roadmap for a digital government

7/31/2019 Roadmap for a Digital Government

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DIGITAL GOVERNMENT:

BUILDING A ST

CENTURY PLATFORM

TO BETTER SERVE THE

AMERICAN PEOPLE

MAY ,


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i

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part A. Inormation-Centric 9

Make Open Data, Content, and Web APIs the New Deault

Make Existing High-Value Data and Content Available through Web APIs

Part B. Shared Platorm 13

Establish a Digital Services Innovation Center and Advisory Group

Establish Intra-Agency Governance to Improve Delivery o Digital Services

Shit to an Enterprise-Wide Asset Management and Procurement Model

Part C. Customer-Centric 19

Deliver Better Digital Services Using Modern Tools and Technologies

Improve Priority Customer-Facing Services or Mobile Use

Measure Perormance and Customer Satisaction to Improve Service Delivery

Part D. Security and Privacy 23

Promote the Sae and Secure Adoption o New Technologies

Evaluate and Streamline Security and Privacy Processes

Conclusion 27

Appendix: Roadmap Milestones 29


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Introduction

I want us to ask ourselves every day, how are

we using technology to make a real diference inpeoples lives. President Barack Obama

Mission drives agencies, and the need to deliver bet-

ter services to customers at a lower costwhether an

agency is supporting the warghter overseas, a teacher

seeking classroom resources or a amily guring out

how to pay or collegeis pushing every level o gov-

ernment to look or new solutions

Todays amazing mix o cloud computing, ever-smarter

mobile devices, and collaboration tools is changing

the consumer landscape1 and bleeding into government as both an opportunity and a challenge New

expectations require the Federal Government to be ready to deliver and receive digital inormation2 and

services3 anytime, anywhere and on any device It must do so saely, securely, and with ewer resources

To build or the uture, the Federal Government needs a Digital Strategy that embraces the opportunity

to innovate more with less, and enables entrepreneurs to better leverage government data to improve

the quality o services to the American people

Early mobile adopters in governmentlike the early web adoptersare beginning to experiment in pur-

suit o innovation Some have created products that leverage the unique capabilities o mobile devices

Others have launched programs and strategies and brought personal devices into the workplace Absent

coordination, however, the work is being done in isolated, programmatic silos within agencies

Building or the uture requires us to think beyond programmatic lines To keep up with the pace o

change in technology, we need to securely architect our systems or interoperability and openness

rom conception We need to have common standards and more rapidly share the lessons learned by

early adopters We need to produce better content and data, and present it through multiple channels

in a program and device-agnostic4 way We need to adopt a coordinated approach to ensure privacy

and security in a digital age

Source or The Speed o Digital Inormation: http://mashablecom////virginia-earthquake/ Sources orThe Rapidly Changing Mobile Landscape: http://huginino//R//pd, http://wwwidccom/

getdocjsp?containerId=prUS, http://pewinternetorg/Reports//Smartphone-Update-/Findingsaspx,http://techortunecnncom////idc-smartphone-shipment-numbers-passed-pc-in-q-/

Digital inormation is inormation that the government provides digitally Inormation, as dened in OMB CircularA-, is any communication or representation o knowledge such as acts, data, or opinions in any medium or orm,including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, narrative, or audiovisual orms See http://wwwwhitehousegov/omb/circulars_a_atrans or more inormation

Digital services include the delivery o digital inormation (ie data or content) and transactional services (eg onlineorms, benets applications) across a variety o platorms, devices and delivery mechanisms (eg websites, mobileapplications, and social media)

Device-agnostic means a service is developed to work regardless o the users device, eg a website that workswhether viewed on a desktop computer, laptop, smartphone, media tablet or e-reader

The Speed o Digital Inormation

When a earthquake hit near Richmond,

Virginia on August rd, , residents

in New York City read about the quake on

Twitter eeds seconds beore they experi-

enced the quake themselves
http://mashable.com/2011/08/23/virginia-earthquake/http://hugin.info/1061/R/1561267/483187.pdfhttp://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23028711http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23028711http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-2012/Findings.aspxhttp://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-2012/Findings.aspxhttp://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-2012/Findings.aspxhttp://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02/07/idc-smartphone-shipment-numbers-passed-pc-in-q4-2010/http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130trans4http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130trans4http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130trans4http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130trans4http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02/07/idc-smartphone-shipment-numbers-passed-pc-in-q4-2010/http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-2012/Findings.aspxhttp://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Smartphone-Update-2012/Findings.aspxhttp://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23028711http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23028711http://hugin.info/1061/R/1561267/483187.pdfhttp://mashable.com/2011/08/23/virginia-earthquake/


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D IGIT AL GOV E RNME NT : BUIL D ING A 2 1 S T CE NT URY PL AT FORMT O B E T T E R S ER V E T H E AM E RI CA N P E O P LE

These imperatives are not new, but many o the

solutions are We can use modern tools and tech-

nologies to seize the digital opportunity and un-

damentally change how the Federal Government

serves both its internal and external customers

building a st century platorm to better serve the

American People

Strategy Objectives

The Digital Government Strategy sets out to accomplish three things:

Enable the American people and an increasingly mobile workorce to access high-quality

digital government inormation and services anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Operationalizing an inormation-centric model, we can architect our systems or interoperability

and openness, modernize our content publication model, and deliver better, device-agnostic

digital services at a lower cost

Ensure that as the government adjusts to this new digital world, we seize the opportunity

to procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and afordableways.

Learning rom the previous transition o moving inormation and services online, we now

have an opportunity to break ree rom the inecient, costly, and ragmented practices o the

past, build a sound governance structure or digital services, and do mobile right rom the

beginning

Unlock the power o government data to spur innovation across our Nation and improve

the quality o services or the American people.

We must enable the public, entrepreneurs, and our own government programs to better lever-

age the rich wealth o ederal data to pour into applications and services by ensuring that datais open and machine-readable by deault

The Rapidly Changing Mobile Landscape

Mobile broadband subscriptions are expected

to grow rom nearly billion in to over

billion globally in

By , more Americans will access the

Internet via mobile devices than desktop PCs

As o March , % o American adults

were smartphone owners up rom % in

May

In , global smartphone shipments

exceeded personal computer shipments or

the rst time in history


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I N T R O D U C T I O N

About this Document

The Digital Government Strategy complements several initiatives aimed at building a st century gov-

ernment that works better or the American people These include Executive Order (Streamlining

Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service),5 Executive Order (Delivering an Ecient,

Eective, and Accountable Government),6 the Presidents Memorandum on Transparency and OpenGovernment,7 OMB Memorandum M-- (Open Government Directive),8 the National Strategy or

Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC),9 and the -Point Implementation Plan to Reorm Federal

Inormation Technology Management (IT Reorm)10

Through IT Reorm, the Federal Government has made progress in oundational execution areas such

as adopting light technologies (eg cloud computing), shared services (eg commodity IT), modular

approaches or IT development and acquisition, and improved IT program management The strategy

leverages this progress while ocusing on the next key priority area that requires government-wide

action: innovating with less to deliver better digital services. It specically draws upon the overall approach

to increase return on IT investments, reduce waste and duplication, and improve the eectiveness o IT

solutions dened in the Federal Shared Services Strategy11

The Digital Government Strategy incorporates a broad range o input rom government practitioners,

the public, and private-sector experts Two cross-governmental working groupsthe Mobility Strategy

and Web Reorm Task Forcesprovided guidance and recommendations or building a digital govern-

ment These groups worked with the Oce o Management and Budget (OMB) and General Services

Administration (GSA) to conduct current state research (eg the December State o the Federal

Web Report12) and explore solutions or the uture o government digital services Feedback was also

incorporated rom citizens and ederal workers across the nation using online public dialogues, including

the September National Dialogue on Improving Federal Websites and the January National

Dialogue on the Federal Mobility Strategywhich produced a combined total o ideas and nearly ,

comments13

http://wwwwhitehousegov/the-press-oce////executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-ser

http://wwwwhitehousegov/the-press-oce////executive-order--delivering-ecient-eective-and-

accountable-gov http://wwwwhitehousegov/sites/deault/les/omb/assets/memoranda_/m-pd http://wwwwhitehousegov/the_press_oce/Transparency_and_Open_Government http://wwwwhitehousegov/sites/deault/les/rss_viewer/NSTICstrategy_pd http://wwwciogov/documents/-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-Reorm-Federal%ITpd http://wwwciogov/documents/Shared_Services_Strategypd The State o the Federal Web Report, released in December , was created based on agency-provided

inormation and can be ound athttp://wwwusagov/webreorm/state-o-the-webpd The National Dialogues are archived at http://web-reorm-dialogueideascalecom/ (Improving Federal Websites) and

http://mobility-strategyideascalecom/ (Federal Mobility Strategy)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-serhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-serhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/13/executive-order-13576-delivering-efficient-effective-and-accountable-govhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/13/executive-order-13576-delivering-efficient-effective-and-accountable-govhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Governmenthttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/NSTICstrategy_041511.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/25-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-Reform-Federal%20IT.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/Shared_Services_Strategy.pdfhttp://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://web-reform-dialogue.ideascale.com/http://mobility-strategy.ideascale.com/http://mobility-strategy.ideascale.com/http://web-reform-dialogue.ideascale.com/http://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/Shared_Services_Strategy.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/25-Point-Implementation-Plan-to-Reform-Federal%20IT.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/NSTICstrategy_041511.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Governmenthttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/13/executive-order-13576-delivering-efficient-effective-and-accountable-govhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/13/executive-order-13576-delivering-efficient-effective-and-accountable-govhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-serhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/27/executive-order-streamlining-service-delivery-and-improving-customer-ser


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Conceptual Model

Beore discussing howwe will build a st century digital government, we must rst establish a concep-

tual model that acknowledges the three layers o digital services (see Figure )

The information layercontains digital inormation It includes structured inormation (eg, the most

common concept o data) such as census and employment data, plus unstructured inormation (eg,

content), such as act sheets, press releases, and compliance guidance14

Theplatform layerincludes all the systems

and processes used to manage this inor-

mation Examples include systems or con-

tent management, processes such as web

API (Application Programming Interace)15

and application development, services that

support mission critical IT unctions such as

human resources or nancial management,as well as the hardware used to access inor-

mation (eg, mobile devices)

Thepresentation layerdenes the manner

in which inormation is organized and pro-

vided to customers It represents the way the

government and private sector deliver gov-

ernment inormation (eg, data or content)

digitally, whether through websites,16 mobile

applications, or other modes o delivery

These three layers separate inormation cre-

ation rom inormation presentationallow-

ing us to create content and data once, and

then use it in dierent ways In eect, this model represents a undamental shit rom the way our

government provides digital services today

For the purposes o this document, the term content will reer to all unstructured inormation, while the term datawill reer to all structured inormation unless otherwise noted

Web APIs are a system o machine-to-machine interaction over a network Web APIs involve the transer o data, butnot a user interace

A website is the hosted content on a domain, which has a unique homepage and global navigation, eg, NASAgov isa domain, but wwwnasagov and jplnasagov are both websites on that domain

Govt Digital

Services(Websites &Applications)

Private SectorDigital Services

(Websites &Applications)

Systems, Processes,Management & Web APIs

Open Data & Content(Information) InformationLayer

Platform

Layer

PresentationLayer

Security & Privacy

AmericanPeople Employees

Customers

Figure 1: The Layers o Digital Services
http://www.nasa.gov/http://www.nasa.gov/


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Strategy Principles

To drive this transormation, the strategy is built upon our overarching principles:

An Information-CentricapproachMoves us rom managing documents to managing

discrete pieces o open data and content17 which can be tagged, shared, secured, mashed up

and presented in the way that is most useul or the consumer o that inormation

A Shared PlatformapproachHelps us work together, both within and across agencies, to

reduce costs, streamline development, apply consistent standards, and ensure consistency in

how we create and deliver inormation

A Customer-CentricapproachInluences how we create, manage, and present data

through websites, mobile applications, raw data sets, and other modes o delivery, and allows

customers to shape, share and consume inormation, whenever and however they want it

A platorm oSecurity and PrivacyEnsures this innovation happens in a way that ensures

the sae and secure delivery and use o digital services to protect inormation and privacy

Information-Centric

The Federal Government must undamentally shit how it thinks about digital inormation Rather

than thinking primarily about the nal presentationpublishing web pages, mobile applications or

brochuresan inormation-centric approach ocuses on ensuring our data and content are accurate,

available, and secure We need to treat all content as data 18turning any unstructured content into

structured datathen ensure all structured data are associated with valid metadata 19 Providing this

inormation through web APIs helps us architect or interoperability and openness, and makes data

assets reely available or use within agencies, between agencies, in the private sector, or by citizens

This approach also supports device-agnostic security and privacy controls, as attributes can be applied

directly to the data and monitored through metadata, enabling agencies to ocus on securing the data

and not the device

Open data and content or the purposes o this document reers to digital inormation that is structured andexposed in a way that makes it accessible or meaningul use beyond its system o origin, be that internal to thegovernment or external to the public This builds upon the denition o openness in OMB Memorandum M--(Open Government Directive), which specically addresses the release o inormation to the public: Agencies shallrespect the presumption o openness by publishing inormation onlineTo the extent practicable and subject tovalid restrictions, agencies should publish inormation online in an open ormat that can be retrieved, downloaded,

indexed, and searched by commonly used web search applications An open ormat is one that is platormindependent, machine readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the re-use o that inormation See http://wwwwhitehousegov/open/documents/open-government-directive or moreinormation

To treat content as data and turn unstructured content into structured data, web-based documents must be createdas pieces o structured inormation For example, a act sheet may be broken into the ollowing component datapieces: the title, body text, images, and related links

Metadata are inormation used to describe certain attributes o a piece o digital inormation, such as page title,author, date updated, and other classications Consistent quality metadata tagging can improve search results andalso be used to structure content so that it can be more widely disseminated
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directivehttp://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive


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In production, the inormation-centric approach ensures all agencies ollow the same rules o the road

by using open standards It also guides how we present inormation, rom mobile applications to web-

sites, and allows or increased automation at the presentation layer I done right, the inormation-centric

approach will add reach and value to government services by helping to surace the best inormation

and making it widely available through a variety o useul ormats

Shared Platform

To make the most use o our resources and innovate with less, we need to share more eectively, both

within the government and with the public We also need to share capacities to build the systems and

processes that support our eorts, and be smart about creating new tools, applications, systems, web-

sites and domains Ultimately, a shared platorm approach to developing and delivering digital services

and managing data not only helps accelerate the adoption o new technologies, but also lowers costs

and reduces duplication To do so, we need to rapidly disseminate lessons learned rom early adopters,

leverage existing services and contracts, build or multiple use cases at once, use common standards

and architectures, participate in open source communities, leverage public crowdsourcing, and launch

shared government-wide solutions and contract vehicles20

Customer-Centric

From how we create inormation, to the systems we use to manage it, to how we organize and pres-

ent it, we must ocus on our customers needs Putting the customer rst means quality inormation is

accessible, current and accurate at any time whether the customer is in the battle eld, the lab, or the

classroom It means coordinating across agencies to ensure when citizens and employees interact with

government inormation and services, they can nd what they need and complete transactions with a

level o eciency that rivals their experiences when engaging with the private-sector

The customer-centric principle charges us to do several things: conduct research to understand thecustomers business, needs and desires; make content more broadly available and accessible and present

it through multiple channels in a program- and device-agnostic way; make content more accurate and

understandable by maintaining plain language and content reshness standards; and oer easy paths

or eedback to ensure we continually improve service delivery The customer-centric principle holds

true whether our customers are internal (eg the civilian and military ederal workorce in both classied

and unclassied environments) or external (eg individual citizens, businesses, research organizations,

and state, local, and tribal governments)

Security and Privacy

As the Federal Government builds or the uture, it must do so in a sae and secure, yet transparent andaccountable manner Architecting or openness and adopting new technologies have the potential to

make devices and data vulnerable to malicious or accidental breaches o security and privacy They also

A shared solution is a service such as web hosting, application support, or a content management system, providedby a single agency or organization, but used by many For example, a central hosting platorm that allows multipleagencies to host their web content rather than procuring separate inrastructure or each new project


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create challenges in providing adequate notice o a users rights and options when providing personally

identiable inormation (PII)

Moving orward, we must strike a balance between the very real need to protect sensitive government

and citizen assets given the realities o a rapidly changing technology landscape To support inorma-

tion sharing and collaboration, we must build in security, privacy, and data protection throughout theentire technology lie cycle To promote a common approach to security and privacy, we must streamline

assessment and authorization processes, and support the principle o do once, use many times We must

also adopt new solutions in areas such as continuous monitoring, identity, authentication, and credential

management, and cryptography that support the shit rom securing devices to securing the data itsel

and ensure that data is only shared with authorized users When appropriate, requirements and solu-

tions should be collaboratively developed with industry to match Federal Government needs, using

the power o innovation and economies o scale to deliver better-value security and privacy products


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Part A. InformationCentric

The rich wealth o inormation maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset with tre-

mendous potential value to the public, entrepreneurs, and to our own government programs This

inormation takes many orms It can be unstructured content (eg press releases, help documents,or how-to guides) or more structured data (eg product saety databases, census results, or airline

on-time records) Regardless o orm, to harness its value to the ullest extent possible, we must adopt

an inormation-centric approach to digital services by securely architecting or interoperability and

openness rom the start

Traditionally, the government has architected systems

(eg databases or applications) or specic uses at specic

points in time The tight coupling o presentation and

inormation has made it dicult to extract the underlying

inormation and adapt to changing internal and external

needs This has necessarily resulted in a duplication o

eorts and the building o multiple systems to serve

dierent audiences where a single would suice For

example, most websites are typically built with webpages

sized specically or computer screens To serve mobile

audiences, many agencies build an entirely new mobile

site to present the same content to ederal employees

and the public

An inormation-centric approach decouples inormation

rom its presentation It means beginning with the dataor content,21 describing that inormation clearly, and then

exposing it to other computers in a machine-readable

ormatcommonly known as providing web APIs In

describing the inormation, we need to ensure it has

sound taxonomy (making it searchable) and adequate

metadata (making it authoritative) Once the structure

o the inormation is sound, various mechanisms can be built to present it to customers (eg websites,

mobile applications, and internal tools) or raw data can be released directly to developers and entre-

preneurs outside the organization This approach to opening data and content means organizations

can consume the same web APIs to conduct their day-to-day business and operations as they do to

provide services to their customers

In addition, by embedding security and privacy controls into structured data and metadata, data owners

can ocus more eort on ensuring the sae and secure delivery o data to the end customer and ewer

resources on securing the device that will receive the data For example, security o an endpoint device

Unstructured content like web-based act sheets must be broken into their component data pieces (eg the title,body text, images, and related links) and treated as structured data

Decoupling Data and Presentation

The Centers or Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) is liberating web

content by decoupling data and pre-sentation Using a create once, publish

everywhere mindset and an API-driven

syndication service, CDCs content ows

easily into multiple channels and is avail-

able or public and private reuse Within

its own channels, content is updated

once, and then easily displayed on the

main CDCgov web site, the mobile site at

mcdcgov, and in the various modules o

the CDC mobile app

In , CDCs liberated content wassyndicated to registered partners in

all US states, the District o Columbia

and countries and accounted or an

additional million page views


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becomes less o a risk management actor i data is protected and authorized users must authenticate

their identities to gain access to it

The private sector has proven an inormation-centric model or delivering digital services securely

and eciently The time has come or the Federal Government to embrace this approach in stride

Recognizing that simply publishing snapshots o government inormation is not enough to make itopen, we need to improve the quality, accessibility, timeliness, and usability o our data and content

through well-dened standards that include the use o machine-readable ormats such as web APIs and

common metadata tagging schemas

1. Make Open Data, Content, and Web APIs the New Default

To lay the oundation or opening data and content eciently, eectively and accessibly, OMB will

work with representatives rom across government to develop and publish an open data, content, and

web API policy or the Federal Government This policy

will leverage central coordination and leadership to

develop guidelines, standards, and best practices orimproved interoperability To establish a new deault,

the policy will require that newly developed IT systems

are architected or openness and expose high-value22

data and content as web APIs at a discrete and digest-

ible level o granularity with metadata tags23 Under a

presumption o openness, agencies must evaluate the

inormation contained within these systems or release

to other agencies and the public, publish it in a timely

manner, make it easily accessible or external use as

applicable, and post it at agencygov/developer in amachine-readable ormat

# Owner(s) Milestone Actions

Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

OMB

Issue government-wide open data, content, and web API

policy and identiy standards and best practices or improvedinteroperability

Agencies

Ensure all new IT systems ollow the open data, content, and

web API policy and operationalize agencygov/developerpages [Within 6 months o release o open data policysee milestone 1.1]

High-value inormation is inormation that can be used to increase agency accountability and responsiveness;improve public knowledge o the agency and its operations; urther the core mission o the agency; create economicopportunity; or respond to need and demand as identied through public consultation

Industry-standard markup language (eg XBRL, XML) will be used to the extent practicable

Fueling the App Economy

The City o San Francisco releases its raw

public transportation data on train routes,

schedules, and to-the-minute location

updates directly to the public through web

services This has enabled citizen devel-

opers to write over dierent mobile

applications to help the public navigate San

Franciscos public transit systemsmore

services than the city could provide i it

ocused on presentation development

rather than opening the data publiclythrough web services


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PART A. INFORMAT ION-CE NT RIC

2. Make Existing High-Value Data and Content Available through Web APIs

Recognizing that change will not happen overnight, we need to adopt an ecient and cost eective

implementation strategy that will not place an undue burden on agencies to transition all existing

systems and inormation upront While the open data and web API policy will apply to all new systems

and underlying data and content developed going orward, OMB will ask agencies to bring existinghigh-value systems and inormation into compliance over a period o timea look orward, look back

approach To jump-start the transition, agencies will be required to:

Identiy at least two major customer-acing systems that contain high-value data and content;

Expose this inormation through web APIs to the appropriate audiences;

Apply metadata tags in compliance with the new ederal guidelines; and

Publish a plan to transition additional systems as practical

Given the scope, scale, and complexity o some o these systems, agencies will be asked to prioritize

release o data and content so the most valuable inormation is made available rst In cases where thesystem supports a website, content must also be structured, published through web APIs and tagged

appropriately Agencies will be required to engage with their customers24 within three months to iden-

tiy the highest priority systems to transition, and work internally across communications, content, and

inrastructure teams (eg program leads, digital strategists, web managers, Chie Inormation Ocers

(CIOs), Chie Financial Ocers (CFOs), Chie Technology Ocers (CTOs), Chie Acquisition Ocers (CAOs),

Chie Public Aairs Ocers, Geographic Inormation Ocers (GIOs), and data managers to select the

nal candidates GSA will help agencies develop web APIs through the Digital Services Innovation

Center (see section ) Additionally, Datagov will be expanded to include a web API catalog to serve

as an interactive directory o inormation made available to the public by agencies via web services so

that customers may more readily utilize that inormation in their own applications Web APIs posted onagencies/developer pages will be automatically aggregated in this catalog


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

Agencies

Engage with customers to identiy at least two existing major

customer-acing services that contain high-value data orcontent as rst-move candidates to make compliant with newopen data, content, and web API policy

Agencies

Make high-value data and content in at least two existing

major customer-acing systems available through web APIs,apply metadata tagging and publish a plan to transition

additional high-value systems [Within 6 months o release o

open data policysee milestone 1.1]

GSAExpand Datagov to include a web API catalog that centrally

aggregates web APIs posted on agencies/developer pages

Customers may be internal (eg the civilian and military ederal workorce in both classied and unclassiedenvironments) or external (eg individual citizens, businesses, research organizations, and state, local, and tribalgovernments) Agencies with external customers should engage the public


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Part B. Shared Platform

Government agencies are missing out on opportunities to share ideas and resources within the digital

services space25 Ineciencies such as ragmented procurement and development practices waste

taxpayer dollars and stymie the consistent adoption o new technologies and approaches The shitto a shared platorm culture will require strong leadership at the government-wide and agency levels

Agencies must begin to look rst to shared solutions and existing inrastructure when developing

new projects, rather than procuring new inrastructure

and systems or each new project They must also share

ownership o common service areas, both within and

across agencies, instead o creating multiple websites

on the same topic To alleviate the burden on individual

agencies, prevent duplication, and spur innovation, we

must provide central support or the adoption o new

technologies, development o better digital services, andstrengthening o governance

3. Establish a Digital Services Innovation Center and Advisory Group

There are common challenges that all agencies ace in trying to deliver better digital services at a lower

cost to the American people and employees Approaching these challenges as one government will

enable agencies to ocus their time and money on developing innovative, mission-acing solutions

rather than re-inventing the wheel

Identiying opportunities or sharing existing solutions at agencies and building new solutions or

government-wide use requires strong leadership, coordination, and support To operationalize the prin-

ciple obuild once, use many times, GSA will expand its current eorts and establish a Digital Services

Innovation Center The Center will work with agencies to establish shared solutions and training to sup-

port inrastructure and content needs across the Federal Government (eg source code sharing tools,

video captioning, language translation, usability and accessibility testing, web hosting, and security

architectures) The Innovation Center will support agencies lacking these capabilities, not supersede

agencies existing capabilities, and unction as a cooperative enterprise that draws on resources rom

across government and leverages the expertise o orward-leaning agencies

At the outset, to support strategy implementation, the Center will ocus on three initial actions:

Identiy shared and open content management system (CMS) solutions and support

implementation through training and best practices This will oer agencies an alternative tobuilding their own platorms in isolation and enable code sharing and modular development

Help agencies develop web APIs and unlock valuable data by providing expert resources

and other support to enable developers, entrepreneurs, and other end users take advantage

o government data and content

The State o the Federal Web Report provides several examples See http://wwwusagov/webreorm/state-o-the-webpdor more inormation

Opportunities to Share

In the State o the Federal Web Report,

agencies reported separate imple-

mentations o dierent systems used to

create and publish content and web

hosting providers
http://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdfhttp://www.usa.gov/webreform/state-of-the-web.pdf


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Launch a shared mobile application devel-

opment program, in conjunction with the

Federal CIO Council, that will help agencies

develop secure, device-agnostic mobile appli-

cations, provide a development test environ-

ment to streamline app delivery, oster code-

sharing, and validate oicial government

applications

To augment the natural cross-agency collaboration

that has developed through initiatives such as the

Web Reorm and Mobility Strategy Task Forces, OMB

will ormalize and sustain such coordination into the

uture by convening a Digital Services Advisory Group

that draws membership rom the Federal CIO Council,

Federal Web Managers Council, and other agency lead-ers Through its leadership, the Advisory Group will

promote cross-agency sharing and accelerated adop-

tion o mobile workorce solutions and best practices

in the development and delivery o digital services

that build in security and privacy and keep the ederal

workorce abreast o emerging technologies Overall,

in addition to advising the Federal CIO on implementa-

tion o the strategy, the Advisory Group will have three

main ocus areas:

Help prioritize shared services needs orthe Digital Services Innovation Center. The

Advisory Group will identiy areas that need

government-wide leadership and work with

the Innovation Center to determine the best

shared solutions that leverage existing agency

work and commercial options to the extent

practical

Foster the sharing o existing policies and

best practices using online platorms and

communities o practice to provide more struc-ture to existing ad-hoc collaboration eorts

For instance, many ront-running agencies

have already launched bring-your-own-device

(BYOD) pilots that test new devices and solu-

tions The Advisory Group will work with the

Federal CIO Council to develop government-

The Need or Open Content

Management Solutions

According to the State o the Federal Web

Report, over % o ederal agencies cur-rently do not use CMS solutions or publish-

ing content online In many cases, the lack

o CMS means maintaining and updating

websites is an inecient, manual process

A prominent theme rom the National

Dialogue on Improving Federal Websites

was the need to phase out the use o

custom-built technology Participants in the

dialogue recommended that the Federal

Government use open source technology

to enable more sharing o data and makecontent more accessible Encourage use o

popular Open Source platormswas one o

the many ideas submitted in this vein and

generated robust discussion

Creating an Environment or Mobility

A popular idea submitted during the

National Dialogue on the Federal MobilityStrategy got straight to the point: Apps are

easy enterprise strategy, not so much.As

one commenter put it, we need to look at

how mobility (not just mobile technology) ts

into an organization, regardless o the device,

platorm, application, etc.

Mobilityis not just about embracing the

newest technology, but rather reects a

undamental change in how, when, and

where our citizens and employees work and

interact Mobile technologythe devices,

inrastructure, and applications required to

support a mobile citizenry and workorce

is a critical enabler o mobility, but is only

part o the proound environmental shit

that mobility represents


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PART B. S HARE D PL AT FORM

wide BYOD guidance leveraging their ndings The Advisory Group will also work with the

Federal Web Managers Council to develop guidelines or improving digital services and creat-

ing better digital content (see section ) and setting up intra-agency governance models or

delivering better digital services (see section )

Identiy and recommend changes to help close gaps in policy and standards. For instance,as new technologies are introduced into the ederal environment, policies governing identity

and credential management may need to be revised to allow the introduction o new solutions

that work better in a mobile world Equally, as new technologies emerge, telework rules may

need to be revisited to allow employees to work rom any location, as long as the device and

connectivity are appropriately secure

# Owner(s) Milestone ActionsTimerame (months)

1 3 6 12

GSAEstablish a Digital Services Innovation Center to improve the

governments delivery o digital services

OMB

Convene a Digital Services Advisory Group to provideinput on priorities or the Innovation Center activities and

recommend government-wide best practices, guidance,and standards

Advisory

Group/FederalCIO Council

Release government-wide bring-your-own-device (BYOD)

guidance based on lessons learned rom successul pilots atederal agencies

InnovationCenter

Identiy shared and open content management systemsolutions

InnovationCenter

Provide support to help agencies develop web APIs

Innovation

Center/Federal CIOCouncil

Launch a shared mobile app development program

4. Establish Intra-Agency Governance to Improve Delivery of Digital Services

At the agency-level, Agency CIOs are responsible26 or commodity IT services and inormation security

However, the lines o responsibility or developing and delivering content and data are not as clear and

distinct Agencies must decide how they will sta and manage the delivery o digital services across the

enterprise An uncoordinated approach at some agencies has resulted in the development and mainte-

nance o dozensin some cases hundredso separate websites and supporting inrastructure, and

To clariy the role o Chie Inormation Ocers (CIO), the Director o the OMB issued OMB Memorandum M--(Chie Inormation Ocer Authorities) to the heads o Executive Departments and Agencies In addition to theirstatutory responsibilities through the Clinger-Cohen Act and related laws, Agency CIOs have a lead role in our mainareas: IT Governance, Commodity IT, Program Management, and Inormation Security OMB continues to work withCongress to consolidate Commodity IT spending under the Agency CIO


20/36


21/36

PART B. S HARE D PL AT FORM

Adopting a shared services approach and consolidating mobile device and wireless service contracts

will not only reduce costs but also improve our ability to track usage, analyze pricing, secure devices,

and deliver mobile applications This is in line with the Administrations overall eort to consolidate

the acquisition and management o commodity IT services29 through mechanisms such as the Federal

Strategic Sourcing Initiative, the PortolioStat process30, and the Administrative Eciency Initiative31

To jumpstart this shit, GSA willestablish a government-wide contract vehicle or mobile devices and

wireless service and oer agencies the option o accessing central portal services or placing orders,

reporting inventory, and managing expenses to optimize their mobile usage GSA will also set up a

government-wide mobile device management platorm to support enhanced monitoring, manage-

ment, security, and device synchronizationThe Federal CIO Council will work with the Digital Services

Advisory Group (see Section ) to develop models or the secure, yet rapid, delivery o commercial

mobile applications into the ederal environment to support the consistent application o security

and interoperability requirements For example, an enterprise mobile application environment could

provide central hosting, distribution, certication, and management services or mobile applications

For their part, agencies will be required to develop and maintain an enterprise-wide inventory o theirmobile devices and wireless service contracts, and include an evaluation o government-wide contract

vehicles in their alternatives analysis or all new mobile-related procurements


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

GSAEstablish government-wide contract vehicle or mobile devicesand wireless service

AgenciesDevelop an enterprise-wide inventory o mobile devices and

wireless service contracts

Agencies Evaluate the government-wide contract vehicles in the alterna-tives analysis or all new mobile-related procurements

AdvisoryGroup/Federal CIO

Council

Develop models or the delivery o commercial mobile applica-tions into the ederal environment

GSASet up a government-wide mobile device managementplatorm

Examples o commodity IT services identied in OMB Memorandum M-- include IT Inrastructure (eg DataCenters, Networks, Desktop Computers, Mobile Devices), Enterprise IT Systems (eg E-mail, Collaboration Tools,

Identity and Access Management, Security, Web Inrastructure), Business Systems (eg Finance, Human Resources,Other Administrative Functions) Under OMB Memorandum M-- (Implementing PortolioStat), agency Chie Operating Ocers (COO) are

required to lead an annual agency-wide IT portolio review (PortolioStat) to reduce duplication within commodityIT by shiting to intra- and inter-agency shared services This includes acquisitions or acquiring mobile devices,applications, and wireless telecommunications services See http://wwwwhitehousegov/sites/deault/les/omb/memoranda//m--pdor more inormation

In support o the Administrative Eciency Initiative, Executive Order (Promoting Ecient Spending) asksagencies to assess current employee device inventories and usage and establish controls to ensure that they arenot paying or unused or underutilized IT equipment, installed sotware, or services This includes limiting thenumber o devices (eg, mobile phones, tablets) issued to employees See http://wwwwhitehousegov/the-press-oce////executive-order-promoting-ecient-spending or more inormation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-10.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-10.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/executive-order-promoting-efficient-spendinghttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/executive-order-promoting-efficient-spendinghttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/executive-order-promoting-efficient-spendinghttp://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/executive-order-promoting-efficient-spendinghttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-10.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-10.pdf


22/36


23/36

Part C. CustomerCentric

The quality o digital services that we provide deter-

mines our reputation and trust as an institution It

prooundly aects the customer experience that ouremployees and citizens have in working or, and engag-

ing with, the Federal Government Digital services

include the delivery o digital inormation and transac-

tional services (eg online orms, benets applications,

timecard submissions) across a variety o platorms,

devices and delivery mechanisms (eg websites, mobile

applications, and social media) Regardless o the orm

they take, these digital services must be designed and

delivered with customer service rst in mind and reect

the technologies used by todays customers

Customer-centric government means that agencies

respond to customers needs and make it easy to nd

and share inormation and accomplish important tasks

It requires holding ourselves to a high-standard o timely data, inormative content, simple transactions,

and seamless interactions that are easily accessible The mantra oanytime, anywhere, any device,is

increasingly setting the standard or how inormation and services are both delivered and received in a

two-way exchange o inormation and ideas We must embrace the ability o new technologies to drive

participation in the digital public square To develop innovative, transparent, customer-acing products

and services eciently and eectively, the Federal Government must also ocus on the undamentals o

customer-centric design: measure how well we are providing meaningul services; ocus our eorts on

those interactions that have the most use and value; institutionalize perormance measurement; and

continuously improve services in response to those measurements

6. Deliver Better Digital Services Using Modern Tools and Technologies

Using modern tools and technologies such as responsive web design32 and search engine optimization33

is critical i the government is to adapt to an ever-changing digital landscape and deliver services to

any device, anytime, anywhere Similarly, optimizing content or modern platorms, rather than just

translating content rom paper-based documents to the Web, will help ensure the American people

and employees can access content regardless o platorm Agencies will need to keep current with the

latest design concepts and reresh content delivery mechanisms to ensure the highest perormance

To help achieve these objectives, the Digital Services Advisory Group (see section ) will work with

Responsive web design is a method o designing content so that it can be re-sized to t on various screen sizes(eg designing a service to work well on both a laptop screen and a smartphone, without the need to design andmaintain separate standard and mobile sites)

Search engine optimization involves understanding how search engines work and designing content around thosestandards to boost contents ranking in search results

Absorbing the Complexity

o the Government

A common theme rom the National

Dialogue or Improving Federal Websites

was that the Federal Government needs

to change to a culture o customer ser-

vice A key part o that shit is the need

to start absorbing the complexity o the

Government on behal o the citizen As

one participant wrote, Customers dont

knowand dont care to knowhow govern-

ment is organized. So why make them go romagency [website] to agency [website] to get

the ull picture o what govt has to ofer on

any subject?


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the Federal Web Managers Council to recommend guidelines or improving digital services and the

customer experience that will set a new deault or how digital services are developed and delivered

These guidelines will include:

Approaches or consolidating duplicative websites and coordinating inormation delivery

across agencies; Best practices or identiying and optimizing top tasks34, content, and transactions, including

use o plain language; optimizing or usability, search, and accessibility35; and implementing

content liecycle management;

Best practices or standards-compliant, next-generation web development, including use o

content delivery networks; content management systems; common code libraries, rameworks,

and tools; and responsive web design (eg using HTML36 and CSS37 to provide a mobile-

tailored experience);

Standards or structuring and tagging content and data to be machine-readable;

Approaches or using customer eedback to make improvements; and

Considerations to support the adoption o an inormation-centric security model

The dot gov domain guidance and procedures will be updated to help ensure all new digital services

meet these improvement guidelines Under the principle o no new domains, criteria or approving

new second-level domains will be strengthened and new domains will only be granted on an excep-

tion basis For example, an agency may be granted a new single domain to host consolidated content

previously spread across multiple domains, thus streamlining the customer experience and reducing

redundant inrastructure Domains will be approved or renewed only i they to comply with web-related

ederal standards, guidance, and regulations (eg adoption o the aorementioned guidelines, IPv38,

DNSSEC, continuous monitoring, and externally-issued credentials39) In addition, the dot gov domain

Top tasks are the things customers most oten try to accomplish when accessing an organizations services, whethernding specic inormation or completing some transaction (eg ling taxes)

Section o the Rehabilitation Act o requires that ederal employees and members o the public withdisabilities have access to the governments digital inormation and services comparable to individuals withoutdisabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency Seehttp://wwwaccess-boardgov/htmor more inormation

HTML is the th revision o the Hypertext Markup Language standard used to code content or the Web HTMLmakes it possible to embed video, audio, animations and other eatures without the use o third-party plugins andcan be used to build cross-platorm mobile applications

CSS is the current standard or Cascading Style Sheets, a language used to speciy look and eel o digital content,and used separately rom the markup language (eg, HTML) so as to separate content rom presentation

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires all new inormation technology acquisitions using InternetProtocol (IP) to include IPv requirements expressed using the USGv Prole and to require vendors to documenttheir compliance with those requirements through the USGv Testing Program Agencies shall institute processesto include language in solicitations and contracts, where applicable For additional inormation, a copy o theSeptember memorandum and IPv Frequently Asked Questions can be ound at wwwciogov

The list o externally-issued credential providers that have been certied as being in accordance with government-wide requirements is at http://wwwidmanagementgov/pagescm/page/ICAM-TrustFramework-IDP (or non-PKIsolutions) and at http://wwwidmanagementgov/pagescm/page/Federal-PKI-Management-Authority-entities-crosscertied-with-the-FBCA (or PKI solutions) These are the only externally-issued credentials which may beaccepted See Federal CIO Memorandum on Requirements or Accepting Externally-Issued Identity Credentialshttp://wwwciogov/documents/OMBReqorAcceptingExternally_IssuedIdCred--pdor more inormation
http://www.access-board.gov/508.htmhttp://www.access-board.gov/508.htmhttp://www.cio.gov/http://www.cio.gov/documents/OMBReqforAcceptingExternally_IssuedIdCred10-6-2011.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/OMBReqforAcceptingExternally_IssuedIdCred10-6-2011.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/documents/OMBReqforAcceptingExternally_IssuedIdCred10-6-2011.pdfhttp://www.cio.gov/http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm


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PART C. CUS T OME R-CE NT RIC

registration process will reinorce existing policies prohibiting the use o non-gov (eg org, com)

top-level domains40 Through the Digital Services Innovation Center (see section ),GSA will provide

tools, guidelines, and training to help agencies comply with these new policies and continue eorts to

consolidate websites along topical lines

# Owner(s) Milestone ActionsTimerame (months)

1 3 6 12

AdvisoryGroup/

Federal WebManagers

Council

Recommend guidelines or improving digital services andcustomer experience

GSAUpdate the dot gov domain guidance and procedures to helpensure all new digital services meet improvement guidelines

and provide support to agencies

Agencies

Ensure all new digital services ollow digital services and cus-

tomer experience improvement guidelines. [Within 6 months orelease o improvement guidancesee milestone 6.2]

7. Improve Priority Customer-Facing Services for Mobile Use

The general public and our government workorce should be able to access government inormation

and services on demand and on any device To jump-start the transition to mobile platorms, agencies

will be required to mobile-enable at least two priority customer-acing services within the next

months This includes services currently provided ofine or optimizing those currently delivered online

or mobile platorms Agencies will also be required to deliver inormation in new ways that ully harness

the power and potential o mobile and web-based technologies and ensure that all domains (eg www

agencygov) can be easily accessed and used on mobile devices GSA will help coordinate these eortsto prevent the development o duplicative services and support the use o shared solutions to provide

the best quality mobile services at the lowest costs (see section )

Agencies will be required to engage their customers within three months to identiy the highest priority

services to optimize or mobile use, and work internally across communications, content, and inrastruc-

ture teams to select their nal candidates They will also be required to publish a plan or improving

additional existing services as practical


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

AgenciesEngage with customers to identiy at least two existing prioritycustomer-acing services to optimize or mobile use

Agencies

Optimize at least two existing priority customer-acing servicesor mobile use and publish a plan or improving additionalexisting services [Within 6 months o release o digital servicesimprovement guidancesee milestone 6.2]

See OMB Memorandum M-- (Policies or Federal Agency Public Websites) http://wwwwhitehousegov/sites/deault/les/omb/memoranda/y/m-pdor more inormation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdfhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-04.pdf


26/36


8. Measure Performance and Customer Satisfaction to Improve Service Delivery

Objective perormance measures should drive the development and delivery o eective digital govern-

ment services Today most agencies lack enterprise-wide perormance measures to consistently evaluate

the success and usability o their websites This limits their ability to allocate resources eectively to

invest in critical-needs areas Similarly, the lack o a government-wide view o perormance or digitalservice delivery makes it dicult to properly address gaps or duplications in services

To enable data-driven decisions on service peror-

mance, agencies will be required to use analytics and

customer satisaction measurement tools on all gov

websites within months To help these eorts, the

Digital Services Innovation Center (see Section ) will

identiy common tools or agencies to use that will

enable aggregation o this data at the ederal level

Common tools will give us the abilityor the irst

timeto take a government-wide view o how wellwe serve our customers and opens up new possibilities

or consolidating and improving the ederal web space

and the growing number o mobile services


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

InnovationCenter

Identiy tools and guidance or measuring perormance andcustomer satisaction on digital services

Agencies Implement perormance and customer satisaction measuringtools on all gov websites [Within 3 months o release o tools andguidancesee milestone 8.1]

Measuring Perormance

According to the State o the Federal Web

Report, only % o the major ederal

agencies use the same perormance

metrics to consistently evaluate websites

agency-wide But theres a solution or that:

Open web analytics or all .gov websites, a

popular idea submitted during the NationalDialogue on Improving Federal Websites


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Part D. Security and Privacy

The inormation maintained by the Federal Government needs to be secured regardless o how data

is stored, processed, or transmitted As inormation and devices become increasingly mobile, we must

ensure condentiality, integrity, and availability by building security into digital government servicesAs the government moves to an inormation-centric and mobility-enabled digital environment, exist-

ing security, privacy, and data protections41 and cyber security priorities42including Trusted Internet

Connection (TICs), continuous monitoring, and strong authentication consistent with NSTIC and Federal

Identity Credential and Access Management (ICAM) requirementsmust be considered throughout

the entire lie cycle o existing and emerging technologies as part o agencies overall organizational

risk management43 They must also be updated to reect the realities o a rapidly changing technology

landscape

Mobile devices have unique security challenges Due to their portability, they are easy to misplace,

potentially compromising any unencrypted sensitive data or applications stored locally Wireless con-

nectivity allows users to bypass an agencys secure TIC and connect directly to the Internet and other

untrusted resources These problems are not new, as the introduction o laptops into the workorce led

to security and data breaches as employees took their electronic devices mobile However, the new class

o smaller, lighter smartphones and media tablets has elevated exposure to this risk The rate o change

o mobile operating systems, new update and notication capabilities rom external hardware and sot-

ware vendors, diversity o the devices themselves, and introduction o employee-owned devices (BYOD)

also make security in the mobile space more challenging than in a traditional desktop environment

and require new approaches to continuously monitor and manage devices and secure the data itsel

The challenge extends beyond the workorce and into the delivery o services to external customers

When deploying applications and other mobile technologies to interact with citizens and businesses,the Federal Government will need to oster trust, accountability, and transparency about how user

inormation is collected, used, shared, and secured, without unduly burdening the robust development

o such technologies or the user experience

All existing ederal requirements or data protection and remote access are applicable to mobile devices Forexample, the security requirements in the Federal Inormation Security Management Act o (FISMA), OMBCircular A-, NIST FIPS -, NIST FIPS , and NIST FIPS , apply (including appropriate security and privacy

controls specied in NIST Special Publication -) Agencies should speciy security requirements during theacquisition process and ensure that procurements capture the requirements o the Federal Acquisition Regulation(eg -, Trade Agreements), OMB policy (eg OMB Memorandum M-- and OMB Memorandum M--),and NIST standards and guidelines

Seehttp://goalsperormancegov/goals_or more inormation on the Cross-Agency Priority Goal orCybersecurity

Organizational Risk Management is a key element in an organizations inormation security program A risk-basedapproach to securing inormation technology involves categorizing an inormation system and the inormation inthat system based on an impact analysis, then selecting and implementing appropriate security controls See http://csrcnistgov/groups/SMA/sma/rameworkhtml or more inormation
http://goals.performance.gov/goals_2013http://goals.performance.gov/goals_2013http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/framework.htmlhttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/framework.htmlhttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/framework.htmlhttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/framework.htmlhttp://goals.performance.gov/goals_2013


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9. Promote the Safe and Secure Adoption of New Technologies

Agencies need to continue to integrate eective security and privacy measures into the design and

adoption o all new technologies introduced to the ederal environment, including mobile devices,

applications, and wireless networks, consistent with existing policies, and incorporate commercial

security and privacy capabilities by deault, augmenting controls and policies as required To enableagencies to share security testing inormation and prevent unnecessary duplication, the Department

o Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department o Deense (DOD) will work with the National Institute

o Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a security baseline within months that provides

standardized security requirements or mobile and wireless adoption in the Federal Government This

will include the development o mobile and wireless security reerence architectures that incorporate

security and privacy by design while accounting or dierent agencies mission needs For example,

the Federal Governments evolving enterprise wireless networks may have varying needs to support

unclassied and classied high-bandwidth trac, mission critical wireless coverage to in-building and

terrestrial environments, and data ofoading A government-wide mobile and wireless security baseline

will enable adoption o the do once, use many times approach to mobile and wireless security assess-ment, authorization, and continuous monitoring

Going orward, we must pilot, document, and rapidly scale new approaches to secure data and mobile

technologies and address privacy concerns (see section or role o the Digital Services Advisory Group

in acilitating this process) Such pilots and documentation will help advance our security posture and

communicate the Federal Governments expectations on product capabilities to the private sector

Shiting to the cloud is one area o opportunity For example, i applications, operating systems, and

data reside in an appropriately secured44 cloud environment rather than on a device, this will limit the

potential impact to an agency in the event a device is lost, stolen, or compromised Other opportunity

areas include adopting advanced mobile device management solutions to support continuous moni-

toring, strengthening identity and access management, and accepting externally-issued credentialson public-acing websites


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

DHS/DOD/NIST

Develop government-wide mobile and wireless security baseline(includes security reerence architectures)

10. Evaluate and Streamline Security and Privacy Processes

Given the realities o a rapidly changing technology landscape, we must continually evaluate current

processes or adopting new technologies and ensuring they provide security and privacy protections

As part o its ongoing work on securing mobile devices, applications, and platorms to support wider

mobile adoption across the Federal Government, NIST will review existing standards and guidelines

to ensure they are suciently exible to accommodate mobile technology The Federal CIO Councils

Cloud services authorized through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) will meetstandardized security requirements and address cybersecurity priorities such as continuous monitoring and TIC SeewwwFedRAMPgov or more inormation
http://www.fedramp.gov/http://www.fedramp.gov/


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PART D . S E CURIT Y AND PRIV ACY

Inormation Security and Identity Management Committee will also evaluate opportunities to accelerate

the secure adoption mobile technologies into the ederal environment at reduced costs

As good stewards o data security and privacy, the Federal Government must ensure that there are

saeguards to prevent the improper collection, retention, use or disclosure o sensitive data such as

personally identiable inormation (PII)45 These saeguards should be regularly reviewed and updatedas technology use, capability, and architectures advance so they do not unnecessarily stie the govern-

ments ability to architect or openness and engage with the public The Federal CIO Councils Privacy

Committee will work with NIST and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to develop

guidelines or standardized implementation o privacy controls in a digital environment and educate

key agency privacy and legal ocials on the latest technology advances and options or addressing

digital privacy (eg data collection and individual notice) as well as records retention and security issues


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

NISTReport on NISTs ongoing work in mobile technology, includingthe applicability o NISTs standards and guidelines to mobiledevices and platorms

Advisory

Group/Federal CIO

Council

Evaluate opportunities to accelerate the secure adoption omobile technologies into the ederal environment at reducedcost

Federal CIOCouncil/NIST/

NARA

Develop guidelines or standardized implementation o digitalprivacy controls and educate agency privacy and legal ocials

on options or addressing digital privacy, records retention, andsecurity issues

For example, commercial Identity Providers approved or use under the Federal ICAM initiative have gone througha certication process to ensure that their solutions support ederal privacy and security rules See http://wwwidmanagementgov/pagescm/page/ICAMor more inormation
http://www.idmanagement.gov/pages.cfm/page/ICAMhttp://www.idmanagement.gov/pages.cfm/page/ICAMhttp://www.idmanagement.gov/pages.cfm/page/ICAMhttp://www.idmanagement.gov/pages.cfm/page/ICAM


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Conclusion

Technology is undamentally transorming how we conduct our business and live our daily lives

Exponential advances in computing power, the rise o high-speed networks, and the growing mobile

revolution, which puts the entire Internet at our ngertips, have unleashed new innovations, spawnednew industries and reshaped existing ones The President has charged us with harnessing the power o

technology to help create a st century digital governmentone that is ecient, eective and ocused

on improving the delivery o services to the American people

The roadmap actions outlined within this Digital Government Strategy orm a series o critical next

steps to help build a st century government that innovates with less To put us on a path to unlock

the potential o a digital government, the strategy emphasizes several key objectives

First, we must enable citizens and an increasingly mobile ederal workorce to securely access high-

quality digital government inormation, data and servicesanywhere, anytime, on any device.By

operationalizing an inormation-centric model, we can help agencies securely architect systems orinteroperability and openness Doing so will allow agencies to modernize their content publication

model and deliver better, device-agnostic digital services at a lower cost In addition, by providing

machine-readable connections to government data and services, government agencies, businesses, and

independent innovators can directly access the building blocks o governmentrecombining them to

create new services or connecting them with existing services to streamline operations

Secondly, we must ensure that as the government adjusts to this new digital world, we build the modern

inrastructure needed to support digital government eorts and leverage the Federal Governments

buying power to reduce costs Taking what we have learned rom the previous transition in moving gov-

ernment inormation and services online, we now have a chance to do mobile rightrom the beginning

by procuring and managing devices, applications, and data in a smart, secure, and aordable mannerEstablishing a Digital Services Innovation Center and Advisory Group will help lay the oundation or a

well-coordinated approach toward these objectives

Ultimately, this strategy aims to be disruptive It provides a platorm to undamentally shit how govern-

ment connects with, and provides services to, the American people It gives the ederal workorce the

tools needed to carry out their mission o delivering services to all citizenswhether to a warghter in

the eld retrieving geospatial imagery inormation; a medical researcher sharing the latest bio specimen

data sets or a rare orm o cancer; or a rural armer accessing a real-time orecast o seasonal precipita-

tion It creates a space or citizens to become partners in building a better government, where every

man,as Thomas Jeerson once wrote, eels that he is a participator in the government o afairs.


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Appendi: Roadmap Milestones

The ollowing table captures all milestones in the Digital Government Strategy


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

Part A: Inormation-Centric

1. Make Open Data, Content, and Web APIs the New Default

OMB

Issue government-wide open data, content, and web API

policy and identiy standards and best practices or improvedinteroperability

AgenciesEnsure all new IT systems ollow the open data, content, andweb API policy and operationalize agencygov/developer pages.[Within 6 months o release o open data policysee milestone 1.1]

2. Make Existing High-Value Data and Content Available through Web APIs

Agencies

Engage with customers to identiy at least two existing major

customer-acing services that contain high-value data or contentas rst-move candidates to make compliant with new open data,

content, and web API policy

Agencies

Make high-value data and content in at least existing two major

customer-acing systems available through web APIs, applymetadata tagging and publish a plan to transition additionalhigh-value systems [Within 6 months o release o open data

policysee milestone 1.1]

GSAExpand Datagov to include a web API catalog that centrally

aggregates web APIs posted on agencies /developer pages

PART B: Shared Platorm

3. Establish a Digital Services Innovation Center and Advisory Group

GSAEstablish a Digital Services Innovation Center to improve the

governments delivery o digital services

OMB

Convene a Digital Services Advisory Group to prioritize

Innovation Center activities and help develop government-widebest practices, guidance, and standards


Council

Release government-wide bring-your-own-device (BYOD) guid-ance based on lessons learned rom successul pilots at ederal

agencies

Innovation

Center

Identiy shared and open content management system

solutions

InnovationCenter

Provide support to help agencies develop web APIs

InnovationCenter/

Federal CIOCouncil

Launch a shared mobile app development program


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Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

Part B: Shared Platorm (cont.)

4. Establish Intra-Agency Governance to Improve Delivery of Digital Services

Advisory

Group

Recommend guidelines on agency-wide governance structure

or developing and delivering digital services

Agencies

Establish an agency-wide governance structure or developing

and delivering digital services [Within 3 months o release ogovernance guidancesee milestone 4.1]

5. Shift to an Enterprise-Wide Asset Management and Procurement Model

GSAEstablish government-wide contract vehicle or mobile devicesand wireless service

AgenciesDevelop an enterprise-wide inventory o mobile devices andwireless service contracts

AgenciesEvaluate the government-wide contract vehicles in the alterna-

tives analysis or all new mobile-related procurements

Advisory

Group/Federal CIO

Council

Develop models or the delivery o commercial mobile applica-tions into the ederal environment

GSASet up a government-wide mobile device management

platorm

Part C: Customer-Centric

6. Deliver Better Digital Services Using Modern Tools and Technologies

AdvisoryGroup/

Federal WebManagersCouncil

Recommend guidelines or improving digital services and

customer experience

GSAUpdate the dot gov domain guidance and procedures to helpensure all new digital services meet improvement guidelines

and provide support to agencies

Agencies

Ensure all new digital services ollow digital services and cus-

tomer experience improvement guidelines. [Within 6 months o

release o improvement guidancesee milestone 6.2]

7. Improve Priority Customer Facing Services for Mobile Use

AgenciesEngage with customers to identiy at least two existing priority

customer-acing services to optimize or mobile use

Agencies

Optimize at least two existing priority customer-acing services

or mobile use and publish a plan or improving additionalexisting services [Within 6 months o release o digital servicesimprovement guidancesee milestone 6.2]


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A P P E ND Ix : ROA D M A P M I LE S T O N E S


Timerame (months)

1 3 6 12

Part C: Customer-Centric (cont.)

8. Measure Performance and Customer Satisfaction to Improve Service Delivery

Innovation

Center

Provide tools and guidance or measuring perormance and

customer satisaction on digital services

Agencies

Implement perormance and customer satisaction measuring

tools on all gov websites [Within 3 months o release o tools and

guidancesee milestone 8.1]

Part D: Security and Privacy

9. Promote the Safe and Secure Adoption of New Technologies

DHS/DOD/NIST

Develop government-wide mobile and wireless security base-line (includes security reerence architectures)

10. Evaluate and Streamline Security and Privacy Processes

NIST

Report on NISTs ongoing work in mobile technology, including

the applicability o NISTs standards and guidelines to mobiledevices and platorms


Council

Evaluate opportunities to accelerate the secure adoption omobile technologies into the ederal environment at reduced

cost

Federal CIOCouncil/NIST/NARA

Develop guidelines or standardized implementation o digital

privacy controls and educate agency privacy and legal ocialson options or addressing digital privacy, records retention, and

security issues


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roadmap for a digital government

Documents