Author Archives: Kerry Rea President of GovEvents

About Kerry Rea President of GovEvents

Twitter: @Kerry_Rea | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrea/ I am a business and marketing professional with an extensive background in company start-ups. I have 20+ years direct experience in the information technology, government, franchise, and construction industries. Having a passion for business, I love brainstorming, collaborating and strategizing on the best ways to achieve our clients' and partners' business objectives.

GovEvents Presents the Government AI Event Top 10

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AI conference

Improvements in citizen experience, employee experience, government business efficiency, and cybersecurity have been key goals of the Biden administration. At the same time, as agencies have worked to meet mandates and goals for these focus areas, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a mainstream technology to automate manual tasks and provide new insights to decision-makers. Applying AI as a way to meet administration goals has been a key discussion point in meeting rooms, the media, and government-industry events.

Earlier this year, GovEvents highlighted a number of events uniquely positioned to provide the right access to insights from technologists, implementers, and executives on the integration of AI into government systems and processes. The opportunities for AI-related education remain strong, with nearly 680 AI events listed on GovEvents.com this year. Continue reading →

Closing the Government Workforce Gap with Innovation in Hiring and Training

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Younger workers are not replacing the aging and rapidly retiring federal government workforce at an equal rate. Additionally, the work of government has changed, requiring specialized skills in cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) not just in technology jobs but in careers across all departments. There are simply not enough candidates to fill these positions (40,000 in cybersecurity alone) utilizing standard hiring practices. Given this reality, hiring officials are getting innovative in how they fill technical roles.

Utilizing Existing Programs

The Biden administration has worked to modernize internships, apprenticeships, and fellowships to attract younger, less experienced workers to build their resumes within government. The pay for participants in these programs has been raised considerably, making them more attractive and practical to a wider base of people. An apprenticeship sprint for cybersecurity resulted in 7,000 apprentices being hired. These programs are also being used to fast-track development efforts, giving participants real assignments to develop solutions that can be put into use in government today. Continue reading →

How Government Workforce Policies and Programs Support the Most Vulnerable

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With nearly three million people in the federal workforce, the government has to be prepared to support employees with a wide variety of needs. With a workforce that resembles the population as a whole, the policies that the government puts in place can be used as an example for private sector companies as well as for organizations supporting our nation's more vulnerable populations.

The following three programs illustrate the ways the government is supporting its workforce and citizens when they are in vulnerable situations. Continue reading →

Strengthening Internet of Things Security at the Federal, Local, and Consumer Level

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"Our world is more connected than ever." This phrase can be interpreted in many ways, one being the growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Traditional materials and devices, including bridges, streetlights, water processing machines, home refrigerators, and even our doorbells, are now connected to the internet and to users who need to track how they are functioning. However, this cyber connection also means that these devices are open for others to access and use in ways we never envisioned.

Cybersecurity practices must now extend to non-cyber products to ensure that operational technology does not compromise information technology or the networks that connect them. In fact, 1.5 billion attacks were launched against IoT devices in a single year.

Efforts to secure IoT devices must happen across all levels of users, from the federal government through state and local agencies to even citizen consumers. Continue reading →