What Lies Ahead for Federal IT Modernization

ipopba/istockphoto

Industry is already making the tools many agencies need to modernize.

When coming to the end of an eventful year, it’s a common urge to wonder what the future holds.

The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center, or ATARC, hosted a webcast on Dec. 8 that invited government experts and business technology leaders to address different aspects of what agency futures hold in terms of the path forward for federal IT modernization.

Raylene Yung, the executive director of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Program Management Office at the General Services Administration, kicked off the day’s sessions by suggesting the future is less about emerging innovative technologies and more about using what is already available.

“I believe the technology industry has already invented all the technology we need to solve the problems” of modernizing federal systems, she said. “It’s a question of bringing the right technology, the right tools, together in the right way … from behind a keyboard [and] at scale.”

Perhaps spurred on by her emphasis on not simply chasing the “next new thing,” several panelists talked more about changing workplace culture than examining the technical aspects of how to accelerate modernization.

Jamie Holcombe, CIO for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, started the conversational trend. “It’s not just about the technology. You also have to transform your culture,” he said. “We moved from a project-oriented IT department to product-oriented, [and] the product owners are from the business units.”

Holcombe said these product owners have to describe the key performance metrics they are trying to achieve. He said the dimensions for the metrics are along the lines of “better, cheaper, faster.”

“Everyone’s going after better,” he said. “They forget about cheaper and faster.” He cautioned that considering a lower cost is trickier than one might think, however, because measuring it should also consider not just the cost of contractors, but also the federal employees working on the product. That also may change the in-house vs. third-party development decision, he pointed out.

Nagesh Rao, CIO for the Bureau of Industry and Security within the Department of Commerce, stressed that any modernization effort has to reflect what users of systems and consumers of data are looking for. “The customer is myriad when it comes to Commerce offerings,” he said. The pandemic forced “10 years of IT into happening in a year and a half. [Everyone had to learn] how to engage in a high virtual environment. We were an agency that had to learn to adapt fast.”

Rao suggested that rather than talking about artificial intelligence, his attention is on the idea of “augmented intelligence,” as a way to emphasize that it’s intended as one tool in a toolset to help improve customer outcomes. He said there needs to be a culture shift around the idea of risk, and being willing to take risks. “If you fail, own it. I don’t try to hide it, I don’t try to blame someone else,” he said.

Holcombe concurred. “[This] is all about culture, it’s all about people, because we’re not in the technology business, we’re in the people business,” he said. “Procurement officers are too risk-averse. They don’t use the tools given to them by the [Federal Acquisition Regulation]. Don’t tell me it can’t be done.”

Another panel was tasked with discussing how to use emerging technologies to enable modernization. Omar Bouaichi, the Emerging Technology and Innovation Director at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said his office has established an innovation lab at the Government National Mortgage Association, better known as Ginnie Mae. The purpose of the lab is to bring in technologies that might be considered high-risk, such as AI, but to run them in a safe space to see how they can be useful, he said.

“We want to focus on low-code solutions [that have] a lower barrier to entry, [such as] robotic process automation, machine learning, things like that,” said Eric Ewing, Managing Director of GSA’s AI Center of Excellence, “so that with some training you can really take advantage of those technologies … It’s not just about forward-looking technologies” but going back and making sure employees are prepared to use them.

“You have to get the business to assist in the adopting,” Bouaichi said. “We have been very successful in introducing new technologies [like] low-code and machine learning, [by] making sure we demonstrated the impact if we put through the change.”

“Ultimately it’s focusing on solving business problems at the point of need,” Ewing agreed. “Oftentimes emerging technologies [may] address them, but it’s existing technologies that you already have that can work … Sometimes it might be that data is stored in a place that” isn’t as accessible as users require. Fixing that pain point may have an easy solution, he said.

Part of creating a culture that embraces change is getting a department or agency’s leadership to champion it. In a panel on the use of DevSecOps to advance modernization, Ian Anderson, the lead DevSecOps engineer, for the U.S. Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren Division Dam Neck Activity, offered a personal example.

“Getting those senior leaders into what is being done is not a Power Point, it’s getting them hands-on [information],” he said. “One of the projects I worked on early on, our sponsor was somebody who’d been in the Navy, a test pilot, but very traditional – [he] was getting his emails printed out and handed to him every morning.”

Anderson said the sponsor backed the project based on the feedback from the people reporting to him. “If you can get that buy-in from the people who will be talking to that [leader] every day, that’s where you’ll” find success.

NEXT STORY: Pentagon adds new top AI role

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.