The Daily Scoop Podcast

The White House and the Biden administration have issued several cybersecurity modernization initiatives in recent years, from supply chain security to implementing zero trust architecture across the federal government. Federal CISO Chris DeRusha recently delivered the opening keynote address at CyberTalks detailing the latest developments in the White House’s push to improve the government’s and the nation’s cybersecurity — noting that the administration is working on version 2.0 of its National Cybersecurity Strategy implementation plan.

Back in September, before the Biden administration’s executive order on artificial intelligence, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas tapped CIO Eric Hysen to also be the department’s chief AI officer. But long before that appointment, DHS and Hysen have been steadfastly focused on building out the department’s use of AI technologies and, more importantly, ensuring they are used in a safe, responsible, ethical and unbiased manner. Hysen joins the DailyScoop Podcast now to discuss the role and how DHS wants to lead in this space. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

The Biden administration recently issued draft guidance to modernize the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, better known as FedRAMP. With that policy in draft form, the Office of Management and Budget, led by the Office of the Federal CIO, has been engaging the public to solicit feedback on the proposed guidance. And already, that effort has been quite fruitful, Drew Mkylegard, deputy federal CIO, told FedScoop recently at CyberTalks. We’ll go now to that interview for more on the direction of the FedRAMP guidance and what comes next. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

On todays episode of The Daily Scoop Podcast, we have a special interview between two of our own here at Scoop News Group. CyberScoop senior editor Elias Groll is joined by FedScoop tech reporter Rebecca Heilweil for an in-depth conversation on the Biden administration’s recent artificial intelligence executive order and how it will shape the way the government uses AI. We’ll take you now to that conversation. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The federal government is once again facing the potential of a shutdown as the current continuing resolution is set to expire at midnight Nov. 17. And while partisan politics drive the conversation around whether Congress will reach another short-term spending bill in time, it’s ultimately the American public and federal workers who will feel the impact if a stopgap measure isn’t passed. Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, joins the Daily Scoop Podcast to discuss the latest on the potential shutdown, what a lapse in funding or even a CR does to innovation in government, and what you should know if you want to be a part of the solution. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

The recently assembled, latest iteration of the Defense Innovation Board has a new executive director in Marina Theodotou, who comes to the board after leading workforce innovation readiness efforts for the Defense Acquisition University. Now in full swing, the DIB 3.0, as Theodotou calls it, is in the middle of conducting two studies — one on Lowering Barriers to Innovation and another on Building a DoD Data Economy. The Daily Scoop Podcast recently caught up with Theodotou to discuss the vision of this board, those two studies and what else is ahead — including a public meeting next week on Nov. 14. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

With the recent signing of the executive order on artificial intelligence, it will be incumbent upon the federal government to lead by example in adopting and deploying AI technologies. While that will be a whole of government effort, the General Services Administration and its Technology Transformation Services will be counted on as a central hub of tech expertise to assist other federal agencies, sharing best practices, driving recruitment of talented AI professionals, and more. To discuss that, as well as how TTS is continuing to scale and what she’s learned in her first year leading the organization is Ann Lewis, Director of Technology Transformation Services at GSA, who I spoke with at ACT-IAC’s Executive LEadership Conference in Hershey, Pa last week. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

DISA’s Hosting and Compute Center was opened in 2021 to empower the warfighter to execute at the speed of mission with cloud computing and other hosting and computing services. Now two years later, the HaCC, as it's called, is smashing its strategic goals out of the park while leading the administration of one of the largest and highest profile cloud computing contracts in all of government. Sharon Woods, the director of the HaCC, joins the Daily Scoop podcast to discuss the latest on the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, what the center has in store next, and much more. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

The federal CIO, Clare Martorana, discusses new guidance from OMB on digital experience management. They highlight the importance of improving customer experiences and service delivery, supporting agencies in meeting mandates, driving improvements in government digital experience, and collaboration in prioritizing customer needs.

Darren Ash was hired as CIO of the Department of the Interior last September. And during his first year, the longtime federal IT official, who’s served also as CIO of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the USDA Farm Service Agency among others, has been focused on delivering an IT strategic plan to guide the vision for Interior’s IT operations. Ash joins The Daily Scoop Podcast now to discuss that strategic plan, how the agency is considering emerging technologies like AI and cloud, and much more. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.