4 ms·

I really hope USDS can help introduce interdepartmental digital transfers within the federal government. To give an example of how frustrating it can be... I w

I really hope USDS can help introduce interdepartmental digital transfers within the federal government. To give an example of how frustrating it can be... I went through the visa -> green card -> citizenship process. No two departments talk to one another, and when they do they seemingly transmit information on paper which is then transcribed by hand introducing errors/typos. For example USCIS does not talk to the SSA digitally at all. I filled in a single form which was used for both my Visa/Green Card and to apply for a Social Security Card on my behalf, my name was spelt correctly on the visa, but got typo-ed during entry into the SSA's system (then the emphasis placed on me to prove their error, even though other US government departments don't have the typo, including any official ID I hold or naturalisation certificate). Additionally when you earn citizenship the USCIS won't tell anyone. You have to get your piece of paper and physically go tell each department one by one about the change, otherwise nothing will happen. Why doesn't the federal government just have a big database? Or failing that, why does one department not electronically transfer records to another department? Why are people still hand re-entering information already held digitally?

nacin 9y ago
This sounds incredibly frustrating! Almost all of my USDS projects have involved moving data across agencies, including quite a few with USCIS. It's definitely one of our most common challenges, and USDS is often called into help because we are uniquely positioned to work across departments. As you probably realized when going through the process, USCIS has historically been 98% paper [1] (I've been to the underground limestone cave where they store a lot of it), and we've been working hard to help them modernize the entire agency, including an online application for naturalization [2] and the corresponding backend processing systems. There are a lot of reasons why it's so hard to get agencies to work together, but making it better starts with modernizing individual systems and processes, especially when we're starting with paper that, obviously, can't be transferred seamlessly. For the most part, USCIS doesn't store your entire case file digitally (yet), and even the metadata is stored in a bunch of different systems, which includes (of course) an actual mainframe. (I've seen the mainframe too; it has pretty sweet green LED strips, and not much else going for it.) I'm actually not familiar with how USCIS triggers SSA cards, but I'm going to ask. As it happens, USCIS and SSA do interact electronically in some situations. USCIS runs the E-Verify program, which talks with SSA, as described in this dense but refreshingly public privacy document: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy_pia_uscis_vis.pdf. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy.... We've also helped USCIS introduce and improve data exchanges with State, including an early engagement on modernizing the immigrant visa process [3], which you went through, and work on refugee admissions [4]. One of the things I love most about my time at USDS is how many civil servants have embraced and championed best practices for building digital services to best serve the American people. The former director of USCIS, in particular, intuitively understood how technology can improve the immigration process and continued to push us and the agency until their final day in office. As USCIS makes more benefits applications available online, they'll have more data in a readily accessible digital format. They'll be able to streamline the user experience as you progress through the process over the years, and by the end of it, they shouldn't need to ask you a whole lot. It's been great to see human-centered design being championed over and over. Congratulations on becoming a citizen! Want to help us continue to improve the immigration system? We could use the help: https://www.usds.gov/join https://www.usds.gov/join [1] https://medium.com/the-u-s-digital-service/technology-is-helping-to-modernize-our-immigration-system-here-s-how-96162d615b6a https://medium.com/the-u-s-digital-service/technology-is-hel... [2] https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoptions/us_citizen_through_naturalization https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoptions/us_citizen_through_nat... [3] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/bringing-our-immigration-system-digital-age https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/bringin... [4] https://www.usds.gov/report-to-congress/2016/refugee-admissions/ https://www.usds.gov/report-to-congress/2016/refugee-admissi...
vogelke 9y ago
> Why doesn't the federal government just have a big database? Because that tends to end very badly. I've been in Fed MIS systems since I joined the USAF in 1981, and it's the same just about everywhere except for a few of the research labs. Remember the OPM data breach, where the background check info for over 20 million people went walkabout? I was one of the lucky winners, and it's a result of the management-by-spreadsheet mentality that's everywhere in the government. On paper, they were fine. In actual fact, not so much. If the security checklist says "you must have an audit system in place", and you have the system installed and running, you pass. Nothing is said about ever looking through the logs for atypical behavior that might indicate a breach. You want to buy new software? If it's not Oracle or Microsoft, good luck. If there's not a contractual vehicle in place to use for the purchase, forget it. Whether or not the software is fit for purpose has no bearing on the matter.

nacin 9y ago

This sounds incredibly frustrating! Almost all of my USDS projects have involved moving data across agencies, including quite a few with USCIS. It's definitely one of our most common challenges, and USDS is often called into help because we are uniquely positioned to work across departments. As you probably realized when going through the process, USCIS has historically been 98% paper [1] (I've been to the underground limestone cave where they store a lot of it), and we've been working hard to help them modernize the entire agency, including an online application for naturalization [2] and the corresponding backend processing systems. There are a lot of reasons why it's so hard to get agencies to work together, but making it better starts with modernizing individual systems and processes, especially when we're starting with paper that, obviously, can't be transferred seamlessly. For the most part, USCIS doesn't store your entire case file digitally (yet), and even the metadata is stored in a bunch of different systems, which includes (of course) an actual mainframe. (I've seen the mainframe too; it has pretty sweet green LED strips, and not much else going for it.) I'm actually not familiar with how USCIS triggers SSA cards, but I'm going to ask. As it happens, USCIS and SSA do interact electronically in some situations. USCIS runs the E-Verify program, which talks with SSA, as described in this dense but refreshingly public privacy document: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy_pia_uscis_vis.pdf. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy.... We've also helped USCIS introduce and improve data exchanges with State, including an early engagement on modernizing the immigrant visa process [3], which you went through, and work on refugee admissions [4]. One of the things I love most about my time at USDS is how many civil servants have embraced and championed best practices for building digital services to best serve the American people. The former director of USCIS, in particular, intuitively understood how technology can improve the immigration process and continued to push us and the agency until their final day in office. As USCIS makes more benefits applications available online, they'll have more data in a readily accessible digital format. They'll be able to streamline the user experience as you progress through the process over the years, and by the end of it, they shouldn't need to ask you a whole lot. It's been great to see human-centered design being championed over and over. Congratulations on becoming a citizen! Want to help us continue to improve the immigration system? We could use the help: https://www.usds.gov/join https://www.usds.gov/join [1] https://medium.com/the-u-s-digital-service/technology-is-helping-to-modernize-our-immigration-system-here-s-how-96162d615b6a https://medium.com/the-u-s-digital-service/technology-is-hel... [2] https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoptions/us_citizen_through_naturalization https://my.uscis.gov/exploremyoptions/us_citizen_through_nat... [3] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/bringing-our-immigration-system-digital-age https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/bringin... [4] https://www.usds.gov/report-to-congress/2016/refugee-admissions/ https://www.usds.gov/report-to-congress/2016/refugee-admissi...

vogelke 9y ago

> Why doesn't the federal government just have a big database? Because that tends to end very badly. I've been in Fed MIS systems since I joined the USAF in 1981, and it's the same just about everywhere except for a few of the research labs. Remember the OPM data breach, where the background check info for over 20 million people went walkabout? I was one of the lucky winners, and it's a result of the management-by-spreadsheet mentality that's everywhere in the government. On paper, they were fine. In actual fact, not so much. If the security checklist says "you must have an audit system in place", and you have the system installed and running, you pass. Nothing is said about ever looking through the logs for atypical behavior that might indicate a breach. You want to buy new software? If it's not Oracle or Microsoft, good luck. If there's not a contractual vehicle in place to use for the purchase, forget it. Whether or not the software is fit for purpose has no bearing on the matter.