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USCIS’s Damian Kostiuk: Data Sharing Can Address Bias Issue in Naturalization
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USCIS’s Damian Kostiuk: Data Sharing Can Address Bias Issue in Naturalization

Damian Kostiuk, chief director of the data analytics division within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said data-sharing agreements can help the agency reduce biases in algorithms used to automate naturalization processes.

He said data sharing can produce the variety of information needed to train the algorithms with respect to other agencies involved in naturalization, Fedscoop reported Wednesday. Data from other agencies can also help USCIS address its own gaps and limitations that contribute to biases.

These partner agencies include U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the State Department. The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate is also developing technology designed to isolate details that contribute to biases.

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Gen. John Murray: Project Convergence Focuses on Army’s Future Changes
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Gen. John Murray: Project Convergence Focuses on Army’s Future Changes

Gen. John Murray, commanding general of Army Futures Command (AFC) and two-time Wash100 Award recipient, said this year's Project Convergence exercise serves as a platform to determine how the service needs to fight in the future. 

Murray and other AFC officials spoke about Project Convergence at the Association of the U.S. Army's 2021 annual meeting in Washington, D.C., the Army said Wednesday.

Project Convergence first launched last year and has a 2021 iteration, which commenced on Tuesday and will conclude on Nov. 10th.

“Technology will enable us to fight differently as we approach the future, and how we fight differently is going to drive us to different structures in the United States Army,” Murray stated.

The Army wants to identify what it needs to change and what it needs to let go of to better position itself for future warfare.

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Accenture Federal Services Releases Futureframe Report to Help Federal Agencies Improve Customer Experience
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Accenture Federal Services Releases Futureframe Report to Help Federal Agencies Improve Customer Experience

Accenture’s federal business arm has released its new Futureframe: Human-Centered Design at Societal Scale report to provide federal agencies with specific steps to improve their customer experiences in response to growing digital demands.

The report’s co-author, Elaine Beeman, senior managing director and civilian portfolio lead for Accenture Federal Services said, “To meet the moment, federal leaders must accelerate the shift to digital to ensure customer experience with the federal government meets, or even exceeds, the experience they have with their favorite brands and serves a diverse customer base, including underserved and hard-to-reach populations.”

Futureframe is expected to help agencies implement transformational changes and sustainable improvement measures through an array of tools and strategies that combine human-centered design, systems design and ethnographic research, the company said Thursday.

Beeman noted that the new report outlines actionable plans for agencies to deploy in order to address the increased demand and raised expectations for government services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting effects on the federal sector.

Accenture’s Futureframe report coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Accenture Federal Studio, which has served missions for the company’s defense, national security, health, safety and citizen services clients since 2016.

Tim Irvine, managing director and lead for Accenture Federal Studio, said the program combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, quantum computing and mixed reality, among other emerging technologies, to help “clients move ideas confidently from vision, to prototype, to pilot, to impact at-scale.”

Visit Accenture’s website to read the full Futureframe: Human-Centered Design at Societal Scale report.

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CACI Wins All 10 Pools on GSA ASTRO IDIQ; CEO John Mengucci Quoted
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CACI Wins All 10 Pools on GSA ASTRO IDIQ; CEO John Mengucci Quoted

CACI International has been selected as a prime contractor for all 10 pools on the General Services Administration’s (GSA) ten-year, multibillion-dollar, multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity ASTRO contract. 

Under the contract, CACI’s work will span ASTRO pools including data operations, aviation, space, maritime, mission operations, ground, research and development, training services, support services and systems integration and development, the company said Thursday. 

“As a prime contract awardee, CACI will provide widespread expertise and technology across air, sea, ground, and space to protect our national interests from emerging threats,” said two-time Wash100 Award winner John Mengucci, president and CEO of CACI. 

In a recent Executive Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz, Mengucci shared that CACI’s diverse portfolio of advanced technology capabilities, as well as recent key contract wins in support of national security initiatives, positions the company to deliver actionable results to its federal agency customers.

“CACI has the unique ability to combine agile at scale methodologies, as well as coupling that with our deep customer understanding to modernize applications, infrastructure, and business processes,” Mengucci stated. 

The company will leverage its artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, machine learning, modernization, ISR and cloud capabilities and experience to support current and future U.S. government mission needs through the ASTRO program.

GSA’s ASTRO contract vehicle is managed by the agency’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center and sponsored by the Department of Defense. The program covers a scope of products and services focused on the development, integration, operation, maintenance and support of various platforms including unmanned systems and robotics.

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Raj Iyer: Army Seeks Unified Cloud for Digital Transformation Push
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Raj Iyer: Army Seeks Unified Cloud for Digital Transformation Push

Raj Iyer, chief information officer of the U.S. Army and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, wants the military service to invest in cloud-based infrastructure as part of its new strategy to modernize information technology assets, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

He told reporters at an Association of the United States Army event that the branch's Digital Transformation Strategy will reflect goals to further innovation and collaboration with the business sector. 

Iyer noted that a decentralized model where commands pursue IT projects on their own does not support current multidomain operation requirements.

Maj, Gen. Matt Easley, director of cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the Army, said the CIO office should establish service-wide cloud migration standards that will cover data, architecture and security.

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NIH Awards 11 Research Grants to Help Address Health Disparities; Director Francis Collins Quoted
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NIH Awards 11 Research Grants to Help Address Health Disparities; Director Francis Collins Quoted

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded 11 grants worth $58 million combined over five years to support research initiatives that seek to advance health equity and address health disparities. 

NIH awarded the grants through the Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity initiative of the NIH Common Fund.

“This research effort will catalyze novel interventions and hasten the opportunity to put evidence into action for populations affected by health disparities,” said NIH Director Francis Collins.

Some of the research initiatives will focus on designing technology-enhanced approaches to promote cancer health equity among deafblind, diverse deaf and hard-of-hearing populations and integrating tech-assisted or telehealth-driven interventions into community-based interventions for mental and physical health.

The agency expects the initiative to broaden the research base to help address health disparities at minority-serving institutions. The NIH Common Fund plans to reissue a request for applications in fiscal year 2022 as part of efforts to support additional projects and advance health equity at MSIs.

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Federal Chief Data Officers Council Seeks Public Comments on Focus Areas, Workforce Development
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Federal Chief Data Officers Council Seeks Public Comments on Focus Areas, Workforce Development

The Federal Chief Data Officers (CDO) Council has asked the public to provide responses on key questions to support the council’s focus areas and missions.

The council was formed in accordance with the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, which directs agencies to name a CDO, according to a request for information to be published Thursday in Federal Register.

The Federal CDO Council is seeking input on focus areas; data skills and workforce development; data sharing; data inventory; value and maturity; technology; and ethics and equity. 

For the technology aspect, the council is asking the public about frameworks agencies should use to assess their existing data infrastructure and modernize their technology with capabilities that remove organizational data silos. The council also wants to know about tech components that could serve as sources for operationally authoritative data.

When it comes to ethics and equity, the council is asking how agencies can leverage federal data ethics to improve transparency and trust and how the federal government can help improve the adoption of the Federal Data Ethics Framework across contractors, financial assistance communities and other stakeholders.

Public comments are due Nov. 15th.

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National Archives and Records Administration Seeks Chief Data Officer
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National Archives and Records Administration Seeks Chief Data Officer

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has begun its search for a chief data officer that will advise NARA’s chief information officer, deputy CIO, chief technology officer and other senior officials on the agency’s information technology programs and related issues.

The chief data officer will serve as an IT specialist within NARA’s information services office in College Park, Maryland, to help define data types, business needs, applications and other technologies and translate strategies into roadmaps and architectures, according to a USAJobs notice posted Tuesday.

The IT specialist will define data strategy practices, oversee the creation of NARA’s information strategy in collaboration with agency executives and coordinate with NARA offices, IT project and program managers to ensure the transition of program requirements into architecture and design documents.

Applications are due Nov. 5th.

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Heidi Grant to End Tenure as DSCA Director
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Heidi Grant to End Tenure as DSCA Director

Heidi Grant, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), will step down from her role and transition out of the federal government.

She has served as DSCA's director since August 2020 and has contributed 32 years of service to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Joint Staff and other Department of Defense components, DSCA said Tuesday.

Jed Royal, deputy director of DSCA, will take over Grant's duties on an acting basis, effective Nov. 7th. Grant, who was a member of the senior executive service for 19 years, helped the agency implement a new organizational model over a span of 15 months. 

The new organizational model is designed to boost DSCA's operational efficiency and capacity to meet stakeholder requirements in support of the country and international partners.

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Air Force Headquarters Completes Realignment to Merge All EMS Operations; Mary O’Brien Quoted
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Air Force Headquarters Completes Realignment to Merge All EMS Operations; Mary O’Brien Quoted

The U.S. Air Force has finished consolidating its electromagnetic spectrum operation functions with the recent transfer of the Headquarters' EMS Superiority Directorate to the intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cyber effects operations staff.

The realignment enables service officials to streamline oversight, policy and guidance related to EMS operations to improve collaborative work across various domains, the Air Force said Tuesday. 

Stood up in 2019, the directorate is responsible for keeping the military service ahead of its strategic competitors and free to operate in the electromagnetic spectrum. 

“It is vital that we leverage, defend and compete across the entire electromagnetic spectrum in order to deliver effects in and through the information environment now and into the future,” explained Lt. Gen. Mary O'Brien, the deputy chief of staff for ISR and cyber effects operations.

As part of the changes, the EMS Superiority Directorate also took control of the Air Force Spectrum Management Office as the organization's fourth-ever division.

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