Context is King
People that are new to AI coding often make the mistake of assuming it is just a new form of automation. The truth is that it's actually delegation, and that distinction is critically important.
Civic Innovations
Technology, Government Innovation, and Open Data
Latest posts
The Other Side of Chesterton’s Fence
Chesterton's Fence is a useful reminder that government processes exist for reasons, even when those reasons aren't obvious. But the principle only gets you so far. Understanding why the fence was built doesn't tell you what to do when the world it was designed for is changing faster than the fence can be redesigned.
It’s The End of Agile (As We Know It)
AI is changing the way government teams will practice agile. Are agencies ready for the change?
Using AI to Reverse-Engineer a Legacy Application into a Modern Software Specification
In this post, I demonstrate a hands-on example of using AI tools with a legacy technology system to build the foundation for a modern software solution.
Ending the Sugar Rush
A new study reveals a troubling pattern in open source projects adopting AI coding tools. The fix, it turns out, may lie in an idea as familiar as a CONTRIBUTING.md file — but updated for the AI era.
Modernizing Government Regulations with AI
Finding administrative burden hidden in government regulations has a surprising structural kinship with legacy system modernization. Here's how SpecOps can be used to reform government regulations.
From Sharing Code to Sharing Knowledge
For two decades, the vision for government technology has been "build once, share widely." But as AI changes the economics of software development, the future may look less like sharing code and more like sharing the knowledge that makes building easier.
Government Software at the Crossroads
Government tech leaders are signing longterm software contracts during the biggest shift in how software works since cloud computing. The assumptions behind those decisions may already be obsolete.
The Collapsing Cost of Software Development
The cost of generating software code is collapsing. AI coding tools have matured faster than most realize. For governments, this changes everything.
Disposable Software and the Future of Government Technology
AI is driving a toward "disposable software" and this could have significant implications for the public sector. The SpecOps method offers one way for governments to adapt to this potential change.