The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Artificial intelligence has grown too big for anyone to ignore. Now the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in south-central Washington state, has established a center for artificial intelligence. To find out more about it, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the lab's chief scientist for artificial intelligence, Dr. Court Corley.

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On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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For the moment, the Pentagon’s transition to a new multi-billion dollar contract for household goods moves is being held up by IT integration issues between Defense Department systems and those of its prime contractor. But the long-planned overhaul faces a much more dire challenge: the possibility that almost no one in the current moving industry will take part in the new arrangement.

Movers say that’s not because they don’t want to. For them, up until now, military moves have been good business. But they argue a combination of drastically lower rates under the new contract and bureaucratic complexities stemming from the Service Contract Act would make almost every military move a money-losing proposition.

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The Army has long talked about simplifying its IT networks, and it is finally getting closer to delivering it. Over a year ago, the service’s IT portfolio consisted of 42 disparate organizational networks. It has now been consolidated to 14, and the goal is to collapse it down to one greater Army network by 2027.

“We’re probably about three years out; at least, that’s our goal. But every time we sit down with a partner, we learn something new about a network, and we go, ‘Ok, now it’s going to take a little bit longer.’ But the goal over the next three years is to collapse the last 14 [networks]. I think the Army has put the resources in place to do this. And so now it’s about time,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Eubank, the commander of Army Network Enterprise Technology Command told Federal News Network at the AFCEA Army IT day on Jan. 11.

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Farming these days is a downright scientific enterprise. Precise measurement of soil, water, air, and seed conditions all figure in. The work never stops for scientists at the Agricultural Research Service. One of them has been named a meritorious senior professional in this year's Presidential Rank Awards. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin talked with Dr. Bill Kustas.

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It is no secret the the U.S. armed forces are dealing with a recruitment shortfall. And they often cannot retain the experienced people they need. Maybe it is because of a changing military culture. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with someone who has documented what is going on in a book called, "Military Culture Shift." Corie Weathers is a licensed counselor and military spouse, who has visited troops throughout the world.

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On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin:

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House lawmakers are calling on the Department of Veterans Affairs to shed more light on an investigation of alleged sexual harassment in its office that normally deals with these types of claims.

The House VA Committee on Thursday voted 22-1 to approve a subpoena demanding more documents and records from the VA’s internal investigation.

Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) said VA employees contacted the committee in September 2023 with allegations of alleged sexual assessment and misconduct from leaders within the Office of Resolution Management, Diversity & Inclusion (ORMDI).

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Over the next year, the Office of Personnel Management is planning to expand on one recruitment strategy that has already seen small-scale success: pooled hiring.

“You’re going to see a continuing emphasis on that because it just makes sense from a resource perspective,” OPM Deputy Director Rob Shriver said in an interview with Federal News Network.

Pooled hiring takes place when one agency, who’s already hired the candidates it needs off a list of qualified applicants, then shares that list with other agencies looking to onboard candidates for the same position. It can be particularly beneficial, for instance, to agencies who may have fewer HR resources, if they can lean on larger agencies and departments for support.

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