-
Improving the way the U.S. Tax Court engages with the public
on June 15, 2021
The United States Tax Court is an independent federal court that provides a forum for settling disputes between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service. After 30 years, the Court shifted the way it manages Court operations — here’s how 18F and the Court worked together to improve the public’s experience.
-
A federal guide to de-risk government technology projects
on September 9, 2020
Announcing the federal field guide to de-risk government technology
-
An Acquisition Retrospective
on March 18, 2020
The Centers of Excellence and 18F worked together with the General Services Administration’s Region 1 Assisted Acquisition Services to create the Discovery BPA, which allows the Centers of Excellence to quickly staff the industry side of the their teams embedded at agency partners.
-
Ask 18F — What’s the difference between a Contracting Officer’s Representative and a Product Owner on agile software development projects?
on March 10, 2020
Ask 18F is an advice column that answers questions sent in by federal employees. In this edition, we’ll talk about the difference between a Contracting Officer’s Representative and a Product Owner on agile software development projects
-
An Agile Software Development Solicitation Guide
on August 20, 2019
This is part 2 in a series about how to contract for agile software development services. In this post we'll show you how to create a complete solicitation in hours, not months, using our agile contract format
-
The value of cross-functional teams
on June 18, 2019
A core concept of agile is that teams are cross-functional: the team collectively possesses all of the skills necessary to get the job done. We embrace that at 18F, and take it a little farther, and not just on agile teams.
-
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.
-
Prerequisites for modular contracting
on February 28, 2019
At 18F, we often advocate for modular contracting — the practice of breaking up large, custom software procurements into a small constellation of smaller contracts. In doing so, we’ve learned that we’re more effective when promoting that message to people who are familiar with the fundamentals of modern software development practices.
-
Product management at 18F, part 2 - Acquisitions
on December 11, 2018
In the previous post, we wrote about how product management works in Path Analysis and Experiment & Iterate phases. In this post, we’ll discuss how 18F product managers support our partner agencies who are procuring the services of industry contractors to help achieve their mission.
-
Modular contracting and working in the open
on October 25, 2018
Working in the open is a key component of building trust between governments and vendor partners. Read about how the State of Alaska is using openness and code sharing to foster greater trust between government project teams and vendor teams as part of a large legacy system overhaul.
-
Am I doing this right?: Antipatterns in agile contracting
on September 27, 2018
As agencies try to adopt agile development practices and modular contracting methods, there are several anti-patterns that we have noticed through the course of our work. We address how these can hinder success and alternatives to consider.
-
What we learned from building a pool of agile vendors
on July 26, 2018
In 2015, 18F had an idea for a better way for federal agencies to hire private vendors to build products and services using agile development techniques. We wanted to see what would happen if we used an existing government process (called a blanket purchase agreement) and tailored it to the needs of agencies looking to update their digital services.
-
Five contracting tweaks that have yielded 18F better procurements (thus far)
on July 17, 2018
Here are five procurement hacks — both in the context of our Agile Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and in general — that we’ve made in the past few years to make the procurement process a bit more joyful and effective.
-
Using agile methods to improve the RFP process
on May 22, 2018
The process of developing and issuing RFPs is often viewed as a one off - a special activity that occurs infrequently and in isolation. What if we applied the principles of iteration and continuous improvement to the way that RFPs are developed?
-
Win big by going small
on March 13, 2018
Adopting this “smaller is better” mindset as a way to overhaul a large, complex legacy system can feel counterintuitive. But the notion of smallness — of distilling complex, interdependent tasks into achievable units of work — is fundamental to building modern software in both the private and public sector.
-
Getting prepared to prototype
on January 30, 2018
In product development, we often use prototypes to understand user needs and reduce risk. Prototypes are a great way to test out ideas or approaches before you actually commit to building anything, but governments are not always set up to develop and use prototypes efficiently before building digital services.
-
Improving government outcomes through an agile contract format
on November 30, 2017
The way government is writing contracts is wasting time, handcuffing industry, and preventing programs from meeting mission mandates. There’s a better way through an Agile Contract Format.
-
Pulling back the curtain on IT procurement
on October 11, 2017
Monolithic procurement — large, complex, multi-year contracts, which are common in government IT procurement — can appear compelling to agencies that use them. The Technology Transformation Services (TTS) is a strong advocate for an alternative approach known as modular contracting (aka modular procurement).
-
A day in the life of an 18F product owner
on September 18, 2017
The Technology Transformation Services (TTS) has been working with the Forest Service in an effort to move their permitting process online. We’ve previously written about how doing this work in the open can benefit other agencies with permit systems. In this post, we’ll focus on why it’s important to have a product owner, what that looks like from the Forest Service’s perspective, and why a product owner is critical to successful projects.
-
How Alaska is using transparency to attract modern software vendors
on September 12, 2017
Alaska’s Department of Health & Social Services is working with the Technology Transformation Services’ Office of Acquisition on a new approach to product and acquisition management to develop a modern, integrated eligibility system for their Division of Public Assistance. We’re experimenting with a transparent approach so that anyone can see, and provide public feedback on, our progress.
-
Forest Service: Six months in, checking our assumptions
on September 8, 2017
The Technology Transformation Services has been working with the Forest Service in an effort to move their permitting process online. In this post, we’ll focus on how taking a step back to check your assumptions can reduce the risk that your project will go off course.
-
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
-
Why discovery research matters for modular procurement
on June 22, 2017
The Technology Transformation Service (TTS) has been working with the Forest Service since August 2016 on what will eventually be an agency-wide system to process permit applications. TTS is primarily helping the Forest Service hire private vendors for this work, rather than building it ourselves, and one way we’re improving that process is through “discovery research.”
-
One agency’s investments in open source mean others benefit
on March 15, 2017
One of the advantages to working across government is that we often have opportunities to share insights from other projects, repurpose code, and connect otherwise disjointed efforts. This happens in direct work with our partners, but also on our blog and in our GitHub repository. Our code, guides, and other work are all free for other government agencies and the public to use for their benefit (and we love when people do).
-
To get things done, you need great, secure tools
on February 27, 2017
To folks new to government, one of the most surprising differences between our work and work in the private sector are the barriers in accessing commercially available software, and commercially available Software as a Service (SaaS) in particular. There are many good reasons for these barriers but digital teams need great tools to get work done and compliance requires tradeoffs associated with time to initial delivery and accommodation of constraints that are different from the private sector.
-
Mark Hopson: Negotiating on America’s behalf
on January 10, 2017
Mark Hopson joined 18F in January, 2016 after working as a Contracting Officer at the Census Bureau. He works for the TTS Office of Acquisitions on call orders for the Agile BPA, procurement strategy, and other projects that are helping advance the way that government buys technology.
-
Building an effective agile partnership between government and industry
on January 5, 2017
The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor has been with 18F at the forefront of digital transformation and has been an outstanding early adopter. One of our latest initiatives has been an Agile Delivery Services Blanket Purchase Agreement (Agile BPA) Task Order to create the initial version of a web application tool for the Section 14(c) certificate application process.
-
Lowering the risk of experimentation with open source code
on December 13, 2016
In September, Singapore launched the govBuy Marketplace, adapted from the Technology Transformation Service’s (TTS) Micro-Purchase Marketplace. Both sites are an auction platform designed to connect government teams to small businesses ready to solve small technical problems using open source code. The code that powers both platforms is also open source.
-
Leadership and innovation at California's Child Welfare Services
on November 17, 2016
This is the story of how the State of California changed direction on a $500 million IT project for Child Welfare Services. To a large degree it’s about technology. But it‘s also about leadership, changing frames for assessing risk, and relationships based on trust.
-
Modular procurement resources for state and local government
on November 15, 2016
Our recent work with state government agencies in California and Mississippi provides some powerful examples of how 18F’s commitment to working and learning in the open can provide enormous benefits — even to states that are not yet working directly with 18F.
-
California takes a new approach to procurement
on October 28, 2016
The Technology Transformation Service recently held an industry day to talk to the private sector community about our vision, our projects, and how GSA and vendors can work together to bring modern digital services to the federal government. For that event, California’s Stuart Drown recorded a short video talking about 18F’s work with California on their Child Welfare System.
-
Announcing the Digital Acquisition Accelerator Playbook
on October 12, 2016
Built on the lessons learned during the pilot phase of the Digital Acquisitions Accelerator, the accompanying playbook examines the current acquisition landscape and provides an approach to procuring custom software solutions. Our goal is to make the government a smarter and more informed buyer of digital products and services.
-
Using RFPs to make every dollar count
on October 3, 2016
We were thrilled to be invited to help National Endowment for the Arts and even more thrilled that we could help them succeed in a way that prevented years of back-and-forth exchanges and many millions of dollars spent. Instead, they invested $30,000 and a couple months to build the Bright Spots interactive graphic.
-
Mississippi brings agile and modular techniques to child welfare system contract
on September 20, 2016
The State of Mississippi is about to upgrade its child welfare management system, a system used by about 1,800 state employees in 82 counties, supporting the wellbeing of about 5,000 children across the state. The system was built in the early 2000s, and the employees who use it are stymied by an inefficient interface and aging infrastructure.
-
The role of bot-bidding in Micro-purchase auctions
on August 9, 2016
The 18F Micro-purchase team recently introduced the ability to bid on an auction via API. This feature is part of our long-standing commitment to experiment and iterate towards the easiest bidding process for vendors. Like everything in the platform, we treated this feature as an experiment to learn how it would affect bidding behavior and the final price of auctions. Here’s what we learned.
-
Buying better digital products part 3: Mapping user stories
on August 4, 2016
The Digital Acquisition Accelerator, a program run by the Presidential Innovation Fellows and 18F, launched in early June. Through this program, cross-functional teams from two agencies — the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation — are learning to build two products each using modern product management practices. During week two of the Accelerator, the teams applied what they learned in an inception workshop. This is the third in a series of three blog posts that describe the step-by-step process of the workshop.
-
Buying better digital products part 2: Setting the product vision and strategy
on July 26, 2016
This is the second in a series of three blog posts that provide a step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop.
-
Buying better digital products part 1: Proto-personas and understanding the problem
on July 21, 2016
Recently, 18F launched the Digital Acquisition Accelerator, a 6-8 month program aimed at creating change agents within two agencies to inspire a cultural shift within those agencies. This is the first in a series of three blog posts that provide a step-by-step guide to how we led the inception workshop.
-
3 ways for digital acquisition teams to work better
on July 13, 2016
As we work through this pilot phase of the Digital Acquisition Accelerator, we’ll be sharing our work and the lessons we learn. We hope this will help other interested teams follow along and also give the public on opportunity to give us feedback on our pilot. Here are three techniques that our team practiced with the FBI and Treasury teams during the recent kickoff of the pilot.
-
When a micro-purchase doesn’t work out, we try to learn from it
on July 7, 2016
Two months ago, the 18F acquisitions team ran a public micro-purchase auction to find a vendor to develop a small new feature for 18F's cloud.gov, and for the first time after several successful micro-purchases for other products, the contracted vendor didn’t deliver the code on time. This was very interesting to us we’re early in the life of the micro-purchase platform, and we believe that failure is a great way to learn. In the spirit of experimentation and sharing our lessons, here’s how we went about analyzing this, and here’s what we learned.
-
Two agencies participating in the Digital Acquisition Accelerator pilot
on June 15, 2016
Today, we’re thrilled to announce that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of the Treasury are the first two agencies to participate in the Digital Acquisition Accelerator Pilot.
-
From spreadsheet to API to app: A better contract forecasting tool
on May 2, 2016
Executive branch agencies of the federal government are required by law to tell vendors if and when they plan on making purchases. The General Services Administration (GSA) was forecasting using a crowded spreadsheet containing dozens of columns and hundreds of rows. 18F helped create a new, open-source tool to display contract forecasting opportunities.
-
From 1,500 pages to 10: Helping California buy a new Child Welfare System
on March 22, 2016
Through a partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services, 18F was able to work with California’s Department of Social Services and Office of Systems Integration on the replacement of California's Child Welfare System. We helped them simplify the contracting documents and incorporate modular contracting, agile development, user-centered design, and open source practices into their project.
-
Announcing the launch of the Digital Acquisitions Pilot
on March 10, 2016
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) released a memorandum today that encourages agencies across the federal government to pursue innovative approaches to acquiring goods and services. Given the growing importance of digital acquisitions, OFPP is also launching a Digital Acquisitions Pilot along with the memo.
-
How and why we built the micro-purchase bidding platform
on February 19, 2016
This past December, 18F launched a micro-purchase platform to enable vendors to place bids on opportunities to deliver open source code that costs $3,500 or less. This is a look at how and why we built this platform.
-
Micro-purchase auctions round 2: What we learned
on January 15, 2016
The auctions have closed, the bids are in, the winners are off coding, and some already have been paid. Let’s look at some early lessons from our latest round of micro-purchase auctions.
-
Announcing the 18F Micro-purchase Platform
on January 7, 2016
In October 2015, 18F launched an experiment in micro-purchasing. Given both vendor and government interest in continuing this task, 18F is happy to announce the launch of a new platform for posting and bidding on micro-purchase tasks.
-
We asked everyone at 18F to reflect on the most meaningful project they worked on this year
on December 23, 2015
2015 was a big year for 18F. We almost doubled in size, worked with 28 different agency partners, and released products ranging from Design Method Cards to cloud.gov. Internally, we improved onboarding and our documentation by releasing guides on topics as diverse as content, accessibility, and creating good open source projects. To mark the end of the year, we reached out to everyone at 18F and asked them to reflect on a meaningful project they worked on this year.
-
The Agile BPA is ready to launch
on December 17, 2015
Today, we're pleased to officially say that Pool Three of the Agile BPA is ready to launch. Although we announced the awardees earlier this year, there were multiple protests related to the Agile BPA. Last night, we learned that the final protest has been resolved.
-
New playbook details what it's like to work with 18F Delivery
on November 19, 2015
If you or your agency have thought about working with 18F but are unsure of how we work with our partners, we have a new set of guidelines to help you out. The 18F Delivery Partnership Playbook is specifically targeted at federal offices interested in working with 18F to build digital services.
-
The current future of 18F marketplaces
on November 18, 2015
In August, we announced the Full-stack Development Pool vendors for the Agile Delivery Services Marketplace. As we continue to work on the alpha version of this marketplace, we're beginning to plan out additional micro-markets as well.
-
How the City of Boston is using GSA’s CALC tool
on November 10, 2015
We hoped CALC, a powerful labor category and pricing research tool from GSA and 18F, would save federal contracting officers time and money. Turns out, it’s also saving cities time and money. In August, we found out the City of Boston has been using CALC to vet pricing they receive in response to a request for proposals.
-
Early lessons from the micro-purchase experiment
on November 6, 2015
Well, we sure didn’t expect this. But the winning bid for the first iteration of the 18F micro-purchase experiment was $1. And on Wednesday, the winner delivered a solution that passed our acceptance criteria.
-
Announcing the criteria for 18F's first micro-purchase contract
on October 26, 2015
Today, we're beginning our micro-purchase experiment. Here are the details of what we are looking for and our acceptance criteria for the final submission.
-
Open Source Micro-purchasing: An experiment in federal acquisition
on October 13, 2015
In the next few weeks, we're going to use our micro-purchase authority to run an experiment to contract for open source contributions to our active projects.
-
Announcing the Agile BPA awards: A conversation about the process
on August 28, 2015
As the first Agile BPA awards are now being issued, we asked three members of the team about the process and the lessons they’ve learned so far.
-
The Agile Delivery BPA is here!
on June 15, 2015
The Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the Agile Delivery Services Blanket Purchase Agreement (Agile Delivery BPA) is hitting the street on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
-
How DATA Act implementation is opening up federal spending
on June 9, 2015
In May 2014, President Obama signed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) into law. Once implemented, the DATA Act will make it easier to understand how the federal government spends money.
-
Announcing the CALC tool: Making pricing research easier in federal procurement
on May 12, 2015
Today, 18F and the General Services Administration (GSA) launched a powerful new labor category and pricing research tool to help the federal contracting community make smarter, faster buying decisions.
-
Coming soon: the agile delivery services solicitation
on April 23, 2015
Calling all agile vendors...get ready! By the end of this month, GSA will be releasing a Request for Quote (RFQ) for the alpha version of the Agile Delivery Services Blanket Purchase Agreement
-
New RFP ghostwriting service to improve contract success
on March 30, 2015
A poorly written RFP will expose you to such risks as overbidding to compensate for uncertainty, vendor lock-in, and catastrophic failure due to miscommunication and misunderstanding. You don’t want that. The taxpaying public doesn’t want that. And neither does 18F.
-
One year in and looking forward
on March 20, 2015
One year ago we said, 'Hello, World' and launched not only a new team, but also the promise of a new way of working with and for the Federal Government. Here's what we've accomplished so far.
-
Labor category descriptions for agile procurements
on March 10, 2015
Clients of 18F Consulting frequently ask for help defining labor categories for agile contracts. We’ve published these definitions in a public GitHub repo so other acquisition professionals can benefit from them, too. Read on for more details.
-
Announcing OASIS Discovery: making market research easier
on March 4, 2015
18F is glad to announce the beta release of a new procurement tool, Discovery. Discovery will allow federal acquisition personnel to conduct initial market research more easily and quickly - allowing users to discover and research vendors offering work across a number of professional service categories.
-
Highlights from the Agile Delivery Services Industry Day events
on February 12, 2015
18F and GSA’s Office of Integrated Technology Services (ITS) held a pair of events for our upcoming Agile Delivery Services blanket purchase agreement (BPA). Over 700 people registered for the events, showing just how much interest there is from the private sector in this new BPA.
-
Creating a federal marketplace for agile delivery services
on January 8, 2015
The federal government and industry community have been talking about the need for software acquisitions to keep pace with technology cycles — typically 1-3 years. In today’s dynamic environment, however, not even that is fast enough.
-
How to use more open source in your next federal IT acquisition
on November 26, 2014
The history of open source software is a record of steadily turning tremendously expensive custom-built solutions into freely available infrastructure that you can simply take for granted. What once were astoundingly sophisticated, expensive human endeavors have become open source tools you can drop into place in your project on a whim.
-
With FBOpen API, 18F shows what's possible in government
on May 11, 2014
There has been some great coverage of the new group of tech specialists out of the GSA, dubbed 18F.
-
Announcing FBOpen: Government opportunities made easier
on March 31, 2014
Today we're announcing our first product launch: FBOpen, a set of open-source tools to help small businesses search for opportunities to work with the U.S. government.
Back to
18F Blog