The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are each working on efforts to deploy robotic process automation to streamline operations amid the ongoing pandemic, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Stacy Dawn, senior adviser for cybersecurity and privacy at HUD, said at a virtual ATARC panel that the department is creating a Digital Services Program Management Office to address RPA needs. HUD is also looking into applying multifactor authentication for a new technology meant to automate payments and other tenancy-related operations, she added.

Glenda Conroy, deputy chief financial officer and director of the Office of Financial Management at NIH, said the agency is currently working to transition some of its workloads to the Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform.

“But in the interim, we needed a short term solution to be able to receive our mail electronically,” Conroy added.

Speaking on the IRS’ RPA efforts, the agency’s Special Assistant Mitch Winans said they are working remotely to utilize automated capabilities meant to shift focus from mundane tasks to higher-value work.

“So we’re definitely trying to leverage a few bots that we have for some compliance check processes in the procurement office, also a contract clause review tool that helps us make sure we’re staying up to date quickly on regulations and policies, and things like that,” he added.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has released an “Insider Threat Roadmap” that will serve as a framework for procedures, requirements, partnerships and capabilities needed to mitigate risks to the operation of U.S. transportation systems.

TSA said Thursday that the roadmap is primarily focused on promoting data-driven decision-making, advancing new capabilities for combating threats and maturing technologies to address such attacks in the Transportation Systems Sector.

According to the agency, insider threat has been identified as among its enterprise-level risks and it wants to “identify and exploit long-term trends and patterns” associated with such threats. TSA also intends to develop agency-wide procedures and conduct assessments of resources and human capital to support requirements detailed in the roadmap.

“Together with our interagency partners and industry stakeholders, we will maximize innovation and technology to mitigate insider threats,” said David Pekoske, administrator of TSA. “While we recognize that there is no ‘turn-key’ solution to mitigating insider threat, this roadmap will help implement safeguards that incrementally raise the security baseline.”

The roadmap comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive titled “Information Sharing and Safeguarding: Insider Threat Program” in October.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has commenced the application period for up to $2 million in grants to identify approaches for modernizing emergency communications systems in the country's rural areas. CISA said Wednesday that it will back up to two projects aimed at helping public healrh and medical facilities address data sharing challenges.

The agency is looking for applicants that can demonstrate abilities to support the establishment or sustainment of statewide systems intended for health communications as well as apply current infrastructure to transform rural care delivery.

Applications are due June 24 and will undergo a competitive assessment process. Funds will cover a two-year performance period that is slated to begin on Sept. 30.

The Texas A&M University System board of regents cleared a $79.3 million budget for the establishment of a complex to test hypersonic technology prototypes for the U.S. Army.

The Bush Combat Development Complex, which will include an enclosed-tube facility and combat vehicle testing grounds, is scheduled for construction on the RELLIS campus beginning this fall as part of the university’s efforts to help the military branch transform combat readiness, Texas A&M said Thursday.

The state government allocated $50 million for the Texas A&M Engineering Experimental Station to support Army Futures Command modernization programs.

TEES also agreed to work with the Combat Capabilities Development Command-Army Research Laboratory under a $65 million cooperative agreement.

The campus’ hypersonic facility is intended to support research into materials that have the potential to increase vehicle speed and will feature a suite of sensors and equipment for personnel to collect, store and analyze data.

KPMG has launched a new framework to help organizations implement approaches to bring employees back to workplaces, the company reported on Thursday.  

"Reopening organizations and bringing employees back on-site presents technical challenges complicated by the fluidity of the situation, public policy responses, and different challenges faced by businesses, their suppliers and their individual employees," said Atif Zaim, customer and operations services line leader, KPMG LLP. "KPMG's dynamic risk-based framework helps organizations build and execute an effective return-to-work program."

KPMG's framework will feature a technology-enabled and data-driven assessment of COVID-19-related impacts within a community and an evaluation of the challenges that individuals and their employers may have to navigate as they re-enter the workplace.

The company’s five-step framework will offer flexibility based on the nature of the client's business. It assesses risk in local markets, addresses government and regulatory considerations, and provides a technology component to help executives make informed decisions.

KPMG's framework will provide a passport concept in a digital wallet and it will leverage mobile device technology, enabling employers to manage permissions for where and how employees will safely reenter the workplace.

"The introduction to the market of these capabilities will give organizations a technology-enabled, risk-based decision framework to leverage as they shape their strategies for returning their employees to offices and make other policy-based decisions,” Laura Newinski, Vice Chair of Operations and Deputy Chair-elect of KPMG LLP. 

KPMG's five step framework will include risk-based framework, workforce and workplace considerations, partnering process, technology enablement/Employee logistics and program governance.

KPMG has created a model that will serve as a starting point for organizations to develop their own risk-based framework powered by analytic tools that calculate both community threat levels and individual risks. The framework will specifically focus on the risks of contracting and transmitting COVID-19. 

Under considerations, for businesses returning to work, KPMG has noted that organizations need to develop and implement social distancing policies, based on CDC and other federal, state and local public health and safety guidelines. 

KPMG noted that once an organization has developed a workplace safety approach and a risk framework, they will need to establish a simple and effective process to deliver services and supplies needed to protect employees, including diagnostic testing, temperature checks and workplace sanitation.

Organizations will also need to enhance technology capabilities to safely bring employees back on-site. These organizations must run contact tracing of employees, monitor employees for infection and establish workplace-related processes.

Businesses that plan to reopen will also require agile governance that will utilize decision-making protocols and have frequent communication to navigate the return of their workforce in a fluid environment.

"No two organizations or their risk profiles are alike, and creating a framework to address COVID-19-related impacts requires a high degree of sophisticated analytics and a firm understanding of health policy implications and business processes to help entities resume operations," said Paul Hencoski, Healthcare and Government Solutions Practice Leader, KPMG LLP.

About KPMG 

KPMG LLP is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's independent member firms have 219,000 professionals in 147 countries and territories.