artificial-intelligence
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Building the Foundations for the AI Era
Just as protocols like TCP/IP, HTTP, and DNS established the foundation of the Internet in the early 1990s, new protocols like MCP, ACP, and A2A are being developed to support AI applications today. This isn’t glamorous work, but it’s the kind of infrastructure plumbing that will determine what’s possible in the AI era. Continue reading
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AI Agents aren’t as radical as they sound
People think AI agents and delegation-based digital services are a radical idea. But people delegate all kinds of interactions with government to third parties today. It’s way more common than you might think. Understanding the kinds of services that people delegate, and the reasons that they choose to delegate are critical to inform how we… Continue reading
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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
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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
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The Third Wave of Government Disruption
It’s both inaccurate and potentially dangerous to view AI’s rise in government as an isolated phenomenon. What we’re witnessing is the latest wave in a historical pattern with profound implications for the way that governments operate and how they serve those in need. Continue reading
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The Quiet Crisis in Legacy System Modernization
AI offers some new hope for tackling government legacy systems—but we can’t afford to focus only on the biggest, flashiest ones. The real crisis is quieter, deeper, and much more widespread. Continue reading
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Patience is a Virtue: The Smart Approach to AI Investments for Government
By improving how they collect, clean, and govern data, agencies can ensure they are ready to leverage the best AI tools when the time is right. Continue reading
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Using generative AI to transform policy into code
Last week, I took part in BenCon 2024 — an annual two-day conference hosted by the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University focused on charting the course to excellence in digital benefits delivery. Continue reading
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AI Can’t Save Us By Itself
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 or an AI model? Continue reading
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Parking Signs and Possible Futures for LLMs in Government
Government agencies adopting generative AI tools seems inevitable at this point. But there is more than one possible future for how agencies use generative AI to simplify complex government information. 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 