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How 21st Century IDEA set a higher standard for customer experience

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What: How 21st Century IDEA set a higher standard for customer experience
When: President Donald Trump signed the 21st Century IDEA into law in December 2018.
Why it matters: The legislation pushed agencies to develop a digital-first approach to customer experience that laid down a blueprint for a more modern, digital-first federal government. It became essential at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2025, we’re spotlighting 25 pivotal moments that reshaped the way the government operates. Visit our anniversary page each week as we look back on these defining moments.

For more than a decade, customer experience teams across the federal government have focused on making sure agencies are providing a level of service with the private sector.

Much of that momentum began under the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) It gave agencies a blueprint for a more modern, digital-first customer experience in government. The law required agencies to move more of their public-facing services online, make federal websites more mobile-friendly and accept electronic signatures, to help wean agencies off paper-based processes.

“It was bipartisan, and it passed under the first Trump administration as a way to really firm up the importance of how should the government transform,” said Lee Becker, the former chief of staff for the Veterans Experience Office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, now the senior vice president and executive advisor for public sector and health care at Medallia. “The public is getting more used to doing things digitally, but what we’ve learned is that it can’t just be digital-only.”

President Donald Trump signed the 21st Century IDEA into law in December 2018, but without increased funding to roll out new tools, agencies initially stalled on implementation.

“I don’t think, in the first year-and-a-half, we made a ton of progress on 21st Century IDEA,” said Mike Hettinger, president and founding principal of the Hettinger Strategy Group, an early champion of the legislation.

Martha Dorris, a former GSA executive and the founder of Dorris Consulting International, said 21st Century IDEA’s real value was codifying some longstanding CX best practices that were already happening in some parts of the federal government.

The 2010 Plain Writing Act, for example, required federal agencies to set clear government communications that the public can easily understand

“It was rolling up a lot of stuff that had been in place in many places for many, many years,” Dorris said.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation of the 21st Century IDEA. With many agency offices shuttered and mandatory telework, it forced many federal agencies to change their approach in how they deliver services to citizens.

Add to that Congress approving a windfall of emergency pandemic funds, all of these factors allowed agencies to jumpstart the modernization of their public-facing digital services.

“You throw in the pandemic, a couple of years after the legislation was signed into law, and that really accelerated the reliance on the sorts of things that 21st Century IDEA was all about,” Hettinger said.

The height of the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for a digital-first approach to services, as agencies scrambled to move their operations online.

“COVID did put a spotlight on the need for agencies to provide better digital services, and agencies moved in that direction just out of sheer necessity,” said Erica Fensom, vice president of corporate affairs at DocuSign, said in a November 2023 interview. “The pandemic also exposed just how much room there is for improvement for agencies to provide better digital services, and how agile government agencies can be to change.”

The Office of Management and Budget doubled down on the IDEA Act when it laid out a 10-year digital experience roadmap and released long-awaited implementation guidance.

Agencies have about 100 actions to transform, evolve and standardize the citizens’ online experience that will drive the concept of “digital by default.” The 100 actions are broken down across seven broad categories, including branding, analytics, design and content.

While the first Trump administration made public service delivery a priority through the President’s Management Agenda,  which made improved customer experience a cross-agency priority goal, the new administration has yet to lay out its management priorities.

“We haven’t really seen the second Trump administration have its eye on the ball with CX just yet,” Dorris said.

But between the OMB memo to implement the IDEA Act and now the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act (GSDIA), signed into law by former President Joe Biden in January, all this CX work is about to move to a new phase. The new legislation requires OMB and agencies to appoint a senior official to lead service delivery improvements governmentwide.

Dorris raised concerns that the legislation is focused too much on service delivery, rather than a broader focus on customer experience.

“A government service delivery lead is different than a customer experience person. Words matter,” she said. “You can’t have an office that just does voice of the customer or just does design work. It’s a bigger job than that, and I’m not sure people have had the resources or the authority to do it at the level that that law is asking for.”

Dorris said the legislation set up a clearer chain of command for who leads on customer experience improvements across the federal government.

“It sets up a governance structure that should help to be simplified. You’ve got CIOs, you’ve got digital services leads, digital experience leads and chief customer officers. You’ve got digital services teams. Who’s in charge of the service delivery, and who monitors it, looks at all the data across the agency and determines. Are you meeting the expectations of your customers? This law does that,” Dorris said.

Hettinger said the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act builds on the work of the 21st Century IDEA.

“Things are not going to be successful unless we have full leadership buy-in and leadership structure to support what you’re trying to do,” Hettinger said. “That’s why the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act is so important, because that’s about working with 21st Century IDEA. That’s about a structure at the agencies to ensure they’re paying attention and budgeting for 21st Century IDEA.”

Despite some CX momentum, agencies still have lots to do before meeting all the goals of the 21st Century IDEA and subsequent legislation.

“21st Century IDEA didn’t mandate more use of electronic signatures. It mandated a plan to accelerate the use of electronic signatures,” Hettinger said. “There’s a way to go on all of the things that 21st Century IDEA called for. And that’s why the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act is so important.”

Becker said all CX improvements need to start with ongoing feedback from customers and frontline federal employees who provide services to the public.

“It’s really the biggest risk if we forget the front line and the public,” he said. “It could go off the rails if we forget what made IDEA Act effective in the first place. It’s a relentless focus on the user experience of trust and mission delivery.”

The post How 21st Century IDEA set a higher standard for customer experience first appeared on Federal News Network.

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Politics

Victor Reacts: This Is Almost Too Stupid to Be True – NYC Transgender Homeless Shelter (VIDEO)

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10 hours ago

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August 9, 2025

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Democrats continue to somehow subvert the lowest of expectations as they fight their woke crusades.

In a first ever virtue signal, New York City is set to open a transgender only homeless shelter.

The Gateway Pundit reported,

The city of New York is opening the nation’s first transgender-only homeless shelter.

The shelter, a partnership between a local LGBTQ nonprofit and the city government, will cost the city an extraordinary $65 million and will be the first transgender homeless shelter in the nation.

“ We’ve watched so many other corporations and foundations and businesses just like completely turn their back on the community and the city didn’t do it,” said Sean Ebony Coleman, founder and CEO of Destination Tomorrow, the nonprofit that will manage the shelter for the city.

“The city is keeping in line with what New York City has always been, a sanctuary city, a safe haven, but more importantly, a trendsetter when it comes to LGBTQ rights.”

The opening comes amid a broader homelessness crisis in New York City, where more than 100,000 people are estimated to be without stable housing on any given night.

The city’s shelter system is already stretched thin, with demand rising due to a combination of economic hardship, an influx of illegal aliens ,and a severe shortage of affordable housing.

Who cares about all the other homeless people in New York City each night, the transgender homeless come first.

Truth has become stranger than parody. With any luck, Democrats will continue down this path of self destruction that has been so thoroughly rejected by the American people.

The post Victor Reacts: This Is Almost Too Stupid to Be True – NYC Transgender Homeless Shelter (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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Suspect in Deadly Montana Bar Shooting Captured After a Weeklong Manhunt

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10 hours ago

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August 9, 2025

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A weeklong manhunt has come to a close with the apprehension of Michael Paul Brown, a 45-year-old Army veteran, following a fatal mass shooting at The Owl Bar in Anaconda.

On August 1, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., Brown entered The Owl Bar, where he lived next door, and opened fire with a rifle, killing four local residents: bartender Nancy Lauretta Kelley (64) and patrons Daniel Edwin Baillie (59), David Allen Leach (70), and Tony Wayne Palm (74).

A multi-agency effort, including state law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, and federal resources, scoured the mountainous terrain surrounding Anaconda. Helicopters, K9 units, and tactical teams were deployed across the region.

A reward of $7,500 to $10,000 was offered for information leading to Brown’s capture.

On Friday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte confirmed Brown’s arrest via social media, acknowledging the rapid and resolute law enforcement response.

“The Anaconda shooter Michael Brown has been apprehended. Incredible response from law enforcement officers across Montana. Thank you to all partners for your commitment to the search. May God continue to be with the families of the four victims still grieving their loss,” Gianforte.

CNN reported:

Brown had been on the run since the “biggest” shooting in the state of Montana in a decade. He was arrested around 2 p.m. local time Friday near the search area in Anaconda and is now in the custody of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County authorities, according to the Montana Department of Justice.

Brown, an Army veteran, was seen on security footage fleeing The Owl Bar, where the fatal shooting occurred, investigators said. Since then, he had been sought by authorities representing at least 38 local, state and federal agencies traversing challenging terrain in the western Montana wilderness.

“I am proud of the unrelenting law enforcement effort this week to find and arrest Michael Paul Brown. The support we’ve seen for the community of Anaconda from across the state and the nation has also been remarkable,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said in a statement following the arrest. “The families and friends of the victims remain in my prayers.”

[…]

Brown served as an armor crewman in the US Army from January 2001 to May 2005 and was deployed to Iraq from February 2004 to March 2005, Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, a spokesperson with the US Army, previously told CNN.

Brown’s niece, Clare Boyle, previously told CNN he struggled with his mental health during his time in the Army and was never the same after his service. Brown’s mental health got progressively worse with the passing of both of his parents, Boyle said.

The post Suspect in Deadly Montana Bar Shooting Captured After a Weeklong Manhunt appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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WATCH: Fire Ravages World-Famous Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain

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10 hours ago

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August 9, 2025

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Fire breaks out in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Cordoba.

More than a tourist attraction, more than an architectural treasure, the Mosque-Cathedral in the Andalusian city of Cordoba, Spain is a historical monument and a spiritual center – so, all around the world, both the faithful and the history lovers are mourning as a massive fire consumes the building complex.

Newsweek reported:

“Firefighters are responding to the blaze at the major tourist attraction and UNESCO-listed heritage site in Andalusia. Footage shows thick smoke billowing out from the millennia-old building as flames lapped at its roof.

Firefighters from the city of Córdoba are still battling to extinguish the fire at the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba but local reports say the blaze is mostly contained as of 10 p.m. local time. The extent of damage is not yet clear.”

Being simultaneously one of the most significant buildings both in Islamic and in Christian architectural history, it began as a grand mosque in the 8th century and was transformed into a cathedral in 1236.

“The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, officially called the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, was built as a mosque over 200 years starting 785 CE. The mosque opened in 988 CE, and remained a Muslim site for nearly 300 years before the Christian conquest of Cordoba in 1236 CE.

The structure converted to a cathedral, undergoing additional modifications and building until one final, major addition in 1607 CE.”

Read more, from November 2024:

‘The Virgin of Paris’: Medieval Statue of the Virgin Mary With Baby Jesus, That Survived the 2019 Fire, Is Returned to the Notre Dame Cathedral Ahead of December Grand Reopening

The post WATCH: Fire Ravages World-Famous Mosque-Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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