When digital service teams hit innovation hurdles

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Six common problems can stymie the growth of digital service teams, a new report finds.

What: “Digital Service Teams: Challenges and Recommendations for Government,” a report from the IBM Center for The Business of Government.

Why: The revamp of the Healthcare.gov website led to a shift toward “IT start-ups” within federal agencies that rapidly deliver services using commercially developed tools and processes.  This report details the lessons learned to date.

Findings: In the United States, three forms of digital service teams have taken shape: centralized teams such as the U.S. Digital Service; enterprise teams that can provide digital development and consulting services for other federal agencies like the General Services Administration’s 18F; and agency-level teams such as the Digital Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Digital Service.

The report finds six common challenges of creating and maintaining a digital service team:

  1. Overcoming agencies’ cultural reluctance to agile development.
  2. Attracting top IT talent from outside the government or from other local and state government agencies, civic hacking teams, non-profits or former contractors.
  3. Creating and maintaining a start-up culture within government.
  4. Applying agile methods to the acquisition process and adopting an “open-by-default” approach to project management.
  5. Finding long-term funding to support IT talent and meaningful digital transformation.
  6. Addressing whether new innovations should be built in-house or purchased from the private sector.

Agencies considering setting up digital service teams should understand that digital transformation requires a holistic and strategic approach that includes innovation in acquisition, staffing and leadership.  

Read the full paper here.

NEXT STORY: Doubling down on digital diplomacy

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