Coforma’s Post

The United States Digital Service (USDS) centers its work around the idea that the American public deserves government services that are effective, trustworthy, and user-centered. Since its inception 10 years ago, the organization has partnered with over 30 federal agencies, bringing together top technologists and agency stakeholders to meet modern challenges and deliver superior digital services. Among the many who have contributed to USDS are Coforma CEO Eduardo F. O., who served as the organization’s Executive Creative Director and Director of Common Platforms from 2016-18, and our Senior Director of Creative Technology Jared Cunha, who was a Digital Services Expert at USDS from 2016-19.  “My experience at USDS completely reshaped the way I envisioned my career,” Jared shares. “It’s truly a gift to work on systems that can improve people's lives and increase trust in our public institutions. This was my first experience in the civic tech space, and I knew early on it was where I wanted to be.” Eduardo was also drawn to the organization’s mission to effect positive change. “My passion for improving people’s access to critical services by leveraging product and technology practices to remove points of friction led me to USDS,” he recalls. “But I took away so much more from my time there. Helping bring about change for those in need exposed me to the passion of our government’s civil servants. Their depth of knowledge, coupled with the pain arcane systems caused, made me want to improve the products and services our government provides its citizenry from the private sector. It’s what inspired me to co-found Coforma.” Eduardo took the passion, experience, and values from his time at USDS and infused them into Coforma’s DNA. The principles that make USDS successful—centering the user, scaling capacity, continuously innovating, tackling root causes, and building trust—are the same values that drive our business practices today. We are grateful for the opportunity to have collaborated with USDS on several projects, including the IRS’s Direct File pilot and a portfolio of initiatives with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We also recognize that there is still much important work to be done. “Working in civic tech has its challenges, and we still have such a long way to go,” Jared acknowledges. “But I’m heartened to see how many smart, mission-driven public servants and vendors have committed a portion of their professional lives to bringing our government into the 21st century and beyond.” Read more about the important work USDS has done in its first 10 years here: https://lnkd.in/gbF8M476. #CivicTech #Leadership #GovCon #DigitalTransformation