-
Catching up with the TANF Data Portal project
on September 7, 2023
Around 800,000 low-income American families receive cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) each month. 18F and the Administration for Children & Families’ Office of Family Assistance partnered on building a new data portal for TANF. We caught up with Office of Family Assistance leaders to see how their agency is continuing with the work.
-
The four operating levels of 18F projects
on June 13, 2023
At 18F, we partner with government agencies to help them deliver new or modernized digital services. In our experience, we have identified four operating levels that best support successful project outcomes.
-
The 18F engineering sandwich for cloud based web apps
on September 6, 2022
We often talk about 18F Engineering as a technology shop, but that's too broad. There are very few technology choices we actually make at the project level. When we build, we usually build open-source cloud-based web applications. We combine a limited set of technologies to make our applications. To explain this, we'll use the metaphor of a sandwich shop.
-
Technical problems are not the hardest ones to solve
on March 4, 2021
18F consulting software engineers play a pivotal role in helping our partners understand and solve their technical problems, and in doing so help them understand what problems cannot be solved with technology.
-
18F and TTS Office of Acquisition award first assisted acquisition
on December 17, 2020
The Administration for Children & Families’ Office of Family Assistance, TTS, and the vendor community worked together to improve the TANF Data Reporting System (TDRS) to make it easier and faster for States, Tribes, and Territories to support low income families
-
A token of our affection - A field guide to USWDS 2
on April 21, 2020
We recently worked with the cloud.gov team to update their public site, cloud.gov, to United States Web Design System 2. The USWDS provided concepts we were able to use to translate designs into code a lot faster and deliver higher fidelity results once we understood how to use them.
-
Keeping your accounts secure
on August 15, 2019
login.gov helps over 15 million people keep their information safe across dozens of government applications online. Over the past few years, we’ve learned a lot about keeping information safe. Here are a few ways you can make sure your online interactions stay secure.
-
Why we love modular contracting
on April 9, 2019
Modular contracting is an acquisition strategy that 18F uses with many of our partners and our internal programs. So, why do we love modular contracting and how does it make procurement better?
-
When to use Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) technology
on March 26, 2019
Often, when government looks to recompete or start a new IT project, they’re presented with a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) solution that promises to do exactly what is needed out-of-the-box. The decision whether to use a COTS product or build a custom software product should always be based on the needs and assets of your users and current infrastructure. No situation is exactly the same, but here are some general considerations to help you in choosing whether COTS is right for your project.
-
Buying Christmas tree permits online with Open Forest
on February 12, 2019
After a two year partnership with the Forest Service, we're excited to announce the launch of Open Forest where you can buy a permit to cut down your own Christmas tree in a National Forest.
-
Cloud is not a virtue
on February 7, 2019
Federal agencies, like every other industry, are moving to cloud computing for their infrastructure. The economies of scale lead to a number of benefits, but unfortunately, having a server launched in the cloud does not magically make infrastructure better. Government should leverage cloud wisely to yield benefits
-
How reusable is open source software?
on October 23, 2017
You can't reuse open source code that was developed to be specific to another org's business process, but we try to make components that will bootstrap development so you can focus on building an application that is tailored to your unique business process.
-
What makes a great vendor team for acquisition product development?
on August 30, 2017
From our experience with the Agile Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), we’ve found that in order to build effective cross-functional teams and successful IT projects, we need alignment on several principles
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.