Statement by the President on the Passing of Robin Williams

Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between.  But he was one of a kind.  He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.  He made us laugh.  He made us cry.  He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets.  The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.

Readout of the President's Call with Prime Minister Renzi of Italy

The President spoke this morning with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi about the latest developments in Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine, as well as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.  On Iraq, the two leaders agreed on the need to ensure humanitarian assistance is reaching vulnerable Iraqis, continue to seek the safety of the civilians on Mount Sinjar, and work together to develop options that will secure the safety of the civilians on Mount Sinjar.  Renzi expressed his support for the United States’ efforts in Iraq.  Both leaders noted the urgency of efforts to counter the threat ISIL poses against all Iraqis and discussed the latest developments in Iraq’s political transition.  On Ukraine, the President and Prime Minister considered the developing situation and reiterated that any intervention under the guise of “humanitarian” assistance must be provided only with the formal, express consent and authorization of the Government of Ukraine, and noted ongoing efforts by the Ukrainian government to deliver humanitarian aid through the ICRC and other recognized international organizations.  They agreed that any Russian steps not in accordance with these requirements would be unacceptable, would violate international law, and would lead to additional sanctions.  On Libya, they emphasized their support for the democratically-elected Council of Representatives and the need to encourage full participation by all elected members while working to end the fighting between militias.  Regarding the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the leaders supported World Health Organization efforts to assist national health services in the region, and agreed on the need for the international provision of additional resources to this effort.

FACT SHEET: Improving and Simplifying Digital Services

“I want us to ask ourselves every day, how are we using technology to make a real difference in people’s lives.”

— President Barack Obama

Late last year, a team of digital and technology experts helped to turn-around HealthCare.gov.  Today, building on the same proven strategic approach that ultimately enabled millions of Americans to sign up for health insurance, the Administration is launching the U.S. Digital Service.  This small team of America’s best digital experts will work in collaboration with other government agencies to make websites more consumer friendly, to identify and fix problems, and to help upgrade the government’s technology infrastructure.  Mikey Dickerson, a top private-sector engineer who was part of the team that helped fix HealthCare.gov will serve as the new Administrator of the U.S. Digital Service and Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer.

The team has one core mission: to improve and simplify the digital experience that people and businesses have with their government by:

• Establishing standards to bring the government’s digital services in line with the best private sector services;
• Identifying common technology patterns that will help us scale services effectively;
• Collaborating with agencies to identify and address gaps in their capacity to design, develop, deploy and operate excellent citizen-facing services; and
• Providing accountability to ensure agencies see results.

With today’s announcement, the Administration is also releasing for public comment two crucial components in our growing IT toolkit that will enable agencies to do their best work– the Digital Service Playbook and the TechFAR Handbook.

Leveraging Best Practices with the Digital Services Playbook. To help the Digital Service achieve its mission, today the Administration is releasing the initial version of a Digital Services Playbook that lays out best practices for effective digital service delivery and that will serve as a guide for agencies across government. To increase the success of government digital service projects, this playbook outlines 13 key “plays” drawn from private and public-sector best practices that, if followed together, will help Federal agencies deliver services that work well for users and require less time and money to develop and operate.

Using Agile Processes to Procure Digital Services with the TechFAR Handbook. Too often, the lack of guidance encouraging agency use of innovative contracting practices results in narrow and overly rigid interpretations of federal acquisition rules that complicates the government’s ability to adopt smarter ways of acquiring high-quality digital services.   To ensure government has the right tech tools to do its job, and can be more agile and flexible to meet rapidly changing needs, the Administration is also today launching the TechFAR Handbook, a guide that explains how agencies can execute key plays in the Playbook in ways consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which governs how the government must buy goods and services from the private sector. This document will help agencies take advantage of existing authorities to procure development services in new ways that more closely match the modern software development techniques used in the private sector. 

Readout of the Vice President’s Call with Iraqi President Fuad Masum

Vice President Biden called Iraqi President Fuad Masum this morning to discuss the ongoing government formation process in Baghdad and to express the United States’ full support for his role as guarantor of the Iraqi Constitution. President Masum discussed with the Vice President the nomination of Hayder al-Abadi to be the next prime minister. The Vice President commended Masum for meeting this key milestone and reiterated President Obama’s repeated calls for the timely creation of a new, more inclusive government that will be able to address the legitimate concerns of all Iraqis. Vice President Biden also emphasized President Obama’s desire to boost coordination with a new Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces to roll back gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. President Masum thanked the Vice President for his continued support.