In March, MeriTalk recognized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the annual FITARA Awards ceremony for winning in the “Most Improved” category. EPA’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Tonya Manning told MeriTalk in an exclusive interview that the agency is keeping up the momentum by moving forward on several innovative cyber and IT projects – including AI implementation and supply chain cybersecurity.    […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on April 29 offered up new guidance and analysis on the use of artificial intelligence technologies in two particularly sensitive areas: weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the 16 U.S. sectors classified by the Federal government as critical infrastructure. […]

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced at a White House event today that the agency is launching a project to overhaul the Federal government’s hiring process for the IT management job series – transitioning to a fully skills-based approach by the summer of 2025.  […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the establishment of the Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, which will consider ways to promote the safe and secure use of AI technology in U.S. critical infrastructure. […]

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s approach towards harnessing the benefits of AI and ensuring its responsible and safe deployment, the Department of Energy (DoE) today released a summary report on the potential benefits and risks of AI use for critical energy infrastructure.  […]

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tapped Michael Boyce to lead its AI Corps, which the agency established back in February. […]

For the first time ever, an experimental fighter jet squared off against an F-16 aircraft in an artificial intelligence (AI) – fueled simulated dogfight, the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced last week. […]

A new report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), which is set to be released next week, focuses on several strong use cases for artificial intelligence (AI) tools in scientific research. […]

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) – which performs most of the Federal government’s security vetting tasks – is looking to expand the process of continuous vetting across the Federal government later this year while also exploring the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into that process. […]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is experimenting with AI to help its employees and closing in on the release of a new chatbot for the agency’s outside constituencies, NSF Chief Data Officer and AI Official (CAIO) Dorothy Aronson said this week. […]

New research from MeriTalk and RSA Conference reveals that while 80 percent of cybersecurity decision-makers say accelerating AI adoption is critical to their organization’s resilience against evolving threats, just 31 percent say their organization is using AI for cybersecurity today. […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has artificial intelligence (AI) on the brain, and coming in first on the list of the agency’s lineup of new AI-driven projects is “Concierge AI” – a new tool that integrates data with AI. […]

Federal officials on Thursday shared that the recent explosion of interest in AI technologies is also fueling better data management across the Federal government, and emphasized that you can’t have one without the other. […]

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has been slowly identifying areas within its enterprise that would benefit from automation and other artificial intelligence-enabled improvements, but bringing those ideas to fruition will be a challenge, the agency’s finance chief said this week. […]

With Federal agencies beginning to implement AI across their operations, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – the main research and development agency of the Department of Defense (DoD) – is looking to speed up its efforts to fold AI innovators and contractors into the agency’s research work.  […]

As the IRS moves forward with deploying artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into agency operations, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said this week that the pace of adoption will remain cautious in the interests of protecting taxpayer privacy. […]

As artificial intelligence technologies continue to rapidly evolve, Federal agencies are looking to upskill their AI workforce to keep pace with emerging cybersecurity threats. […]

The National Security Agency (NSA) issued a cybersecurity information sheet (CIS) on Monday to share best practices for deploying secure and resilient AI systems. […]

The State Department is beginning to see positive results from having taken on artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) tech work in the earlier stages of their development, an agency official said this week. […]

Two members of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) Board said today that the group is prioritizing shareable playbooks so all of the Federal government can benefit from agencies’ modernization projects. […]

Leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight (ETSO) Subcommittee have debuted legislation to put in place stricter export controls to prevent adversary nations from gaining access to “sensitive technologies” – like artificial intelligence – created by U.S.-based firms.   […]

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is seeking industry input on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models, tools, and services to improve its Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO). […]

House and Senate committee leaders on Sunday evening unveiled a discussion draft of their latest effort to create a national data privacy law via the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024, which notably features provisions that would allow people to opt out of the use of their data for creating algorithms that could impact a host of major life decisions. […]

John Beieler has been tapped to serve as the intelligence community’s first chief AI officer, an Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk today. […]

Officials from the Department of Energy (DoE) and cloud security provider Zscaler said that having a secure zero trust architecture (ZTA) in place can help agencies be prepared for cyber threats related to generative AI. […]

A new bipartisan bill in the House would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deliver a plan to Congress on how it can integrate emerging technology such as AI and machine learning at the border. […]

The U.S. Air Force is turning to the private sector for input on artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies that could be integrated into its command-and-control (C2) modernization efforts. […]

The United States and the United Kingdom signed a landmark agreement on Monday to collaborate on testing artificial intelligence models, becoming the first two countries to formally work together on AI safety. […]

The head of the State Department’s IT and cybersecurity efforts said today that it is her top priority to “improve user experience while making cybersecurity more robust.” […]

2024 was the first year that artificial intelligence (AI) appeared on the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ (NASCIO) list of top priorities for state CIOs. Also for the first time ever, digital government services and cybersecurity tied for the top priority spot. […]