Tag Archives: Reston

Department Spotlight: Health and Human Services

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In its work to "enhance the health and well-being of all Americans," the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) oversees more than 100 programs across 13 agencies. Ten of these agencies are focused on public health, with three having human services as their main mission.

Across all of these agencies, there is a shared focus on the secure and ethical use of technology to improve public health and wellbeing. In 2023, HHS had an IT budget of $8.5 billion. Despite this spending, HHS has struggled to meet federal requirements. It did not score well on a cybersecurity audit, partly due to a lack of coordination among the operating units. Continue reading →

FITARA Goes to the Cloud, Grades Come Down to the Ground

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The 17th edition of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) scorecard featured a revamped list of measurements to illustrate federal agency progress against current modernization goals. This latest scorecard introduced two new categories - Cloud Computing and CIO Investment Evaluation - while dropping the measurement of compliance with data center modernization, something all agencies have completed.

This reshuffling of measurement criteria resulted in lower grades for 11 agencies. Twelve agencies saw their grades unchanged. The Department of Defense (DoD) was the sole group earning a higher grade, rising from a C to a B. These drops are not necessarily a concerning indicator, but rather a re-baselining of where agencies stand in terms of modern digital government goals. Continue reading →

How CX Is Driving Government Modernization

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Improving the "customer" experience (CX) for citizens interacting with the government has been a focus for several administrations. The reason is that better experience equals improved trust in government. It's critical that our systems live up to the promise of government for the people.

Defining the Pieces of CX

A critical part of getting experience right is understanding the different pieces that make up a customer experience. Words like "experience" and "service" are often used interchangeably when talking about CX efforts, but it is important to understand some key differentiators. Continue reading →

Supporting AI Growth in Government with Professional Education

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being incorporated into the function of government in numerous ways. The AI.gov website includes more than 700 AI use cases across federal agencies.

Among the many projects, AI is being used to:

These pilot projects provide a peek into the power of AI to improve the speed and effectiveness of decision-making and service to citizens. However, for AI to have a government-wide impact, the success and challenges of these solid projects need to be shared. Continue reading →

The Lesser Known Missions of Homeland Security

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The mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is widely understood, "to safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values." However, in carrying out this mission, DHS touches a number of areas that may not seem intuitively tied to homeland defense but are nonetheless critical challenges facing the nation as well as agencies across government.

Artificial Intelligence

DHS has a key role in securing the homeland from cyber threats. The department's Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is the operational lead for federal cybersecurity and the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience. With this responsibility, CISA and other DHS agencies play a key role in shaping policy and guidance around emerging technology use. Today, they are keenly focused on helping agencies safely and ethically use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve mission effectiveness.

DHS is leading by example. AI is currently being used to aid border-patrol efforts, combat drug trafficking, and create age-progression estimations of missing children. While implementing AI itself, DHS is also focused on how adversaries may use AI and creating ways to defend against the technology being used to spread disinformation, create more advanced cyber attacks, or speed the development of weapons. Continue reading →