July 13, 2023

7/13/23: Stronger gov/industry collaboration; connecting strategy and execution for zero trust success; an AI integration timeline across government

32 minutes

This edition of Fed Gov Today, from the Edge23 Security Summit in San Diego, is sponsored by Splunk and Carahsoft.

Civilian and military agencies across government are building systems to collaborate more closely with industry. One of the goals of most of these cells is to learn what’s possible from industry, instead of writing lists of requirements. Don Upson is Founder and Chairman of the Government Business Executive Forum, host of Edge 23. At the conference, I asked him if he thinks government leaders are hungry to learn about solutions from industry.

The White House’s Zero Trust Strategy is generating strategies at individual agencies. Some of the timelines in the White House strategy, and the agency strategies, mean those agencies are already in tactical mode on ZT. At Edge 23, I asked Bill Rowan, Vice President of Public Sector at Splunk, what tactical steps he sees agencies taking to deliver on those strategies.

A new list of artificial intelligence competencies from the Office of Personnel Management includes 44 general competencies and 14 technical competencies. OPM says agencies can “use the AI competencies to select, assess, and train AI talent as confirmed by a job analysis.” At Edge 23, I asked Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer of the Patent and Trademark Office, what mature use of AI looks like in the federal government, and when he thinks that’s coming.

Photo: USPTO CIO Jamie Holcombe at Edge 23 in San Diego