Maria Roat, former deputy federal chief information officer and a previous Wash100 awardee, and Richard Spires, former CIO at the Department of Homeland Security, said government officials should get ahead of artificial intelligence-related security risks by quickly setting up a system to regulate and safeguard against AI threats.
In a joint commentary published Monday in Nextgov/FCW, Roat and Spires wrote that one of the fastest ways agencies could address AI vulnerabilities is by looking at existing frameworks and policies and iterating them rapidly.
“For instance, agencies can use the recently-released NIST AI Risk Management Framework to augment the existing processes for establishing an authority to operate for an agency system. Such an approach can provide a scalable template and groundwork for establishing an AI compliance initiative,” they noted.
Spires and Roat called on federal agencies to work with industry and form a “transformation tiger team that can handle the cross-functional challenges and opportunities posed by AI at scale.”
Agencies should tap professionals who are experienced in data risk management and cybersecurity and properly adapt existing governance models, data policies and programs for AI to accelerate secure adoption of AI tools, they added.
Roat and Spires are members of stackArmor‘s AI Risk Management Center of Excellence.
Register here to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21 and hear federal leaders and industry experts discuss the latest developments in the field.
