Digital Service Team Overview

Learn what digital service teams do, how they're structured, and how to build one that fits your government

What is a Digital Service Team?

A digital service team helps governments design, build, and improve services that are easier to use, more effective, and better aligned with user needs.

While the goal is consistent, the structure and approach can look very different across governments.

Different forms of digital service teams

This work may exist under different names, including:

• Digital service teams

• Innovation teams

• CX (customer experience) offices

• Modernization or transformation units

These teams can sit in different parts of government, depending on their purpose and authority. You may find them in a mayor or governor’s office, within central IT, embedded in a specific agency or service area, or even within communications or operations teams.

Some teams focus on delivering specific products. Others support agencies across the organization with design, technology, and strategy.

Examples include:

Digital Service Team	Model	Details
New York City Public Interest Technology (PIT) Crew	Executive digital delivery initiative	Launched by the Mayor and led through the Office of Technology and Innovation, the PIT Crew brings together product, design, engineering, research, and data experts to address administration priorities. The teams work across agencies on accelerated timelines to deliver visible results.
Colorado Digital Service	Enterprise digital delivery team	Housed within the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, the team partners with agencies across state government to improve complex services. Its placement within central IT and cross-agency role align primarily with the enterprise model.
South Bend Digital Services	Enterprise digital service team	Established as part of South Bend’s broader effort to centralize technology and strengthen innovation, service delivery, and data-informed improvement. It operates as a citywide shared service connected to the city’s broader technology and operational functions.
Code Pennsylvania (CodePA)	Hybrid executive and enterprise team	CODE PA is housed within Information Technology in Pennsylvania’s Office of Administration, but its executive director reports to both the Commonwealth CIO and the Governor’s Director of Digital Strategy. This combines enterprise placement and cross-agency support with executive sponsorship and direction.

These examples show how digital service teams can operate through executive, enterprise, or hybrid models.

The right approach for your government's digital service team depends on what you need to accomplish, where it can operate effectively, and how it can be supported over time.

What You'll Find in This Section

Explore how digital service teams can be structured, funded, staffed, and supported to fit your government’s goals, capacity, and constraints.

• Digital service team models

  • Compare executive, enterprise, and hybrid models, identify which best fits your government, and explore common funding approaches and staffing costs.

• Example Digital Service Team

  • See how South Bend built and scaled an enterprise digital service team through organizational change, service design, and stronger integration with IT.

• Key roles in a digital service team

  • Identify the roles and capabilities your team needs now and how its staffing may evolve as its work and digital maturity grow.

• Hiring resources

  • Access job announcements, interview guides, role descriptions, and evaluation tools to help you hire digital talent.

• AI-Augmented Team Delivery

  • Explore how a small digital service team can use AI tools to increase its capacity, organize the capabilities it still needs, and choose a structure that fits the work and available support.

Putting it all together

Use these resources to choose a team model, identify the capabilities, funding, and support it needs, and determine how AI tools could increase its delivery capacity.

Want help building your Digital Service Team? Request support here