It’s been another week of executive orders, policy memos and other developments in the areas of acquisition, artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. Here are a few trends that caught our eyes this week in the government tech media:
White House Guidance on AI
Early this week, the Trump administration took the next steps toward implementing its strategy guiding the government’s use of AI. Several key gov tech media outlets covered the news:
- Following an executive order (EO) on AI issued in January, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week revised policies to help federal agencies responsibly use and purchase AI tools. Grace Dille wrote in MeriTalk that the new policies replace guidance from the Biden administration but basically pursue the same goals.
- OMB is giving agencies 180 days to develop an AI strategy for “identifying and removing barriers to their responsible use of AI and for achieving enterprise-wide improvements in the maturity of their applications,” according to an article by Justin Doubleday for Federal News Network. Doubleday’s colleague Jason Miller noted in his analysis that the new policies prescribe what agencies should consider when buying AI capabilities, “recognizing the constant state of change in how agencies acquire and use AI.”
- Madison Alder reported in FedScoop that one of the policies lays out guardrails for AI use, and the second outlines rules for AI purchases – both along somewhat similar lines as the previous Biden administration policies.
- Writing for OODA Loop, Bob Gourley stated that OMB’s action represented “the most comprehensive federal policy to date on the use of AI in government operations.”
- But in Nextgov/FCW, Alexandra Kelley interviewed experts who expressed skepticism about the policies’ implementation.
Defense Acquisition EO
A White House executive order (EO) issued this week targets major Pentagon acquisition programs and triggered speculation of major changes at the Department of Defense:
- MeriTalk’s Dille wrote that the EO directs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Pentagon leaders to complete a comprehensive review of all major defense acquisition programs within 90 days.
- The EO could lead to the cancellation of major defense acquisition programs, boost the procurement of commercial technologies and shake up the workforce, according to a report by Jon Harper in DefenseScoop. In a related development, Harper shared the news that Hegseth issued a memo this week terminating several IT services contracts and directing the Pentagon’s chief information officer to draw up plans for in-sourcing.
- Reporting from the Space Symposium conference this week, Sandra Erwin of Space News reported that officials there described the EO as “an exclamation point” on initiatives already underway to modernize how the Pentagon procures space-based capabilities.
- In broader coverage, Jennifer Hlad and Bradley Peniston of Defense One rounded up news on the acquisition EO, as well as orders to reform arms exports and to “restore American maritime dominance.”
EO Jabs at Krebs
Another EO, one calling for an investigation of the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), grabbed a lot of attention this week as well – including in national outlets such as Reuters. Here’s how the government tech press called it:
- The EO directed the Justice Department to investigate former CISA official Chris Krebs and mandated that the head of every relevant federal agency revoke his security clearance, according to coverage by David DiMolfetta for Nextgov/FCW.
- In CyberScoop, Greg Otto reported that Krebs was a “highly esteemed” CISA official despite the White House claim that he was a “significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his government authority” during his time leading the agency.
- In industry publication Dark Reading, Kristina Beek noted that the clearance revocation would also apply to Krebs’ colleagues at security company SentinelOne.
- The EO included “numerous unfounded and unproven allegations,” according to an article by John Curran in MeriTalk. Curran’s article also included news that a key senator has placed a hold on the nomination of Sean Plankey as the new CISA director.
- DiMolfetta also reported on the hold by Sen. Ron Wyden, on grounds that CISA hasn’t disclosed the contents of an unclassified 2022 report on security vulnerabilities in the U.S. telecommunications sector – which Wyden insists the public should see.
Those are a few of the trending stories that grabbed headlines this week. Be sure to come back for next week’s edition of our newsletter. And please subscribe on LinkedIn or fill out the form below.