SPECIAL NOTICE
R -- Crowdsourcing Challenge
- Notice Date
- 4/15/2016
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), National Office Procurement (OS:A:P), 6009 Oxon Hill Road, Suite 500, Oxon Hill, Maryland, 20745
- ZIP Code
- 20745
- Solicitation Number
- 04152016Crowdsourcing
- Archive Date
- 5/2/2016
- Point of Contact
- Mathew P. Nelker, Phone: 2406138265
- E-Mail Address
-
mathew.nelker@irs.gov
(mathew.nelker@irs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Internal Revenue Service is launching its first "crowdsourcing challenge" to "design the taxpayer experience of the future." The kickoff meeting for the Tax Design Challenge will take place at 1776, 1133 15th Street NW., Washington, DC 20005 on April 17, 2016, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. There is a $10,000 grand prize award for the winning contestant. Challenge submissions must be submitted electronically at www.taxdesignchallenge.com. Participants must register for the event. It is open to the public but space is limited. Attendance is not required for participation in the Tax Design Challenge. Participants can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tax-design-challenge-kickoff-at-1776-tickets-23103120054. At this event, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the IRS's first crowdsourcing challenge from leaders at the IRS and the Treasury Department. They will also be able to engage with policy experts about financial capability challenges potentially addressing an improved taxpayer experience. They can network in-person with some of the mentors from the challenge. They can also meet and team-up with other civic-minded technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers. In addition to the $10,000 prize, contestants can get a $2,000 award for "best taxpayer usefulness" or "best financial capability." Participants get to own their ideas, but they are giving the government a royalty-free world-wide license to use them. IRS employees, federal workers or contractors working on government time are not eligible. Free beverages and snacks will be provided by the co-sponsor. The IRS has been trying to move more taxpayer services online, making interactions with the government more like checking an online banking experience and less like sorting through piles of paper. The tax agency has struggled with putting interactive services-as opposed to general information-online. Its aging computer systems make some tasks difficult, and the IRS also has had trouble making sure it is dealing with the actual taxpayer, as opposed to an identity thief. The IRS removed a previous online function last year to access past tax returns, and said last month that criminals gained access to as many as 700,000 accounts. The challenge is designed to address some but not all of those problems. Entrants will design the taxpayer's experience, essentially mapping out what taxpayers should encounter if they look up their own information on a future IRS website. The contestants won't be building computer code or setting cybersecurity protocols. They will have access to "mentors" from inside and outside the government. One of those mentors, Dan Egan, said he hoped the contestants could help people realize what their taxes pay for and encourage people to consider taxes throughout the year, such as during a temporary period of unemployment. "That's something that you should know about at that point in time rather than figure out the following April, when you can't do something about it," said Mr. Egan, director of behavioral finance and investing at Betterment, an online automated investment advisory service. In addition to the $10,000 prize, contestants can get a $2,000 award for "best taxpayer usefulness" or "best financial capability." Participants get to own their ideas, but they are giving the government a royalty-free world-wide license to use them. IRS employees aren't eligible, and neither are federal workers or contractors working on government time. There is one other catch: the winnings are taxable. The kickoff meeting for the Tax Design Challenge will take place at 1776, 1133 15th Street NW., Washington, DC 20005 on April 17, 2016, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Challenge submissions must be submitted electronically at www.taxdesignchallenge.com. Participants must register for the event. It is s open to the public but space is limited. Attendance is not required for participation in the Tax Design Challenge. Participants can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tax-design-challenge-kickoff-at-1776-tickets-23103120054. At this event, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the IRS's first crowdsourcing challenge from leaders at the IRS and the Treasury Department. They will also be able to engage with policy experts about financial capability challenges that could be addressed with an improved taxpayer experience. They can network in-person with some of the mentors from the challenge. They can also meet and team-up with other civic-minded technologists, designers, and innovative thinkers. Free beverages and snacks will be provided by the co-sponsor.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/TREAS/IRS/NOPAP/04152016Crowdsourcing/listing.html)
- Record
- SN04086009-W 20160417/160415234649-f1502ae9954aa44b51c0cb01e13bd4c5 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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