Introducing Digital Service Retros: Back to the (Digital) Future
On January 20, 2025, the U.S. Digital Service, 18F, and much of the Technology Transformation Service were disbanded or fundamentally reshaped. The institutions that once rebooted HealthCare.gov, expanded access to care for millions of Veterans, and launched Direct File were transformed overnight, marking a dramatic shift in how the federal government delivers critical services to the American people.
In parallel—governments at the state and local levels have made landmark investments in digital teams and innovation, which has already generated real results and cost savings.
This is not the first disruption in public-sector digital capacity. But the scale of this moment, colliding with rapid advances in AI, new procurement models, and evolving expectations of government, creates a rare opportunity. It is a moment to look back in order to build for the future. To pause, together, as a community, and ask what we’ve learned—and what comes next.
The Federation of American Scientists, in partnership with Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and the Better Government Lab at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan, is launching a national series of digital service retrospectives. These convenings will capture hard-won lessons, surface what truly worked, be clear-eyed about what didn’t, and bring digital service experts together to imagine next-generation models for digital government.
How might we redesign digital service capacity—its operating models, authorities, and talent—based on over a decade of progress in civic technology? What drew you to this work? What accelerated impact, and what slowed it down? What was missing? What was overbuilt? What made partnerships and deployments succeed—or fail?
We are inviting participation from across the U.S. digital government ecosystem: current staff and alumni of USDS, 18F, and TTS, digital teams across federal agencies, states, and cities, and the lawyers, procurement and talent specialists, data leaders, congressional staff, and policy experts who worked alongside them. There are lessons here that must be captured and shared.
Through a series of virtual and in-person workshops, participants will share experiences, ideas, and aspirations. At each session, we will synthesize what we hear, ultimately building toward a public set of insights and recommendations for the future of digital capacity in government. From there, we will take these recommendations to policy makers on the Hill to inform future legislation, executive branch champions, as well as to state and local leaders across the country to see which ideas and concepts they can start piloting now. This is policy entrepreneurship—building innovative ideas and bring them to life with key partners and talent—is what FAS does well and, with Beeck and BGL, we look forward to fighting for your ideas.
We have some great partners: we’re building on work already underway through the Federal Civic Tech Exit Project, run by the Better Government Lab and the Beeck Center, which has already conducted in-depth interviews with nearly 50 former federal digital service professionals. This next phase expands the contributions of the Beeck Center and BGL, drawing on Beeck’s national network of state and local digital service leaders and BGL’s focus on identifying and putting the world’s best research into practice to improve how government functions.
The work begins soon. If you’re interested, please complete this interest form and you’ll hear from us.
Start by expressing your interest in the form. You’ll be able to choose one or more ways to engage:
- Join a virtual workshop on February 10, 12, or 25 (register online)
- Attend an in-person workshop in DC on March 3 or 4 (register online)
- Contribute through an open-ended, anonymous survey
- Refer a colleague or friend who should be part of this conversation
- Follow along for updates, insights, and announcements
This initiative is hosted by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and Merici Vinton, with support from the FAS Government Capacity team, led by Loren DeJonge Schulman and Leya Mohsin.
We are launching this work in partnership with Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, leveraging its extensive relationships with state and local digital leaders and the 10,000+ practitioners that participate in its Digital Government Network and the Better Government Lab at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan. We are also drawing on a small group of trusted advisors from across the digital government community.
- We will protect your identity. Our goal is to surface and publish the best ideas, not attribute individual comments.
- We intend to synthesize what we learn and share it with federal leaders, congressional staff, state and local digital teams, and future candidates and appointees. Participants who are excited to help shape, champion, or implement next-generation digital service models will have clear opportunities to engage in what comes next.
- Anyone who is or has been part of a government digital service ecosystem, or a close partner to one. This includes:
- Current or former staff of the U.S. Digital Service, 18F, or Technology Transformation Services
- Members of digital teams at federal agencies, states, and cities
- Congressional staff and policy experts who worked alongside these teams
- Partners, champions, and enablers who helped this work succeed
- If you’ve built, supported, funded, or depended on modern digital government, your perspective belongs here.
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