The evolution of AI coding tools has raised the prospect of “disposable software” that would reduce the need for expensive, long-term maintenance. But although appealing, this paradigm shift would be challenging for government to implement. A SpecOps approach, though, may solve the problem.
I’ve been working in government technology for more than two decades, spending a non-trivial amount of that time modernizing legacy systems to improve how they work and the digital experiences they support. Recently, I came to a somewhat uncomfortable conclusion — I was probably doing it wrong the whole time. Traditional legacy modernization approaches —Read… Read more »
Sometimes, terminology matters. The term “AI agents” can be problematic in government. Beware of connotations when speaking of agentic services.
Any use of AI or automation in government, particularly as it relates to benefit determinations or claims, needs to be accompanied by policy guardrails that create strong disincentives for improper denials of claims for benefits.
Blanket bans or prohibitions against government agency use of generative AI won’t work. The recent Executive Order on AI takes a much more effective approach to guiding agencies on the proper way to adopt this new technology.
Though more than 100 years separates the inception of the U.S. Airmail Service and the launch of ChatGPT, we can learn many lessons from the former when deciding how to use the latter.
The great truism that underlies the civic technology movement of the last several years is that governments face difficulty implementing technology, and they generally manage IT assets and projects very poorly. It can be tempting to view this lack of technology acumen as a symptom of a larger disfunction. Governments are thought to be large,Read… Read more »
At Accela, we’re committed to finding ways to leverage the talents and ideas of civic entrepreneurs and open data hackers to benefit the governments we serve. That’s why we’re excited to announce the Accela App Challenge. The App Challenge offers a total of $25,000 in cash prizes to developers that build a new civic appRead… Read more »
“‘Are people innately altruistic?’ is the wrong kind of question to ask. People are people, and they respond to incentives.” – Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (SuperFreakonomics) One of the most important things an open data directive can accomplish – whether it takes the form an informal policy, an executive order or an open dataRead… Read more »
A few weeks ago, Code for America unveiled one of our latest program offerings: Engagement Commons. Now, we’re hoping that the talented, dedicated members of the GovLoop community can help us take this project to the next level. What is Engagement Commons? With civic engagement becoming an increasingly critical component of successful governance in theRead… Read more »