us government software
a thing I think folks outside of government may not be aware of is that it's not a given that the federal government can develop technology services that can be provided, for fee or for free, to non-federal agencies (eg gov in states, tribes, territories, local).
why? good question! it's because the US loves private industry, and has written into its guidance that the US federal government should not offer services the private sector could.
links in next post -
us government software
there's legislation coming down the line to hopefully change this. aaron snow wrote a good blog post about this more in-depth as it relates to both the US and Canada here: https://aaronsnow.net/2022/05/09/sharing-federal-digital-services-with-other-layers-of-government.html. recommend checking it out if you're interested!
us government software
@christa I wonder if cooperatives count as private enterprises... Ugh I don't want to do government sales but I suppose it's better than profit-maximizing entities doing it :/
us government software
@zee they do. this is literally just relevant for federal agencies providing services to other non-fed government agencies. I think basically anything non gov is private, including nonprofits. coops selling to government is something I’m personally very interested in, and think there might be aligned incentives for! sorry for jargon
us government software
@christa nah that makes sense! I don't know if it's jargon so much as "potential nuance"
us government software
@zee when I typed “aligned incentives” into the fediverse a bit of my soul left my body but then I pressed toot
us government software
@christa hahaha, that's why I have @Zee@social.coop! for my "capitalism survival discussion" account :X.
us government software
Interesting thread @christa. Thank you for posting it! Fingers crossed that some fragmentation can be alleviated!
us government software
@christa 1968 was a huge year for US Gov't information technology policy. Same year, President Johnson said all government computer systems must use ASCII. Also the year that BBN applied for and received the contract from ARPANET to make the first IMP routers
us government software
@darius darius I just posted in my work slack asking for recommendations of readings about historical context of this act and technology procurement guidance following. I should’ve asked you! hah. so, any readings you’d recommend??
us government software
@christa it all goes back to President Johnson's 1967 Task Force on Communication Policy, which ultimately birthed the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy. 1968 was ALSO the birth of public broadcasting in the US, I believe ALSO linked to the task force but I'm not 100% sure
us government software
@christa it was part of his Great Society initiative more broadly, which was comprised of a whole bunch of "task forces" on crime, poverty, etc
us government software
@christa is this why social services like IRS/UI are using a third party credit history check instead of social security verification now? involving a private company like that just seems nonsensical and needlessly difficult/exclusionary
us government software
@Moss I can't speak to that topic specifically since I'm not familiar with that change, but most benefits verify work history and pay first through experian's work number. the government doesn't actually have the data to do any eligibility for services that need to verify your current financial situation (like food stamps, vs tax year for medicaid).
us government software
@Moss I guess I'd say, if I'm understanding the situation you're talking about, I think they're related (eg why haven't we built up that capability over time?) but it's not directly causal.
us government software
here is, I believe, the latest guidance around this:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Circular-097.pdf
and in it a quote from Section 302 of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968, which still provides the foundation today:
"The Director's rules and regulations shall be consistent with, and in furtherance of, the Government's policy of relying on the private enterprise system to provide those services which are reasonably and expeditiously available through ordinary business channels."