Weekly Roundup: March 24-28, 2025

Defense

GAO: How Can the Pentagon Win the Space Race? How can the Department of Defense (DoD) ensure its dominance against adversaries around the globe in the new space race? That’s the question a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) blog tackled, as the watchdog agency examines DoD’s efforts to strengthen satellite communications and build a more resilient, interconnected space infrastructure to maintain U.S. dominance in the face of growing competition from China, Russia, and other global players. The short answer: not with its current system. DoD’s current satellite communication system relies on a few high-cost satellites that offer limited communication – creating vulnerabilities if a connection fails. The good news, , is that DoD plans to move away from its current “linear satellite communication system.” The bad news is that the plan to accomplish that goal – set to unfold over five years – is complex and full of challenges.

Emerging Technology

Trump Tells OSTP Chief to Prioritize Emerging Technologies. President Trump tells the newly confirmed White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios to prioritize emerging technologies such as AI and quantum. In a March 26 letter to Kratsios, President Trump outlines three main goals for the OSTP chief, who also serves as the assistant to the president for science and technology.

What the federal workforce could look like with AI government employees. Planning will determine how effectively AI agents are incorporated to streamline agency processes and systems, government technology experts argued.

NIST Unveils Final AI Security Guidelines to Combat Cyber Threats. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has unveiled its final guidelines for safeguarding artificial intelligence systems from cyberattacks, shedding light on emerging threats targeting both predictive (PredAI) and generative (GenAI) models. NIST’s report released on March 24 introduces updated attack classifications and mitigation strategies that address key components of AI systems, their life cycle stages, and the tactics used by attackers based on their knowledge, access, and intent.  The final version differentiates between PredAI and GenAI. PredAI threats.

IT

Federal CIO Orders Agency Software Inventories in Bid to Cut Waste. Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Greg Barbaccia has tasked all federal agency CIOs with compiling by a list of their existing software licenses with nine of the largest government software providers and delivering by April 30 a comprehensive list of all of their software licenses and contracts. “Federal agencies are currently neglecting cost savings, making duplicative purchases, and failing to take advantage of economies of scale for software purchases,” Barbaccia said, adding that the software inventories will be the “first step to resolving this issue.

White House Nominates New Pentagon Cyber, Tech Leads. President Donald Trump announced nominees to lead the Department of Defense’s (DoD) cyber and technology efforts, according to nomination notices posted on Congress.gov. Katie Sutton has been nominated to serve as the assistant secretary of defense (ASD) for cyber policy. If confirmed, she will become the second person to hold this role, which was established by Congress in the fiscal year 2023 defense policy bill due to the growing role of cyber in the U.S. military.

Reorganization

HHS Says IT Revamp at Center of Broad Reorganization Plan. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the latest federal agency to make major cuts to its workforce including moves to centralize its information technology (IT) employees, according to a Thursday notice from the department.  HHS said the “dramatic restructuring” effort will lay off about 10,000 employees across its health agencies in an effort to streamline the department’s functions and eliminate redundancies. The agency will also consolidate its 28 divisions into 15 new divisions, with restructuring primarily impacting administrative positions. According to HHS, it will “centralize core functions” including those working in IT, human affairs, procurement, external affairs, and policy.   

Transformation

Trump Orders Treasury Centralization, Federal Payments Go Digital. Two executive orders (EO) issued by President Trump are directing the Treasury Department to modernize and centralize its payment system to root out federal fraud and waste. The orders direct the Treasury to transition to electronic payments for as many federal disbursements as possible and to centralize all federal payment processing and information under the Treasury.  “It’s basically modernization of equipment and methods,” Trump said while speaking at the White House on Tuesday. Beginning on September 30 – the end of the current fiscal year – the federal government will no longer issue paper checks for most payments – including those between government entities, benefits, payments made to vendors, and tax refunds.

Cybersecurity

Sandia Labs’ Zero Trust Approach: Balancing Security, User Experience. The ongoing shift to zero trust security frameworks is reshaping cybersecurity strategies across Federal agencies, but for Sandia National Laboratories – one of the 17 national labs overseen by the Department of Energy (DoE) – the adoption of continuous verification standards is as much about user experience as it is security. 

Defense Department Secures Zero Trust Efforts for OT Security. The federal government is ramping up its efforts to secure operational technology (OT) systems with new zero trust pilots and frameworks, and a consolidated Defense Department OT network, shared Daryl Haegley, technical director of Control Systems Cyber Resiliency and the Cyber Resilience Office for Control Systems (CROCS) at the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.  Unlike traditional IT networks, many OT systems remain outdated, disconnected, and vulnerable to cyberattacks. The pilots build on the Purdue Model – a framework for structuring industrial control systems (ICS) and OT systems – to create a cybersecurity approach tailored to OT.

Procurement

GSA Tightens Grip on Federal Procurement in MAS Overhaul. The General Services Administration (GSA) said that it is taking action to tighten its Multiple Awards Schedule (MAS) program to prioritize “value and fiscal responsibility” in federal contracting.  MAS is a government-wide procurement program that streamlines purchasing from pre-approved vendors and exceeded $51.5 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2024. “With these actions, we can put our agency resources where they get the most impactful return on investment – and that means the goods and services that are most in demand by federal customers,” said Gruenbaum in a statement.  

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

GAO: Flawed ML, Data Played Role in SBA’s Big COVID Fraud Totals. A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that the Small Business Administration (SBA) failed to fully heed recommendations from its Office of Inspector General (OIG) when distributing COVID-19 relief loans, which contributed to billions of dollars lost to fraudulent payments.  The agency’s fraud detection technology partially relied on machine learning (ML) tools that may have failed to catch complex fraud schemes. Despite legal requirements to do so, SBA never publicly reported its use of ML while reviewing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) applications. SBA followed a four-step anti-fraud process but failed to act on the SBA’s OIG recommendations to review all flagged loans. The result was over $200 billion in potentially fraudulent payments – nearly 17 percent of total funds disbursed. 

Leadership

What Leaders Need to Know About Auditing AI. While audits are becoming a core feature of working with AI, they don’t have a predetermined process that follows a straight line; rather, they are a web of different decisions. Specifically, audits often face four core challenges: 1) they don’t follow a straight line, 2) data governance is messy, 3) they require internal trust, and 4) they focus on the past. Leaders can take steps to help audits succeed. Before an audit, they can instill the right culture and incentives and help design the audit. During the audit, they can shape the process and remove red tape.

How to Prepare For—and Lead Through—a Crisis. Simmons University President Lynn Perry Wooten most recent book, The Prepared Leader breaks down successful strategies for navigating crises—whether it’s a pandemic or a viral customer complaint. Key episode topics include crisis management, managing uncertainty, leadership qualities, leadership.

How to Lead a Successful Turnaround. When he was president and CEO of Marvel, Peter Cuneo oversaw the resurgence and sale of the media company, but even before that he had a long track record for turning around many types of consumer-facing businesses. He shares the strategies that work best for shaking up organizations and teams and boosting their performance.

The Essentials: Asking Purposeful Questions. Asking questions at work isn’t just about getting answers. When your questions are strategic, clear, and well-timed, they can show that you’re insightful and committed to moving the work forward while also demonstrating you have leadership potential. Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks shares research-backed advice on navigating the complexities of workplace conversations.

In a Slump at Work? Here’s How to Motivate Yourself. Poor performance management, lack of visibility, repetitive routines, and restricted growth opportunities can result in feelings of frustration, stagnation and boredom. Here are five ways to reignite motivation at work: Review past feedback on your performance to create a mini performance review, seek a stretch assignment, explore opportunities to shadow others, strengthen skills by sharing knowledge, and recognize incremental wins.

THIS WEEK @ THE CENTER 

RECENT BLOGS

• Insights on Leadership and Strategic Thinking: A Conversation with Dr. John Hillen by Michael J. Keegan. Recently, I spoke with Dr. John Hillen, a former Assistant Secretary of State and author of two transformative books on leadership. Our conversation illuminated the critical inflection points leaders face today—moments when their organizations and careers demand not just adaptation, but reinvention.

ICYMI – Mastering the Complexities of Strategic Leadership: A Conversation with Dr. John Hillen. This week Michael Keegan welcomes Dr. John Hillen to discuss insights from his books What Happens Next?  And The Strategy Dialogues. They explore topics such as strategic thinking, how leaders can cultivate the right strategic mindset and leadership skills to elevate their organization, and what leaders can do to reinvent themselves to ensure they grow with the success of their organizations.