Civic Tech
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Back to the 90’s, the Hard Way
If you need an object lesson to demonstrate how inextricably linked technology is to the basic functioning of government, just look at the municipal governments that have been hit with cyber attacks recently and forced to shut down their digital systems. For these governments it’s like a bumpy trip back to the way they used… Continue reading
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Ethics and Algorithms
Who do we hold accountable for decisions that get made or actions that are taken by government when some part of the decision making has been ceded to an algorithm? And because the consequences of algorithm use in government are now much more immediate for specific individuals, how do we ensure that their use is… Continue reading
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Crisis-driven Technology Investment
It has never been more important for people in the civic tech community to understand the public budgeting process, to know the actors and the influencers, and have tactics for influencing budget outcomes, then it is right now. Continue reading
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Mashed Potatoes and Digital Modernization
So much of the work we do to improve government digital services involves breaking big things down into smaller pieces. Continue reading
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More Writing, Less Words
More posts. Shorter words. It’s time to leave the bird site and all the bad habits I picked up there behind. Continue reading
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Platforms: More value, more quickly, more securely
This post will focus on how platforms enable agencies to move more quickly and address some of the specific challenges facing product teams as they build digital services. Continue reading
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Accelerating the ATO process with a platform approach
Embracing a platform approach can help agencies lower barriers to deployment of software and more efficiently deliver important services to the public. Continue reading
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PFC: A Cautionary Tale for Civic Tech
In a month of chaotic vaccine distribution rollouts, no government’s effort has been more dysfunctional, or controversial, than that of Philadelphia. To spearhead delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to city residents, the City of Philadelphia decided to partner with a young startup called Philly Fighting COVID (PFC). Continue reading
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On Unbecoming a Hotshot
My four-year anniversary at my current job snuck up on me a few weeks back. It’s not an anniversary I have a lot of experience with — it’s been a while since I worked somewhere for four years in a row. My professional career has taken me on an interesting journey, and I’ve bounced around… Continue reading
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Virtuous Roadblocks and Digital Service Delivery
If Men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and… 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 