Welcome to November! With the election looming, we saw a fair amount of election security stories this week in government technology media outlets. However, reporters seemed even more concerned with developments in government AI. Here’s our roundup of the trending topics in the Government Tech Media:
Last Minute Election Security Updates
As is often the case with news related to next week’s election, readers were taken on a rollercoaster ride that mixed an undercurrent of anxiety with periodic moments of relief:
- A Nextgov/FCW headline (on Halloween!) quoted Suzanne Spaulding, former head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) group that later became the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), stating that “every single American” is a target of election interference. David DiMolfetta reported on her comments.
- In a similar vein, MeriTalk’s Grace Dille covered comments from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner warning Americans to “buckle up” for election-related disinformation and misinformation this week. (Warner also said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the election’s security, Dille reported.)
- On the state government front, Keely Quinlan of StateScoop had a story on voting system passwords posted publicly on the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office website.
- Fortunately, CISA continues to provide tools to help.
- And to end on a positive note:
- John Breeden II contributed a feature to Nextgov/FCW reporting that election officials across the country are confident in the integrity of the upcoming election.
- CISA leader Jen Easterly echoed those sentiments in public comments this week, according to an article by MeriTalk’s Cate Burgan.
- Elizabeth Daigneau reported in Route 50 that early voting is going smoothly across the country.
News on AI
There was so much news this week around AI that it would be impossible to include it all. Here are a few highlights:
- Several publications marked the one-year anniversary of the White House landmark executive order (EO) on AI.
- Matt Bracken reported for FedScoop from the ACT-IAC Imagine Nation ELC conference on comments from several federal agency tech leaders about the progress they’ve made in the past year and where they see those efforts going in the future.
- Also in FedScoop, Rebecca Heilweil wrote about DHS AI pilot programs implemented in response to the EO. Edward Graham also reported on the pilot programs for Nextgov/FCW.
- At MeriTalk, Burgan published comments from the White House noting that agencies have launched more than 100 AI-related activities in response to the EO.
- We also saw coverage across a range of publications on the White House national security memo aimed at guiding the U.S. government’s use of AI and retaining its edge over China.
- Patrick Tucker of Defense One wrote that the directive requires agencies to mitigate AI risks related to invasions of privacy, bias and human rights abuses.
- In Breaking Defense, Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. noted that the policy “imposes extensive safeguards” on AI applications such as intelligence reports and collateral damage assessments.
- Stephanie Kostro, executive vice president for policy at the Professional Services Council, discussed the memo’s implications in an interview with Tom Temin on Federal News Network.
- In an article for GovCIO, Ross Gianfortune quoted National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in relation to the memo and the importance of staying ahead of China.
- State/local government tech publications are also keeping their eyes on AI developments:
- StateScoop’s Quinlan reported there were nearly 700 pieces of AI-related legislation at the state level this year.
- In California, the state government is using AI as a tool to automate the process of enrollment in the state’s health insurance marketplace, according to a report from Chris Teale in Route 50.
- Alex Foard, director of New York City’s Office of Technology & Innovation, spoke on StateScoop’s “Priorities” podcast about how the city has put AI into action over the past year.
- And as a cautionary tale, Route 50 republished a piece from the Alaska Beacon about a top Alaska education official using AI to develop a policy for cell phone use at schools, only to have the AI tool cite “supposed academic studies that don’t exist.”
That’s it for this week. I’m sure next week will be even more eventful. Until then, thanks for reading. You can subscribe to receive these updates in your inbox by filling out the brief form below with your name and email address.