Federal agency officials discussed at the American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council’s BOTs Forum in Washington the importance of change management and employees in the implementation of robotic process automation, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Michael Rigas, deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management, said OPM is collaborating with other agencies to help them communicate the benefits of RPA adoption.

He mentioned the need for agencies to engage employees from all workforce levels and that OPM will work with the General Services Administration to come up with an RPA upskilling academy to facilitate the development and maintenance of RPA bots.

“We’re excited to say we have funding for this as part of the upcoming budget and we think it will really help to accelerate the adoption of RPA across the federal government,” Rigas added.

Alicia Saucedo, supervisory budget analyst at GSA, said RPA adoption is a “big change management project” that requires agencies to engage people from multiple levels of an organization.

Saucedo said there are four bot deployment initiatives at GSA and one of those is a tool that helped the agency modernize its micropurchase process.

Ariel Gold, a senior adviser at the Department of Transportation, said DOT is working on a framework to apply  artificial intelligence in transport operations.

In an interview aired Thursday on Government Matters, Gold said the department aims to safely integrate AI into the U.S. transportation system and implement the technology to transform organizational processes.

“We are not inventing the AI, we’re not developing it,” she said. “We are in a policy and technical assistance type role to make sure that life-saving technology gets out there safely and efficiently.”

She noted another focus area will involve using AI to simplify internal procedures, research initiatives and customer service delivery. According to her, DOT seeks to deploy machine learning algorithms for initiatives such as longitudinal research that require processing of large amounts of video from naturalistic driving studies.

Gold added she believes AI can help personnel to extract value from the department’s data inventory and inform best practices for simplifying functions.

The National Science Foundation partnered with DOT and several other federal departments to establish the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program.

The U.S. Air Force has submitted to the Department of Defense its acquisition strategy for the Space Command and Control program for review, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

“We have an acquisition strategy already written and in coordination with the Air Force and the Office of the Secretary of Defense,” Col. Jennifer Krolikowski, senior materiel leader for Space C2 at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, told the publication Thursday.

She said Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and a 2019 Wash100 award winner, and Air Force officials will have a meeting on Nov. 26 to discuss the acquisition strategy, which will establish program requirements and outline procedures for testing and contracting.

The service develops software applications designed to help military commanders monitor space-related events through the Space C2 program. Some of these apps include the Radio Frequency Deconfliction tool and the High-Interest Event Tracker.

Krolikowski said the service branch has been collaborating with DoD to address the issues highlighted in a Government Accountability Office report.

The Defense Innovation Board has recommended five ethical principles with regard to the use of artificial intelligence by the Department of Defense in combat and noncombat operations.

The board said Thursday DoD should ensure that its use of AI platforms is responsible, equitable, traceable, reliable and governable.

When it comes to the principle of governability, the department’s AI systems should be designed to meet its intended function and possess an ability to identify and prevent unintended harm.

C4ISRNET reported the DIB document is the outcome of a 15-month study, which included roundtable discussions and listening sessions with AI experts and collection of public comments.

“We do need to provide clarity to people who will use these systems and we need to provide clarity to the public so they understand how we want the department to use AI in the world as we move forward,” said Michael McQuade, vice president for research at Carnegie Mellon University and a DIB member.

The board also presented 12 recommendations to facilitate the implementation of the proposed ethical principles, including the establishment of a departmentwide AI steering committee, improvement of DoD’s workforce and training programs and investment in AI research.

The Government Accountability Office released a report on Wednesday stating that 18 out of 24 federal agencies are yet to fully implement the watchdog’s framework for addressing information technology workforce challenges.

GAO found that most agencies reported progress in assessing skills gaps and staffing issues but failed to implement five other critical workforce planning activities. The agencies cited competing priorities and limited resources as reasons for not fully implementing the GAO-recommended practices.

“Until agencies make it a priority to fully implement all key IT workforce planning activities, they will likely have difficulty anticipating and responding to changing staffing needs and controlling human capital risks when developing, implementing, and operating critical IT systems,” according to GAO.

The watchdog noted that it made the same recommendations to three-quarters of the federal agencies in 2016 and 2018.

NASA officials say the Artemis missions may be limited to gathering lunar samples, as the space agency plans locations on the Moon to explore, Space News reported Wednesday.

The Lunar Exploration and Analysis Group’s meeting on Tuesday featured official statements on landing plans for Artemis 3, a manned lunar mission scheduled for 2024. The future mission may explore certain landing sites within the Moon’s south polar region.

John Connolly, lunar surface systems lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said the lunar south pole may contain amounts of water ice within shadowed craters. Illuminated portions, on the other hand, may offer opportunities in solar power, he noted. Artemis 3 would last for almost a week on the moon based on current plans.