civic hacking
-
What Does a Good Spec File Look Like?
I’ve been thinking a lot about spec-driven development lately and that got me thinking: what does a good spec file actually look like? How do we know when it’s good? The answer – it depends. Continue reading
-
Proving Out a New Approach to Legacy System Modernization
Government legacy systems hold decades of institutional knowledge that disappears when we focus only on translating old code to new code. I’ve been developing SpecOps—a methodology that uses AI to extract that knowledge into plain-language specifications that policy experts can actually verify. Continue reading
-
Infrastructure as Code for AI: The Rapid Evolution of Agent Instructions
AI coding agent instructions have evolved from simple markdown files to sophisticated orchestration frameworks in months, not years. For government, this rapid maturation offers new opportunities for collaboration that traditional code sharing never achieved. Continue reading
-
Designing for delegation
Agentic, delegation-based services could reshape how people access government, cutting administrative burden – if agencies start building the right design patterns now. Continue reading
-
AI instructions as platform infrastructure
Software delivery platforms provide reusable building blocks that reduce complexity. AI accelerates custom software development. The next evolution? Treating AI coding agent instructions as core platform infrastructure. Continue reading
-
The end of civic tech’s interface era
We are at an inflection point in civic technology. The same AI capabilities transforming other sectors will revolutionize how people interact with their government. It’s time to rethink the way we think about interfaces. Continue reading
-
Letting Go: A Retrospective on Without81
As Syracuse’s I-81 transformation continues to advance, it’s time to retire the tool that once helped residents envision life without the viaduct. Continue reading
-
Conway’s Law and the challenge of building software in government
Good news, you’ve discovered that Conway’s Law is what is causing issues with your government software development team. Bad news is the typical approach to addressing the problem doesn’t work well inside government. Continue reading
-
The Civic App That Changed My Life
In 2008, I was looking for a way to make an impact again after leaving government several years before. Civic Hacking gave me a way to do that. Continue reading
-
The Federal Government Needs Platform Evangelists
If shared services like Login.gov are going to be successful in the long run, they need a healthy, vibrant, and growing community of users around them. This is a job that is perfectly suited for a platform evangelist. Continue reading
About Me
I am the former Chief Data Officer for the City of Philadelphia. I also served as Director of Government Relations at Code for America, and as Director of the State of Delaware’s Government Information Center. For about six years, I served in the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS), and helped pioneer their work with state and local governments. I also led platform evangelism efforts for TTS’ cloud platform, which supports over 30 critical federal agency systems.
Civic Innovations 