Agile Corps - A Public Service-Learning Program Part I

Abstract

Each year the U.S. government invests more than $86 billion on IT products and services, yet the majority of these projects fail--they are delivered late, go over budget, are canceled, are outdated when finally delivered, or do not fit the user. Due to barriers in hiring and training, the government has tended to outsource IT talent at a premium price through contractors, but the results have not changed. The small amount of technology talent that exists in government tends to be senior, and there currently are very few, viable options for high-quality, junior and mid-level technologists to find a job in government and develop into senior roles. Agile Corps is a program designed to identify, recruit, train, and retain junior and mid-level technology talent in the government. This paper presents the design research and initial prototypes of the program and service called Agile Corps and introduces and prototypes the concept of public service-learning.