The Government Technology Insider Podcast

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, agencies have had to transform rapidly to support the mission and modernize IT infrastructure. Through the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and 5G, agencies are able to be more effective, robust, and responsive. These innovative technologies enable agencies to complete mission critical activities quickly.These were the key themes discussed in this Government Technology Insider “The Power of AI, ML, and 5G” podcast series part one on AI, ML, and 5G implementation, where Brian Carnell, Chief AI Architect at Dell Technologies, discusses this topic further.

With the global pandemic as a large catalyst, federal agencies are looking to the cloud more and more to support everyday operations, making the ability to seamlessly monitor and manage assets in a hybrid cloud setting crucial. This functionality has become an embedded part of federal IT strategy, but many agencies are still struggling with how to take the next steps from both an execution standpoint and a budgetary standpoint.To learn more about the infrastructure and procurement planning needed to make those efforts possible, Government Technology Insider recently hosted experts from the MCP team on its podcast.Mike Buchko, VP of Sales and Marketing, Sharon Kinikin, Contracts Manager and HR Manager, and JD Reddy, Senior Sales Engineer, all offered their unique perspective on the seemingly complex process of federal agencies migrating to and operating in a hybrid cloud environment.Buchko, Kinikin, and Reddy all spoke to their respective areas of expertise as it relates to managing a hybrid cloud environment in the new federal work environment, including:• The ongoing challenges the federal space sees around cloud adoption including• Important considerations to make around the current procurement and planning process, including details about MCP’s existing BPA.• The ins and outs of tools and technologies being applied based on an agency’s specific needs like containers and Kubernetes• What next steps for a federal agency looks like in this processBuchko likened the hybrid cloud environment for federal agencies to a symphony, with each section playing its role in creating a cohesive, harmonious sound. “That's the latticework, the layer of products that we're talking about here, right? This orchestra of products that allow us to pull together what would be a cacophonous sound and turn it into something very musical and actually produce mission results.”

When it comes to supporting first responders, secure and reliable connectivity is very important. Agencies have developed innovative technology to support the wide ranging missions, especially for local police or EMS services. With 4G LTE Vehicle Internet (VI), agencies are able to create a mobile hotspot with consistent fast speeds for first responders.These solutions allow for greater connectivity, so first responders can stay focused on their mission critical work. LTE VI allows for first responders to do what needs to be done from any location with a secure, reliable connection.These were the key themes of our latest Government Technology Insider podcast, where Justin St Arnauld, Associate Director and Solution Architects at Verizon Wireless, and Steve Carr, Sales Director of Public Sectors in the Central Area at Cradlepoint, discussed how LTE VI solutions are helping first responders to successfully deliver on their missions.

IT transformation over the past decade is a story of rapidly improving automation technologies that is paving the way for long-term government mission success in everything from “Infrastructure as Code” to SaaS applications, and beyond.But what are some of the most effective automation technologies for federal agencies, and how can they use them to better support mission efforts? How does it improve security and where can agencies apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to improve operations? And how can government cyber warriors keep up with the rapidly evolving cyber threat?These were the key themes in this Government Technology Insider podcast where Mark Johnson, Vice President, Federal Cloud at Oracle, discusses the topic further.

At the border, interoperability is the key to keeping people connected. From interagency communications to agency-to-agency connectivity, the situational awareness that is provided by these solutions enables agencies to better deliver on the mission.However, there are challenges that agencies face at the border, which include needing connectivity in wide geographic areas, as well as disparate solutions that are not fully integrated with each other. But there are solutions that can help the public safety and first responder community on the border to better enhance collaboration.These were the key themes in the “Critical Communications at the Border” podcast hosted on Government Technology Insider where John Larregui, Managing Partner for Public Sector at Verizon, discussed this topic further.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is changing the way that the public sector works. By automating tasks throughout agencies, RPA is slashing budgets and improving outputs.While RPA is gaining traction with government agencies, many are still relying on paper and manual-based processes. RPA in a Box – an approach developed by local tech firm VerticalApps - helps agencies overcome barriers to entry when it comes to automating and streamlining processes by taking advantage of a framework leveraging code and domain knowledge as agencies look to adopt an enterprise RPA platform and governance solution.These were the key themes in this Government Technology Insider podcast on Robotic Process Automation where Michael Grace, Co-Owner and CTO of VerticalApps, a pioneer behind the RPA in a Box concept, and Meikle Paschal, Program Manager for Robotic Process Automation at USCIS, discuss this topic further.

While there’s a lot of momentum around government IT modernization, ensuring that progress does not stall out can be a challenge. Thankfully, many defense agencies are now developing various mandates that are propelling modernization as-a-Service forward and have full support from all levels of leadership. The new Department of Defense (DoD) Fiscal Year 2022 budget is also pushing for more research and development, which will be another driver.Providing the proof point that Modernization as-a-Service (MaaS) actually works, software factories are creating a model for all defense agencies to advance into the future of IT modernization. In addition, agile development is now core to an agency culture of being open to change where failure is an option.In the third and final installment of the Modernization as-a-Service podcast, Mike Masten, Vice President Operations at Chenega Applied Solutions, discusses the future of modernization in the federal government, and how MaaS will help agencies to continue their journey and avoid the pitfalls of past modernization efforts.

When it comes to IT modernization in government, there are a number of challenges for bringing these efforts to life. One of the critical elements is gaining senior leadership champions who make these efforts a priority. In addition, the overall acquisition process must be more agile, and sole-source contracting can allow agencies to streamline the procurement of the most-ideal innovations.For example, the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run played a major role in driving IT modernization efforts by taking a page from Silicon Valley, which has paved the way for the use of software factories and provided a platform for additional Air Force modernizing efforts.These were the key themes of part two of the Modernization as-a-Service podcast series, where Mike Masten, Vice President, Operations at Chenega Applied Solutions discusses the topic further.

While there have been many discussions around IT ‘modernization’ within the federal government, there are still many legacy systems that are still in use. For example, the Department of Defense (DoD) has a number of IT systems that are over 50 years old.This is where the concept of Modernization as-a-Service (MaaS) can come into play and bring benefits to agencies dealing with their most complex and demanding mission – national security. But modernization’s not just about technology – it’s a much broader concept and it’s important to understand and execute on it from this perspective.These were the key themes in this Government Technology Insider “Modernization as-a-Service” podcast series part one on national security where Mike Masten, Vice President of Operations at Chenega Applied Solutions, discusses this topic further.

Traditionally, when people think of the national critical infrastructure they think of the power grid, communications networks, and other physical structures that are fundamental to our society’s daily function.But one aspect of the national critical infrastructure that was often overlooked until March 2020 was healthcare and public health. While healthcare and public health are part of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors, it wasn’t until the nation was paralyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic that the security of our public health and healthcare environments became a focus for security.These were the key themes of our recent telehealth podcast series titled, “Securing American Healthcare: An Essential Part of National Critical Infrastructure,” where Cathy Lester, Managing Partner, Business Development for Healthcare at Verizon, and Greg Garcia, Executive Director of Cybersecurity for the Health Sector Coordinating Council, discuss how telehealth and the vaccine supply chain impacted security over the past year.