Tag Archives: AI

Gil Alterovitz, director of artificial intelligence at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), said more than 12 VA sites plan to pilot AI modules developed as part of the department’s AI “to-go” delivery model. He announced in July 2020 that the development of an AI module that helps VA’s health facilities predict an individual’s risk for COVID-19.  

The Senate has approved legislation introduced by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to help drive the government’s information technology implementation efforts in line with the Artificial Intelligence in Government Act. The AI CoE will provide technical assistance to agencies, support government AI procurement efforts and “promote U.S. competitiveness through agency and industry cooperation.”

Payman Sadegh has been appointed as chief data officer (CDO) with the General Services Administration (GSA). Sadegh will succeed Kris Rowley, the first appointed CDO, who left the agency for the private sector March 31 after serving a seven year tenure. In the interim, deputy chief information officer, Beth Killoran, served as acting CDO.

Karen Evans, chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said DHS is looking to hire a new chief data officer to support planning and evaluation work. Evans said that she believes the new CDO will likely play a key role in the department’s Cyber Talent Management System. 

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has asked U.S. department and agency heads to reduce "unnecessary barriers" to artificial intelligence innovation and growth in compliance with the Executive Order 13859 that seeks to maintain U.S. advantage in AI. Agencies are also encouraged to collaborate with private sector standard-setting organizations on the effort.

The Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence has issued a report outlining four recommendations for how the federal government can help improve the use of cloud computing resources in support of federally funded research-and-development work on AI. Those recommendations are launching and supporting pilot projects to explore the challenges and advantages related to the use of commercial cloud platforms in conducting AI research. 

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) has conducted an inaugural meeting for the AI Partnership for Defense multinational initiative to help drive the dialogue on AI policies, ethics and best practices. Nations that participated in the meeting include the U.K., Australia, Sweden, South Korea, Denmark, Canada, Estonia, Norway, Japan, France, Finland and Israel.

The U.S. Navy plans to conduct tabletop exercises and implement artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of efforts to centralize the service branch's information operations under a single component. “Windows of opportunity might be very short. The ability to take advantage, when we talk about the information age, it’s all about speed, it’s about the precision of information you get,” said Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler

Brad Curran, industry principal for aerospace, defense and security at Frost and Sullivan, said he expects Department of Defense (DoD) to increase artificial intelligence spending on a faster rate compared to other information technology investments. The military areas including maintenance, logistics and intelligence use AI for predictive analytics, Curran noted.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has selected Matthew Kozma to assume the role of chief information officer (CIO) of the intelligence community (IC), FedScoop reported on Friday. Kozma will succeed John Sherman, who left to join the DoD as principal deputy CIO in July. La’Naia Jones has served as acting CIO since Sherman’s departure.