalities.”

In interviews with FedScoop, former staffers and tech advocates praised the event for providing a unique launchpad for a dialogue about technological solutions in Congress. Those discussions, they said, have contributed to major tech projects like providing public access to raw legislative data, digitizing casework processes for constituents, and even helping jumpstart an app for congressional tours.

“This is what’s been helping Congress better manage all the different data silos that it has, and modernize its tools,” said Daniel Schuman, policy director for the progressive tech policy advocacy group Demand Progress, adding “it’s a surprising point of leverage.”

The event’s outcome, Schuman said, “has been a fundamental transformation of the way that Congress manages this information technology over the last 15 years.”

Hackathon’s beginnings

The environment at the time the first hackathon took place was not unlike today with the emergence of artificial intelligence, Lira said. At that time, new technological tools, including social media and other digital platforms, were inspiring ideas. “It was a really interesting time to be dealing with Congress,” he said.

The concept for a congressionally hosted hackathon was initially suggested by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of a Facebook that had yet to go public, at a meeting with Lira and Cantor in Silicon Valley. They took that idea back to Washington, where Lira said he later sat down with his counterpart in then-Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer’s office, Steve Dwyer, to talk about what a congressional version of a hackathon could be.

“I’d say it’s inspired by Silicon Valley circa 2010, but then Steve and I just sat down and really thought through what that could look like on the Hill,” Lira said.

Whereas traditional hackathons are generally time-limited events with computer programming or app development as the objective, the congressional version, they decided, would apply a similar collaborative approach to policy and operations. Less focus on actual code-writing would open participation up to more congressional stakeholders.

That first event was sponsored by Zuckerberg’s Facebook, now Meta, and was considered an experiment that wouldn’t necessarily be repeated. But interest in the event evolved into subsequent hackathons in 2015, 2017, and 2022 — though only the first had sponsorship from the social media giant.

Lira — who subsequently worked for Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, and later in the White House — said it’s “been heartening to see that it’s continued” long after he left the Hill and after “any of the original people involved are still in any leadership offices.” Dwyer, too, shares that sentiment.

“I’m excited about all that is new with the Hackathon this year. Speaker McCarthy will be joining with new host Democratic Leader Jeffries. Additionally, we have institutional support with the CAO being an official host,” Dwyer, who is now senior director for innovation at the CAO, said in an emailed statement. “The CAO’s role helps us advance our mission of being Member Focused, Service Driven–as we try to advance innovative solutions within Congress.”

Institutionalizing the hackathon was also among recommendations the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress made last year. It warned that the member-sponsored event could dissolve if people leave Congress and suggested institutional support would encourage other legislative agencies to participate as well.

Ideas in action

Among the ideas discussed at hackathons that have been implemented was the application programming interface (API) for Congress.gov which was launched in September 2022. That idea, which provides more reliable access to legislative data for third-party developers, was among the recommendations from the 2015 hackathon. 

Prior to the API, people resorted to “scraping” Congress.gov or using “bulk data” collections from the Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress said in its announcement at the time, acknowledging that those were “somewhat imperfect measures.”

Other ideas that have become a reality include creating a digital version of “casework” intake forms for constituents requesting assistance from a lawmaker’s office, and developing a way to convert draft legislation from PDFs into more usable formats. 

The latter idea was accomplished through a project Schuman worked on called BilltoText.com. The tool, he said, was built “based on information that we learned at one of the hackathons to transform the bills from PDFs into text, so that people could download them and use them.”

At least one company found early footing at a Congressional Hackathon. Melissa Dargan, a former congressional staffer who left the Hill to go to business school, started her company TourTrackr following interest in her idea at a hackathon. That app helps lawmakers’ staff schedule tours for constituents and is currently being used in over 125 congressional offices. 

Organizing tours, which can be requested through congressional offices, is often a time-consuming process for staffers — a process Dargan was personally familiar with. While in business school brainstorming ideas to innovate the industry she knew, Dargan learned many offices were still using paper records or Microsoft Excel to keep their records and began thinking of ways to improve that process. From there, the idea for TourTackr was born.

After her hackathon pitch, Dargan said she was immediately approached by companies that were focused on constituent relationship management, asking her whether the application was a real product yet and if they could work together. 

She said presenting her idea at the hackathon “exponentially expedited” its progress because it was a place to get people on board, get feedback, and get beta clients. “The hackathon helped light the fire,” she said.

Staying power

The fifth hackathon event comes amid the rising popularity of artificial intelligence, which has captured the imaginations of the public and private sector alike and is among the topics expected to be discussed. 

“This year, we hope to build on the successes of previous Hackathons and draw on new ideas and fresh perspectives to truly reform how Washington works,” McCarthy said in an announcement about the event. “I’m especially excited to see how we can incorporate Artificial Intelligence—a game-changing technology the House has already started to examine in bipartisan briefings with industry experts—into the legislative process.

The idea would be a continuation of a hackathon discussion, as using AI for the legislative process was initially discussed at the 2017 event.

The half-day event is expected to follow a similar structure to prior hackathons, including brief remarks from the hosts, breakout sessions for brainstorming on various topics, and a reconvening to share recommendations. In addition to AI, other topics are likely to include legislative workflow, constituent casework, and community engagement, according to the event announcement.

The event will also be the first without either of the original hosts of the event — Cantor and Hoyer. McCarthy has hosted several and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., will be a host for the first time.

“We look forward to brainstorming and developing new projects that have the power to transform our democracy and make Congress more transparent and accessible,” Jeffries said in a statement included in the announcement.

Ultimately, Lira said, a lasting impact of the event is its help to change how people in Congress think about technology in the legislative branch and how it could be used in their daily lives.

The first hackathon, he said, “was a watershed moment, culturally, where you saw some of the more institutional actors in Congress — not just political leaders, but also just career dedicated public servants, people at the Library of Congress, in the CAO’s office, or elsewhere — who sort of reflected on the event and said, ‘I get it.’”

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The bill, if it passes into law, would compel the VA to take a range of measures to reform the troubled EHR program, namely establishing program management within the Veterans Health Administration and reorganizing the management of the current reporting structure for the EHR functional champion and deputy CIO.

Details of the bipartisan proposal follow a raft of legislation introduced by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seeking either to reform or abandon entirely the IT modernization program.

The legislation also calls to restrict the monetization or selling of veterans’ data by any internal or external entity conducting work for the VA

For the five VA medical centers currently operating the new EHR system, the bill would require the VA to ensure they meet or exceed performance baselines before taking the EHR live at any additional locations.

In addition, if VA and Oracle Cerner are unable to meet the requirements for the five sites within 180 days after enactment of the legislation, the bill would direct the agency to consider terminating or canceling the current contract.

The proposal was introduced by House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Ranking Member Mark Takano, D-Calif. The House bill is companion legislation to the EHR Program RESET Act in the Senate, which is sponsored by Sen. Tester, D-Mont.

It comes after the VA last week announced that it would suspend the rollout of the Oracle Cerner-operated electronic health record system to any further locations as part of a program reset.

In a briefing at the time, the agency said the system will not be brought online at any further locations until it is “highly functioning” and issues at current locations are resolved, according to the VA. No timeline has been set for the continuation of the rollout.

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The House recently created a new AI working group for staff to test and share new AI tools in the congressional office environment and now the House of Representatives‘ digital service has obtained 40 licenses for ChatGPT Plus, which were distributed earlier this month.

The purchase of the licenses comes amid widespread debate over how artificial intelligence technology should be used and regulated across the private sector and within government. This represents one of the earliest examples of ChatGPT being used as part of the policymaking process.

The 40 licenses were assigned on a first-come first-served basis, and House Digital Services will pay the $20/month per office subscription plan for an indefinite period of time, according to the official. Details of which Congressional offices have received the ChatGPT Plus licenses will remain anonymous for now. 

ChatGPT Plus is a new subscription plan rolled out by OpenAI in February that allows subscribers to avoid getting bumped out of the chatbot during peak usage hours and receive faster responses.

“Oftentimes members are experimenting with things, new tools, in their own ways  and we just want to be in the loop on that. We want to help facilitate that experimentation,” the official said.

They added: “There are so many different use cases for ChatGPT but what we’ve heard is at the top of the list for Congressional offices is creating and summarizing content.”

The chatbot won’t be able to run within the House of Representatives’ internal server, which has a firewall that will block it. Staff have also been advised not to use the tool to run queries using Congressional data or other sensitive internal information. Additionally, the OpenAI tool can’t be used to download code onto Congressional devices but can be used within a web browser or Application Programming Interface (API) for requests.

According a recent AI Working Group internal email obtained by FedScoop, the AI tool is expected to be used for many day to day tasks and key responsibilities within congressional offices such as: generating constituent response drafts and press documents; summarizing large amounts of text in speeches; drafting policy papers or even bills; creating new logos or graphical element for branded office resources and more.

“This is the House getting ahead of the curve to address emerging technology that could really help Congress better serve the public,” said Daniel Schuman, co-founder of the Congressional Data Coalition and policy director at the Demand Progress advocacy group. 

“Everything from making it easier to come with ideas, to summarizing information, to draft letters or documents and handle some aspects of constituent engagement. Ultimately it will allow Congressional staff to scale up more quickly regarding the demands placed on them,” said Schuman, who has played a key role in drafting and enacting tech and accountability related legislation in Congress including the DATA Act, FOIA modernization, and dozens of House rules changes.

The House Digital Services team was launched in the summer of 2022 with a wide-ranging remit to improve user experience in Congress and expand the ability of lawmakers to interact with their constituents. The team is tasked with building intuitive solutions that improve on member offices’ most significant challenges. It comes after nonprofit groups, like TechCongress and others, have for years looked to inject tech talent into Congress through digital service fellowships.

News that lawmakers are experimenting with generative AI comes as federal government agencies work to establish new norms governing use of the technology.

Last month, National Science Foundation Chief Information Officer Dorothy Aronson said her agency was beginning to experiment internally with appropriate use cases for such tech and to build safe guardrails for its use.

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The bill to establish a National Digital Reserve Corps would allow reservists to sign up for a three-year period in which they would work for the federal government for 30 days each calendar year to take on digital and cybersecurity projects, digital education and training, and other work.

The legislation is intended to address a nationwide shortage of cyber talent. According to cybersecurity recruitment website CyberSeek, there are currently 769,736 cybersecurity job openings across the U.S. 

Introduced by Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., the bill is intended to give citizens the opportunity to obtain additional training and education while also serving the U.S. government. Under the plans, reservists would also have the chance to obtain and maintain security clearances.

Individuals in the National Digital Reserve Corps would be detailed to federal agencies by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The bill also requires the Department of Labor to issue regulations that ensure reservists’ jobs are waiting for them once they finish their annual service. 

“As we have seen from previous cyberattacks, our government currently lacks the workforce capacity needed to combat ransomware and bad actors,” Rep. Gonzales said. “The National Digital Reserve Corps strives to fill that void with civilian industry experts working in service to our federal government and our national security. This will bring the ingenuity and expertise of the private sector to our federal government to bolster our nation’s cybersecurity defense.” 

Rep Kelly added: “As the online landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, our government needs cybersecurity solutions that meet the moment,” She added:“I am proud to introduce the National Digital Reserve Corps Act again this Congress to build the cybersecurity infrastructure we need to keep every American safe. This bipartisan effort will strengthen the systems that our constituents rely on to make the government work for them.” 

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The Strengthening VA Cybersecurity Act of 2022 was enacted on Dec. 27 and is intended to boost cybersecurity across the department and protect veterans’ data.

It was proposed following a 2020 cyberattack during which the data of 46,000 veterans was compromised after hackers breached computer systems at the department.

The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Veterans’ Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee chair Frank Mrvan, D-Ind. It was co-sponsored by Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Susie Lee, D-N.V. and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y.

A companion measure was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-N.V., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

Cybersecurity at the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to be a key concern. In September, FedScoop reported on a serious cyber incident after a federal contractor published source code containing sensitive credentials on software development hosting service GitHub.

At the time, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told FedScoop the compromised information included hard-coded administrator account privileges, encrypted key tokens and specific database table information.

During the 2020 cyberattack on the department, about 46,000 veterans had their personal information, including Social Security numbers exposed, as unauthorized users gained access to an online application for making health care payments.

Commenting on the legislation when it was proposed in April, Rep. Mrvan said: “This legislation will move us in the right direction to give VA the tools it needs to effectively protect against new and emerging cybersecurity threats and safeguard our veterans’ personal information.”

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The Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI) in a missive called for lawmakers to adopt language that would provide $100 million for the governmentwide technology working capital fund.

“Earlier this year, the Administration requested $300 million in its FY 2023 budget request. ADI notes that the House mark includes $100 million for the TMF while the Senate bill does not include additional funding,” says the letter addressed to leaders of the Senate and House appropriations committees. It’s referring to the funding the Biden administration requested for the TMF in its budget request for fiscal 2023.

ADI leaders added: “[G]iven the number of outstanding TMF proposals — 130 proposals from 60 agencies and components totaling over $2.5 billion, according to the director of the TMF program management office — we strongly urge the adoption of the House mark of $100 million in FY 2023.”

Democrats and Republicans are edging towards agreement on a roughly $1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill that would bundle 12 appropriations bills to provide governmentwide funding through the remainder of fiscal 2023.

“With this additional funding, ADI supports Congress’ efforts to provide additional oversight of the fund and the specific projects that are awarded,” the group added. “ADI believes that the priorities of the various agencies should align with the efforts of the administration and Congress to improve both the customer experience of citizen services and cybersecurity of the agencies.”

The Technology Modernization Fund received $1 billion for projects as part of the American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law by President Biden in March 2021.

The House version of the spending bill in its current form also funds the Federal Citizen Services Fund and supports cybersecurity improvements across government.

Both the House and Senate versions of the spending bill would provide CISA with $2.9 billion to carry out its objectives.

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The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act (SAMOSA) was introduced by Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-PA, and is expected to significantly affect how federal agencies approach the purchasing of software and IT services.

The legislation has already been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Gary Peters, D-MI, and Bill Cassidy, R-LA, who introduced their version of the SAMOSA Act in September. Details of that bill were first reported by FedScoop.

The Senate bill has already advanced out of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and is expected on the Senate floor at some point next year.

“Without in-depth assessments of how agencies buy and use software, vendors often have the upper hand in transactions with federal agencies,” Rep. Cartwright said in a statement. “This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will streamline software procurement practices governmentwide to the benefit of American taxpayers.”

This legislation has been cosponsored by 14 House members already including: Reps. Dan Meuser, R-PA, Ed Case, D-HI, Gerry Connolly, D-VA, Danny Davis, D-IL, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, Glenn Grothman, R-WI, Michael Guest, R-MS, Sheila Jackson Lee, D-TX, Brenda Lawrence, D-MI, Mike Levin, D-CA, Ted Lieu, D-CA, Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC, Katie Porter, D-CA, and Jamie Raskin, D-MD.

The bill would build upon the Megabyte Act, which was enacted in 2016, and compelled agencies to report licensing information on software contracts struck with technology companies. Since it passed into law, that legislation to a degree has increased lawmakers’ visibility of what IT services federal agencies are using.

According to the Senate bill text, multiple reports from the Government Accountability Office and other organizations in recent years have shown that federal agencies could manage their software licenses better to save taxpayer dollars and more effectively execute technology modernization efforts.

Major federal government software and cloud service providers like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Oracle and Adobe are expected to be affected significantly by the legislation. 

IT contracting sources told FedScoop that Microsoft, which by some estimates holds about 85% of the market share of the federal government’s productivity and collaboration software, is expected to be affected the most by the bill. 

The House bill is intended to improve the federal agency software procurement process and save money by forcing agencies to conduct independent reviews to ensure they have a clearer understanding of agency software licenses by cost and volume. 

In its current form, the proposed legislation would require each Inspector General to complete an Independent review of software license management within their respective agency. This would take place one year after the bill passes into law, and would be required to capture the total costs of all software agreements as well as related costs.

The bill also includes a government wide strategy to leverage government procurement policies and practices to increase the interoperability of software acquired and deployed within agencies to reduce costs and improve performance.

It would also direct agencies to provide shared services or other assistance capabilities to support agency enterprise license adoption, transition to open-source software, cost savings, and performance improvements.

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