Clearing applicant backlogs is an important solution to the UI crisis. State governments and federal agencies could facilitate access to public benefits by collaborating to develop interoperable technology platforms that use open source software and modular design. Panelists discuss opportunities to prevent future UI crises by reimagining how governments deliver benefits to their citizens.
This UN report warns against the risks of digital welfare systems, emphasizing their potential to undermine human rights through increased surveillance, automation, and privatization of public services.
Governments around the world are digitizing how they deliver services to citizens. And yet, without a secure and reliable way for people to prove their identity online, digital transformation efforts face a considerable barrier. This panel discussion, hosted by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), focuses on the potential benefits and concerns surrounding digital ID and identity proofing technology as well as the legal and technical barriers for use.
Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
The primer–originally prepared for the Progressive Congressional Caucus’ Tech Algorithm Briefing–explores the trade-offs and debates about algorithms and accountability across several key ethical dimensions, including fairness and bias; opacity and transparency; and lack of standards for auditing.
This report details findings and lessons from a project to develop a calculator to help people anticipate how a change in earnings from employment would affect their net income and information on their estimated effective marginal tax rate.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Though the rhetoric of “waste, fraud, and abuse” is ubiquitous when it comes to welfare programs, low-income households receive little relief from benefits programs. Most efforts to make public benefits systems more “efficient” actually just waste time and money in practice. They instead serve to stigmatize low-income families and chip away at the little assistance that remains available to them.
This issue brief describes the Pennsylvania case study, outlines the historical context, and offers strategies and recommendations for successfully implementing Fast Track.
This paper argues that a human rights framework could help orient the research on artificial intelligence away from machines and the risks of their biases, and towards humans and the risks to their rights, helping to center the conversation around who is harmed, what harms they face, and how those harms may be mitigated.
This report examines how the U.S. federal government can enhance the efficiency and equity of benefit delivery by simplifying eligibility rules and using a Rules as Code approach for digital systems.
A study shows that Benefits Data Trust’s outreach and application assistance significantly increased SNAP enrollment among North Carolina seniors, improving health outcomes and reducing Medicaid costs.
The report examines how current remote identity proofing methods can create barriers to Medicaid enrollment and suggests improvements to ensure equitable access for all applicants.
Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)
The Technology Transformation Service at GSA recently created a new Public Benefits Studio to focus on fostering a more cohesive, coordinated experience for the public, across programs.
