The Code for America Summit (CfA) is here again! We're excited to have our teammates presenting at this year's conference and connecting with the civic tech community. Be sure to tell Tina Walha, who was recently appointed as CEO of U.S. Digital Response (USDR), congrats – what better place to celebrate this milestone than surrounded by the civic tech community that continues to drive meaningful change.
We'll be at sessions and networking events throughout the week – we'd love to connect! Keep an eye out for the USDR teammates on the ground:
Tina Walha – CEO, U.S. Digital Response (also a CfA Ambassador)
Krista Canellakis – program director, U.S. Digital Response (also a CfA Ambassador)
Sessions (full agenda here):
Participatory build – Onboarding assets for new teammates
Thursday, May 29, 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM EDT
Co-presenting with:
Reilly Martin, executive director at Technologists for the Public Good
Michael Baskin, chief innovation officer at Montgomery County, Maryland
Susanne Brunhart Wiggins, senior IT specialist at Montgomery County, Maryland
Location: Empire Room
How might we more quickly onboard new civic tech teammates and bring them into the knowledge of this movement? Join for a fun, participatory session where we will co-create an onboarding resource guide while learning "liberating structure" facilitation methods you can use at work. You'll leave with three new connections, (at least) two new tools, and the start to one awesome guide we'll share with the community. This session will link up with the "Hot Takes" session later at Summit!
Un-sucking procurement to make it fast and fun and actually deliver for people
Friday, May 30, 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM EDT
Co-presenting with:
André Lima, director for the US Open Contracting Partnership
Dan Hon, principal at Very Little Gravitas
Tim Shaw, policy director at Benefits Transformation Initiative, Financial Security Program Aspen Institute
Location: Diplomat Room
For most government officials and vendors, procurement sucks. It's complex, unclear, and slow, which leads to bad outcomes: big companies dominating the government tech market, state government procurements falling behind schedule and going over budget, and uncertainty about whether service outcomes are met. Worst of all, it results in late, over-priced, low-quality services.
During this activity, our front-line speakers from the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP), United States Digital Response (USDR) and Very Little Gravitas will explore three human-centered procurement approaches to un-suck procurement and make it deliver for people.
Partner sessions we're excited about:
We're also thrilled to see some of our government partners presenting their innovative work throughout the Summit. Here’s just a few we’ll be sure to attend:
Modernizing call centers: Leveraging GenAI to design a better customer experience
Joe DeLaTorre and Jessica Lax, New Jersey Department of Innovation
PA.gov's post-migration renaissance: Innovation and collaboration
Sara Hall and Taylor Farnsworth, CODE PA
How we eliminated paper forms with AI!
Sarah Withee, CODE PA
Transforming unemployment insurance appeals through human-centric AI
Kristin Mateo and Shahrazad Ledan, New Jersey Department of Labor
Getting to yes: An AZ integrated benefits case study
Jeramia Garcia Ramadan and April Dunlap, Arizona Department of Economic Security
Daniel Mintz and Devon Hirth, Code for America
Digitizing Boston’s curb with machine learning
Anna Stoneman and Michael Lawrence Evans, City of Boston
We're looking forward to another inspiring week in DC! The Code for America Summit continues to be a cornerstone event for our community, bringing together the brightest minds working to make government work better for everyone. It's especially exciting to see our government partners showcasing the innovative solutions they're building to better serve their communities. See you there!
Want to connect with USDR beyond the Summit? Learn more about our work at usdigitalresponse.org or follow us on social media for updates on our latest projects and partnerships.
Thumbnail photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash
