Federal CIO Clare Martorana has “imbued” the idea of “iterative policy” within administration officials, Myklegard said in an interview Thursday with FedScoop at Scoop News Group’s AITalks. “We’re not going to get it right the first time.” 

As the inventories, which were established under a Trump-era executive order, enter the third year of collection, Myklegard said agencies have a better idea of what they’re buying, and communication — as well as the skills for collecting and sorting the data — are improving. 

On the same day OMB released its recent memo outlining a governance strategy for artificial intelligence in the federal government, it also released new, expansive draft guidance for agencies’ 2024 AI use case inventories. 

Those inventories have, in the past, suffered from inconsistencies and even errors. While they’re required to be published publicly and annually by certain agencies, the disclosures have varied widely in terms of things like the type of information contained, format, and collection method.

Now, the Biden administration is seeking to change that. Under the draft, information about each use case would be now collected via a form and agencies would be required to post a “machine-readable” comma-separated value (CSV) format inventory of the public uses to their website, in addition to other changes. The White House is currently soliciting feedback on that draft guidance, though a deadline for those comments isn’t clear.

In the meantime, agencies are getting to work on a host of other requirements OMB outlined in the new AI governance memo. According to Myklegard, the volume of comments was the highest the administration had seen on an OMB memo.

“We were really surprised. It’s the most comments we’ve received from any memo that we’ve put out,” Myklegard said during remarks on stage at AI Talks. He added that “between those we really feel like we were able to hear you.”

The memo received roughly 196 public comments, according to Regulations.gov. The same number for OMB’s previous guidance on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) process, for example, was 161.

Among the changes in the final version of that memo were several public disclosure requirements, including requiring civilian agencies and the Defense Department to report aggregate metrics about AI uses not published in an inventory, and requiring agencies to report information about the new determinations and waivers they can issue for uses that are assumed to be rights- and safety-impacting under the memo. 

Myklegard told FedScoop those changes are an example of the iterative process that OMB is trying to take. When OMB seeks public input on memos, which Myklegard said hasn’t happened often in the past, “we realize areas in our memos that we either missed and need to address, or need to clarify more, and that was just this case.”

Another addition to the memo was encouragement for agencies to name an “AI Talent Lead.” That individual will serve “for at least the duration of the AI Talent Task Force” and be responsible for tracking AI hiring in their agency, providing data to the Office of Personnel Management and OMB, and reporting to agency leadership, according to the memo.

In response to a question about how that role came about, Myklegard pointed to the White House chief of staff’s desire to look for talent internally and the U.S. Digital Service’s leadership on that effort.

“It just got to a point that we felt we needed to formalize and … give agencies the ability to put that position out,” Myklegard said. The administration hopes “there’s downstream effects” of things like shared position descriptions (PDs), he added.

He specifically pointed to the Department of Homeland Security’s hiring efforts as an example of what the administration would like to see governmentwide. CIO Eric Hysen has already hired multiple people with “good AI-specific skillsets” from the commercial sector, which is typically “unheard of” in government, he said.

In February, DHS launched a unique effort to hire 50 AI and machine learning experts and establish an AI Corps. The Biden administration has since said it plans to hire 100 AI professionals across the government by this summer. 

“We’re hoping that every agency can look to what Eric and his team did around hiring and adopt those same skills and best practices, because frankly, it’s really hard,” Myklegard said. 

The post White House hopeful ‘more maturity’ of data collection will improve AI inventories appeared first on FedScoop.

Myklegard will hold the post while OMB conducts a search for the next permanent deputy federal CIO.

Myklegard is a veteran federal IT leader and has also served in the Army in intelligence and strategic planning roles. Most recently, he was executive director of product engineering at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and prior to that spent a period as senior adviser to the CIO. 

He joined OMB in the Office of the Federal CIO in January as associate deputy federal CIO.

Commenting on his appointment, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said: “In just a few months with our team, Drew has already made an outsized impact in executing on OFCIO’s strategic priorities.”

She added: “He understands that in a 21^stcentury operating environment if the technology doesn’t work, then the policy doesn’t work.” 

Former deputy federal CIO Maria Roat left her post at the end of March, after nearly 20 years in IT management roles across government agencies.

The deputy federal CIO position has a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including the high-level management and day-to-day oversight of the federal CIO’s strategic objectives. They effectively act as a chief of staff for the federal CIO, taking on the management of keystone projects and to an extent for managing relationships with service providers. 

Senior leaders at the Office of Management and Budget are responsible for selecting and appointing a new deputy federal CIO, a process that typically takes several months.

OMB began the search for a new deputy federal CIO in March, posting the open role to USAJobs.

The post Former VA IT leader Myklegard takes acting deputy federal CIO role appeared first on FedScoop.

Language included in new proposals would enshrine the presidentially appointed role in law and reaffirm the reporting line of the cybersecurity leader to the federal chief information officer.

The Office of the Federal CISO was created in September 2016 within the Office of Management and Budget. Since the start of the Biden administration, the role has been carried out by senior cybersecurity official Chris DeRusha, who has since also been named deputy national cyber director for federal cybersecurity.

The proposal comes as part of a discussion draft of new FISMA reform legislation released Tuesday by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and committee ranking member James Comer, R-Ky.

“There is established in the Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer of the Office of Management and Budget a Federal Chief Information Security Officer, who shall be appointed by the President,” the draft bill says. It specifies that the Federal CISO will work with the Federal CIO on a range of issues including cybersecurity strategy, information security and privacy

The new legislation would also redouble agencies’ focus on the implementation of zero-trust security principles and also assign the responsibility for operational coordination in the aftermath of a cyberattack to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. In addition, it would replace point-in-time risk management assessments with monitoring under the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. The bill includes language intended to promote security principles like endpoint detection and response and vulnerability disclosure programs as well.

Lawmakers have repeatedly sought to reform FISMA since it was established in 2014 and in October last year proposed a bill that would update the legislation to require agencies to notify Congress of cyber breaches within five days.

The latest draft bill was discussed Tuesday at a hearing held by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Testifying at the hearing, former Federal CISO Grant Schneider supported proposals included in the new draft bill that would clarify cybersecurity responsibilities across agencies.

“Since the last update to FISMA, Congress has established the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the Department of Homeland Security as well as the National Cyber Director within the Executive Office of the President,” Schneider said. “These have been important additions to the federal cybersecurity ecosystem and require clarification of roles and responsibilities with respect to federal cybersecurity. I recommend Congress clarify the roles and responsibilities at a high level and direct the President to clarify them in more detail.”

During the hearing, Ross Nodurft, representing the Alliance for Digital Innovation, called for cybersecurity roles and authorities among federal agencies to be updated, along with cyber incident reporting protocols.

“As agencies modernize technology, move to cloud-based environments, take steps to enhance security, and migrate to zero trust architectures, oversight offices must also modernize the measurements used to track agency progress and measure security,” Nodurft said.

The Government Accountability Office conducted a recent audit of FISMA across government and found uneven implementation of cybersecurity policies and practices among federal agencies. Jennifer Franks, GAO’s director for IT and cybersecurity, shared the findings from that report as a backdrop for Tuesday’s hearing.

“For fiscal year 2020 reporting, IGs determined that seven of the 23 civilian Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO) agencies had effective agency-wide information security programs. The results from the IG reports for fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020 were similar with a slight increase in effective programs for 2020,” Franks said.

The post Latest FISMA reform proposals would codify federal CISO role appeared first on FedScoop.

Jordan Burris joined the New York-headquartered company as senior director of product market strategy for public sector business.

Burris left government last month, after serving as chief of staff in the office of the Federal CIO since July 2019. He initially joined the White House as a senior cybersecurity adviser in 2017, and before then worked as a cybersecurity consultant at Deloitte.

Commenting on the new appointment, Burris said: “I joined Socure to promote a more equitable and inclusive identity verification standard for the American public and transform the way public sector benefits and services are accessed and delivered.”

The company’s technology is “vital for supporting the government’s digital transformation, stopping fraud, and creating a safe and seamless experience for all,” Burris said.

Socure uses a predictive analytics platform to verify user identity in real time. The company was established in 2012 in New York.

The post Digital ID verification company Socure is landing spot for Burris appeared first on FedScoop.

He joins the Nasdaq-listed company after founding consulting and venture capital firm TonyScottGroup in 2017. Scott’s new appointment follows the recent departure of Jack Blount, who stepped down as CEO of Intrusion in July. Previously, Blount served in federal government as chief information officer at the Department of Agriculture.

Scott was appointed federal chief information officer by President Obama in February 2015 and during his tenure oversaw the government’s response to a cyberattack on the Office of Personnel Management in which 4.2 million personnel records were hacked.

Before joining government, Scott held various senior private sector roles, including as the CIO of VMware, Microsoft and The Walt Disney Co. Other prior appointments include chief technology officer of General Motors and senior executive positions at Bristol Meyers Squibb, Price Waterhouse, Sun Microsystems and Marriott.

Commenting on the appointment, Intrusion chairman Tony LeVecchio said: “His deep knowledge and connections at the Federal Government will be extremely valuable to the management and oversight of our government business, while his broad experience at market-leading enterprises will be critical for the positioning and global expansion of our Shield solution.”

Intrusion is a cybersecurity company that uses AI systems to provide companies with intelligence about cyber threats, including zero-day vulnerabilities. It went public in 2020.

The post Ex-Federal CIO Tony Scott joins cybersecurity firm Intrusion appeared first on FedScoop.

Speaking Monday at the ACT-IAC 2021 Imagine Nation conference in Hershey, Penn., the federal CIO cited the Kennedy administration’s approach to the Apollo Program and noted that federal IT leaders would benefit from adopting a similar bias to action and ambitious approach to solving large technology problems.

During the 11-year Apollo Program, NASA’s fast-fail approach to innovation resulted in technological advances that subsequently were used in the development of fire retardant suits for firefighters, solar panels and chlorine-free swimming pools.

“I am asking everyone here today to be unwilling to postpone what is possible. We need to accommodate each person’s needs and…give them the exceptional customer experience that is on par with their favorite consumer brands,” she added.

In particular Martorana said that agencies must work to overcome communication silos between centers of excellence and adopt a relentless focus on simplicity of user interface. The technology exists today to provide citizens with a seamless experience, according to the federal CIO.

“We must, and we will bring our performance in line with public expectations…we know we can [provide] an outstanding customer experience for the American people,” she added.

Earlier this year in September, Martorana in a White House blog stressed the importance of CIOs across government thinking about the services they provide to citizens, rather than simply the IT systems they administer.

At the time, the federal technology leader outlined priorities for the Biden administration and has previously stressed the need to be product- and service-oriented in order to improve agencies’ delivery on their mission objectives.

The post Clare Martorana says improving user experience will require Apollo Program-like approach to innovation appeared first on FedScoop.

In a note on LinkedIn, Jordan Burris said his last day at the office, which is part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will be Nov. 12. Burris said he’s headed to the private sector, but not specifically where.

“It is often said that public service is a relay race. Earlier this week, I let my team know that I’ve made the bittersweet decision to pass the baton and leave federal service,” said Burris. “Serving in the White House as part of the OMB Office of the Federal CIO has been an incredible opportunity and one that I will be forever grateful for.”

Burris joined the Office of the Federal CIO in 2017 as a senior cybersecurity adviser before taking up the position of chief of staff in 2019. Prior to joining government, he was a consultant within the federal cyber risk services division of Deloitte Advisory.

Commenting on his departure, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said: “Mr. Burris has been an asset to the Office of the Federal CIO and we thank him for all he’s done to advance critical tech policy on behalf of the American people.”

The post Federal CIO chief of staff Jordan Burris departs for private sector appeared first on FedScoop.

Speaking Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg, Clare Martorana said the Office of Management and Budget is working with agencies to ensure their project applications are in the best possible shape before being considered by the TMF Board.

“I’d say within weeks,” said Martorana when questioned about a timeline for the next round of funding awards. “We are working every single week on the portfolio. Right now we are looking at the backlog of projects, some of them less complete than others in their submissions.”

The TMF Board has received more than 100 proposals so far from hundreds of agencies. Of those requests, about 75% of those related to cybersecurity projects, according to Martorana.

The federal CIO said she was confident in the TMF project selection process because of the in-depth approach being taken to assess proposals.

“We’re adding a lot of rigor upfront to be able to choose projects that have the best chance of success and the best chance of us learning things from them that can be scaled across government,” Martorana said.

She added that OMB is focused on surrounding successful projects with capable people to ensure a high project success rate.

Late last month, the TMF board announced seven new projects in its first round of awards for agency IT modernization since the fund received a $1 billion infusion as part of the American Rescue Plan.

GSA received a total of $231.4 million for three projects, while DHS received $50 million and the Department of Education received $20 million to assist with the adoption of zero-trust architecture.

Under current Senate appropriations proposals, TMF would not receive additional funding for the fiscal year 2022. Lawmakers have also called on OMB also to provide further detailed strategic plans to explain how current funds will be used.

The post Next round of TMF awards likely within weeks, says Clare Martorana appeared first on FedScoop.

Writing in a White House blog post Thursday, the federal technology leader outlined priorities for the Biden administration and her expectations for how CIOs should approach the modernization of federal networks. She has previously stressed the need to be product- and service-oriented, saying that adopting cloud and other modern technologies are needed steps to improve agencies’ delivery on mission.

“As Federal CIO, I’m empowering Chief Information Officers across government to place our customers – our citizens – at the center of everything we do,” she wrote Thursday. “This means we must understand what our customers need so we can adjust our delivery methods to improve our service. It also requires us to organize around users and services instead of information systems.”

Her post also noted recent funding made available to agencies through the Technology Modernization Fund. It follows news this morning that the fund will distribute $311 million for seven new agency IT modernization projects.

Cybersecurity and the move to zero-trust architecture remain key priorities of the Biden administration, according to Martorana.

“Our Zero Trust strategy will ensure every agency is adopting cybersecurity principles that consider every person, device, and network inside of an organization as untrusted and even potentially compromised,” she wrote. “This strategy will make it harder for even sophisticated actors to compromise an organization.”

Martorana also stressed that federal IT shops across the government are expected to hire a diverse workforce. She said it’s critical to have a broad workforce to ensure biases are not introduced into the systems that support government services.

“The Biden Administration believes a diverse IT workforce is essential,” she wrote.

The post CIOs should think in terms of services, not just IT, Clare Martorana says appeared first on FedScoop.

The Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration and the departments of Homeland Security and Education will receive support for new proposals through the distribution, which in total hands out $311 million to agencies for projects largely focused on addressing cybersecurity, data privacy concerns and the move to zero trust. The board did not reveal the repayment terms for each project.

It is the seventh funding round since the TMF was established and responds directly to the Biden administration’s cybersecurity executive order, which mandated federal agencies to make rapid improvements in digital security.

OPM will receive $9.9 million in support for a zero-trust networking project, which is focused on protecting the privacy of two million civilian federal employees whose data is housed at the agency.

GSA has received a total of $231.4 million for three separate projects. The agency has been given $29.8 million to improve its zero-trust architecture, and $187.1 million to improve digital security at federal government authentication service Login.gov. It will also receive $14.5 million to support the rollout of interagency collaboration site Max.gov.

DHS will receive $50 million in support for a technology integration program intended to “more efficiently, effectively, and humanely process noncitizens encountered at our Southwest Border.”

The Department of Education has been awarded $20 million to assist with the adoption of zero-trust architecture, which the department says will help to protect the data of over 100 million students and borrowers that it supports.

The TMF board has also selected one classified project, for which no further funding details were available.

Commenting on the awards, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said: “The $1 billion for the Technology Modernization Fund was provided in the American Rescue Plan for essential emergency relief, and is a vital part of the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the significant cybersecurity incidents impacting federal operations.”

“The administration is maximizing the flexibility of the TMF to modernize high-priority systems, elevate the foundational security of federal agencies, accelerate the growth of public-facing digital services, and scale cross-government collaboration and shared services. These first ARP awards represent a set of strategic investments to improve technology at scale across all of these areas,” she added.

The TMF in March received $1 billion through the American Rescue Act — the largest injection of funds since it was established in 2017. The additional infusion was intended to boost support for projects where service upgrades could be shared across agencies, that address immediate security gaps, or would improve the public’s ability to access government services.

After receiving the additional $1 billion, the TMF board introduced a prioritization process for funding certain projects and introduced a new degree of repayment flexibility.

The TMF has historically operated under a full repayment model, meaning that agencies are expected to adhere to a repayment plan, where projects are expected to yield financial savings that the agencies pay back within five years. However, the TMF board is now able to consider projects where partial repayment or minimal repayment is likely, based on assessments of the scope of projects.

Funding for the latest project awards will be distributed incrementally and will be tied to performance targets and delivery milestones. The selected projects will be reviewed quarterly by the TMF board to ensure they are on schedule and milestones are met.

TMF projects are proposed in a two-phase process, and agencies in the second step – the full project proposal – are expected to provide detailed financial information, and if necessary, make the argument why repayment flexibility should be extended.

Prior to the additional $1 billion injection earlier this year, the TMF in total had received $175 million in funding. The fund was created by the Modernizing Government Technology Act, signed by then-President Donald Trump.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a per-project breakdown of new funding awards.

The post Technology Modernization Fund support awarded to 7 new agency IT projects appeared first on FedScoop.