Since the creation of the U.S. Digital Service in 2014, several federal agencies have chartered associated offshoots, like the VA, the DOD, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, injecting modern, digital principles into the mission work at those agencies. At CMS in particular, the digital service team plays an integral role working to transform how the federal government delivers healthcare to the American people. Andrea Fletcher is the head of that team, and she joins me in part one of a two-part episode for a wide-ranging discussion on the history of Digital Service at CMS, the major themes and challenges the team faces, and what’s next.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is using artificial intelligence to mine tips about potential threats but is revealing little about how the system actually works. Specifically, the bureau is using a system it calls the “Complaint Lead Value Probability” to prioritize tips by conducting algorithm scores and triaging, according to two versions of an agency AI disclosure. The technology, which is meant to help sort through the tips the FBI receives, is one of several AI tools employed by a bureau that also uses Amazon’s Rekognition software and drug signature algorithms.

The Department of Labor is spelling out how artificial intelligence can boost job quality without harming the rights of workers, releasing a roadmap last week that aims to empower workforces in underserved communities as use of the emerging technology proliferates. The 17-page document, titled “Artificial Intelligence and Worker Well-Being: Principles and Best Practices for Developers and Employers,” details eight key priorities for AI companies and management to follow that are intended to keep the focus on “centering worker empowerment and well-being.”

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not use any legacy IT, having either decommissioned or modernized all of its systems, according to the independent agency’s chief information officer. In an interview with FedScoop last week, NRC CIO Scott Flanders said that even though the agency has turned the page on systems defined by the Government Accountability Office as “outdated or obsolete,” there is still work to be done for modernization and evaluation of the agency’s technology stack.

One of the country’s leading generative AI startups is urging congressional leadership to take action on a trio of safety, data and definitional priorities for the emerging technology before the end of the year. In a letter sent Thursday from Alexandr Wang to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the Scale AI founder and chief executive officer applauded the lawmakers for bipartisan AI regulatory work this Congress while “strongly” pressing the quartet to include in a potential year-end legislative package three “key AI priorities that will better position the United States to become a global leader in AI development and deployment.”

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Ahead of the Google Public Sector Summit on Wednesday, Oct. 16, Karen Dahut, the CEO of the organization, joined the Daily Scoop Podcast to preview this year’s event and share her thoughts on some of the top trends in the public sector technology space. Of course, artificial intelligence adoption was a key topic of our discussion, but she also detailed the remaining need for agencies to prioritize continued cloud adoption and security.

Login.gov, the single sign-on platform provided by the General Services Administration, will begin offering a new identity verification option to its partners. GSA’s new option will verify identity with facial recognition technology through the independently certified NIST 800-63 Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2), a standard that introduces the need for either remote or physically present identity proofing, according to a Wednesday press release.

A final rule announced by the White House on Thursday will further codify and clarify responsibilities for U.S. agencies when it comes to accurate and trusted federal statistics. Specifically, the regulation will outline how federal statistical agencies should carry out responsibilities to produce information that’s relevant and timely, credible and accurate, objective, and protects the trust of respondents and those providing the information by ensuring confidentiality of responses. That final rule, also known as the “Trust Regulation,” was posted for public inspection Thursday and will officially be published in the Federal Register on Friday.

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on a new strategic plan for the use of artificial intelligence across the entire breadth of its mission, the department’s top AI official said Tuesday. Micky Tripathi — HHS’s acting chief AI officer and its assistant secretary for technology policy — said at the NVIDIA AI Summit in Washington, D.C., that the AI strategic plan should arrive sometime in January and that it will span “the entire, you know, sort of breadth of what the department covers.

Budget constraints on research and development are limiting science and technology efforts across the federal landscape, according to a quadrennial White House report released this week and a top Biden administration official.The Quadrennial Science and Technology Review Report, unveiled Monday, noted that federal agencies are working to manage current funding for federally funded R&D, but the administration is in a position where it must “continue advocating for robust” levels.

Scoop News Group is thrilled to announce the winners of the FedScoop 50 awards for 2024! Now in their 13th year, the FedScoop 50 awards honor the most impactful leaders in the federal government who strive each day to leverage technology to transform government. Scoop News Group once again experienced record voting for the FedScoop 50 in 2024, receiving more than 1 million votes across five categories. As the Biden administration comes to a close, and the federal government prepares for a period of transition, it’s an apt time to reflect on the transformation ushered in over the past year at the hands of selfless government officials and industry partners dedicated to bringing progress to our nation and the American people.

The Energy Department could be a key force in counteracting the “profit motive” driving America’s leading artificial intelligence companies, the agency’s second-in-command said in an interview. DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk told FedScoop that top AI firms aren’t motivated to pursue all the use cases most likely to benefit the public, leaving the U.S. government — which maintains a powerful network of national labs now developing artificial intelligence infrastructure of their own — to play an especially critical role. Turk’s comments come as the Energy Department pushes forward with a series of AI initiatives. One key program is the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology, or FASST effort, which is meant to advance the use of powerful datasets maintained by the agency in order to develop science-forward AI models.

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If you missed FedTalks last month, you missed a fantastic panel on how federal agencies are preparing for the age of quantum. Fresh off of NIST’s release of new post-quantum cryptography standards, Nick Polk, Branch Director for Federal Cybersecurity, Executive Office of the President; Ann Dunkin, CIO of the Department of Energy; and Michael Hayduk, Deputy Director, Information Directorate, Quantum, Air Force Research Laboratory discussed what’s ahead as they look to secure federal systems and information from attacks powered by quantum computers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute is seeking information on the development of chemical and biology-focused artificial intelligence models. In a Federal Register posting, the AISI said it is specifically interested in potential benchmarks and evaluation tools for understanding these models, as well as guidance on mitigating the kind of security risks they might raise.

As the Department of Defense experiments with biometric devices to better track the health and wellness of personnel, it issued a $96 million award last week to Finnish health technology company Oura to put its smart rings and services in the hands of service members. While the department didn’t specify in the award announcement how many rings would be purchased under the firm-fixed-price contract — the rings retail for $299-$349 — it explains that the contract will also provide a suite of data analytics services the Pentagon’s health arm can use to take action on the biometric information generated by the devices.

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Agencies’ reporting required on various website and digital services benchmarks required by the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act is often incomplete and inconsistent, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The congressional watchdog found that full compliance with the 2018 law — which mandates annual reports from the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies on federal website standards and eight modernization requirements — is lacking, resulting in submitted reports with “varying levels of content and detail.”

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New federal guidance for acquiring artificial intelligence solutions directs U.S. agencies to take steps to manage risks, promote competition and share information within the executive branch. The White House Office of Management and Budget on Thursday publicly released its anticipated memorandum on responsible AI acquisition in government (M-24-18), charting an initial path forward for agencies to buy products that use the booming technology in a safe and responsible way and placing new criteria on those contracts.

T​​he federal government is in a “great place” following an agencywide deadline on zero-trust architecture implementation and now looking ahead to more challenging aspects of the cybersecurity model, according to a White House official. Mike Duffy, the acting federal chief information security officer, said in an interview with FedScoop that the next phase of zero-trust architecture implementation will focus largely on operations, taking near-term technical controls and leveraging those into a “longer-term technology transformation effort” and more defensible architectures.

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The General Services Administration is conducting market research through the agency’s eBuy program for the CIO Modernization and Enterprise Transformation II (COMET II), which is anticipated to be worth up to $1 billion. The request for quotes, which was shared in an email with FedScoop, aims to provide industry with the draft COMET II Performance Work Statement (PWS) as well as gain feedback on the initial task orders and the PWS.

Also: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is pushing forward on its oversight of federal post-quantum cryptography migration, unveiling a strategy document last week that details how the agency intends to monitor and assess governmentwide progress on the transition. The public release of CISA’s guidance on Friday, required by a 2022 Office of Management and Budget memorandum on migrating to post-quantum cryptography, lays out plans for the deployment of automated cryptography discovery and inventory (ACDI) tools to aid agencies as they work to inventory any IT systems or assets that may contain vulnerable cryptography.

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