Healthcare.gov, the website of the market for government health insurance, launched in October 2013 only in curl under the weight only 2,000 simultaneous users. While millions of Americans looked at error messages and frozen screens, a political crisis took place, but a new era of government technology has also made a new era.
The result was 18F, an internal digital service consulting agency which brought expertise by Silicon Valley to the government, questioning the decades of exceeded supply practices and the introduction of a new radical approach to create digital public services.
Founded on March 19, 2014 by Presidential innovation fellows18F was housed in the Technological transformation services Department of General Services Administration, or GSA. The name 18F is derived from the address of the GSA headquarters: 1800 F Street. On March 1, 2025, a few weeks younger than the 11th anniversary of 18F, the Trump administration eliminated the agency and dismissed his staff.
As a researcher who studies public administration and technologyI observed the transformational role played 18F in government digital services. The elimination of unity raises the question of what the future of these services will look like.
Impact of 18F
18F played a unique role as an internal digital advice for the American government, based on innovative strategies to improve the public service through technology. In 18F, teams made up of designers, software engineers, strategists and product managers worked with federal, state and local agencies not only to solve technical problems, but to build, buy and share a technology that has contributed to modernizing and improving public experience with government services.
For almost 11 years, 18F has built an impressive portfolio of successful digital projects that have transformed the way people interact with the American government. Even if the average person is not familiar with 18F, the chances are quite high that they have at least met one of its many products or services.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qie7jsjuhrg
For example, 18F supported the Internal Internal Service in the creation of an IRS Direct file, a free online income declaration tool which offers taxpayers a simplified deposit process. To date, the Direct Irs file is Available in 25 states and is should serve 30 million Taxpayers eligible during the 2025 tax deposit season.
18F was essential in the modernization and security of digital systems to help create more rationalized and secure user experiences for the public. For example, Login.gov is a unique secure connection platform that simplifies access to several government services for users.
Perhaps the most notable of 18F modernization efforts which affects almost all aspects of the government today is the American web design system. The complete design system has been developed in collaboration with the American digital service in 2015. He helps support dozens of agencies and Nearly 200 websites More accessible and responsive to user needs.
How 18F worked
What distinguishes 18F is his approach. Rather than spending years on giant information technology contracts which have often failed to deliver, 18F defended agile development. Agile and Lean methodologies are popular in startups and Silicon Valley software companies for decades due to their flexibility and focus on rapid iteration.
By applying agile development principles, 18F focused on the decomposition of major projects into manageable parts with incremental improvements based on frequent user comments. This approach allowed a continuous adaptation stimulated by user feedback and the modification of requirements while reducing the risk.
Another cornerstone of the 18F innovative approach was its accent on User -centered design. By focusing on the needs of people who have really used government services, 18F was able to go beyond the simple satisfaction of technical requirements to design more accessible and friendly digital products. The idea was to understand the end users and the problems they encountered in order to effectively design the products and the solutions that met their needs. He also aimed to provide a coherent user experience and gain user confidence in services.
By prioritizing open source development and collaboration, 18F has also helped make government more affordable. Making the transparent project code meant that agencies could reuse the code and reduce the cost of double development efforts between agencies and government levels.
18F also helped to help agencies develop their own technological capacity, whether by teacher how to create software using open-source development and agile methodologies or by teaching agencies how to hire and supervise technology suppliers themselves. This model was particularly beneficial for the following state and local agencies 18F expansion In 2016 to provide services to national and local government agencies that receive federal funding.
End of an era
The elimination of 18F marks the end of an era, which raises concerns about current and future technological projects. For the moment, there does not seem to be a succession plan, leaving many federal agencies without continuous support For their digital transformation efforts. Critics also argue that the loss of 18F means the Important technical expertise loss within the government.
These changes come at a time when agencies are experiencing substantial staff changes, which makes digital services potentially even more critical. While agencies are preparing for more personnel discounts, the public may need to rely more on digital services to fill the gap in the middle of increasing endowment shortages.
Since the announcement of the news, the current and former members of the 18F team as well as the defenders of the unit have brought social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Blueskyand LinkedIn, to share stories of his successes, honor his inheritance and Share 18F Resources.