Weekly Roundup: October 14-18, 2024

Acquisition

Rep. Wittman: DoD Needs to Accelerate Acquisition Process. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said this week that the Department of Defense (DoD) needs to pick up the pace on its acquisition processes, arguing that in a world where threats evolve faster than ever the Pentagon can’t afford to fall behind. “Our acquisition process is designed around a very arduous process of writing requirements … doing request for proposals, making decisions, and then getting into production. Those things take years … and are very pricey. The challenge is by the time you get that system into place, many times it’s based on antiquated countermeasure the adversary is doing,” the congressman said.

Innovation

DoD’s Hicks: Continuing Resolutions Hinder Innovation. The Department of Defense (DoD) is grappling with escalating challenges that require innovative solutions, yet ongoing reliance on continuing resolutions (CR) for short-term funding and Congress’ failure to deliver timely budgets are hindering progress, according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.

USSF Lead: Feds Need to Adopt ‘New-New’ Mindset for Innovation. It’s widely recognized that innovation isn’t the Federal government’s strong suit – especially at the Pentagon – but change is not impossible. To facilitate this shift, Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of Space Operations at the U.S. Space Force, suggests the government must break free from its “new-old” mentality and embrace a “new-new” approach. “The government does not innovate very well. Some of that is because of the way we forecast and plan our budget … But I think the biggest problem we face is that the system is designed to create new-old; new versions of old capabilities,” Saltzman said

NSF Looks to Beef up Semiconductor Workforce. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is partnering with the Department of Commerce (DoC) to build out a network that will train skilled workers for good-paying jobs needed in the semiconductor and microelectronics industry over the next decade. Last month, NSF and DoC announced a $30 million funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to establish the Network Coordination Hub that will manage the National Network for Microelectronics Education (NNME) and lead its national strategy to train workers in the semiconductor industry.

Artificial Intelligence

Partnership for Public Service plans AI training center for federal employees in 2025. The Partnership plans to open a new center to help educate federal workers "from interns to executives" on the potential applications of artificial intelligence. Dubbed the Center for Federal AI, and backed by a $10 million grant from Google’s philanthropic arm, the nonpartisan good government organization’s new technology hub will launch in March 2025 with the aim of educating federal employees on how to utilize AI, helping build up and retain the federal AI workforce and in general promoting the effective use of the technology by federal agencies. “AI is today’s electricity — it’s a transformative technology that is fundamental to the public sector and to our society,” said Max Stier, the Partnership’s president and CEO, in a statement.

AI tools helped Treasury recover billions in fraud and improper payments. The payment integrity arm of the Treasury Department says that new AI-powered tools are helping it spot fraudsters and bad actors before they access government money. Treasury prevented and recovered over $4 billion in fraudulent and improper payments in fiscal 2024 in part due to those tools, it announced Thursday, up from $652.7 million the year prior, a number the department has confirmed includes $154.9 million in prevented improper payments and $346.2 in recovered ones.

The Rise of the Chief AI Officer. Nextgov/FCW interviewed several federal CAIOs to begin sketching a picture of how AI leadership is forming in government and how their work will impact their respective agencies. This is an ongoing series, so check back regularly for new interviews and insights.

VA: GenAI to Help Doctors Focus on Patients, Not Paperwork. Deployment of generative artificial intelligence technologies could ease administrative demands on doctors and assist with making clinical decisions in the future, said Kaeli Yuen, data and AI health product lead in VA’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer at the 2024 Google Public Sector Summit. While GenAI remains in the pre-pilot stages at the agency, the technology can help navigate healthcare burdens and manage clinical medical data.  A top VA priority includes using AI scribes which can transcribe clinical encounters and generate notes in medical environments, allowing doctors to use their time more efficiently by no longer needing to read and write those notes manually, Yuen said. 

JFHQ-DoDIN in Early AI Planning With Data as Top Priority.  At the Google Public Sector Summit, Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network’s (JFHQ-DoDIN) deputy commander Brig. Gen. Heather W. Blackwell emphasized that prioritizing data is essential as the agency begins planning for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in defense

Management

GAO: DoD Must Address Financial Management Workforce Issues. With its self-imposed clean audit opinion deadline of 2028 nearing, the Department of Defense (DoD) needs to ensure that it has both the sufficient and skilled workforce it needs to successfully fulfill its financial management tasks, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report notes. DoD has been working toward a clean audit opinion for over 30 years but remains the only major Federal agency without one. The new report finds that while the agency has been partially consistent with key principles needed to determine critical competencies needed to achieve results, the agency is missing assessments necessary to determine what is needed to attain these goals.  

Leadership

6 Essential Leadership Skills — and How to Develop Them. The way we work has changed — and so has leadership. Leaders are under new pressures to perform at higher levels and adapt quickly to changing demands. In this article, the author shares advice from three leadership experts and outlines the six skills leaders need to succeed: 1) emotional aperture; 2) adaptive communication; 3) flexible thinking; 4) perspective seeking, taking, and coordinating; 5) strategic disruption skills; and 6) resilient self-awareness. Developing these six key leadership skills isn’t just about your personal growth, it’s about shaping the future of work and inspiring those around you.

How to understand people with 3 questions and 1 rule. A leader asked me, “What’s the most important leadership idea?” He was searching for the “one thing” every leader must understand. The most important leadership idea is an imperative every leader must embrace – Understand people. Learning that leadership is about people transforms leadership.

Ahoy! Rolling from worker to leader without drowning. When Phil Richards was a superyacht engineer, "leadership was something you fell into as you progressed through the ranks," he writes. That insight might make it easier for younger leaders to understand why some older employees have trouble changing gears for reskilling or upskilling. Older workers, on the other hand, need to embrace leadership training as they realize "leadership is just as important in the engine room as it is on the bridge." Karl Santrian, a leadership development expert at BZ Maritime Leadership, says workers should know that "[l]eadership isn’t something you learn overnight or buy attending a single course; it’s developed over time by practicing skills and learning what works for you."

First step to resolution: Is it a problem or a conflict? Leaders have to understand a disagreement if they want to master effective conflict resolution, Paul Thornton, author of "Leadership Styles," writes. First, it's important to distinguish between conflicts and problems: Conflicts arise from emotional disagreements, while problems are obstacles to goals. By identifying specific areas of disagreement and discussing the reasons behind them, the chances of finding a resolution can increase. To resolve conflicts, focus on effective communication and emotional management. Be specific, listen actively and define any terms, Thornton writes. Compromise, collaboration and experimentation can help too.

NEW REPORTS

Preparing Governments for Future Shocks: Building Cyber Resilience for Critical Infrastructure Protection by Lisa Schlosser.  This report addresses three areas essential to the cybersecurity and resilience of critical systems: Emergency Preparedness and Response, Supply Chain Resilience, and Workforce Resilience. As demonstrated by the findings from the initial cybersecurity roundtable done through the Future Shocks initiative, cyber resilience is crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, which includes essential services from the energy grid to clean water distribution. This report summarizes the discussions in this roundtable by presenting the challenges, observations and best practices, and opportunities within each of these areas.

RECENT BLOGS 

Protecting Our Community: Actions to Build Cyber Resilience in Critical Infrastructure by Dan Chenok. How can the public benefit from protection against threats to government agencies and the workers that provide services and that respond to emergencies like Hurricanes Helene & Milton? Cybersecurity and government operations leaders gathered recently for an interactive roundtable discussion on “Building Cyber Resilience for Critical Infrastructure Protection.”  The roundtable identified practical actions that government agencies can take to keep the public safe and secure. These insights appear in a new report, Preparing Governments for Future Shocks: Building Cyber Resilience for Critical Infrastructure Protection provides timely perspectives for government leaders and stakeholders during Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Transforming the U.S Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by Michael J. Keegan. Danny Werfel, commissioner of the IRS, recently joined me on The Business of Government Hourto explore the agency’s strategic priorities, current initiatives, and long-term vision. Commissioner Werfel emphasizes modernization, enhanced customer service, technology-driven transformation, and the necessity of a well-trained workforce as central themes that will shape the IRS's evolution. The following summarizes some key themes and insights from our discussion.

ICYMI – Pursuing Transformation at the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). This week Michael Keegan welcomed Marcela Escobar-Alava, chief information officer and Betsy Beaumon, chief transformation officer at SSA to discuss the IT strategy and modernization, transformation strategy, customer experience engagement, and the use of emerging technologies.