Ideas

A practical blueprint for AI transformation in the public sector

COMMENTARY | Stop viewing AI as a standalone miracle and start viewing it as the engine within a larger machine.

Ideas

The path to better program management: a road still less traveled

COMMENTARY | In spite of important reform efforts and legislation, our government still faces problems in managing and implementing major programs and systems modernizations.

Digital Government

GSA publishes ‘Elimination, Optimization and Automation’ playbook for government agencies

The playbook’s framework has already helped the agency save hundreds of thousands of hours, and other agencies can now make use of it to launch their own automation initiatives.

Ideas

What DOGE taught us about AI and federal workers

COMMENTARY | Mass layoffs have left thousands of federal workers unemployed and struggling to find their footing as AI accelerates disruption across the public sector.

People

Tech Force set out to hire 1,000 technologists last year — it’s onboarded 10 so far

The effort is meant to infuse the government with young engineers, cyber and data workers. It follows the loss of almost 20,000 technology workers through the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the workforce last year.

Exclusive Digital Government

The White House is ordering agencies to place its new app on all employees’ government phones

The newly created, often overtly political app places the Trump administration into unprecedented and “dangerous” territory, IT experts say.

People

HHS to start Schedule P/C conversions while withholding details on new RIFs

Hundreds of GS-15s are being converted to the controversial job classification that strips civil service protections.

Policy

Inside the effort to connect Congress with the feds enacting its policies

Those writing laws don’t often hear from those charged with implementing them. The POPVOX Foundation wants that to change.

Artificial Intelligence

Agency leader says AI is helping resource-strained workforce identify more fraud

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services official also said the Trump administration’s efforts to combat fraud in government are enabling her to “push the needle” with using the technology.

Modernization

Growing agency talent is critical for modernization, Transportation’s IT head says

“When there is support and excitement, then you can do magic,” Pavan Pidugu, the Transportation Department’s chief digital and information officer, said about engaging personnel across the agency to drive meaningful IT modernization.

People

US imposes AI skills requirement on CyberCorps pipeline

New guidance requires programs to ensure that incoming scholars will be able to demonstrate skills at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, a move that fast-tracks changes outlined in recent National Science Foundation policy.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon launches cyber apprenticeship program

The initiative is part of the administration’s focus on addressing technology and cybersecurity vacancies by placing an emphasis on skill-based hiring.

Digital Government

IRS lacks transparent plans to leverage tech in the face of staffing cuts, GAO and employees say

Agency leaders are “shoving AI at us,” one IRS employee said, despite the fact that “they don’t have the right tools for us yet.”

People

GSA announces latest cohort of Presidential Innovation Fellows

The 17 experts chosen to participate in the program will be detailed to selected federal agencies to help them develop and scale technology-focused projects.

People

FAA sets records in effort to hire gamers as air traffic controllers

The agency received over 12,000 applications in less than two days, making the effort “wildly successful,” according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

Artificial Intelligence

GSA No. 2 talks ‘million hours challenge,’ scaling agency AI efforts

GSA Deputy Administrator Michael Lynch last week offered a comprehensive look at the agency’s plans for key acquisition and shared services programs and new internal efforts aimed at automating work.

People

OPM cuts degree requirements for government tech jobs in new standards

The changes have been years in the making and represent a federal hiring apparatus more focused on applicable skills than specific backgrounds.

People

CISA cancels CyberCorps summer internship hiring amid DHS shutdown

The reversal presents a major setback for students who had secured internships after months of confusion about their job outcomes.

People

OPM seeks cybersecurity talent to join Tech Force

"Through Tech Force, we’re recruiting highly skilled cybersecurity professionals to take on real challenges and strengthen the government’s defenses where it matters most,” OPM director Scott Kupor said in a statement.