The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton

Cybersecurity poses a never-ending challenge to federal information technology people. Now supply chain security has jumped into the pile of concerns. One chief information officer has put cyber defense at the center of her efforts. At the ACT-IAC executive leadership conference earlier this week in Hershey Pennsylvania, I caught up with Energy Department CIO Ann Dunkin. I asked her about whether all those Energy Labs make up a special supply chain risk.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to technology, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has always been a unicorn. The agency has about 95% of its online applications in the cloud. It was on the zero trust journey well before there was a bandwagon. Rob Brown is USCIS chief technology officer. At the ACT-IAC Conference earlier this week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Brown told Federal News Network's Jason Miller about plans to break new technology ground by hiring a director of user experience.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Navy spent $18.4 billion on small business prime contracts last year. Navy officials want to create even more opportunities for small businesses in fiscal 2023, and hold large contractors accountable for their subcontracting commitments. For more, Federal News Network’s Justin Doubleday.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The COVID-19 pandemic stretched the healthcare community to the limits, underscoring the need to further enhance public health resources across the country. In a move towards that goal, AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have launched the new Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) to support the recruitment, training and development of the next generation of public health leaders. The Federal Drive had the chance to speak with Michael Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps to find out how this new facet of his agency will work.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Contractors trying to develop artificial intelligence applications for the government face a challenge. Namely, a good data set for training the algorithms. Now a big, new, federally-oriented dataset is coming from an unlikely source. The Federal Drive got the details from Bloomberg Government reporter Josh Axlerod.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reliance on the U.S. military's special forces has increased steadily over the past 20 years. More operations using more people in more trouble spots. Auditors have found that the Special Operations Command has trouble with oversight of its command and control, or C2, structures. Partly this is a data problem. For details, the Federal Drive turns to the director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Office, Cary Russell.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Education Department's Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has had some ongoing issues with public servants meeting relatively strict eligibility requirements. The department has tried to fix the problem with a limited-time waiver, but it leaves a few questions unanswered about the future of the program. With less than a week before the temporary waiver expires, the Office of Personnel Management is also sharing how agencies can help federal employees with their PSLF applications. Joining the Federal Drive with more, Federal News Network’s Drew Friedman.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A union seeks emergency funding for the Social Security Administration to rebuild its depleted workforce. The American Federation of Government Employees Council 220 is asking Congress for $16.5 billion to support SSA for the rest of fiscal 2023. More than half the funding would go toward hiring more employees. The SSA workforce is at its lowest headcount in decades. For an update, Federal News Network’s Jory Heckman joined the Federal Drive with more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alliant 3. To those in the know, this is the name of a promising new governmentwide acquisition contract for technology services. The request for proposals is now out, and open for comments. One move by the General Services Administration threatens the whole deal, in the view of our next guest. The Federal Drive's Tom Temin spoke with Federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last month the European Commission drafted a law called the Cyber Resilience Act. Its an extensive framework aimed at improving cybersecurity in the E-. For the implications on this side of the Atlantic, the Federal Drive turned to the senior policy analyst at the ITIF Center for Data Innovation, Kir Nuthi.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.