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The Mobile Application Development Program’s lifecycle -plan, develop, test, launch.

Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device.

The 21st century imperative to deliver government information and services to the public anytime, anywhere and on any device makes mobile a critical tactic in the federal Digital Government Strategy. Today, GSA’s Digital Services Innovation Center and the Federal CIO Council launch the Mobile Application Development Program to provide agencies with tools they need to make great mobile products available to the public.

The program–developed with and by 25 agencies across government–will help agencies in each stage of mobile development.

• Plan –Build a mobile strategy, see what other agencies have done, use new acquisitions tools to find top mobile developers.

• Develop –Create great mobile apps and sites using mobile user experience guidelines. Jump start development by leveraging pre-existing code.

• Test –Make sure your app works on all devices by leveraging automated and in the wild testing support. Test for security & accessibility.

• Launch –Let people know yours is an official government app by registering it. Get your app in the app stores and leverage API’s for promoting your apps.

What’s In It?

The program is chock full of useful resources and tools. For starters there is

• The Mobile Code Sharing Catalog provides agency mobile developers with whole frameworks for a mobile web site, modular code to solve common problems, and open-sourced apps to modify or use as a template. AND, agencies and other developers can submit code for reuse.

• RFP-EZ helps link agencies and small businesses for tech projects below $150,000–definitely a sweet spot for many mobile products. The idea is to help agencies reach the talent in startups more quickly and at reasonable cost. We worked with the RFP-EZ team at SBA to include mobile statement of work templates. Now when agencies create a new project in RFP-EZ, they can jumpstart their efforts by choosing the “Mobile Application Development” project type.

• Agencies can easily create mobile ready websites using Sites.USA.gov. This GSA-hosted content management tool supports open content, is secure, compliant and uses only responsive themes that work well on any-sized screen.

The Federal Apps Registry helps verify that apps and mobile sites are actually government mobile products–and provides an API so agencies can easily create galleries around their mission areas.

Just Do It

You can use these and many more tools and resources today. And, you can join us for a discussion about the Mobile Application Development Program May 30th at our webinar, or come see us live later that day at our Mobile Gov Wikithon.

Last, we need YOU to help us as we continue to develop new tools to help you develop citizen-focused mobile products. Tell us what you need at digitalgov@gsa.gov.

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Photo of a First Fridays Usability Test underway.

Data.gov launched a major upgrade today, moving to a new catalog based on an open source data management system called CKAN. In the process of migrating to a new data catalog, Data.gov had the opportunity to do another round of usability testing. Lucky for us, GSA’s First Fridays Usability Testing Program, which teaches agencies how to test federal websites, is right in our own backyard. With today’s launch, you’ll see the initial results of what we learned from our testers; an expert Data.gov user, an expert data user (but not necessarily Data.gov user) and a newcomer to the site.

Data.gov’s new data catalog is the core of a “Data.gov 2.0” that will be completed in the coming months.   First Fridays taught us how to manage everything involved in testing the new catalog, from creating usability tasks for the testers to coordinating session logistics. Leading testers through the tasks requires expertise, probing for what they’re really thinking, why they make the choices they make and what can be done better. Because First Fridays showed us how to do that, we received exhaustive – and actionable – feedback.

When you visit Data.gov’s new data catalog, you’ll find a number of enhancements.

• Our improved search helps you find all the datasets for a particular location – such as your zip code – better sorting and tagging of datasets, and improved metadata.

• Data.gov now has one unified data catalog based on an open source standard, which will make the datasets in Data.gov easier to use with other federal agency catalogs, as well as those of states, cities, and counties.

• The new CKAN catalog will also enable the implementation of the Open Data Policy, as it will easily harvest the data inventories that federal agencies will be creating under the policy.

The result is an easy-to-use, comprehensive catalog that allows citizens, developers and others to fully take advantage of the vast array of federal data that affects the daily lives of citizens.

Today is just the first step in a number of dramatic improvements in Data.gov scheduled for the months ahead. Thanks to First Fridays, we’ve got feedback on long-term improvements we can make as well.

Check out the new catalog and stay tuned!

By guest bloggers Hyon Kim, Deputy Director, and Sally Bourrie, PhaseOne contractor for Data.gov.

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A farmer’s market patron enjoys orange samples and talks to the booth vendor at a San Francisco area market. The new Farmers Market API released by AMS will give app developers and designers an easier way to leverage the wealth of information in USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory. Photo by Gary Yost.

America is developing quite an app-etite. The number of U.S. smartphone owners is approaching 130 million, resulting in more and more demand for mobile access to our information. Combine that with the increase in consumers wanting access to fresh, local products, and it’s obvious why there’s such a high demand for the data in USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory.

The new Farmers Market Directory API (Application Programming Interface) released today will give app developers and designers direct access to the wealth of farmers market information housed in the online database. The directory receives nearly 2 million page views per year and is one of the USDA’s most popular consumer search engines. With over 7,800 farmers market listings available for all 50 states, apps and websites that previously relied on a download or export of the data set will now be able to make direct calls to the directory.  This means that apps developed with the new API will be able to give foodies and farmers market lovers everywhere more accurate and up-to-date information.

The API was developed in-house, and will be updated as the directory continues to evolve. USDA is committed to making our data more accessible to everyone—no matter where they are, no matter what the platform or device. USDA and AMS will continue to listen to the consumers and developers who use it daily and their input will help map out our plans for the next set of updates.

The new API is a first for AMS, but it certainly won’t be the last. We hope these efforts will open more doors for developers and the public to benefit from our datasets.  We look forward to seeing new applications, mash-ups and uses for the Farmers Market Directory information.  Leave us a comment or send a Tweet to let us know how you’re using the data, and share any feedback you might have.

Today’s release also supports the Department’s Digital Government Strategy work as one of the USDA’s API deliverables required by the 12-month milestones. You can also browse additional agency APIs on the USDA Developer Hub – you may just find a great opportunity to mash-up other USDA datasets with the Farmers Market Directory API.

To help support and get to know the people who want to work with the new API, USDA is participating in a National Day of Civic Hacking, June 1-2, with a challenge centered on the new API.  Be sure to check out our challenge or sign up for one of the many events across the country.

Originally published on the USDA Blog.

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Healthcare.gov homepage.

The new Healthcare.gov will sort content according to user demand with a new plugin developed for the site. For a content-heavy site like healthcare.gov, this option will allow HHS to serve popular content to readers quickly.

In April we told you about Jekyll. The new Healthcare.gov will use this free open-source solution to create flat webpages without the long load times associated with a traditional content management system (CMS). Developers created a new plugin to work with the system to make it possible for the Department to quickly and dynamically provide the site’s most popular information to visitors . This plugin will allow HHS to take advantage of some of the best features a CMS offers without a heavy load on the site’s servers.

This new plugin, called ‘Jekyll-ga,’ pings Google Analytics each time Jekyll updates the website. By checking Google Analytics, HHS can to present dynamic lists of popular content while still taking advantage of the speed Jekyll offers.

By default, Jekyll sorts content chronologically and alphabetically. This works well for blogs, but now with jekyll-ga, we have many more options. Any metric you can track in Google Analytics — including custom variables — can be used to sort content or as a variable in our flexible templates. This will allow HHS to promote health options popular among a customer’s peers, greatly increasing the potential for satisfaction in the Health Marketplace.

The new plugin is publicly available on github  so it can be use on other Jekyll sites. Check back soon for more in our ongoing series about the upcoming relaunch of healthcare.gov.

Originally published on the HHS.gov Digital Strategy Blog by David Cole, a contractor leading the technical strategy and development of heathcare.gov with contributions from Chris Bernstein, Digital Communications Division, Public Affairs, HHS.

Continue reading »]]> Are you prepared for tornado season? The American Red Cross Tornado App can help get your family and home ready for a tornado. The app, which is available on the Android and iOS platforms, puts everything you need to know to prepare for a tornado – and all that comes with it – in the palm of your hand. The app includes an audible siren that goes off when a tornado warning is issued in your area. In addition, it provides:

• Simple step-by-step instructions to help you know what to do even if the cell towers and TVs are down. Prioritized actions for before, during, and after requires no mobile connectivity.
• Audible siren that automatically goes off even if app is closed when the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) issues a tornado warning, helping to reduce the chance of sleeping through an actual warning.
• Push notification sent when a warning expires – especially important if power goes out while you or your family are in your safe room.
• Help distant friends and family in tornado alley with ability to receive tornado watch and warning alerts based on their location from NOAA.
• Red Cross location-based open shelters map for when you need it most.
• Be ready should a tornado hit by learning how to assemble an emergency kit for your family in the event of power outage or evacuation.

You can find more apps like the Tornado App on the USA.gov Apps Gallery.

Originally published on the Digital Services Innovation Center Blog

Continue reading »]]> The National Day of Civic Hacking is bringing together thousands of civic hackers on June 1st and 2nd. But what is a civic hacker, anyway?

“Civic hackers” as we think about it for the National Day of Civic Hacking are technologists, civil servants, designers, entrepreneurs, engineers – anybody – who is willing to collaborate with others to create, build, and invent to address challenges relevant to our neighborhoods, our cities, our states and our country.

Many people have negative connotations of what it means to be a ‘hacker.’  How are ‘civic hackers’ different from the negative perception that exists about hackers? To us, a hacker is someone who uses a minimum of resources and a maximum of brainpower and ingenuity to create, enhance or fix something.

Last week, a National Day of Civic Hacking organizer named Charlie shared this powerful story with us around how he explains what a civic hacker does and the challenge of helping others see that civic hacking is a good thing:

‘It was my father that helped with this problem. He is 92, active and a veteran of WWII. He pointed out that he first heard the term “hacker” during the early days of WWII in the South Pacific. The U.S. Navy was not prepared for war and was getting beaten pretty badly. He was there. When fighter planes would return from action they would be shot up and in many cases crashed on landing because their pilots were injured. Each night huge teams of mechanics would converge upon the wrecked planes and “hack” at them, removing the good parts from several and building a new plane over night from all the salvaged pieces. He told me they were referred to as the “hacker details.” That was because they had to use metal “hacksaws” as they cut away the damaged panels of the planes. At 92 he seems to think that is the original root of the term because he said it was very commonly used during the war 60 years ago.’

Charlie is putting together a Maker Faire in Dawsonville, Georgia for National Day of Civic Hacking in coordination with the Dawson County Development Authority in Dawsonville, Georgia.

Let’s not let the conversation stop here.  It is just getting started.  Tell us in the comment section below how you define civic hacking for yourself and your community, and tell us your plans for National Civic Hacking Day.

Originally published on the site National Day of Civic Hacking.

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The mobile code sharing catalog can be used to jump start your mobile project or save time and money using open source code from the federal government , other government entities, and third party projects.

Federal agencies have a new resource to help them make content and services available anytime, anywhere, and from any device–the federal Mobile Code Catalog sponsored by the Digital Services Innovation Center.

This catalog is hosted on GitHub (more on why that matters in a moment). Here, agency developers looking to jump-start their efforts can find source code for native and web projects from a variety of sources: federal agencies, other governments, and third-parties in the private sector.

Developers can access whole frameworks for a mobile web site, modular code to solve common problems, or even links to complete apps to use as a template for their own apps.

More than code

It’s not all about code, though.  Any successful mobile program needs to be able to test the quality and the accessibility of their apps.  The catalog also includes  test scripts to help your agency validate the functionality and accessibility of their app.  You can also find links to data, APIs and other federal developer pages.

The Mobile Code Catalog is hosted on GitHub for a reason.  In addition to the form that agencies can use to submit their open source project or resource, the catalog itself can be “forked.”  Forking the catalog is the process of making a copy of it so improvements can be made without affecting the original copy.  Those improvements can then be submitted to us through what’s called a “pull request.”  If everything’s in order, we’ll incorporate those improvements with just a few clicks.

What’s next

This catalog has been initially populated with the cooperation from several agencies, but the work is not done. Over the next few months we will be hosting events but we need you.

• Are you a government mobile innovator with some code you’ve developed to share? Submit your code.
• Are you a developer who wants to tweak one of the existing government apps or modules? Fork the content and make a pull request.
• Are you looking to get involved in government mobile code sharing? Ask your questions.

Originally published on the Digital Services Innovation Center Blog by Michael Pulsifer, Lead IT Specialist for the Division of Enterprise Communications, U.S. Department of Labor

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Round out your professional reading (and video watching) list with these suggestions, contributed by members of the Federal Social Media Community of Practice.

FedScoop Guide: White House open data policy - In a landmark of the open data movement, President Barack Obama issued Thursday an executive order calling for agencies to make federal information open and machine-readable, creating a new default for how the government operates.

ReadWrite: APIs Are The Doors To Web Services – And They Need Locks - The proliferation of mobile devices has created a firestorm of demand for Application Programming Interfaces (API) to act as data gateways between devices and services. But fire can also be a destructive force, and mis-managed APIs can hurt application performance, alienate developers and even lead to costly and damaging data breaches.

Brookings Institution: Six “Megatrends” That Will Shape the Future of Digital Media -  Six digital content  “megatrends” shaping how people are creating and sharing digital media today, and what the world of digital media will look like in the coming years.

MarketingProfs: Three Powerful Ways to Measure the Impact of Your Email Marketing - Though email campaign process metrics such as delivery, open, and click-through rates have their place, if you don’t look beyond them… the true impact of your email marketing—and opportunities for continuous improvement—will go undetected. It’s high time for email marketers to assess email marketing

MIT Technology Review: Google Now, Anticipatory Systems, and the Future of Big Data - If the last century was marked by the ability to observe the interactions of physical matter—think of technologies like x-ray and radar—this century, he says, is going to be defined by the ability to observe people through the data they share.

Wired.com: Use These Secret NSA Google Search Tips to Become Your Own Spy Agency – The Center for Digital Content of the National Security Agency just released Untangling the Web: A Guide to Internet Research, following a FOIA request filed in April. The book is filled with advice for using search engines, the Internet Archive and other online tools.

MarketingProfs: How to Keep It Human in the Robotized Socialverse - Here’s my own social media promotion strategy, in seven steps, which I use to engage with the customers and connect to people in my niche.

CMO.com: 3 Steps For Using Analytics Efficiently -  Three steps to help marketing professionals use analytics:

• Understand the business problem
• Execute statistical analysis
• Have the team efficiently implement the solution