Feds Extend 18F’s Silicon Valley Expertise to Cities, States

To help steer local IT projects in the right direction, the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) team of ex-Silicon Valley technologists at 18F have unveiled a program to assist cities, counties and states with federally funded IT projects.

GSA officials believe the development, announced Feb. 23, has potential to save thousands, if not millions, of dollars in IT project costs through 18F’s arsenal of agile development and lean procurement strategies. In 2015, the GSA experimented with the idea in a pilot project to upgrade the California’s outdated child welfare system. 18F helped the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the California Department of Social Services to take the $400 million dollar project and cut costs by a staggering 50 percent. This was done by breaking up a massive procurement contract into a collection of smaller contracts. According to all three organizations, the tactic not only cut costs, but also led to better solutions and therefore better care for vulnerable children.

This is one of many projects that have benefited from 18F’s influence. Since it was founded in March 2014, the agency has grown from 15 to 165 people as it and its sister organization the U.S. Digital Service have tasked their teams of designers, engineers and policy experts on a variety of federal projects. Likewise, success has delivered additional funding for the group until 2018.

The GSA has called on former Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to lead the initiative as the group’s first program director for state and local government. Carnahan said she’s eager to start, and feels well suited considering her experience in state government. She spoke to Government Technology about the initiative on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

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