The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University was established in part to address public-sector issues and advance good governance, which it does in a variety of ways, from technology collaboration, to data governance support, to events.
FormFest, an event it hosted earlier this month with Code for America, lets governments demonstrate their work to make forms — and therefore services — more accessible.
As Beeck Center Executive Director Lynn Overmann said, forms are often the “front door to government service delivery,” so the event really serves to promote and explore one aspect of digital government in the context of human-centered design.
This year’s edition brought forth perspectives from individuals across different sectors including Massachusetts Digital Service Senior UX Engineer and Design System Lead Minghua Sun and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Data and Forms Administrator Alison Hiam. FormFest was first held in 2023.
Sun addressed the state’s work to make mass.gov more accessible, in a session called “Scaling Form Improvements in State Government.” As she told Government Technology in a written statement, the state has implemented automated accessibility testing on the state website to identify issues and establish a baseline for improvements; the state also conducts periodic accessibility audits.
“These steps can provide a quick start in making your site accessible,” she said, offering advice for other states working to improve digital accessibility. “For the longer term, consider implementing a design system that incorporates accessibility from the ground up.” In Massachusetts, this includes the appointment of Ashley Bloom as the state’s first chief IT accessibility officer, to develop strategy.
Hiam explored the role of accessibility in daily work processes in a session called “Form Accessibility Improvements.” As she told Government Technology in a written statement, a key to advancing accessibility is building buy-in across levels of an organization; this, she said, will enable investments in the way of both time and funding.
“While we should always think about going beyond compliance, don’t let perfection get in the way of progress,” Hiam said. “Do what you can now and build support along the way.”
A recent Beeck Center initiative is the Digital Government Hub, soft-launched at BenCon 2024 in October with the expectation of a full official launch in February. It is an open-source library designed to support those using technology and data to improve government service delivery. It combines the center’s work establishing the Digital Services Network and the Digital Benefits Network in one centralized place to be more beneficial for government partners.
Since its initial October launch, the hub has seen more than 5,000 active users, Overmann said. It currently offers 14 topics of focus, and more are expected to be rolled out soon, according to Beeck Center Director of Communications Jessica Yabsley.
The Beeck Center also recently launched the Innovation and Incubation Fellowship, announced in October. Fellows will get to work with government as supportive external partners, Overmann said. The first fellow, Maya Uppaluru Mechenbier, whose experience includes time at the U.S. Digital Service, is focused on addressing a gap in services for teen moms. States are exploring pilot project opportunities.
Overmann has had a variety of public-sector experience in different federal government roles, which she said has given her an understanding of how governments “having outside experts who can kind of give you the support, the expertise, the best practices, and point you towards different ways of achieving your own goals is incredibly helpful.”
Also in October, the Beeck Center unveiled its Landscape Scan of Digital Public Goods (DPGs) — essentially open-source software, data and content — to support information sharing for governments. As Overmann explained, the goal of this resource is to expose U.S. governments at all levels to the various kinds of DPGs and how they can be replicated. The first scan in October included 50 DPGs, and a scan of 75 DPGs is forthcoming.
