Fed Gov Today

This show is sponsored by EY. The federal government is beginning month eight of work on the White House’s plan for “Delivering a Digital First Public Experience.” That work, and work tech leaders from other countries are doing around the world, was the focus of an event in Washington recently called Government DX. Dozens of US federal government leaders joined their peers from around the world, o...

The Department of Energy says it’s planning for technology that might not exist for ten years or more. Given the leaps in tech in the past ten years, leaders say that planning requires great flexibility. Brian Epley is Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Energy Department. At the ACT-IAC Climate Change Summit recently, he tells me about the partnerships he wants to help maximize that flexibili...

The federal government is missing a “prime opportunity” to cut the size and cost of its real estate footprint, according to the Public Buildings Reform Board . The board finds the government is missing modernization opportunities too. Dan Mathews, a member of the Public Buildings Reform Board and former commissioner of the Public Buildings Service at the General Services Administration, details wh...

Today, a special program. Monday I hosted the Chiefs Panel, the opening event of the Sea Air Space conference. My thanks to the Navy League of the United States, the hosts of Sea Air Space, for inviting me to moderate the Chiefs Panel. You’ll hear that event on the program today, with the Chief of Naval Operations… Admiral Lisa Franchetti; the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Chri...

The President’s Management Agenda doesn’t include an explicit mention of shared services. But one leader says there are plenty of references that imply agencies should use shared services. Chad Clifford is Executive Director of the Grants Quality Service Management Office at the Department of Health and Human Services . At ACT-IAC’s Shared Services Summit at the Carahsoft Conference Center in Rest...

Accenture Federal Services sponsors this edition of the Fed Gov Today podcast. The Defense Department says its Cyber Workforce Framework will be a key tool in developing the team that will implement the department’s cyber strategy. That framework comes out of a directive called 8140.01. Matthew Isnor is Program Lead for Cyberspace Workforce Development in the office of the Chief Information Office...

The Navy League sponsors this edition of the Fed Gov Today podcast. The Office of Naval Intelligence is delivering three new cloud-based capabilities that it says will “ revolutionize the delivery of critical ONI intelligence, data and development tools to the fleet. ” Zeke Maldonado is Chief Information Officer and Director of Technology and Innovation at the Office of Naval Intelligence. At West...

The Transportation Security Administration is testing touchless ID at several airports across the country . The goal is to make clearing security easier and faster for travelers. Kristin Ruiz is Deputy Chief Information Officer at TSA. At the ACT-IAC Digital Transformation Summit recently, she tells me why the project is a good example of TSA’s approach to digital transformation. The Office of Per...

Agency leaders tell me the digital transformation efforts they’re undertaking are focused on mission and not just better technology. One mission outcome that’s becoming - or already is - important to agencies is customer experience. Beth Martin is a digital services expert at the Office of Personnel Management . At the ACT-IAC Digital Transformation Summit recently, she tells me how OPM is merging...

The Air Force Research Lab digital transformation strategy has four key components: faster research, streamlined transitions, better decisions, and low-friction business and operations. The leader of that transformation at AFRL says she sees five deadly sins for digital transformation. Alexis Bonnell is CIO and Director of the Digital Capabilities Directorate at AFRL. At the ACT IAC Digital Transf...

“ Government Can Deliver ” is a rallying cry of technologists and program leaders all across government. It’s also the title of the new book from the former Chief Information Officer at the IRS and DHS, Richard Spires . My thanks to Richard for the invitation to MC a book signing event at the headquarters of the Partnership For Public Service yesterday. At that event, I ask Richard what prompted h...

The General Services Administration is rolling out several artificial intelligence projects to make the jobs of its contracting officers easier. Several of those projects revolve around automating tasks. Jeff Koses is Senior Procurement Executive at GSA. At ACT IAC’s AI Procurement Forum at Carahsoft headquarters in Reston, he says his agency has a lot going on in the acquisition AI space. The kin...

The artificial intelligence executive order the White House released in October calls for agencies to “improve A-I procurement.” Agencies may soon actually start to use AI to do that. Polly Hall is Senior Advisor to the Chief Procurement Officer at the Department of Homeland Security. At ACT IAC’s AI Procurement Forum recently at Carahsoft headquarters in Reston, she says the use cases for AI in a...

The Department of Veterans Affairs lists three items among its highlights for 2023. The Chief Technology Officer, Charles Worthington, and CIO Kurt DelBene named VA’s Health and Benefits mobile app; improvements to VA.gov; and expanding the online Veterans Legacy Memorial program as those three items on the latest episode of the Office of Information and Technology’s monthly LinkedIn Live series,...

The newest “ Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy ” from the Chief Digital and AI office at the Pentagon focuses on the convergence of those three elements. Experts believe the impact on warfighting will be profound. Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan (USAF ret.) is former director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. He’s writing about AI and geopolitics , and we discuss wha...

The Air Force will apply data to determine readiness of pilots. That’s one of a number of areas the Air Force will apply data… to measure its success. Colt Whittall is Founder and CEO of BRAVO17, and former Chief Experience Officer of the Air Force. He linked to an article on LinkedIn titled “ Readiness Redefined But Not Measured ” where the author, Matthew Ross, writes about the pilot readiness d...

A new National Defense Industrial Strategy is coming from the Pentagon any day now. The model to operationalize that strategy already exists in the MRAP story , according to Jerry McGinn . He’s Executive Director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University , and former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base. He’s writing ab...

Some of the numbers for your TSP will change in 2024, and some will stay the same. And, the TSP is digging into a social science. Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, tells you what’s changing , and how the TSP is trying to get its message across better with social science. Civilian agencies in the federal government have thousands of use case...

Federal agencies have a roadmap now for delivering digital-first experiences to the customers they serve. The guidance the Office of Management and Budget calls “ Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience ” can be a roadmap for the vendor community too, according to Clare Martorana, the Chief Information Officer of the United States. On Fed Gov Today TV recently , I asked her what she meant by...

This podcast is sponsored by SAP Concur. The Chief Information Officer of the Navy, Jane Rathbun , says her service’s enterprise work platform, Flank Speed , will be the foundation of the Navy’s zero trust effort. The Navy stood up Flank Speed when the pandemic forced almost the entire service into remote work. Darren Turner , chief technologist for the Department of Navy Chief Technology Office,...

A change may be coming to your Thrift Savings Plan account. The TSP will use a new benchmark for the International Fund .  Kim Weaver, Director of External Affairs at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, explains what the change means for participants, and what differences, if any, you’ll see in your account. A theoretical shift is under way at the Patent and Trademark Office. That shif...

The new Chief Information Officer at the Interior Department is the old CIO at the Farm Service Agency at the Agriculture Department. Darren Ash moved from USDA to Interior a little more than a year ago. He worked closely at USDA with that agency’s CIO, Gary Washington. At AFCEA Bethesda’s Energy, Infrastructure, and Environment Summit recently, I hosted a discussion with Darren and Gary. To begin...

The General Services Administration is pioneering human centered design in a number of areas. One of those areas in acquisition. Mike Shepherd is Director of the Catalog Management Office at GSA. At ELC 2023 , I ask him about the state of the art in human-centered design in contracting. More than half of agencies have moved off legacy telecom contracts, onto the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions...

A reorg is complete inside the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration. The Commissioner of FAS, Sonny Hashmi, told you about it on the Nov. 1st Fed Gov Today podcast (if you missed it, you can listen on demand at FedGovToday.com). At ELC 2023, Laurie MacNamara, Chief Customer Officer at TTS within FAS, says the position TTS has, and she has within it, are unique. Agile...

This Special Fed Gov Today podcast is sponsored by Verizon . The Labor Department’s customer experience efforts include its response to a major piece of legislation. The American Rescue Plan Act features several services the Labor Department provides. Lesley Sheffield, Senior IT Project Manager for ARPA Unemployment Insurance Modernization at Labor, details the path that Labor has taken to moderni...