The Buzz with ACT-IAC

As a follow up from our recent episode about digital transformation, this week The Buzz presents an interview with Dan Anthony, Senior Vice President and CIO of FedNow, a new digital payment rail being developed by the Federal Reserve - the first since ACH was introduced roughly 50 years ago. Erika Flora , one of the authors of ACT-IAC's digital transformation case study, interviewed Dan to u...

For those outside of the acquisitions community, the practices, policies and processes of federal procurement can seem quite impenetrable. But given that the US Government spent more than $665 billion on contracts in 2020, it is not a subject to be ignored. To that end, The Buzz with ACT-IAC  presents: Demystifying Procurement - a series designed to take you through the ins and outs of this comple...

While emerging technologies like Robotic Process Automation, 5G,  and Quantum Computing may capture our imaginations (and headlines), there is more to digital transformation than buying a shiny new toy. As a new case study from ACT-IAC's ITMM Community of Interest details, digital transformation is about more than the tools we use, but rather the people who build, use, and maintain the tools,...

This week, the Buzz presents a recording from ACT-IAC's 2012 Executive Leadership Conference. That year's theme was "“Charting a Course Through Changing Times", so renowned theoretical physicist, author and futurist Dr. Michio Kaku took the stage to present a vision of how society would change as a result of technological advances in the far-off year of 2020. Admittedly, not ev...

For those outside of the acquisitions community, the practices, policies and processes of federal procurement can seem quite impenetrable. But given that the US Government spent more than $665 billion on contracts in 2020, it is not a subject to be ignored. To that end, The Buzz with ACT-IAC  presents: Demystifying Procurement - a series designed to take you through the ins and outs of this comple...

One of the many, many consequences of our current global pandemic has been the severe  disruption of supply chains. Our nation's economy has lurched and stumbled along these past two years, plagued by variable labor markets, demand shifts and shipping bottlenecks. Unfortunately, the next global emergency may not be far off, so government leaders and industry groups are looking for ways to bui...

It's no secret that the US transportation system is built around the car. Compared to other developed countries, our cities are less walkable, less bikeable, and have less robust public transit networks. Roughly 87% of miles traveled in the US are by car, and this has enormous consequences for the health and welfare of individuals and communities . Traffic, accidents, air pollution, space ded...

For those outside of the acquisitions community, the practices, policies and processes of federal procurement can seem quite impenetrable. But given that the US Government spent more than $665 billion on contracts in 2020, it is not a subject to be ignored. To that end, The Buzz with ACT-IAC  presents: Demystifying Procurement - a series designed to take you through the ins and outs of this comple...

This week on The Buzz, the final episode of 2021! This year has brought plenty of change, challenge and adaptation to the government IT community, and the next year looks to bring even more. To help us look forward to 2022, The Buzz is joined by ACT-IAC's very own CEO, Dave Wennergren. On this episode, Dave gives his perspective on the Biden-Harris Management Agenda, the importance of governm...

Although Bitcoin has been around since 2009, it is only in the past couple of years that cryptocurrency has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar industry. The lack of regulation governing crypto assets led SEC chair Gary Gensler to liken the market to the "wild west", with thousands of different coins and platforms and fortunes made and lost overnight. Governments the world over are taki...

This week, The Buzz presents a recorded session from Imagine Nation ELC 2021. Harvard Business School professor Mitchell Weiss took the stage (virtually) this year to talk about his book, "We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems", in which he advocates for a public service model that incorporates entrepreneurship, experimentation, and crea...

Back in September, the Buzz previewed a virtual Shark Tank competition hosted by ACT-IAC's Emerging Tech and Acquisitions COI (you can listen to that episode here ). The question competitors sought to answer was " How can emerging technologies help streamline the acquisition lifecycle ?" This week, host Colin Larsen talks with the winners of that event to discuss where these ideas c...

After attending Imagine Nation ELC 2021 in Hershey, PA last week, The Buzz returns with an in-person ICYMI from the event. On the final day of the conference, Darby Chellis Bade , Vice President of EPA Programs and Executive Lead at GDIT, sat down with Department of Energy CIO Ann Dunkin to discuss one of greatest public policy challenges of our time - resilient infrastructure. In this session, th...

The field of Artificial Intelligence has grown in leaps and bounds over the last decade. The rapid development of AI technologies brings with it an equally rapid transformation of our communities, economies, and individual lives. As we integrate more of these AI systems into our world, we will need to consider the challenges and risks they pose to our society. Fortunately, the National Institute f...

ACT-IAC's largest annual conference, Imagine Nation ELC, is coming up from November 7-9! This week on The Buzz, host Colin Larsen chats with members of the conference's executive committee to give listeners an idea of what to expect this year. First, Maria Roat, the government chair, and Jonathan Benett, the industry chair, highlight some of the exciting speakers and sessions during the...

This week, The Buzz with ACT-IAC celebrates Sandy Barsky’s retirement from the General Services Administration (GSA) after an almost 40-year career in government. In this episode, Sandy sits down with Todd Hager, Industry Chair of ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technology Community of Interest (COI) and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Macro Solutions, to reflect on a career that began as a GS-3 sup...

The United States produces almost 300 million tons of municipal solid waste per year - everything from food to furniture to packaging to electronics. Everything we throw away has to end up somewhere, and the practices and policies that govern this process have a profound effect on our natural world. As we consider ways to combat and mitigate the threat of resilient infrastructure, we will have to...

This week, The Buzz presents a recording from ACT-IAC's 2021 CX Summit. The pandemic has increased the public's expectations and the government's drive towards the delivery of digital services to the public and to its employees. This panel discussion focused on some concrete ways that federal agencies have utilized contact centers to reach diverse and underserved audiences, and the...

The Buzz with ACT-IAC presents COVID Conversations - reflections on life and work during this historic time period with members of the ACT-IAC community. This week, host Colin Larsen is joined by Brian Whittaker, Chief Experience Officer at FDIC* and host of The Buzz's CX discussion series. Brian shares insights about his job transition during the pandemic, learning how to lead a remote workf...

On October 14th, ACT-IAC’s Emerging Technology and Acquisition Communities of Interest (COIs) will be hosting a Shark Tank competition focused on making acquisitions easier, faster, and simpler. Government agencies, academia, and industry will have an opportunity to pitch ideas on how federal government can leverage emerging technologies to solve federal acquisition challenges. On this episode, to...

This week, The Buzz presents a recording from ACT-IAC's archives. ACT-IAC's 2020 CX Summit occurred in a particularly challenging year for customer experience. COVID-19  spotlighted the gaps in agencies where progress hadn't happened.  while also highlighting agencies where those improvements had already been made. The virtual event was closed out by a fireside chat between Kathy Co...

With the end of the federal fiscal year fast approaching, agencies will be looking to use their leftover budget in a rush of 4th-quarter contracts. How can government and industry work together to ensure those end-of-year dollars are best spent to maximize an agency's mission objectives? To answer that question this week, The Buzz is joined by Greg Giddens , former CAO & Exec Dir, Office...

CX Community of Interest leader Brian Whittaker hosts another interview with a customer experience difference-maker in the federal government. This week, Brian sits down with Amber Chaudhry, Customer Experience Lead at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. They discuss Amber's work streamlining customer experience at her previous role at the SBA, adjusting to a new workplace during the pandemic,...

The Buzz with ACT-IAC presents COVID Conversations - reflections on life and work during this historic time period with members of the ACT-IAC community. This week, host Colin Larsen is joined by Renee Wynn, former CIO at NASA, who shares her experience helping NASA transition to a remote environment, her strategies for promoting human connection as a manager, and her plans and goals for the futur...

This week, The Buzz with ACT-IAC bids a fond farewell to Soraya Correa, who retired last month after a 40-year career in government.  In this episode, Soraya sits down in conversation with colleague Harrison Smith, Director of Enterprise Digitization at the IRS, to reflect on a career that began as a GS-4 clerk typist in 1980, and ended more than 40 years later as the Chief Procurement Officer at...