USA.gov rolls out improved search, mobile apps and new design

The General Services Administration has re-launched USA.gov, the online portal meant to help citizens find information from various agencies and departments across government. The site currently links to 10,000 pages of federal, state and local government information, according to GSA.

On July 2, the site rolled out several improvements: A new search tool; navigation; a mobile apps store; and public engagement platforms on government challenges, public dialogs and performance metrics. The revamped website also features a scrolling graphic at the top of the home page that highlights the most requested government services and information.

Dave McClure, GSA's associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, touted the improved search capability during a July 1 press call.

"We're building these search algorithms based upon actual searching that's being done," McClure added. "So we learn from what citizens are looking for and where they're going. And that provides us with much more relevant search capabilities than just a search engine that's going out and dragging through anything that it finds.

"What we're striving for is an integrated search capability across the government," he said.

But if search is brand new, most of the apps on USA.gov are not. For the most part, the site aggregates apps already available on other agency sites. "We're not going to build all the apps," said Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra during an embargoed press conference conducted on June 29. "There are going to be third parties that are going to innovate and build apps and combine data in ways we can't imagine."

Right now, however, third party apps cannot be found on USA.gov. "We're going through policy deliberations around what we can and cannot make available," Kundra said.

For agencies, there will be no set goals or incentives for the posting of applications. "It's going to be very mission driven and every agency has a unique mission and it's actually tied to the investments we're making more broadly around technology," Kundra said.

For more:
- check out USA.gov
- see OMB Director, Peter Orszag's blog post on the update.
- see the GSA press release
- see the OMB press release

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