What is different about public-sector software
- It has to be accessible to everyone, including staff, from the first release.
- It gets audited, so changes need to leave a trail someone outside the team can read.
- It lives for a long time, often longer than the team that built it.
- It is bought through procurement, which shapes software around the RFP instead of the work.
- It handles personal and sensitive records, so privacy and security are part of the design.
What we build
Our founder's background in this sector includes records, content management, crime mapping, and grant administration systems for public agencies and foundations, with multi-year engagements including LAPD and the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. Today that experience goes into case-management and records systems, public-facing portals, internal tools, and modernization of the systems agencies already depend on.
How we work with procurement and program teams
- A short intro call to see whether we are a fit. If we are not, we will say who is.
- A fixed-fee discovery that ends in a written plan you own.
- Two-week delivery increments with working software in your environment from week one.
- A real handoff, with documentation, runbooks, and working sessions until your team is comfortable owning it.
Accessibility, auditability, and security
We build to WCAG 2.2 AA from the first commit and hold internal tools to the same standard as public-facing ones. Every meaningful change leaves a trail, following the practices behind SOC 2 controls whether or not certification is on the table. We have shipped under privacy laws and PCI-DSS.
Serving people in their own language
Public services reach people who speak many languages. Radar Blue's own product, WelcomeOath, teaches the U.S. citizenship test in 23 languages and grades spoken English practice, which gave us hands-on practice with multilingual content, speech, and careful handling of what is ready to publish and what is not. Lorena Coelho, our lead strategist and creative director, is a bilingual (Portuguese and English) communicator with experience in government communications.
Common questions
- Do you replace our compliance, security, or procurement teams?
- No. We work alongside them. Your specialists own sector frameworks like FedRAMP, CJIS, PCI DSS, and GDPR, and we engineer with their requirements in mind.
- Can we take your discovery work to another vendor?
- Yes. You own the artifacts from discovery. If you take them to another vendor, that is fine.
- We already have a vendor. Can you still help?
- Yes. A second opinion on a proposal, an architecture, or a stalled project is a common starting point, and we do not bid on work we recommend during a review.
- How do you avoid lock-in?
- We default to open-source tools, build with your team in the codebase from day one, and finish engagements with documentation, runbooks, and working sessions so your team can own the system.