Federal agencies collect vast amounts of data that often goes untapped because unlocking its full value is complex. But as agencies move to comply with the White House Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, harnessing the potential in their own data can help meet the EO’s objectives. Agencies can facilitate the use of AI by using their data to train custom large language model...

The whirlwind of artificial intelligence tools in 2023 proved the government is eager to embrace the technology as soon as possible. An overwhelming 99% of agency leaders agree investing in safe and effective AI is essential to fulfilling their mission, according to a recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of ICF. Despite being rich in data, many agencies are lagging in the data modernization needed to support AI – and c...

It is hard to think of a technology that has taken over the IT ecosystem faster than artificial intelligence. OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, and yet it already has evolved so much that it bears little resemblance to v .0. The federal government has been moving quickly by its standards to address AI’s challenges and capabilities, including a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, an AI Risk Management Framework from the National I...

Cybersecurity has always contended with evolving threats. As the internet has become more embedded into social and economic life and smart phones, tablets and other handheld devices become ubiquitous, bad actors have devised new attacks to capitalize on new vulnerabilities. And just as agencies are implementing zero trust architecture to help with this wave, other IT developments are threatening to upend cybersecurity even more. For instance,...

Cybersecurity professionals working for state and local agencies and educational systems are likely already aware that cyber attacks targeting their organizations are increasing sharply – the second quarter of 2023 saw a 40% increase over the first quarter of the year. System defenders face the ongoing challenges of resource constraints, increasingly complex networks, and data overload. Add in emerging cyber threats from the accelerating...

Government at all levels is moving as quickly as possible to integrate new solutions and overhaul processes that need streamlining. At the same time, officials are keeping close watch on AI and other emerging technologies, wary of the law of unintended consequences. For instance, in early September California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order directing state agencies to study the development, use and risks of generative artificial in...

As artificial intelligence (AI) applications proliferate across the internet ecosystem, other changes are being triggered, from the commitment to R&D funding to workforce development to new initiatives in higher education. The federal government’s spending on IT R&D and AI in fiscal year 2023 is estimated at $9.6 billion. Meanwhile, the University of Florida, for instance, declares it is “building an AI university,” a...

The universe of artificial intelligence applications is going through its own Big Bang right now. As artificial intelligence (AI) applications proliferate across the internet ecosystem, other changes are being triggered, from the commitment to R&D funding to workforce development to new initiatives in higher education. As public awareness grows of AI’s potential and how it may affect them, there still are issues to be resolved. For i...

The advent of the pandemic in early 2020 demonstrates the truth of the old saying, “necessity is the mother of invention.” State and local governments that had been hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in their IT suddenly had to cope with huge citizen demand for services such as unemployment assistance, while simultaneously providing the capability for their own employees to work remotely. A sur...

Many federal agencies, especially – but not limited to – the Department of Defense rely on warehousing as an essential part of their logistics operations and asset management strategies. The pandemic highlighted how quickly supply chain issues, especially with regard to IT, can snarl the availability of parts and finished products. Agencies dependent on the smooth flow of parts and finished products suffered in meeting their missio...