Data visualization featuring the stats from the highlights section in the main text.

Digital Benefits Network

2023 Year in Review‍

In 2023, the Digital Benefits Network (DBN) set out to establish our reputation as the go-to place for connections, sharing ideas, and asking questions on digital benefits. We have achieved this through hosting events, maturing our communities of practice, publishing new resources and research, distributing monthly and quarterly newsletters, and continuing to populate and promote the Digital Benefits Hub. 
2023 was our first full year in operation — we soft launched in the summer of 2022 with Rules as Code Demo Day and then a full launch with the Digital Benefits Hub in the fall of 2022. We’ve seen exponential growth in activities and participation in 2023, and can’t wait for what’s ahead. 

Highlights:

  • We hosted five events throughout the year, reaching over 1000 participants, including our first annual in-person convening, BenCon.
  • We hosted 23 community of practice meetings.
  • Our team participated in and spoke at 10 external events.
  • We published four major pieces of research and analysis, focused on digital identity and rules as code, and four project spotlights.
  • We authored ten blog posts and had one piece published externally.
  • We produced 12 editions of the Digital Benefits Digest, and three editions of the UI Technology Modernization Quarterly Roundup.
  • We received coverage of our work in seven press stories and had our work cited in three external publications.
  • The Digital Benefits Hub had over 13,000 users and we added nearly 300 new pieces of content.
We are so grateful for your participation, partnership, and support in 2023. We look forward to our work together in 2024!

Events

In Person

BenCon: The Digital Benefits Conference

June 2023 | Event Page | Conference Site | Full Event Recap | UI Tech Coalition Recap

More than 120 practitioners from 70 organizations gathered in Washington, D.C. on June 13-14, 2023 to collaborate on the future of public benefits delivery. In this first-of-its-kind gathering, leading practitioners from various levels of government, nonprofits, academia, and industry came together to explore current and emerging research on topics including digital identity, rules as code, automation, centering beneficiaries and workers, and digital service delivery, define goal posts for digital benefits delivery, and collaboratively build tools for the ecosystem. On the first day, the UI Technology Coordinating Coalition met for the first time in person to share on progress and next steps in UI delivery. Part of the second day programming was also live streamed for a virtual audience. The DBN hosted the third day of the event in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget and the Aspen Financial Security program to inform the Facing a Financial Shock initiative. 

“It was the most energizing experience I have had in state government. It was truly an exceptionally organized and executed two days and I was humbled to be in such dynamic company.” - State Government Agency Leader

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“Incomparable learning community from which to understand best practices and where the space is heading.” - BenCon Participant

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SNAP Inter-Branch Exchange

November 2023 

In coordination with the Massive Data Institute and PopVox Foundation, the DBN hosted cross-sector and cross-level government practitioners to discuss challenges and opportunities in SNAP policy and delivery, with a focus on how data can play a role in all aspects of the program. 

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Virtual Public Calls

Increasing Security and Equity in Electronic Benefits Transfer 

February 2023 | Event Page | Recap

Guests from Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) joined the DBN to discuss recent issues with EBT card benefits theft and how the technology could be upgraded to improve security and equity. 

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Recent Developments in Unemployment Insurance Modernization

April 2023 |  Event Page | Recap

Guests from the U.S. Department of Labor Office of UI Modernization and Illinois Department of Employment Security joined the UI Tech Coalition to share their vision for UI technology modernization and how they have been deploying American Rescue Plan Act funding to states. 

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“The Service Organization” A Discussion With Kate Tarling

September 2023 | Event Page

The DBN co-hosted author Kate Tarling with the Digital Service Network to discuss her book The Service Organization. 

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Community of Practice Meetings

Rules as Code Roundtables

April & September 2023 | Event Page Fed, SLTT

The DBN hosted three roundtables for rules as code practitioners by sector: the grassroots technical community, federal government practitioners, and state, local, tribal and territorial government practitioners. 

“Thank you so much for hosting us! The SLTT RAC RT is a unique and important group making some big improvements to lives that need it the most. It's an honor to be here!” - State Government Policy Administrator

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UI Technology Coordinating Coalition Meetings

Bi-weekly 

The UI Tech Coordinating Coalition hosts bi-weekly calls for coalition members. With a total of 20 calls in 2023 and guests from the Department of Labor’s Office of UI Modernization (OUIM), Government Accountability Office (GAO), National Association of State Workforce Agencies (GAO), American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

"The UI Tech Coalition meeting at BenCon provided me an opportunity to learn from other legal aid advocates, state and federal leaders, technologists, and unions on how we can advance solutions to improve the technology to ensure that when a worker needs UI, the technology will not be an obstacle in getting it.” - UI Tech Coalition Member

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External Events

Publications

Research & Analysis

Project Spotlights

Blogs

Submissions for Government Rulemaking

  • OMB AI Comment
  • CFPB 1033 Rulemaking January | December (forthcoming)
  • Memo to White House on Digital Identity in Benefits 

Newsletters

External Publications

Digital Benefits Hub

Press

Citations in External Research & Resources

Team 

Ariel Kennan, DBN Fellow

Elizabeth Bynum Sorrell, DBN Researcher

Shanelle Roberson, DBN Community Manager

Tina Amper, Rules as Code Community Advisor

Adam Bobrow, UI Tech Co-Convener

Marcus Courtney, UI Tech Co-Convener 

Cherie Chung, Strategy Advisor

Student Analysts: Jason Yi, Oriel Gomez, Maja Ochojska, Grace Li, Anaya Mehta & Maxim Zeidman

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