GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts

President Joe Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence requires agencies to name chief artificial intelligence officers (CAIO). Some agencies with longstanding AI experience have named CAIOs, while others are still in the process of naming their officials. Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune and Staff Writer/Researcher Jordan McDonald analyze the state of CAIOs and the future of AI official...

The U.S. Digital Corps started out as an idea to help strengthen the federal tech workforce and was borne in August 2021 out of a collaboration between the White House, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services to transform hiring tech talent. Since then, it has placed more than 80 early-career tech and cybersec...

The Department of Homeland Security is developing a new workforce plan to bring in technical talent through initiatives like a new IT Academy. Executive Director of IT Operations Chris Granger discusses how these efforts and more are part of a broader plan at DHS to improve its services make them more equitable and accessible. Granger dives into the agency's strategic plan for the next four years...

CISA's "secure by design" framework is helping software manufacturers bake cybersecurity into products as part of an effort to implement the National Cyber Strategy that the White House released earlier this year. Cybersecurity has traditionally been treated as an afterthought in technology. CISA wants to change that. CISA Senior Advisor Lauren Zabierek discusses what it means to be secure by desi...

GovCast had a banner year in 2023, featuring dozens of interviews with federal IT leaders, officials and experts. We take a look back at the year's work around AI, zero-trust implementation and many other issues and topics facing all IT staffs throughout government. On this year-end episode of GovCast, Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune, and Staff Writers Jayla Whitfield and Jordan McDonald as they...

Former Federal Deputy CTO Jennifer Pahlka who helped found the U.S. Digital Service and other major technology programs like the Presidential Innovation Fellows has ideas for how government can leverage the opportunities in technology to advance critical services for the public. Often there is a gap between policy and implementation, especially in digital government, which can slow down modernizat...

This episode we're diving into some defense technology perspectives, specifically for the Indo-Pacific region. We recently had the opportunity to connect with leaders at the AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference in Honolulu where they shared how they're thinking about the quickly changing landscape and what it means for defense programs, software factories, cloud modernization and data centricity....

Part of tackling defense and national security challenges requires engaging academia, developing the workforce, and bringing in the next commercial technical capability or process. That's the aim of the Technology Advancement Center, a nonprofit innovating around some of the Pentagon's toughest cybersecurity and technology challenges. CEO Gregg Smith, a longstanding technology leader, discusses ho...

Every agency and every office is in a different place in their modernization journey. At the Office of Personnel Management, this path has been full of challenges that Deputy CIO Melvin Brown has worked to solve through a four pillar approach in people, process, technology and learning. Around its workforce challenges, Brown has reinvigorated an intern program to get more early-career technologist...

President Joe Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence tasks agencies with driving the safe, secure and trustworthy development of AI. The order notes that the technology, if harnessed properly, has the potential to transform privacy, cybersecurity and health care. Biden said that the order is "the most significant action any government anywhere in the world has ever taken on AI safety,...

Good ideas can come from anywhere, including the millions of public servants in the federal workforce. The General Services Administration's 10x program invests in ideas from civil servants to improve government technology and better serve the public. Sites and projects like code.gov, login.gov and the U.S. Web Design System started from ideas funded through 10x. Unique to 10x is its venture capit...

Behind large agencies like NASA is a backbone of technologists and shared services that enable the organization to seamlessly conduct its numerous missions that include those such as the high-profile Artemis and Moon to Mars. Shenandoah Speers, associate CIO of applications at NASA, has been on a mission of his own over the past five years to bring in scaled Agile frameworks that speed up its soft...

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the Department of Health and Human Services  leads the nation's medical and public health preparedness for all disasters and public health emergencies. After spending more than a decade at the Government Accountability Office, Brian Mazanec is taking on a new challenge as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director, Office of Sec...

Last month, the Office of Management and Budget released a guidance on digital customer experience. The policy guidance sets policy recommendations for agencies to make digital government services "easy to use, trustworthy and accessible." The White House's corresponding fact sheet lays out successes, challenges and the future of digital government as it evolves. GovCIO Media & Research Managing E...

The Defense Department recently released an unclassified summary of its 2023 cybersecurity strategy. The previously classified document was submitted to Congress in May. The document outlines updates to the department's plan to "operationalize the priorities" in cyberspace. GovCIO Media & Research Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune and Staff Writer/Researcher Anastasia Obis discuss what is inside th...

The Air Force Research Laboratory, the hub of innovation for the Department of the Air Force, has created a new directorate that will improve business processes to enable faster research and better decision-making. Leading this Digital Capabilities Directorate is the newly-appointed Alexis Bonnell, who concurrently serves as AFRL's first CIO. She is now charged with making the digital dominance th...

The U.S Mint is the primary manufacturer of coinage in America. In 2019, the Mint produced more than 12 billion coins. As the sole producer of coinage, the Mint also creates additional markets to improve profitability. Chief Information Officer Francis O'Hearn overseas an IT budget of nearly $60 million and breaks down how his previous leadership roles have prepared him to succeed at the Mint. Whi...

The U.S. Navy has a keen interest on the space domain. This is where key technologies like spacecraft and ground-and-control stations play an integral part in passing on intelligence and other information about the world to U.S. military services globally. The Naval Research Laboratory's Naval Center for Space Technology is one of four research directorates, and the focal point and integrator for...

The leader behind Defense Department programs like "Hacking for Defense" returns to GovCast to break down the principles behind how large organizations can innovate at speed. This speed is often cited as being the critical pace needed at the Pentagon to stay ahead of the adversary across key issues in cybersecurity, IT modernization, data sharing and more. Steve Blank co-founded the Gordian Knot C...

GovCast turns 5! The first episode published Aug. 29, 2018, featured a wide-ranging discussion with Jose Arrieta, who at the time served as the Department of Health and Human Services assistant deputy secretary. In the five years since, GovCast has hosted many leaders across the federal government, academia and industry to discuss everything from modernization to health IT to artificial intelligen...

Government IT has so many specific words and phrases that it can seem like its own language. In a special GovCast, Production Lead Alexander Bulova acts as a quiz show host to test Staff Writer/Researcher Anastasia Obis and Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune on government IT jargon on the different phrases and words everyone needs to know to keep current on government IT news.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Commissioner and CIO Sonny Bhagowalia is a longstanding leader in federal government and industry. By trade, his roots are in engineering — which has largely shaped how he views technology's and especially artificial intelligence's impact across various government missions. With technology being pervasive in "everything we do," Bhagowalia breaks d...

The latest reorganization of the Defense Innovation Unit is bringing together innovation arms under one umbrella at the Defense Department. Among these efforts includes a shift at the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) led by Cheryl Ingstad — a longstanding leader who led initiatives in artificial intelligence innovation in the public and private sectors. In her new role as deputy directo...

There's been quite a bit of development around AI in the federal government over the past year. We take a look back at how various federal leaders from different agencies are grappling with its challenges and benefits to agency missions. Tune in for more insights featuring: Taka Ariga, Chief Data Scientist, GAO Frank Indiviglio, CTO, NOAA Keith Sonderling, Commissioner, EEOC Elham Tabassi, Chief o...

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler is wrapping up his last months as deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of Naval intelligence. He joins us to talk about the challenges that lie ahead of the Navy and the Defense Department at large in the cyber domain, as well as the importance of radio frequency spectrum to maintaining the Navy's information and intelligence dominance. P...