Fed Gov Today

Twelve recommendations to strengthen the inspector general community are part of a new book from the former IG at the Departments of Justice and Defense. Glenn Fine was Inspector General at Justice from 2000 to 2011, and the acting IG at DoD from 2016 to 2020. His book is titled “Watchdogs: Inspectors General and the Battle for Honest and Accountable Government.” In this conversation, he'll tell you what's behind those recommendations, and what new IGs in government should know about the job that's ahead of them.

The Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration has a unique opportunity to reshape itself, and that reshaping could happen through five ideas. That’s according to Larry Allen, President of Allen Federal Business Partners. He’s writing about those five ideas in his “Week Ahead” newsletter, and he explains his five ideas on today’s show.More than 35,000 professionals inside the Defense Department make up the pricing and contracting workforce. The composition of that workforce, and the skills they need to do the job, are changing as technology and other factors change. At the National Contract Management Association’s World Congress recently, John Tenaglia, Principal Director for Defense Pricing and Contracting at the Defense Department, tells me he looks at talent building in two different ways.The Thrift Savings Plan’s Converge record-keeping system is more than two years old now. The TSP encountered a number of problems with the deployment of the system starting in July of 2022. Jennifer Franks, Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office, reviewed the implementation of the system, and tells you what she found.

This podcast is sponsored by Presidio Federal and IBM.New guidance to overhaul FedRAMP is out from the Office of Management and Budget. OMB Director Shalanda Young writes the guidance “is responsive to developments in Federal cybersecurity and substantial changes to the commercial cloud marketplace that have occurred since the program was established.” One of the changes Director Young refers to there is the emergence of the multi-cloud model. Beau Houser, Chief Information Security Officer at the Census Bureau, describes his agency’s multi-cloud journey, and what it had to do to get where it’s gone.The cloud security that Beau Houser talked about building at Census, and in collaboration with other statistical agencies, contributes to another important executive branch priority. Agency leaders tell me just about all of the customer experience enhancement applications they use live in the cloud. Philip Carruthers, Cyber Domain Strategy Leader for IBM Public Sector, explains how to leverage the intersection of the cloud and CX.Customs and Border Protection is almost two years into its most recent IT strategic plan. The CIO at CBP, Sonny Bhagowalia, includes Core Enterprise Cloud Computing as one of the objectives of that strategic plan. Mark James, Executive Director of the Enterprise Cloud Services Division at CBP, tells you how CBP is building cloud into its IT strategy, and how it knows that the agency is executing that strategy successfully.

Presented by Booz AllenEvan Carey, Acting Director at the National Artificial Intelligence Institute, Department of Veterans Affairs discusses the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its efforts to integrate AI into its operations to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of medical documentation and community care records. The VA is focusing on using AI to streamline the creation of documentation, particularly for encounters with veterans, and to manage the complex and often voluminous documentation received from community care providers. This involves developing a robust infrastructure to support AI technologies, including testing and integration phases. The discussion also explores how AI could lead to significant workflow redesigns, particularly in improving the handling of large data sets and ensuring data security and privacy. Emphasis is placed on the ongoing need for infrastructure that bridges the gap between technological advancements and practical clinical applications.Bryan Castle, Director of AI Engineering at Booz Allen provides insights into how organizations are approaching the adoption and scaling of AI technologies. He explains that while some organizations are beginning with small-scale, research-focused AI projects, others are establishing large, centralized AI functions. The discussion highlights the necessity of a multidisciplinary workforce to effectively implement and scale AI solutions, akin to the diverse expertise needed to develop and distribute a vaccine. Cassels also discusses the role of open-source frameworks in AI, noting that Booz Allen's open-source framework, Assemble, is designed to provide flexible, future-proof solutions that can adapt to new innovations and avoid vendor lock-in. This approach helps organizations overcome common challenges, such as operationalizing AI and transitioning from experimental to enterprise-level implementations.Alexis Bonnell, CIO and Director of Digital Capabilities Directorate at the Air Force Research Lab discusses the development and objectives of the NIPR GPT project, a generative AI initiative aimed at improving knowledge accessibility and reducing bureaucratic workload for military and intelligence personnel. The project began with the recognition that AI could transform the way knowledge is accessed and utilized, moving beyond traditional data organization methods. The initiative was driven by a volunteer team motivated by the potential to enhance information retrieval and make it easier for users to engage with critical knowledge. The discussion covers the practical aspects of implementing AI, including understanding user needs, developing infrastructure, and shaping policies to support the project’s goals.

The Defense Department’s new Fulcrum IT Advancement Strategy includes four lines of effort. One of them is focused on customer experience. Savan Kong is Senior Advisor in the User Experience Portfolio Management Office in the Office of the CIO at DoD. At TechNet Cyber recently, he tells me his office is driving what customer experience looks like across the department.One of the jobs of the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Headquarters DoD Information Network is what it calls “organizing the cyber battlespace”. Dell Foster is one of the DODIN leaders responsible for that. He’s Executive Director of JFHQ DODIN. At TechNet Cyber 2024, he tells me what that term means to him.The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health will look for solutions from small businesses through a new funding opportunity. It’s one way ARPA-H is trying to leverage special contracting authority the agency has. Ben Bryant is Deputy Director for the Business Innovation Division at ARPA-H. At the ACT-IAC Health I-T Summit recently, I asked him how that special contracting authority works.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT inside the Department of Health and Human Services has prepared the draft “2024-2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan”. At the ACT-IAC Health Innovation Summit recently, Peter Karras, Deputy Director for the Strategic Planning and Coordination Division at ONC, tells me the strategy is both a progression and an evolution.ACT-IAC Vision 2030: the Federal Tech Revolution

No matter who wins the presidential election this November, a new round of political appointees is likely to make its way to Capitol Hill to seek the approval of the Senate. Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro (USMC ret.) will probably be involved in helping at least some of them prepare for confirmation. Arnold’s new book, "If Confirmed: An Insider’s View of the National Security Confirmation Process," is exactly what the title says it is. Arnold’s guided thousands of appointees through the confirmation process in his decades on the Hill, including a dozen Secretaries of Defense, and a dozen Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Arnold takes you through the confirmation process as only an insider could, with stories and advice on what you can expect if the next administration, or a future one, calls on you to serve.

The new Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers Council just passed the six-month mark of its existence. The White House Executive Order on AI specifies that every agency should designate a Chief AI Officer. Two leaders who’ve led AI efforts at agencies are writing about what agencies should look for in those CAIOs. Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan (USAF ret.) was the first Director of the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (Project Maven) and the first Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center at DOD. Joel Meyer is President of Public Sector at Domino Data Lab. He’s former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategic Initiatives, where he helped stand up DHS’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force. Jack and Joel are writing about “The CAIO’s role in driving AI success across the federal government.” Joel askes in a separate piece, “Can the US government compete for the world’s best AI talent?” They join me for a deep dive into how the Federal government can find success in AI.

The Thrift Savings Plan is on a new glidepath. That path should help its members… that are investing for the long term. Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the TSP, tells what the path is, and how it will work.The Central Intelligence Agency is building a chatbot to help its people verify open-source information quickly. The agency’s working with other members of the intelligence community to create the bot. On the newest Fed Gov Today TV, I asked Randy Nixon, Director of the Open Source Enterprise at the Central Intelligence Agency, who he wants to use the bot, and what he wants them to do with it.

This Fed Gov Today podcast is sponsored by Microsoft.Today’s show is “Innovating on the Frontlines: Securing the Future with AI and Cybersecurity.” The evolving intersection of security and AI is the focus today. Leaders from the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, and the Department of Defense will tell you where their organizations are, and where they’re going on security and AI; and how they’ll get there. DHS has several pilot programs in place now to leverage generative AI. It will judge the success of those programs on several metrics. Chris Kraft, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for AI and Emerging Technology at DHS, tells you what those programs are, and how the agency will judge them.The acceleration of AI use is causing military and civilian agencies to rethink their cybersecurity strategies. The path to doing that is taking two tracks. Vishal Amin, General Manager of Defense Security at Microsoft, tells you how to merge security and AI for success now, and in the future.Cyber and AI professionals in government usually talk to me about their work from two perspectives: securing applications, and using AI for security. At the ACT-IAC Emerging Tech and Innovation Conference recently, Danielle Metz, Director of Information Management and Technology, and Deputy Chief Information Officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, tells me using and securing AI in the Pentagon is a work in progress.