Could Your Customer Experience (CX) Project Qualify for the $100 Million Dollar Technology Modernization Fund (TMF)?

The TMF was authorized and funded by the Modernizing Government Act in 2017 as an innovation vehicle for agencies to upgrade aging technologies. Last week, the White House and the General Services Administration (GSA) announced a $100 million dollar allocation of funds and an interest form for consideration to the review board, headed by Clare Martorana, the federal CIO and TMF board chair.

Applying by August 1, 2022, will give projects expedited consideration for open enrollment that starts September 30, 2022. The application is open to all federal agencies and high-impact service providers (HISPs) that provide public-facing information, benefits, and services. The TMF Board will be prioritizing projects that address the following customer experience pain points:

1. “Customer burden”
2. Multi-agency projects
3. Frustrating wait times
4. Duplicative paperwork
5. Bureaucratic barriers

Adding customer experience to the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) will breathe life into federal projects and ideas meant to improve the lives of people and communities. Prior to the funding, the Biden Administration laid out the following examples as priority life experiences of people. In these highly emotional times, touchpoints with government should be designed with empathy and the customer’s journey in mind:

1. Having a child
2. Early childhood for low-income families
3. Veterans transitioning to civilian life
4. Approaching retirement
5. Facing a financial setback
6. Recovering from a disaster
7. Transitioning into adulthood with disabilities

Many priority life events are marked by a complex journey through multiple agencies. Working across these silos will undoubtedly bring about barriers to data, privacy, and technology platforms. The White House classifies qualifying CX projects as having the following characteristics:

1. Supported by customer research and data
2. Involves various agencies and systems
3. Addresses immediate security gaps
4. Improves the public’s ability to access and manage government services

The TMF Board is looking for agency teams with projects with a degree of maturity characterized by:

1. Choosing a technology team and system capable of iterative development and human-centered design methods
2. Having measurable goals
3. Addressing real customer pain points and gaps in accessibility and equity

We are excited to work with our customers who have long awaited the resources to improve their service delivery experience. If you are an existing govDelivery customer, the Granicus Experience Group (GXG) can help you leverage funding for projects and programs that have been deprioritized in the past. Contact us to learn more about how we can help.