Title: Event — A People-First Approach: Improving Government Customer Experience Through Technology

McCourt experts were instrumental in driving discussion around the importance of making government services work. Their research and thought leadership helped inform the Biden Administration’s new Executive Order on Transforming the Federal Customer Experience, which set in motion a sweeping plan to modernize government programs, increase accessibility and reduce the bureaucracy, confusing paperwork and red tape — the administrative burdens — citizens regularly encounter in their interactions with the government.

There have already been a number of changes implemented this year to improve services to the public — from the Biden Administration’s long-awaited website to sign up for free COVID-19 tests to the House of Representatives’ plans to launch a digital services team as part of an effort to modernize Congress and support legislative operation.

The panel discussion featured Amira Boland, Lead, Federal Customer Experience, Office of Management and Budget; Pamela Herd, McCourt School Professor; Tara Dawson McGuinness, McCourt Adjunct Professor; Donald Moynihan, McCourt Chair; and moderated by Washington Post Columnist Perry Bacon Jr., with opening remarks from Maria Cancian, McCourt School of Public Policy Dean.

The event was held in-person in Copley Formal Lounge at Georgetown University and streamed via Facebook Live and YouTube. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with the panelists on their expertise through a moderated Q&A. “Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology,” co-authored by Tara Dawson McGuinness, and “Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means,” co-authored by Pamela Herd and Donald Moynihan, were available for purchase and signing following the event.

Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Dean Maria Cancian, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Panel Discussion:

• Perry Bacon Jr., Columnist, The Washington Post (moderator)
• Amira Boland, Lead, Federal Customer Experience, Office of Management and Budget
• Pamela Herd, Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy
• Tara Dawson McGuinness, Adjunct Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy
• Donald Moynihan, McCourt Chair, McCourt School of Public Policy