Harrisburg, PA – Today, Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver highlighted plans by the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) to leverage increased funding from Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget to further its nationally-recognized, award-winning work to make Pennsylvanians’ online interactions with state agencies simple, seamless, and secure.
This budget includes approximately $11.5 million for CODE PA. This funding will be used to support the continued development of enterprise platforms for grants and permits and offering a single, secure account that residents can use to access services across all Commonwealth websites. Since its inception, CODE PA has saved taxpayers over $10 million by leveraging in-house staff to lead digital projects instead of contracting with vendors to do the work.
“Over the past two and a half years, CODE PA has transformed the way Pennsylvanians interact with their state government by delivering modern, user-focused digital services that make it easier for them to get the help and information they need. Governor Shapiro’s increase in funding recognizes both the impact this team has already made and the enormous potential ahead, said Secretary Weaver. “These resources will allow CODE PA to accelerate its work, advance strategic initiatives, and continue setting a national standard for digital government. I’m proud that Pennsylvania is leading the way, and that more residents than ever are benefiting from faster, simpler, more accessible online services.”
In 2025, CODE PA and its leadership were recognized by four national organizations for their groundbreaking work to improve online services and support a more effective and responsive state government for Pennsylvanians.
“Over the past two and a half years, CODE PA has established itself as national leader by building digital services that truly serve Pennsylvanians – making it easier for people to access the resources they need, when they need them. These awards highlight the progress we've made in supporting Governor Shapiro’s priorities of innovation, efficiency, and putting people first,” said Bry Pardoe, Chief Information Officer and former Executive Director of CODE PA. “We are working to bring Pennsylvanians closer to their state government with online services that reflect their lived experiences and meet them where they are. We are grateful for the opportunity to highlight the incredible work of the CODE PA team to make the Commonwealth’s digital services the best in the nation.”
Strong Leadership Delivering Superior Results
National Association of State Chief Information Officers: 2025 State Technology Innovator Award
Under the leadership of former Executive Director Bry Pardoe, CODE PA has grown into a powerhouse team that has infused new energy and resources into customer service transformation efforts and delivered high-priority projects to improve digital experiences for Pennsylvanians.
The in-house expertise of CODE PA has led to quicker implementations and increased cost-effectiveness. For instance, at the end of 2023, CODE PA launched PAyback – a digital system that allows residents and businesses to check the standard turnaround time for a permit, license, or certification and request a refund of their application fee if they have been waiting longer. PAyback is part of a broader effort by the Shapiro Administration to increase speed and transparency in permitting, licensing, and certification processes. This was the first digital project delivered by CODE PA, completed just eight months after the office was established.
Since then, CODE PA has gone on to launch dozens of new or improved digital services in collaboration with state agencies, including the redesign of PA.gov, a fully online clemency application with the Board of Pardons, eligibility checker and online application for the Keystone Challenge Academy with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, a searchable directory of 300 state grant programs, property tax/rent rebate lookup tool with the Department of Revenue, and a new website and form to request through the Department of Insurance to have independent medical experts review a claim denied by their insurer.
Redesigning PA.gov for Pennsylvanians
Center for Digital Government - 2025 Government Experience Awards, Outstanding Achievement
In just seven months, CODE PA led a sweeping initiative to transform the Commonwealth’s digital front door by consolidating over 60 separate websites into a single, user-friendly platform for Pennsylvanians seeking government information and services.
The new PA.gov has significantly improved accessibility, usability, and navigation to deliver a "no wrong door" experience for users. A new, centralized Services Directory provides access to over 1,000 services through intuitive search and filtering options. Services are organized by life events, audiences, and categories, and presented in a simple, consistent format with clear explanations and contact information to ask questions. The new PA.gov is more accessible to visitors who use screen readers and keyboard navigation.
The CODE PA team logged over 370 hours of interviews and analyzed nearly 200 survey responses from over 300 Pennsylvania residents to inform the design of the new PA.gov to ensure it meets the needs and expectations of the Commonwealth’s diverse population.
Since the launch, CODE PA has continued to collaborate with state agencies to refine information about their programs and services on PA.gov to improve readability, organization, and accessibility.
Modernizing Information Technology Procurement and Policy
CODE PA collaborated with the Department of General Services to develop a more modern, transparent, and efficient IT procurement process that delivers better results for the Commonwealth and vendors.
They created a new Digital Services invitation to quality (ITQ) contract to streamline the selection of vendors experienced in updated procurement guidelines to emphasize flexible, user-centered approaches; incremental development and rapid deployment of new functionality; organizing large projects into smaller deliverables with clear, manageable scopes of work; and accessible design. CODE PA and DGS also overhauled the internal process for agencies to request new IT projects, streamlining questions by 75 percent while still gathering all necessary information, automating workflows, and allowing concurrent reviews. These improvements have cut decision-making from months to weeks to increase speed to market and the delivery of modern, secure, and accessible digital services to serve all Pennsylvanians.
This award also recognizes the Office of Administration (OA) for streamlining and simplifying information technology policies to support a more efficient procurement process. OA consolidated 93 policies into 34, renamed them with straightforward and intuitive titles, and rewrote them with assistance from generative AI to be easier to understand and aligned to common IT industry standards so that vendors can quickly verify their compliance and begin working on digital projects.
CODE PA was also recognized by NASCA in 2024 with the Innovation in State Government Award for Transformation.
Governor Josh Shapiro created CODE PA in April 2023 through an executive order to improve the Commonwealth’s websites and online services. CODE PA is part pf the Governor’s commitment to customer service and making government move at the speed of business to best serve the people of Pennsylvania. Learn more about how CODE PA is working to make digital services more user-friendly and accessible to every Pennsylvanian at CODE.pa.gov.
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