Author Archive
Emerging Tech
DHS exploring new biosurveillance capabilities as biological threats evolve, officials say
DHS Science and Technology Directorate officials said emerging technologies are forcing the agency to rethink how it detects biological agents.
Artificial Intelligence
Trump floats creating an ‘AI Force’
President Donald Trump said the AI Force would be analogous with the Space Force, a military service branch created during his first term to protect U.S. space interests.
Artificial Intelligence
DC-area airports first to deploy AI tool for airspace management
The SMART tool uses AI to crunch 200 different streams of flight data “to predict traffic flows and identify potential conflicts before they occur,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Artificial Intelligence
Tech bills of the week: Monitoring AI’s use under Section 702; Preventing abuse of Flock plate readers; and more
Lawmakers introduced several measures this week looking to rein in some of the potential abuses and dangers of using AI, as well as a proposal that looks to leverage AI for pediatric cancer research and treatment.
Emerging Tech
Energy launches quantum computer development competition
The initiative will offer up to $215 million in total planned funding to domestic firms that are able to reach certain milestones in the development of the world’s first fault-tolerant, scientifically relevant quantum computer.
Artificial Intelligence
AI ‘is changing the game’ in fraud threats and prevention efforts, SSA OIG official says
Chief Strategy Officer for the SSA Office of the Inspector General Chad Bungard said “the government is looking towards AI to fight fraud, and the criminals are looking towards AI to commit fraud.”
Artificial Intelligence
AI for air traffic control won’t be like concerning advanced models, Transportation head says
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy drew a distinction between the advanced AI models that have raised alarms from some tech executives and the new capabilities being deployed to overhaul management of the nation’s airspace.
People
NGA official assumes top AI role at Cyber Command
Ronzelle Green steps into the chief artificial intelligence officer role previously held by Reid Novotny, who worked to expand the combatant command’s embrace of new AI capabilities regardless of their origins.
People
Agriculture CIO transitions to role modernizing farmers’ records
USDA CIO Sam Berry will help implement the agency’s One Farmer, One File effort to create streamlined internal records for farmers.
Artificial Intelligence
VA watchdog uses AI to help compile healthcare facility audits
The Office of Inspector General has been using Copilot Chat “to review inspection data such as interview transcripts, documents, questionnaire responses, and physical observations.”
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Community protection from data centers; AI labs for education; and more
Recent proposals look to address data center concerns and establish grant programs to bolster students and educators’ AI and data science skills.
Defense
‘We have to throw technology at the cyber problem,’ Pentagon CIO says
Defense Department Chief Information Officer Kirsten Davies said the Pentagon has to focus on “leveraging the fantastically skilled people that we have in a much more effective way.”
Policy
Tech bills of the week: Ban on AI superintelligence; AI oversight at the Pentagon; and more
Among this week’s bills is a sweeping measure to address the rapid pace of advanced AI development and deployment by banning work on superintelligent AI and temporarily pausing advanced AI development.
Artificial Intelligence
Agencies now have to pay to use USAi
A GSA official familiar with the matter said the fee “is based on an agency's expected workload, approximated by agency size.”
Modernization
House panel subpoenas Oracle heads over VA health record overhaul’s ballooning costs
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee voted 19-0 to subpoena Oracle Chairman and Co-founder Larry Ellison and Oracle CEO Mike Sicilia after VA announced plans to boost its contract with the tech giant by $17 billion.
Acquisition
CMS taps Mathematica, Deloitte to improve effectiveness of its healthcare models
An agency spokesperson said the four-year Learning Insights for Action project “will enable CMS to efficiently target resources across models with varying periods of performance and support cross-model learning.”
Artificial Intelligence
National Archives says agencies’ AI use does not automatically create federal records
New guidance from the National Archives and Records Administration outlines when agencies should preserve AI-related materials as federal records and notes there is no “one size fits all” approach to doing so.
Policy
Lawmakers call for watchdog review of Transportation’s passenger privacy practices
The Department of Transportation “has never taken a single enforcement action related to privacy,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office.
Emerging Tech
White House space transportation policy calls for integration with air traffic control modernization
The guidance directs the Transportation Department and other agencies to “implement a plan to integrate space launch and reentry management into airspace and traffic control modernization efforts.”
Modernization
VA deploys new EHR at 3 Indiana-based medical facilities
The latest round of go-lives brings the total number of site rollouts this year to 11.
