The Veterans Health Administration recently expanded health care benefits to all veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan or any other combat zone after 9/11. Behind the scenes, the agency is spearheading many initiatives to further enhance interoperability around its health care ecosystem to better serve veteran patients. Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal discusses with us at HIMSS in Orlando, Florida, some of the updates around the PACT Act, open...

Department of Health and Human Services CISO and Acting Deputy CIO La Monte Yarborough highlights during HIMSS in Orlando, Florida, how his office is prioritizing cybersecurity in the broader health care community in the age of AI. Cybersecurity resilience in the health sector demands public policies to keep data and systems secure as the threat landscape evolves. He highlights the HHS 405(d) program that can help the public health sector bolster cyber defenses. He also provides perspective...

The health sector faces many challenges that technology has the potential to alleviate including workforce burden, staffing shortages, cybersecurity challenges and data management struggles. Much of that can see improvements with smart uses of artificial intelligence and virtual care, according to NTT DATA Chief Health Informatics Officer Heather Hudnall at the HIMSS conference in Orlando, Florida. A former nurse herself, Hudnall describes how government can think about harnessing data to...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is setting in motion new artificial intelligence strategies in light of the White House’s executive order to prioritize ethical AI development. At HIMSS in Orlando, Florida, VA Deputy CTO for AI Kimberly McManus highlights the four areas the agency is taking a closer look at: governance, prior use cases, infrastructure and workforce. McManus cites the Veterans Health Administration’s framework for trustworthy AI she sees guiding much of the work around...

Deputy National Coordinator for Health IT Steven Posnack discusses a few updates to data sharing and interoperability rules for the health IT community, including HTI-1, HTI-2, United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) and Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). As organizations work to adopt new interoperability standards and policies, artificial intelligence is showing promise for its impact in health IT processes. Posnack highlights how ONC is starting to think...

Artificial intelligence is a key focus at the HIMSS conference in Orlando, Florida, where Department of Health and Human Services Chief AI Officer Greg Singleton discusses his vision for the technology at the agency. Singleton gives us a glimpse at the key parts that make up the CAIO role as agencies are putting in place their strategies to meet the White House’s 2023 AI executive order directing agencies on various aspects for the technology. Looking ahead, Singleton discusses where he...

Taking big-picture technology concepts and integrating them into practice is a key focus for Dr. Paul Tibbits, executive director of technical integration at the Department of Veterans Affairs. At the HIMSS conference in Orlando, Florida, Tibbits discusses how he sees technology like digital twins and artificial intelligence impacting the health care experience. Tibbits gives a glimpse into what’s ahead with potential for “patient digitial twins” and the opportunities that IT and data...

Open-source data and artificial intelligence are poised to transform the health care landscape. Andrea Fletcher, chief digital strategy officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), aims to leverage and inject human-centered design into these concepts as the agency explores their potential for improving the quality of health care services and keep data secure in heightened threat environments. At HIMSS in Orlando, Florida, Fletcher provides a glimpse into some of the...

Mitigating cross sector risks and recognizing vulnerabilities in the supply chain remain top priorities for the National Risk Management Center (NRMC) at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. NRMC Assistant Director Mona Harrington said the team of experts is responsible for creating realistic and actionable recommendations to manage risk to the global information and communications technology supply chain. Harrington said NRMC also utilizes the Secure Tomorrow Toolkit to...

The Pentagon is undergoing a robust plan to create a foundation for its AI-enabled capabilities that include data infrastructure and management, platforms, processes and, of course, people. Leading this charge is the Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO), which is working toward a number of deliverables this year around many of these aspects. CDAO Digital Talent Management Office Chief Angela Cough discusses the ways in which she works across departments and the broader Defense Industrial Base...

The National Cancer Institute is utilizing a host of new technologies to diagnose and detect cancer thanks to its Innovative Molecular Analysis Technologies (IMAT) and Informatics Technology for Cancer Research (ITCR) programs. These programs are developing methods that are enhancing cancer research, including artificial intelligence. Dr. Kelly Crotty, program director for NCI’s Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives, said not only have the programs helped researchers better identify...

Partnerships play a critical part of the innovation work across the Defense Department. The complex global threat landscape, in both the kinetic and cybersecurity domains, requires partnerships to solve some of the most pressing national security challenges. Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare Jennifer Edgin discussed at AFCEA West the ways her office is leveraging partnerships, using emerging technology and modernizing its systems.

The U.S. Marine Corps is in the middle of modernizing its networks into a single enterprise network to improve identity management and services. The team is upgrading software and hardware to improve latency and cybersecurity, and is leveraging artificial intelligence as part of these modernization plans. At AFCEA West, Shery Thomas, cyber technology officer at the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, discusses the state of the Marines' network modernization and the ways his teams are...

Metrics are critical to assessing a contract's or program's success in IT procurement at the Navy. Measuring success can be difficult without these clear parameters. Justin Fanelli, acting CTO at the Department of the Navy and technical director at Navy PEO Digital and Enterprise Services, discussed with us at AFCEA West the ways in which the Navy is measuring program success. He said when a program does not work, inertia needs to be fought. "When something moves, we take it down," he said. ...

Leveraging the next generation’s digital skill sets, comfort with technology and innovation is key to the Marine Corps' vision for its future software-savvy workforce. Lt. Col. Charlie Bahk, director of the Marine Corps Software Factory launched last year, tells GovCIO Media and research at AFCEA West that “all you have to do is just kind of get out of the way a little bit.” Bahk also discusses the evolution of the Marine Corps Software Factory as it nears its one-year anniversary,...

The Navy’s systems and data operations exist in a challenging environment that requires strong identity management to secure threats,  partnerships across the Defense Department and technology innovation. At AFCEA West, Navy CIO Jane Rathbun discusses how the service is avoiding common pain points in modernization and introducing more structure, data and flexibility. She also highlights how the service is thinking about innovation and mixing traditional with new approaches to stay ahead of...

The Defense Department is undergoing largescale modernization efforts that require close attention to building the infrastructure that delivers information quickly, but also securely. Digital transformation in government requires a mindset that considers all aspects of the organization, partners and stakeholders. While at AFCEA West in San Diego, Equinix Senior Director of Segment Marketing for the Americas D.R. Carlson sat down with us to discuss the common pain points organizations...

Cyber threats from China have been the subject of recent high-profile Congressional hearings lately. Analyst Jack Corrigan from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) spoke to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Feb. 1 about the risks that Chinese information and communications technology and services (ICTS) have on U.S. national security and critical infrastructure. Corrigan joins CyberCast to break down these threats and what they mean...

Last month the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot to encourage AI cooperation and innovation as part of the White House’s executive order to advance AI. The pilot comprises a partnership with 10 federal agencies and 19 industry organizations. Tess deBlanc-Knowles, NSF’s special assistant to the director for AI, joins GovCast to discuss how partnerships strengthen the NAIRR pilot, how it is democratizing access to AI...

The White House’s Better Contracting Initiative aims to ensure the federal government is getting the best prices on services through acquisition. The government spent more than $77 billion dollars on federal IT contracting last year, so saving money for government and ultimately taxpayers is among one of the initiative’s top priorities. Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category at the General Service Administration's Federal Acquisition Service,...

President Joe Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence requires agencies to name chief artificial intelligence officers (CAIO). Some agencies with longstanding AI experience have named CAIOs, while others are still in the process of naming their officials. Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune and Staff Writer/Researcher Jordan McDonald analyze the state of CAIOs and the future of AI officials.

The U.S. Digital Corps started out as an idea to help strengthen the federal tech workforce and was borne in August 2021 out of a collaboration between the White House, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services to transform hiring tech talent. Since then, it has placed more than 80 early-career tech and cybersecurity professionals at dozens of agencies through a two-year fellowship program. U.S. Digital...

The Department of Homeland Security is developing a new workforce plan to bring in technical talent through initiatives like a new IT Academy. Executive Director of IT Operations Chris Granger discusses how these efforts and more are part of a broader plan at DHS to improve its services make them more equitable and accessible. Granger dives into the agency’s strategic plan for the next four years and how technologies like artificial intelligence will support initiatives to improve the...

CISA’s “secure by design” framework is helping software manufacturers bake cybersecurity into products as part of an effort to implement the National Cyber Strategy that the White House released earlier this year. Cybersecurity has traditionally been treated as an afterthought in technology. CISA wants to change that. CISA Senior Advisor Lauren Zabierek discusses what it means to be secure by design, what the new framework outlines and what it means for vendors and the development community....

GovCast had a banner year in 2023, featuring dozens of interviews with federal IT leaders, officials and experts. We take a look back at the year’s work around AI, zero-trust implementation and many other issues and topics facing all IT staffs throughout government. On this year-end episode of GovCast, Managing Editor Ross Gianfortune, and Staff Writers Jayla Whitfield and Jordan McDonald as they reflect on the most memorable episodes and themes of 2023. Featured conversations include: ...