This article discusses the various benefits of publicly-funded open-source software. These benefits include fairness and transparency, economic stimulus, and support of the Federal Source Code Policy Agenda.
This HuffPost article investigates the widespread failures of state unemployment websites during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting outdated technology, accessibility issues, and the human impact of these systemic breakdowns.
This article explores ongoing efforts to modernize state unemployment insurance (UI) systems, addressing long-standing inefficiencies and challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A primer by New America for government entities thinking about embracing open-source solutions. This report is based on interviews with experts in the field, the organization’s work on piloting open source projects with partners around the world, and a review of nearly 50 reports, documents, and resources on the creation and usage of open source software.
Building on the concept of anticipatory governance, this article aims to show how approaches associated with foresight and design can enact an anticipatory logic which is necessary for public administrations to achieve their goals in the face of uncertainty and dynamic environments.
Technology that automates different processes can save time for caseworkers and constituents, but it can also significantly reduce the transparency of government operations. This paper describes how Pennsylvania advocates addressed the low rate of automated Medicaid renewals.
Professor Don Moynihan discusses how administrative burden is an effective tool to make it difficult for people to access certain types of benefits, noting that this is particularly harmful to communities of color.
While CARES Act benefits themselves have been critical to households, their design and implementation have led to more uncertainty and volatility for lower-income households. This report discusses the financial resilience strategies families used to manage gaps before benefits arrived, in addition to providing recommendations for how benefits can be better designed in the future to fit the financial lives of lower-income households.
A modification of Bolder Advocacy’s ACT!Quick capacity self-assessment tool to incorporate additional equity-centered capacities, engage community authentically, and conduct research in culturally responsive ways.
This article examines how outdated state unemployment insurance (UI) systems struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to delays, technical failures, and widespread frustration for job seekers.
This article analyzes the strategic use of public policy as a tool for reshaping public opinion. Though progressive revisionists in the 1990s argued that reforming welfare could produce a public more willing to invest in anti-poverty efforts, welfare reform in the 1990s did little to shift public opinion. This study investigates the general conditions under which mass feedback effects should be viewed as more or less likely.
This report explores strategies for developing a new generation of technologists dedicated to public interest work, emphasizing the need for a stronger talent pipeline to support government and nonprofit technology initiatives.
