But Pritha Mehra, chief information officer for the USPS, is bullish about her agency’s ability to provide unparalleled customer experiences: “We are the best deliverers in the world,” she winkingly asserted to a giggling crowd of government and industry tech professionals at Wednesday’s “Federal Innovation Series: Leading in the Era of AI” event, presented by Microsoft and FedScoop.

Mehra’s knowing confidence just weeks ahead of the holiday shipping season is seemingly buoyed by two factors: the agency’s apparent progress in Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year strategic plan, and more pointedly, its embrace of artificial intelligence.

“We’ve been using and are continuing to train and refine our models,” Mehra said, “to give you accurate predictions of where your package is, when it’s going to be delivered and then, with it, the exact time. We’re also looking at it from a more predictive sense to … foresee a failure before the purchase.”

In addition to USPS’s use of AI to improve customer experiences around package delivery, Mehra said the agency is looking at how the technology can “improve our entire development infrastructure.” Fraud detection is a major component of that process improvement, she said, noting that AI can be used to determine “whether a package has been paid for, where it’s coming from [and] what the patterns are.”

Other AI use cases with the USPS involve documenting legacy code and writing new code, strengthening logistics and transportation networks and using a natural language processing agent to handle customer calls regarding passports.

From a security standpoint, Mehra said USPS has adopted zero trust and really “taken it to heart.” The Postal Service’s architecture team, meanwhile, has grown from eight members to 50, and they’re charged with handling assessment processes for any modernization efforts. 

“It goes through this process, which really understands journey mapping and flows and data and models, so that you have a current state and you have a future state,” Mehra said. “And it’s easier to modernize something you already know than something that’s new. So that has worked very effectively. And there’s a very strong marriage between our architecture team and our data team.”

For an organization that moves roughly 129 billion mail pieces and packages annually and handles about 110 petabytes of data, according to Mehra, the USPS does everything at a “massive scale.” Using AI to make that work more manageable and efficient is undeniably a top priority for the agency.

“We want to do this extremely ethically,” Mehra said, “and with security in mind, foremost.”

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The finding was one of several in a Government Accountability Office report published Monday that concluded the USPS could better implement its 10-year strategic plan with improved project management. 

It comes as the agency in recent years has pursued a range of modernization projects including the expansion of fingerprint technology use, and experimentation with edge AI applications to improve mail processing.

USPS, the watchdog said, has been on its list of areas in the federal government ripe for things like waste, fraud, and abuse since 2009 due to USPS’s “poor financial condition.” The report was in response to a request from Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., to review implementation of the agency’s strategic plan.

“USPS officials told us that the Technology Management Office System has all the information needed to assess lessons learned, including charter information, metrics, milestones, risks and issues with their documented mitigations,” the GAO said. “However, USPS did not provide information on how they use the information to assess lessons learned.”

According to the watchdog report, USPS officials said they collect lessons learned during performance review meetings which are later used to make action items that are disseminated. Agency officials also told GAO that information relevant to lessons learned aren’t in its project tracking system but are contained in other agency data systems. 

GAO, however, said the agency didn’t provide documentation on how it preserves or disseminates lessons learned. 

“Collecting this information for a project is not adequate if there is no system or guidance in place to identify and disseminate lessons learned from the information collected,” GAO said.

Being able to capture lessons learned was one of 11 project management practices the GAO investigated during its report. It concluded the agency “minimally met” the lessons learned practice.

In response to a FedScoop inquiry, USPS pointed to its response included in the GAO report — in which it agreed with the watchdog’s recommendations — and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s comments about progress with the strategic plan at an Aug. 8 board of governors meeting.

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That’s according to government executives from the U.S. Army, U.S. Postal Service and the State of New York who joined Google leaders on stage for the opening keynote at the Google Government Summit in Washington, D.C. on November 15.

From both a warfighter perspective and a user experience perspective, the U.S. Army “needs data for decision-making at the point of “need” with the “the right tools to get the job done” across a diverse set of working conditions, explained Dr. Raj Iyer, Army CIO for the U.S. Department of the Army.

During the event, Dr. Iyer shared that Google Workspace will be provisioned for 250,000 soldiers working in the U.S. Army. The first 160,000 users have migrated to Google Workspace in just two weeks – with plans for the remaining personnel to be up and running by mid-2023. Google Workspace was designed to be deployed quickly to soldiers across a variety of locations, jobs and skill levels.

Thomas Kurian, CEO for Google Cloud, also took the stage and expressed Google’s “deep commitment” to providing products and solutions that are mature, compliant and meet government’s mission goals.

“In the last four years, we’ve really heightened our work for the government…in the breadth of our products that are focused as solutions, and significantly ramped up our compliance certifications to serve agencies more fully. And we culminated that by launching Google Public Sector, the only division that Google has in the whole company dedicated to a single industry,” Kurian explained.

Though cloud was once mainly viewed as a solution that can mainly provide economic elastic compute, what makes Google Cloud competitive against other providers is its ability to offer solutions for different needs as the nature of cloud computing evolves, said Kurian.

“Organizations want to get smarter to make decisions, combining both structured and unstructured data. And they want to be able to do analysis no matter where the data sits — whether it’s in our cloud or other clouds. We are the only cloud that lets you link data and analyze it across multiple clouds, structured and unstructured, without moving a single piece of data.”

Cybersecurity was also a key concern raised during the keynote, namely the need to simplify security analysis tools so cyber experts can detect threats faster.

“Protecting governments isn’t just for something for extraordinary times. The business of government requires constant vigilance,” said Karen Dahut, CEO for Google Public Sector, the company’s independent division, focused solely on the needs of federal, state and local government and the education sector.

She cited the success of the New York City Cyber Command, which works across city government to detect and prevent cyber threats. They are accomplishing this “by building a highly secure and scalable data pipeline on Google Cloud so their cyber security experts can detect threats faster.”

Google has also recently strengthened its ability to help its customers access data on known threats with the recent acquisition of Mandiant. Kevin Mandia, CEO and director for Mandiant, now a part of Google Cloud, took the stage to explain how the company has been uniquely positioned to “own that moment of incident response” and threat attribution. This has given the company an immense collection of data on cyber incidents and intrusion techniques.

“When Mandiant and Google combined,” he explained, “we took the security DNA of Mandiant…and joining — what I believe is the best AI on the planet, best machine learning on the planet, best big data on the planet — and we’re bringing what we know [about cybersecurity] to scale.”

The keynote featured several seasoned technology leaders who each shared how cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning tools are helping their agencies achieve mission outcomes and keep pace with cybersecurity needs, including:

• Pritha Mehra, CIO and Executive VP, United States Postal Service
• Rajiv Rao, CTO and Deputy CIO, New York State
• Teddra Burgess, Managing Director, Federal Civilian, Google Public Sector
• Leigh Palmer, VP, Delivery and Operations, Google Public Sector

Watch the keynote in its entirety on the Government Summit On-Demand page. This article was produced by Scoop News Group for FedScoop and underwritten by Google Cloud.

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In an opinion issued on Oct. 17, Senior Judge Erik Bruggink rejected the government agency’s request to reconsider the merits of Northrop’s entitlement to the sum but agreed to reopen calculations of certain damages.

The latest order represents a step towards resolution in the disagreement over an $874 million firm-fixed-price contract, which was awarded to the federal contracting giant in 2007 to build and install 100 automated sorting machines for flat postal items. Items such as rectangular cards or envelopes, which are larger and heavier than letters but smaller than packages, are known in U.S. Postal Service terminology as “flats.”

Earlier this year in June, the federal judge entered an order in the case rejecting much of Northrop’s claim against USPS for breach of contract damages but awarded the company about $67 million plus interest as payment for the contract balance that remained due.

Despite denying the government’s request to reassess Northrop’s entitlement in the latest order, Bruggink agreed to reopen consideration of damages because of differences in how potential proof of damages was calculated and presented to the court.

Northrop first brought a wide-ranging complaint against USPS in May 2012, in which it issued multiple claims against the federal government agency including for breach of contract, constructive contract change, impracticability and defective specifications.

According to court documents, concerns arose after both parties entered into a prototype contract for a “flats” sorting system. Northrop Grumman sought to claim the cost of subsequent required changes to hardware and software needed to run the sorting machines, each of which would fill half a football field.

USPS then filed a counter-claim for lost savings, which it argued arose from delays and contractual failures during the rollout of the system. This was amended in 2018.

In his earlier opinion in June, Judge Bruggink said: “Ultimately, both parties suffered the foreseeable consequences of overconfidently entering into an enormous production contract before a single successful pre-production machine had been tested.” 

“That overconfidence coupled with subsequent mismanagement by the contracts and accounting administration teams on both sides had a ripple effect that led to ten years of litigation, which ends, in this court at least, without a clear win for either party,” he added.

The government has 60 days to appeal the decision to deny reconsideration of the $67 million award.

A spokesperson for USPS said: “It is USPS policy not to comment on pending litigation.” 

Former Northrop Grumman lead attorney John Chierichella said: “The outcome of the case is the correct one.”

“What remains to be seen is whether the government will continue to rack up interest fees on top of the award by further drawing out the process,” he added.

Northrop Grumman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Rappel-Schmid, the Postal Regulatory Commission’s first chief data officer, was arrested Monday by the San Diego Harbor Police Department, and charged with allegedly arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purpose, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Amber Baggs said.

He was booked into San Diego Jail and released on bail that was set at $25,000 early on Tuesday morning, Baggs said. He is scheduled for felony arraignment on July 18.

The Postal Regulatory Commission said in a statement Monday that the agency learned of the recent arrest of an unnamed employee and terminated his employment immediately.

“The commission is shocked and horrified at these serious allegations and maintains a steadfast commitment to promptly deal with any claims of employee misconduct,” the agency wrote. 

The commission is an independent federal agency that provides regulatory oversight over the Postal Service to ensure transparency and accountability over the USPS.

Before joining the commission, Rappel-Schmid was the chief data officer for the State of Alaska and previously spent nine years with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, according to his LinkedIn. He also served more than 20 years in the Marine Corps, mostly as an auditor.

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Billingsley will continue to lead a team enhancing automated security and visibility to secure data and integrating vulnerability and threat data into network-connected asset management.

The appointment comes at a time when federal agencies like USPS are in various stages of implementing zero-trust security architectures in accordance with the Cybersecurity Executive Order issued in May 2021.

“Michael brings with him a diverse background holding various leadership roles within the USPS, including finance and economics, director client services, and strategy and planning,” an agency spokesperson told FedScoop. “This experience, tied with his Sloan Fellowship MBA focused on analytics, blockchain, Web3, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, and finance eminently qualifies him for this role.”

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Murali Y. Venkata, 56, of Aldie, Virginia, was the DHS Office of Inspector General‘s IT Division acting branch chief when he conspired with two other people in his office to steal government software to create their own to sell back to agencies, according to the Department of Justice.

Venkata’s co-conspirators Charles K. Edwards, the former acting inspector general of DHS OIG, and Sonal Patel, another official in the office, pleaded guilty to theft in January 2022 and April 2019 respectively.

Venkata was further convicted of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and obstruction, charges that forced him to take administrative leave in October 2017 after joining DHS in June 2010.

The prosecution argued Venkata assisted Edwards setting up three computer servers in the latter’s home so developers in India could access them remotely and use the stolen source code and data to design a commercial case management system.

In his time at DHS OIG and, before that, the U.S. Postal Service OIG Venkata had access to software systems — one for case management and others for holding personally identifiable information.

The case was prosecuted by senior attorneys from the DOJ and from the Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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The Analytics Team, known until April 2021 as the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP), occasionally used open-source intelligence tools beyond the Postal Inspection Service’s legal authorities, and its record-keeping about some of that activity was inadequate, according to the March 25 report by the Office of the Inspector General for the USPS.

As part of their work assisting postal inspectors, the analysts conducted “proactive searches” for publicly available information online that could help root out postal crimes, the report says, but in some cases they used keywords that did not have a “postal nexus” — that is, “an identified connection to the mail, postal crimes, or the security of Postal Service facilities or personnel.”

Postal inspectors told the IG’s office that the keywords — such as “attack” or “destroy” — were meant to provide broad searches that could then be narrowed to a postal nexus. The IG report says the Postal Service’s Office of Counsel should have been more involved in vetting those search terms. Yahoo News first reported on the existence of iCOP in April 2021.

The IG office said it looked at a sampling of cases in early 2021 to reach its conclusions about the keywords. For other areas, it reviewed information available from October 2018 through June 2021. The report says it reviewed 434 instances where postal inspectors asked for analytical support from the team. Most of those — 72 percent — had a postal nexus.

The IG’s office also said postal inspectors should do more to document the process for requests made of the Analytics Team.

Leaders of the Postal Inspection Service said they “strongly disagree” with the specifics of the report, pointing to examples in federal case law that support its use of the Analytics Team and broadly authorize the kinds of activities cited by the IG’s office.

The IG’s office, in turn, noted that postal inspectors have agreed to many of the report’s recommendations for how the inspector-in-charge for analytics and the Inspection Service’s chief counsel can clarify the process for usage of open-source intelligence and bolster the record-keeping for those tasks.

“Therefore, the OIG considers management’s comments generally responsive to the recommendations in the report,” the IG’s office said.

The report lists several contracts that postal inspectors have with providers of open-source intelligence tools, but redacts the names of specific companies. Those activities include:

• Cryptocurrency blockchain analysis.
• Tools for gathering information about internet protocol (IP) addresses.
• Facial recognition tools.
• Monitoring social media for certain keywords.
• Searching social media for information about individuals.

As the IG’s report notes, the Analytics Team is part of the Postal Inspection Service’s Analytics and Cybercrime Program, which “provides investigative, forensic, and analytical support to field divisions and headquarters.”

Postal inspectors are sometimes involved in high-profile cybercrime cases, such as takedowns of dark web markets where customers pay in cryptocurrency for illicit goods that are then shipped through the mail.

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He joins the Postal Regulatory Commission after serving as chief data officer for the state of Alaska and previously worked on the data analytics team at USPS’ Office of Inspector General.

Earlier in his career, Rappel-Schmid worked as an audit manager at USPS OIG and also previously was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

At the Postal Regulatory Commission, he will oversee the watchdog’s data management and compliance with the OPEN Government Data Act. Under the act, federal agencies must publish all their information as open data using standardized formats.

His appointment comes also as the regulatory body introduces a beta version of a service performance data dashboard designed to make postal data more accessible and usable. It is currently seeking public feedback on the tool, which displays national-level service performance results.

Commenting on Rappel-Schmid’s appointment, PRC chairman Michael Kubayanda said: “I am excited to welcome Russell Rappel-Schmid to the Commission.” He added: “With his experience implementing data initiatives and his knowledge of the postal sector, Russ is well-positioned to lead the Commission’s emergent open data efforts, and to support the Commission as it continues to provide transparency and accountability of the postal system.”

As chief data officer, Rappel-Schmid will report to the commission’s Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer Erica Barker.

The OPEN Government Data Act made permanent key aspects of the May 2013 Open Data Policy, which was enacted by the Obama administration.

The PRC is the independent federal agency responsible for overseeing operations at USPS.

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Responding to reporters’ questions at a Friday briefing, White House COVID-⁠19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said USPS was working to fix the issue and to help website users encountering the error.

The comments follow earlier reports that a website flaw left some users unable to request more than a single four-test order for an entire building.

“I want to clarify that almost every resident in an apartment is able to order a test.  U.S. Postal Service is seeing a very limited number of cases where addresses that are not registered as multi-unit buildings within its database, and they’re working to fix that issue or are helping people through that process,” Zients told reporters.

“And as we work through the issue, people can fill out a service request on the website or you can call the hotline on the USPS — United States Postal Service — website to get the issue fixed,” he added.

Since its launch on Tuesday, a day ahead of the schedule previously announced by the White House, the website has had a broadly positive reception. From publicly available indicators, there has so far not been downtime or outages of the service, even as many hundreds of thousands of users accessed the site simultaneously.

The new website is a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s commitment to buy 1 billion COVID-19 testing kits to give out to Americans for free. It is expecting to distribute $500 million of the tests through the site.

As a federal IT system containing personally identifiable information, such as addresses or healthcare details, the site is governed by the Privacy Act. In addition, because it collects data, it must be covered by a system of records notice.

As of 5:19pm eastern time on Friday, COVIDtests.gov remained the most-visited federal government website, with 24,219 users. The next most visited website is USPS.com, with 23,315 users.

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