Weekly Roundup: October 7-11, 2024

Digital Dozen: Top Federal CIOs Lay Out FY2025 Priorities. What are government agencies’ top tech priorities for 2025? MeriTalk surveyed 12 CFO Act agency CIOs, dubbed the “Digital Dozen,” on their top technology priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2025. “Tech Tonic: FY25 Federal CIO Forecast,” found that cybersecurity, workforce transformation, and AI rank as the top technology priorities in the federal government, but that funding and skills gaps are hindering progress in these areas.

GAO: SSA Struggling With Cost Recovery on Verification Tech. The Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to develop strategies to expand the use of its real-time electronic identity verification system after not meeting projections for expected industry participation and lagging on expected cost recoveries, as described in a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Synthetic identity scams have caused $128 million in financial losses in 2021, GAO reported. 

Predictive AI to Eclipse Generative AI, Says DISA CTO. Predictive artificial intelligence is likely to be “more important” than generative AI in the future for defense uses and resiliency, Stephen Wallace, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), chief technology officer (CTO), said that despite not garnering as much attention as generative AI, predictive AI is “likely to be more important as we go forward.” Wallace said that as larger data sets are generated, the predictive models will likely be able to predict attacks and operational trends, as well as find “needle in a haystack” techniques that adversaries use in cyberattacks. Generative AI responds to a user’s prompt or request with generated original content and is trained on large volumes of raw data. Predictive AI combines statistical analysis with machine learning to find data patterns and predict future outcomes using historical data.  

DoD explores faster acquisition pathway for AI. Nearly five years ago, the Defense Department created six acquisition pathways, including the software acquisition pathway designed to streamline and accelerate the development and delivery of software. The implementation of the policy has been slow, but despite the slow start, Young Bang, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the service is already exploring the idea of creating a separate path or a sub-path within the software pathway specifically for artificial intelligence.

White House Publishes ‘Trust Regulation’ for Federal Statistics. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published its Trust Regulation – officially referred to as the Fundamental Responsibilities of Statistical Agencies and Units rule – in the Federal Register today with the aim of improving public trust in Federal government statistics. According to an Oct. 10 blog post from the White House, the regulation aims to help the government’s recognized statistical agencies and units (RSAUs) by codifying and clarifying their four fundamental responsibilities.

How Companies Can Use LLM-Powered Search to Create Value. To implement this technology effectively, organizations should consider following several steps: 1) clearly define use cases, 2) establish intake processes that consider risk as well as value, 3) invest in practices surrounding data collection, testing and validation so you have effective ground truth, 4) incorporate standardized testing practices, 5) establish monitoring capabilities, and 6) roll out training, awareness, and communication campaigns.

Shift Your Leadership from “Power Over” to “Leading Through”. The “leading through” paradigm engages middle managers and employees of all levels so that leadership is a collaborative effort which leaves everyone feeling valued, seen, and in turn, more motivated. In the leading through paradigm, the soul, heart, and mind of leadership are three dimensions in one. Anyone who wants to do the work of leadership — and do it well — must attend to, and learn to lead with, their own soul, heart and mind.

THIS WEEK @ THE CENTER 

ICYMI--Transforming the Internal Revenue Service. This week Michael Keegan welcomed IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel to explore efforts to transform the IRS. They discussed how IRS is modernizing its technology infrastructure, ways it is advancing digital services that enhance the customer experience, and the resources afforded to the agency through the Inflation Reduction Act.