About the Digital Service Toolkit

This toolkit provides practical guidance to help governments plan, launch, and grow effective digital service teams

Why we built this Toolkit

Governments are often expected to improve digital services without a dedicated team or a clear starting point. For example, a city updating its website or establishing responsible AI practices may need to determine which roles and skills are needed, who should lead the work, how departments will collaborate, and what can realistically be accomplished with available resources. This toolkit provides leaders driving this work with practical guidance for structuring, staffing, launching, and growing a team to meet those needs.

U.S. Digital Response offers pro bono support to help governments build digital service teams and capabilities, so contact USDR for support anytime to discuss how we can help.

Who it’s for

Anyone responsible for improving or delivering digital services, including:

• Government leaders

• IT, product, and operations teams

• Program and service owners

• HR, talent, and workforce leaders

How to use the Toolkit

Use the toolkit based on where you are today, focus on what’s realistic, and build your digital service capabilities over time.

Toolkit sections

The toolkit is organized into 5 main sections plus a resource section that provide a step-by-step approach to planning, launching, and growing effective digital services.

1

Digital Service Models

Explore what digital service teams do, compare how they can be structured, and identify the roles and approach that best fit your government’s needs.

2

Digital Maturity Stages

Identify your organization’s current stage of digital maturity and determine which capabilities and improvements to prioritize next.

3

Assess Your Readinesss

Examine your directive, organizational structure, existing people and systems, and history with change to identify gaps, constraints, and opportunities.

4

Align Your Stakeholders

Bring key stakeholders together to review findings, agree on priorities, clarify ownership, and define next steps.

5

Launch Your Digital Team

Define an initial problem and scope, assemble the team, establish ownership and measures of success, and build support for sustaining the work.

6

Resources

Access downloadable checklists, workshop materials, templates, examples, and guides to support planning and implementation.

How to Navigate

Item	Details
Navigation	Use the sidebar on the left of each page to access different sections of the toolkit.
Overviews	Each section has an overview page that includes a definition of the topic, who's generally involved in that work, and what's covered in the section.
Search	Utilize the search bar to quickly find specific information or keywords.
Interactive Elements	Look for links and embedded tools to access additional content and to download copies of resources.
Helpful Tips	Look for this icon throughout the Toolkit for helpful insights and tips
Light/Dark Mode	Use this toggle at the bottom of each page to switch between modes.
Feedback	Use the Was this helpful? feature on the bottom of each page to leave us feedback.
Contact	If you have questions or need further assistance, navigate to the Contact section for ways to reach out.

Content development

This field guide was born from a combination of US Digital Response's experiences supporting digital transformation teams across U.S. federal, state, and city governments and generally recognized best practices for creating optimal employee experiences for digital talent. Content was developed in collaboration with Verge Talent Partners, who have deep experience in hiring, recruiting, human resources, operations, and strategy.