Tag Archives: RFI

Next Gen Tech Needs Next Gen Acquisition

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The speed at which technology evolves presents many challenges for the federal government, the first being the actual acquisition of solutions. Government procurement processes and policies have had to adjust and evolve to enable agencies to buy and implement the emerging technologies that support their mission.

Utilizing Existing Platforms

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) may be the largest and most visible example of this evolution, allowing agencies to securely acquire cloud solutions. The program is being used as a platform to ensure that other transformative technologies, like the cloud, can securely make their way into government systems. The Emerging Technology Prioritization Framework provides guidance on how cloud service providers can request their emerging tech-powered products be prioritized and then implemented. The initial focus will be on artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, focusing on chat interfaces, code generators and debugging tools, image generators, and associated application program interfaces. Continue reading →

Using AI to Modernize Old Techniques

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Artificial Intelligence is being implemented across government to modernize and automate traditional manual processes. For many organizations, this means taking paper-based, tedious, error-prone tasks and turning them over to a machine for automated completion. Beyond using AI to hand off tasks best completed by machines -- those that are rote and repetitive -- agencies are also looking at ways to introduce the technology into already complex human-driven activities to make them even more effective and efficient.

Researchers at Dartmouth College's Department of Computer Science have taken a technique that proved valuable in WWII and applied AI to extend the usefulness of the method. A canary trap is a technique that plants different instances of false information in documents. If one of those documents is leaked, the canary will "sing," identifying the leaker. For example, in WWII British intelligence agents planted false documents on a corpse to trick Nazi Germany into preparing for an assault on Greece while the Allies invaded Sicily. The team at Dartmouth created a modern version, WE-FORGE, that plants different instances of false information in documents. The process is relatively simple when creating a small number of variations in a handful of documents, but to extend it to large scientific or technical documents, AI is essential. WE-FORGE uses natural language processing to generate multiple fake files that are believable yet incorrect.

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GSA ponders offering new contract to cut conference costs

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Originally posted by Matthew Weigelt on FCW

Editor's note: This story was modified to correct the planned location of GSA Expo 2013, which GSA decided to cancel.

The General Services Administration may create a new Multiple Award Schedule program to aid agencies in managing meetings and conference events in light of budget constraints, administration memos and congressional legislative efforts to keep a close eye on spending.

GSA's idea--the Meetings Management Program (MMP)--would offer a disciplined, enterprise-wide approach to managing conferences and events, including the activities, processes, suppliers and data regarding the meetings. The program would aim to save money, mitigate risk and improve meetings overall. The scope of the services, or level of complexity an agency orders, would be based on each agency's own requirements.

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VA held nearly 1,000 conferences during the past two and a half years

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Originally posted by Bob Brewin on NextGov

The Veterans Affairs Department held 948 conferences -- about one per day -- attended by 50 or more employees between January 2009 and June 2012, according to a contract notice posted Friday on the Federal Business Opportunities website seeking outside help analyzing the department's conference planning and spending practices after VA Secretary Eric Shinseki ordered a comprehensive review.

In an Aug. 16 letter to Shinseki, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, pointed out that W. Todd Grams, the department's chief financial officer, disclosed at a Nov. 15, 2011, hearing that VA's conference spending totaled "a little more than $100 million" in fiscal 2011 and $92 million in 2009.

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