The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Immersive technology has shown real promise in treating both physical and psychological illnesses. It is taking hold at the Veterans Health Administration, enabled by a special network called the Extended Reality Network. The leaders of the team that built the network are finalists in this year's Service to America Medals Program. Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Anne Lord Bailey and Caitlin Rawlins.

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In the view of one business group, the Federal Data Strategy needs a top-to-bottom rethinking. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says the strategy simply doesn't serve the needs of a government trying to modernize and digitize. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin talked with Eric Egan, the foundation's policy fellow.

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

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You can’t tune into a webinar, go to a conference or listen to a speech by a federal technology executive these days without them slipping in a mention of generative artificial intelligence, particularly ChatGPT.

Yes, it’s the latest buzzword to join the litany of past excitement over cloud computing, robotics process automation and most recently, zero trust.

But unlike cloud or RPA or even zero trust, generative AI is striking apprehension in the hearts of federal officials.

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The State Department, facing a historic increase in passport applicants, is looking to ramp up hiring and modernize its IT systems to drive down wait times.

The State Department set a record last year when it issued about 22 million passport books and cards last year. But the department is on track to break that record and issue about 25 million passport books and cards this year — about a 15% increase from last year.

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the Bureau of Consular Affairs is seeing “historically high demand” for passport and visa services.

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The Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General, Joseph Cuffari, is hanging onto his job by a thread. He acknowledge in a hearing that he has deleted messages from his government cell phone, which at least two members of Congress say is a violation of federal records laws. They want him to resign. For the latest, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Mitchell Miller, WTOP's Capitol Hill correspondent.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seems kind of new at a mere 20 years of age. But it has a lot of really old information technology, politely called, "legacy systems." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) gave DHS a list of recommendations for modernizing. But, as you might have guessed, there's still a lot of work to do. For more, Federal Drive host Tom Temin spoke with Kevin Walsh, GAO's Director of Information Technology and Cybersecurity.

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The State Department's modernizing program includes a news emphasis on data, what is called, Data for Diplomacy. State gives annual awards to employees who advance the use of data to improve things. Federal Drive host Tom Temin's guest was recognized for how he identified challenges in collecting data about foreign assistance. Lenny Lantsman is the Program Advisor in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

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

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will scan the networks of federal agencies to help them identify any web-connected “networked management interfaces” that have become a key vulnerability in recent cyber exploits.

CISA laid out its plans under a binding operational directive issued today. It comes in the wake of a warning late last month from Microsoft — later amplified by CISA and other federal agencies — that an alleged Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, known as “Volt Typhoon,” has been using network administration tools to infiltrate critical infrastructure networks.

CISA’s directive, called BOD 23-02 “Mitigating the Risk from Internet-Exposed Management Interfaces,” describes how “recent threat campaigns underscore the grave risk to the federal enterprise posed by improperly configured network devices.”

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