Digital Government

The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published a New York Times op-ed arguing that social media poses such a threat to children’s mental health that these platforms should come with a warning label like cigarettes and alcohol. However, his argument is flawed on multiple levels: There is no scientific consensus that social media is causing mental health issues among youth; social media use among youth does not present a similar level of risk as tobacco and alcohol use; and the alleged risks of social media come from interaction with specific types of content, not from the platforms themselves.

Following U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy’s call for mental health warning labels for social media, ITIF issued the following statement from Senior Policy Manager Ashley Johnson.

The next administration needs to place innovation, productivity, and competitiveness at the core of its economic policy. To that end, this report offers a comprehensive techno-economic agenda with 82 actionable policy recommendations.

Given that more than 19 states are in the process of implementing digital IDs, Oklahoma serves as a cautionary tale on the importance of building accessibility into the system from the beginning.

The U.S. government offers slow, outdated services. Congress and federal agencies should invest in digital technology and modernize their approach to service delivery to transform the current delay government into a modern, fast, digital-first government.

Customer satisfaction with federal services overall remains low. To address this long-standing problem federal agencies should immediately prioritize implementing the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act to modernize their websites and digital services.

Daniel Castro appeared on Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss ways to overcome barriers and maximize the benefits of data-sharing in the United States.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the U.S. government’s digital transformation process, Eric spoke with Leslie Casson Stevens—industry advisor for the U.S. federal market at SAP, an enterprise solution software provider. She discusses the processes and challenges of having federal agencies as customers and how funding tech in the government should change.

The federal government is currently failing to ensure its technology is accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, and veterans.

As the U.S. government seeks to accelerate its adoption of AI, federal agencies should fully evaluate AI literacy and skills in their respective workforces so that they can address critical skills gaps before falling even further behind in AI adoption.