In a letter dated May 9 and made public this week, Ernst primarily requested details about how the SBA is managing IT investments through its IT Working Capital Fund, which the Iowa Republican said it hasn’t used appropriately. But she also probed the agency for details about its AI use cases, alleging the SBA had uses it hadn’t reported publicly in its annual inventory.

“In a recent interview, you stated that the SBA has embraced AI. Despite this, the SBA has not been transparent and reports that it has not used AI,” wrote Ernst, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. 

AI use case inventories, which were required initially under a Trump-era executive order and later enshrined into statute, are intended to provide information about agency uses of the technology in disclosures posted on their websites. 

However, Stanford research, a Government Accountability Office review, and FedScoop reporting have found that AI inventories have lacked consistency and, in some cases, have omitted uses that should be made public. The Biden administration has recently expanded reporting requirements for those inventories and is looking to improve them.

While the SBA’s AI use case inventory currently shows no uses of the technology, Ernst cited several instances in which the agency had publicly touted AI use cases at the agency. 

She highlighted a May 2023 press release that stated “SBA will use advanced data analytics, third party data checks, and artificial intelligence tools for fraud review on all loans in the 7(a) and 504 Loan Programs prior to approval, starting August 1, 2023.” 

Ernst also pointed to a June 2023 press release that said the agency had used “several tools, including first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence,” to block millions of applications for pandemic relief that were ineligible, duplicative, or attempts at fraud.

In addition to IT investment information and AI disclosure, Ernst also requested information about how SBA planned to use its IT Working Capital Fund to improve its score for the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act.

Ernst said despite the establishment of the fund — which was created under the Modernizing Government Technology Act that became law in 2017 — SBA “has had declining performance in its efforts to manage IT and implement” FITARA. In the past three years, the agency hasn’t achieved higher than a “C” on its FITARA score, which tracks agency IT modernization progress.

The SBA confirmed to FedScoop that it had received the letter but didn’t provide further comment. Ernst had requested a response by May 23.

The post Ernst seeks information about SBA’s artificial intelligence use cases, IT work appeared first on FedScoop.

Ernst on Tuesday sent letters to the inspectors general across major federal departments and agencies asking them to investigate how telework has impacted service delivery and resulted in wasted taxpayer dollars as office space at federal buildings goes unused.

On top of that, Ernst said she would like to know worksite attendance rates at each agency and if steps have been taken “to adjust bureaucrats’ location-based salaries for those who have relocated and chosen to remain out of the office.”

“Growing up on a farm, I know what working from home actually means,” Ernst said in a release. “It’s not fair to let the responsibilities of running an agency—and the country—fall on the shoulders of the hardworking public servants who are showing up while others are out golfing on the taxpayer’s dime. Frustrated Americans are being put on hold while too many federal employees are phoning it in. I’m calling out federal employees who refuse to answer the call of duty to return to work on behalf of taxpayers, veterans, seniors, and our great nation. It’s time to get back to work.”

In her letters to the IGs, Ernst references older investigations into telework at the Patent and Trademark Office — a pre-pandemic telework-friendly agency — that found widespread abuses of the system.

She also cites some viral examples of more recent abuses, like when a manager responsible for helping veterans schedule appointments at the Atlanta VA Medical Center posted a photo on social media of himself working while taking a bubble bath. Meanwhile, the wait times for veterans to get an appointment at the Atlanta medical center are some of the worst in the country, Ernst claims, and “one such veteran temporarily lost his eyesight while waiting six months for an appointment with an eye doctor at the Atlanta VA,” she wrote in her letters.

“It appears hybrid and remote working is now standard practice for the federal workforce,” she wrote. “So, it is imperative for taxpayers and those being served by federal programs that costs and outcomes are not negatively impacted by the arrangement. The examples of telework abuses cited in this letter, after all, were caught thanks to dedicated civil servants who spoke up rather than effective management by the agency or OPM.”

Ernst goes on to request the IGs provide her with answers to a dozen detailed questions on their agency’s specific telework operations.

Earlier this month, House Republican lawmakers chided federal leaders for failing to turn over materials related to telework and remote work policies that the House Oversight and Accountability Committee requested as part of a separate investigation into federal agency telework policies and their effect on agency performance.

Just prior to that, President Biden called for his Cabinet to “aggressively execute” plans for federal employees to carry out more in-office work this fall.

The post Sen. Ernst calls for federal IGs to investigate employees ‘phoning it in’ during telework appeared first on FedScoop.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Wednesday introduced the AGILE Procurement Act.

The legislation would require the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the General Services Administration to streamline the ability of the federal government to purchase commercial technology and to provide specific training for IT and communications tech acquisition.

It also marks the latest attempt by Senate lawmakers to pass laws to mandate the upskilling of the federal government acquisition workforce. Last year, lawmakers in the chamber passed a bipartisan bill designed to improve federal employees’ understanding of the threats and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, although the legislation has yet to be advanced by the House.

If the AGILE Procurement Act moves forward, it would provide a pilot program to bring more junior and mid-career professionals into federal procurement from other fields, including the military. It would would also create a working group to reduce barriers for federal contractors.

In addition, the bill is intended to facilitate the governmentwide expansion of an existing DOD program that incentivizes employee stock ownership plans among federal contractors.

Commenting on the proposed legislation, Sen. Peters said: “Recent technological advancements have greatly increased the federal government’s need to acquire new technologies and retain qualified procurement professionals to effectively serve taxpayers.” He added: “This bipartisan legislation will ensure businesses are able to provide innovative solutions to the federal government’s most pressing challenges and can compete on a level playing field to win federal contracts.” 

Sen. Ernst added: “The federal government should be focused on recruiting and retaining skilled procurement specialists within our government agencies, not wasting federal dollars on outsourcing work to costly government contractors.” She said: “By redirecting efforts to acquire the properly equipped professionals and removing red-tape on high-tech small businesses, we will see a more effective and less costly implementation of our advanced technology goals.”

The legislation is supported by trade groups including the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the Information Technology Industry Council, GovEvolve, HUBZone Contractors National Council, Women’s Procurement Circle and Women Veterans Business Coalition.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that the legislation would expand an existing DOD program to incentivize employee stock ownership plans among federal contractors.

The post Bill to streamline federal agency tech acquisition introduced in Senate appeared first on FedScoop.

“When confronted with an advanced persistent threat actor, I don’t think any of our commercial providers are in a position to protect themselves,” Gen. Stephen Lyons, commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Better known as TRANSCOM, the command coordinates global logistics for the military and heavily relies on global communications and private contracts to deliver fuel resupplies and other critical deliveries.

Lyons acknowledged the even though the command has seen “progress” in strengthening cybersecurity language in contracts, it has no way of verifying the contract requirements are being followed as cybersecurity measures are still self-assessed by contractors.

“CMMC will do significant good in that area,” Lyons said.

The model will require that contractors that want to do business with the Department of Defense meet a certain threshold of cybersecurity certifications. The model, consisting of five levels of security standards, will be phased into requests for information starting this summer. The vast majority of contractors that work with unclassified information will need to meet only level one of the framework — the least secure and least costly level on the scale. From there, the more sensitive the information contractors handle, the higher the level of certification they will need to receive under CMMC, up to level five. All levels will be certified by independent assessors who will conduct in-person checks. Contractors will have to foot the bill for those assessments.

The new CMMC model will give the command a proxy in the independent assessors to check that contractors are living up to the new cybersecurity standards. Lyons said if it were up to TRANSCOM to inspect its industrial base partners, it could have unintended “second- and third-order effects.”

Protecting data and exploring space, autonomy

Lyons also focused Tuesday on the Transportation Command’s reliance on data — the security of who sees that data and how it is stored is also something that the command is trying to improve, he said.

“We are reviewing data sharing requirements to limit our exposure to adversaries, and we’re strengthening cybersecurity language in our information technology and software development contracts,” Lyons said.

To better collect and use its data, the command is also working to migrate more data to the cloud. Lyons claimed his command has migrated 14 programs to commercial cloud environments, but it is unclear how many remain in legacy data centers.

“Cloud computing, balanced cybersecurity, information sharing, innovation at echelon and warfighting outcomes serve as our guiding principles as we modernize our digital portfolio,” Lyons said.

On top of this, Lyons said squaring away the command’s cybersecurity is especially critical as it aims to expand its fleet of autonomous vehicles and assist the new Space Force in its logistics.

“There is enormous potential to expand in the air domain and eventually into the space domain,” Lyons said. But that potential could be dampened by loose cybersecurity and acquisition processes, he said.

Artificial Intelligence and autonomous vehicles have the potential to be especially helpful for TRANSCOM, Lyons said.

But senators wanted to see faster adoption of new technologies.

“We need to be much more nimble on delivering emerging technology,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said.

The post Transportation Command is looking to CMMC to secure its vulnerable contractors appeared first on FedScoop.

The caucus, comprised of Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, will help members of Congress and their staff connect with outside artificial intelligence experts.

“AI is likely to be one of the most transformative technologies of all time,” Portman said in a statement. “AI is a mix of promise and pitfall, which means, as policymakers, we need to clear-eyed about its potential.” The caucus will work to make sure that “Congress is home to the substantive conversations necessary to make responsible policy about emerging technology and ensure AI works for, and not against, American citizens and U.S. competitiveness,” he added.

The formation of the caucus comes about a month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order outlining his administration’s AI national plan. The “American AI Initiative” lays out a “multi-pronged approach” to the challenge of continued American leadership in this technology. It directs agencies to prioritize AI in their research and development budgets, make data available to researchers, create training programs to help workers gain AI-relevant tech skills and more.

Congress has faced various questions about the implications of AI-powered technologies over the past year. For example, in July, the American Civil Liberties Union published a study that put sitting members of Congress in the crosshairs of misidentification by facial recognition technology. Using Amazon’s Rekognition software, the group compared a photo set of sitting members of Congress to a database of publicly available arrest photos. The software, according to ACLU, incorrectly identified 28 sitting members of Congress as individuals who have been arrested. Lawmakers, predictably, had some questions.

Amazon argued that the study is actually misleading, and that ACLU used incorrect settings to get their results. “Machine learning is a very valuable tool to help law enforcement agencies, and while being concerned it’s applied correctly, we should not throw away the oven because the temperature could be set wrong and burn the pizza,” Matt Wood, AWS’ head of machine learning, wrote in a blog post. “It is a very reasonable idea, however, for the government to weigh in and specify what temperature (or confidence levels) it wants law enforcement agencies to meet to assist in their public safety work.”

The task of weighing in remains ahead — the senators indeed say they will consider how AI developers can maintain “important ethical standards.”

The post Senate’s new AI caucus will work toward ‘responsible policy’ appeared first on FedScoop.