United States Digital Service
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Agency overview | |
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Formed | August 11, 2014 |
Headquarters | 736 Jackson Place, Washington, D.C., U.S. 38°53′59″N 77°02′17″W / 38.899614°N 77.038026°W |
Agency executive |
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Parent department | Executive Office of the President of the United States |
Website | www |
The United States Digital Service is a technology unit[1][2] housed within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It provides consultation services to federal agencies on information technology. It seeks to improve and simplify digital service, and to improve federal websites. It was launched on August 11, 2014.[3][4][5][6]
Activities
The U.S. Digital Service has created:
- A Digital Services Playbook, for improving digital government[7]
- Draft Web Design Standards, "to build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites"[8]
- TechFAR Handbook, on federal contracting and procurement[9][10]
- Discovery Sprint Guide[11]
The United States Digital Service sends a report to Congress each year detailing its projects and accomplishments.[12] Its federal agency work spans across the Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Small Business Administration, General Services Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Education, and Health and Human Services.
History
The United States Digital Service was the idea of Jennifer Pahlka, Chief Technology Officer of the United States. Pahlka's goal was to create an elite government technology unit at the White House that would be equivalent to the United Kingdom's Government Digital Service.[13]
The first head of the United States Digital Digital Service was Mikey Dickerson, a former Google engineer who was involved in the 2013–14 rescue of the HealthCare.gov website.[14] He was succeeded by Matt Cutts, who was in that position until April 2021.[15]
The third administrator of the United States Digital Service was Mina Hsiang.[16][17][18] During the Biden administration, Hsiang led the United States Digital Digital Service in deploying a new website about COVID-19 vaccines, Vaccines.gov.[19]
In 2021, United States Digital Service employed 215 people and was looking to expand further.[20]
The Florida Digital Service, created in 2020, was modeled after the U.S. Digital Service.[21]
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