_posts/2019-05-16-how-18f-and-pif-work-together-in-agencies.md
---
title: "How 18F and PIF work together in agencies"
date: 2019-05-16
authors:
- angela-colter
- adam-drake
- justin-koufopoulos
tags:
- presidential innovation fellows
- how we work
excerpt: "Two teams working together to help agencies become more effective at meeting the needs of citizens."
---
*This post was originally published on the [DigitalGov blog](https://digital.gov/2019/05/07/two-complementary-teams-with-same-goal/). Angela Colter is the Acting Executive Director of 18F. Adam Drake and Justin Koufopoulos are Presidential Innovation Fellows.*
We are often asked, just how is the [Presidential Innovation Fellows](https://presidentialinnovationfellows.gov/) (PIF) program
different from [18F](https://18f.gsa.gov/)? Both teams work from
within the General Services Administration (GSA) and are part of the
division called [Technology Transformation Services](https://www.gsa.gov/tts) (TTS). Since the beginning of the two programs, PIF and 18F have collaborated on critical work for the United States. That includes supporting [cancer patients](https://clinicaltrials.gov/), [U.S. marines](https://18f.gsa.gov/2019/03/22/18F-5-anniv-fav-project/), and [scientific researchers](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pubmed/) to name just a few. We have unique strengths. We have found that when we work together, our strengths combine in exciting ways to help government agencies modernize their technology, and better meet the needs of citizens and their missions.
<figure>
<img src="{{site.baseurl}}/assets/blog/pif-18f-working-together/angela-presenting-pifs.png" alt="A photo of Acting Executive Director of 18F, Angela
Colter, addressing the new group of Presidential Innovation Fellows in
January 2019."/> <figcaption>Angela Colter (standing) and the new cohort of Presidential Innovation Fellows, January 2019</figcaption>
</figure>
A unique strength of the PIF program is [on-site technical leadership and strategy](https://digital.gov/2019/02/26/why-our-country-needs-more-civic-tech-leaders/). PIFs are hired by agencies to work alongside senior staff,
policy-makers, and technical teams. Usually an agency will hire between
one to three PIFs. PIFs help senior leaders tackle ambiguous
mission-critical challenges. For example, “what’s our customer
experience strategy?” or “where should we use artificial intelligence?”
Our goal is to help agencies navigate these complex topics by building
trust across the organization, provide technical leadership where there
are gaps in existing teams, and delivering successes to those teams.
On the other hand, a unique strength of 18F is in assembling small,
remote teams to work on a particular product or service within an
agency. We take a phased approach to our work, starting with a short
discovery phase, followed by prototyping phase to test potential ideas
with users. Our goal with these engagements is to not only to facilitate
learning about the needs of the people using the service, but helping
the partner team develop the skill set necessary to take on maintenance
and development of the system.
<figure>
<img src="{{site.baseurl}}/assets/blog/pif-18f-working-together/pif-18f-pyramid.png" alt="A graphic shows blue and black geometric shapes with text
on a white background. A vertical double-headed arrow, colored with a
top-down gradient merging blue and black, is on the left. It is to
indicate the extent each group is focused on more; Strategy (in blue at
the top), versus Execution (in black at the bottom). To the right of the
arrow, the PIFs are represented by a blue equilateral triangle pointing
downward. The text on it shows that most of their work falls under the
Strategy side, focusing on areas such as: Senior Leadership, Product
Strategy, Data and Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Strategic
Partnerships, Culture Change, and Customer Experience. To the right of
the PIF triangle, 18F is represented by a black equilateral triangle
pointing upward, with white text that shows that most of their work
falls under the execution side, focusing on Product roadmaps,
User-centered design sprints, Customer journey maps, Product builds,
Agile coaching, and Content design and architecture."/> <figcaption>18F and the PIF teams offer complimentary solutions that
leverage their strengths for agencies.</figcaption>
</figure>
At the National Library of Medicine (NLM), PIF and 18F combined
strengths to bring an outside perspective to its efforts to make
clinical trials and research more readily available to citizens and
patients. The NLM, part of the National Institutes of Health, is the
home of our nation’s scientific and medical knowledge and a leader in
biomedical informatics and data science research. PIF and 18F helped the
NLM apply advanced [user-centered](https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-centered-design.html) design approaches to high-priority NLM services by providing a combination of in-house strategy, training, workshops, planning, and design implementation. These shared efforts allowed both teams to bring
their strengths to common problems and provide a more cohesive strategy
to usability improvements and technology practices. Ultimately, these
combined efforts were far more successful than any single effort would
have been by either PIF or 18F.
PIF and 18F have also had great results collaborating with the United
States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is our nation’s premier force in
readiness and is currently engaging in a variety of technology
transformation projects, relating to everything from logistics and
supply chain software applications to methods and strategies for
improving cloud computing initiatives. By bringing together the
strategic, technical, and organizational advising capabilities of PIF
and the implementation-focused efforts of 18F, the joint projects have
gained speed and cohesiveness that would have been otherwise impossible.
Through the complementary focus areas of PIF and 18F, projects are able
to get representation and stakeholder engagement at a variety of levels,
which ensures excellent communication and speed of execution.“It's great
to see PIFs collaborating with 18F on a project with the United States
Marine Corps. These shared efforts allowed both teams to bring their
strengths to common problems and provide a more cohesive IT
modernization and culture change strategy. We will be doing more of
this,” says Anil Cheriyan, Director of Technology Transformation
Services at GSA.
PIF and 18F are working together to help agencies become more effective
at meeting the needs of citizens. For more information on how we can
support you and your agency see [pif.gov](https://presidentialinnovationfellows.gov/) and [18f.gsa.gov](https://18f.gsa.gov/).