Penny Wise and Pound Foolish: Why We Need to Save the USDS

Of all the things that President Obama will be remembered for, one shining achievement of his two terms is the attention he’s given to issue of technology. This achievement, however, may be thwarted by the Congress over opposition Obama’s proposed Federal budget, and in particular the decision to cut funding for the US Digital Service (USDS). In allowing this to happen, the Congress would clearly be derelict in its responsibilities.

The president’s first major experience with technology came in his election campaigns, which used analysis of “big data” as a major driving force in garnering support and getting out the vote. This was followed by initiatives to improve, upgrade and secure the woefully inadequate web sites and computer systems of the Federal government. What progress was made in the tech arena, however, was largely undone by the debacle over the ACA web site in its initial enrollment period.

That debacle was a factor in the resignation of then US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, and in the decision to bring in a specialized team of tech experts from the private sector. Before he departed, Park laid out plans to dramatically expand this tech resource team, which he dubbed the USDS, as a major tool in improving the capabilities and security of the Federal agencies. His goal was to hire 500 technical experts from the private sector, who would be assigned to the 25 major Federal agencies that most needed its assistance, and to have those experts in place by 2017.

The USDS garnered high praise within both the government and the private sector for its work on the ACA web site, and the plan was to expand its ability to consult with the most technically challenged Federal agencies. That initial list included the Veterans Administration and the US Department of Energy.

In the summer of 2015, another agency moved swiftly to the top of the list. The hacking of the Internal Revenue Service files was the most obvious problem within that agency, but not the only one of many issues that have come to light. Added to this lapse was the fact that the IRS can’t validate the location of many of its computers, that many computers within the IRS are still running the obsolete Windows XP operating system, and that the IRS has been slow to show progress in implementing new computer programs.

In spite of the obvious need for tech assistance for these agencies, and the praise garnered by the USDS for its work to date, the service has failed to capture the support of Congress. This summer, appropriates committees in both the House and Senate essentially gutted the USDS budget – rejecting both the majority of its expansion funds and the operating budget that would enable it to perform.

There are a number of reasons for the opposition to the USDS, among them:

The ongoing feud between the Congress and the Administration.
The fact that President Obama used an Executive Order to create the USDS, rather than vetting it through the Congressional budgeting system.
The opinion of many in government that the private-sector tech consultants are arrogant and “too geeky.”
The need to address the government’s deficit of nearly $20 trillion.

The president has, in his own right, failed to build the environment of trust with Congress that could help to ensure passage of critical budget line items.

Still, eliminating the budget may mean that the USDS relapses or simply fails to exist, reducing its notable successes to little more than a distant memory. That would seem to be penny wise and pound foolish, in a time when the lack of computer competence directly impacts the efficiency of the government, the security of its agencies and its efforts to reduce identity theft.