As we enter the new government fiscal year, here are a few of the topics capturing the attention of the Government Tech Media:
AI Across Government
Last week, we looked at trending coverage of congressional activity related to AI in government. But agencies are not sitting around and waiting for laws to be enacted to start taking advantage of the potential benefits of AI. This week, there were several pieces on how AI is already being deployed at various levels of government, including:
- Patrick Tucker of Defense One contributed an article to Nextgov/FCW on how the Marine Corps is now using AI to do a better job of retaining recruits.
- Also in Nextgov/FCW, Alexandra Kelley took an exclusive look at how the State Department is applying AI to its internal processes such as helping diplomats and other field personnel to generate and translate reports.
- FedScoop published a piece on another way the State Department is leveraging AI – to assist in the process of declassifying documents.
- At the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service, the agency responsible for assisting citizens’ financial interactions with the government, leaders are using AI to improve customer service as well as for fraud detection, according to a report from Dana Sukontarak in Federal News Network.
- At the state level, StateScoop posted a video on how Colorado is using generative AI to help state agency personnel do their jobs, described as a “life-changing” development for its neuro-divergent workers.
New AI Guidance and Policy
Similarly, policymakers at agencies like the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Justice Department were actively issuing guidance this week.
- A memo issued this week by OMB offers guidance to agencies purchasing AI tools to help them manage risk and avoid vendor lock-in, as reported in Federal News Network by Jason Miller.
- Miller also interviewed the leader of the DOD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office about how his agency is working to ensure the Pentagon’s workforce is prepared to adopt AI tools.
- At the Department of Justice, leaders have issued new rules aimed at curbing legal risks for third-party cybersecurity researchers working to address vulnerability reporting for AI tools, as noted in an article by Justin Doubleday for Federal News Network.
What’s New at CISA
Several publications reported on the new strategy document from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on oversight of federal post-quantum cryptography migration.
- Matt Bracken reported in FedScoop that CISA’s guidance centers on the inventorying of data items that agencies will have to report.
- Kelley explained in Nextgov/FCW how CISA’s guidance will help federal civilian agencies conduct initial system inventories using automated cryptography discovery and inventory software.
Separately, Jeff Greene, the new assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, was featured in multiple articles this week.
- He was interviewed on video by Jason Miller of Federal News Network about his experience so far in his new position and his views on the agency’s mission.
- In MeriTalk, Grace Dille shared Greene’s comments on his focus on CISA’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative program to reduce risk through between the public and private sectors.
Unfortunately, the news wasn’t all positive for CISA this week. The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General reported that CISA’s efforts to share cyber threat indicators and defensive measures is “floundering due to a lack of outreach,” according to Bracken’s article in FedScoop.
- Michelle Sandiford also noted the IG report in her news roundup for Federal News Network.
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