Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Archives | FedScoop https://fedscoop.com/tag/department-of-housing-and-urban-development-hud/ FedScoop delivers up-to-the-minute breaking government tech news and is the government IT community's platform for education and collaboration through news, events, radio and TV. FedScoop engages top leaders from the White House, federal agencies, academia and the tech industry both online and in person to discuss ways technology can improve government, and to exchange best practices and identify how to achieve common goals. Wed, 27 Mar 2024 21:59:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.4 https://fedscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2023/01/cropped-fs_favicon-3.png?w=32 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Archives | FedScoop https://fedscoop.com/tag/department-of-housing-and-urban-development-hud/ 32 32 Peaceful protests, lawful assembly can’t be sole reason for DOJ facial recognition use under interim policy https://fedscoop.com/doj-shares-interim-facial-recognition-policy-details/ Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:17:08 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=76858 The Justice Department shared details of its interim facial recognition technology policy in testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is looking into federal use of that capability.

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Activities protected under the First Amendment, such as peaceful protests and lawful assembly, “may not be the sole basis for the use of” facial recognition technology under the Justice Department’s interim policy governing its deployment of the technology, the agency told a civil rights panel. 

In written testimony submitted to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights last week, the DOJ shared details of its approach to using facial recognition technology, or FRT, including its interim policy, which it issued in December but hasn’t shared publicly. The testimony came a couple of weeks after the civil rights panel held a briefing on federal use of facial recognition technology that the DOJ didn’t testify at in-person or submit testimony for in advance.

“Notably, the Interim FRT Policy mandates that activity protected by the First Amendment may not be the sole basis for the use of FRT,” the DOJ said in its testimony. “This would include peaceful protests and lawful assemblies, or the lawful exercise of other rights secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Additionally, the interim policy states that “FRT results alone may not be relied upon as the sole proof of identity,” the DOJ said. It also requires that facial recognition technology complies with the department’s AI policies and that employees never use the technology to “engage in or facilitate unlawful discriminatory conduct,” in addition to requiring risk assessments for the accuracy of facial recognition systems used by the department.

The interim policy could also lead to public disclosures of certain information about use of the technology at the department. Components using facial recognition systems are required to “develop a process to account for and track system use” under the interim policy and report on that use annually to the DOJ’s Emerging Technology Board, which was established to oversee the department’s use of AI and emerging technology, and its Data Governance Board. 

“Without compromising law-enforcement sensitive or national security information, each of these annual reports will be consolidated into a publicly released summary on the Department’s FRT use,” the testimony said.

The commission’s March 8 briefing explored federal use of facial recognition technology at DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as it prepares a report. Adoption of the technology in the federal government has prompted concerns about privacy and civil liberties, including from lawmakers and academics.

Neither the DOJ nor HUD participated in the hearing, and DOJ’s lack of participation, in particular, prompted two commissioners to indicate they were willing to use subpoena power to produce information. At the time of the briefing, a DOJ spokesperson told FedScoop it was communicating with the commission about a response. 

A Government Accountability Office review of facial recognition systems in the government found that agencies, including the DOJ, didn’t have policies specific to the use of the technology and initially didn’t require training. That report found that the DOJ had “taken steps to issue a department-wide policy” but “faced delays.” The GAO ultimately recommended, among other things, that the attorney general develop a plan for issuing a policy that addresses civil rights and civil liberties.

In testimony to the commission at its briefing, GAO’s Gretta Goodwin said the department informed the government watchdog that it had issued an interim policy but the GAO hadn’t yet seen that policy. Goodwin, who directs the watchdog’s Homeland Security and Justice team, said the GAO plans to review the interim policy as part of its follow-up process on the recommendation.

The description of the interim policy in the department’s testimony appears to address some of GAO’s findings. For example, the DOJ said that the policy mandates that employees using those systems receive training that includes information about privacy, civil rights and civil liberties laws relevant to the use of facial recognition technology. 

While the department acknowledged potential equity and fairness implications of the technology, it also underscored the potential benefits. According to the testimony, facial recognition technology was used by the FBI over the last year to combat crime, find missing children, and address threats on the border. The U.S. Marshals Service also uses the technology for investigations and protective security missions, DOJ said. 

“When employed correctly, FRT affirmatively strengthens our public safety system,” the DOJ said. 

The interim policy was created by a working group within the department that met throughout 2022 and 2023. That group included legal experts and subject matter experts throughout the DOJ. The interim policy will be updated after the department completes an interagency report on best practices required under President Joe Biden’s executive order on policing, the DOJ said.

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Civil rights commissioner slams DOJ, HUD absence at facial recognition briefing https://fedscoop.com/commissioner-slams-doj-hud-facial-recognition-briefing-absence/ Fri, 08 Mar 2024 21:57:41 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=76528 Mondaire Jones, a Democratic appointee on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said he would have urged the use of subpoenas if the panel was given “adequate notice” of the agencies’ refusal to cooperate.

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The Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development allegedly declined to testify at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights briefing on government use of facial recognition technology Friday, drawing the ire of panel members.

Mondaire Jones, a commissioner on the panel and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, skewered both departments for declining the commission’s invitation to appear and not providing written testimony at the Friday briefing. Jones called their absence “offensive” and alleged the departments are “embarrassed by their failures and are seeking to avoid public accountability.”

“I have not seen anything like this from this administration,” Jones said. “And had the commission been given adequate notice of the failure of these departments to cooperate, I would have urged this commission to exercise its statutory authority to issue subpoenas, which is something that we have rarely had to do in the course of this commission’s existence.”

Commissioner J. Christian Adams, a Republican appointee, said that he shared Jones’ concern about the DOJ’s absence and would support efforts to obtain information from them “even if it extends to exercising subpoena power.” 

In an emailed statement, a HUD spokesperson said the department “does not use any facial recognition technology and urges its program participants to find the right balance between addressing security concerns and respecting residents’ right to privacy.”

They added: “HUD is cooperating with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and provided answers to the Commission’s extensive interrogatories and document request in advance of the Commission’s briefing on facial recognition technology. HUD plans to submit written testimony and welcomes future opportunities to collaborate where appropriate.”

In an emailed statement, a spokesman for the DOJ told FedScoop the department is “in communication with the Commission about the Department’s response.” 

Lack of testimony from the departments was particularly notable as the hearing set out to specifically focus on the civil rights implications of facial recognition technology use by the DOJ, HUD and the Department of Homeland Security. 

Unlike the other departments, however, DHS did provide in-person testimony, which Jones praised as the department taking “its statutory obligations and the work of this commission seriously.”

Following Jones’ remarks, Adams underscored the impact of the DOJ’s absence, noting that DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel and Civil Rights Division would be the “primary drivers of any federal policy related to facial recognition technology,” and DHS’s civil rights office is “effectively subservient” to whatever those offices say about this policy, he said.

“Not having them here takes away the central organizing component of the federal government to answer these questions, so I support you and your concern and whatever steps you think are appropriate going forward,” said Adams, who is the president and general counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and a former DOJ Voting Section attorney.

The Friday hearing comes as use of facial recognition technology in the federal government has prompted concerns about privacy and civil liberties, including from lawmakers and academics. A Government Accountability Office report last year found that seven agencies using the technology had initially used the technology without requiring staff to take training and some agencies didn’t have policies addressing civil rights and civil liberties protections.

Just last month, the National AI Advisory Committee’s Law Enforcement Subcommittee sought to improve agency disclosures of such technologies in their AI use case inventories by approving proposed edits to clarify exclusions.

In opening remarks, Chair Rochelle Garza, a Democratic appointee, noted both the potential benefits of the technology and threats it poses to fundamental rights. She said the briefing marked the commission’s “first step towards investigating the breadth of the challenges that FRT may pose.”

The meeting featured testimony from representatives of the GAO, the White House, Clearview AI, subject matter experts, and federal and state law enforcement, and covered topics such as the capabilities and harms of facial recognition technology and guidance for federal oversight. In addition to the meeting, the commission is accepting public comments as it prepares its report until April 8.

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FITARA scorecard adds cloud metric, prompts expected grade declines https://fedscoop.com/fitara-scorecard-adds-cloud-metric-prompts-expected-grade-declines/ Thu, 01 Feb 2024 23:30:28 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=75884 Lower grades were anticipated with the addition of a cloud metric in the 17th FITARA scorecard, Rep. Connolly said. “The object here is to move up.”

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A new version of an agency scorecard tracking IT modernization progress unveiled Thursday featured tweaked and new metrics, including one for cloud computing that caused an anticipated falter in agency grades. 

The latest round of grading awarded one A, 10 Bs, 10 Cs, and three Ds to federal agencies, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., announced at a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill. While the grades were generally a decline from the last iteration of the scorecard, Connolly said that starting at a “lower base” was expected with the addition of a new category. “The object here is to move up.”

Carol Harris, director of the Government Accountability Office’s IT and Cybersecurity team, who was also at the roundtable, similarly attributed the decline to the cloud category.

“A large part of this decrease in the grades was driven by the cloud computing category, because it is brand new, and it’s something that we’ve not had a focus on relative to the scorecard,” Harris said.

The FITARA scorecard is a measure of agency progress in meeting requirements of the 2024 Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act that has over time added other technology priorities for agencies. In addition to cloud, the new scorecard also changed existing metrics related to a 2017 law, added a new category grading IT risk assessment progress, and installed a progress tracker.

“I think it’s important the scorecard be a dynamic scorecard,” Connolly said in an interview with FedScoop after the roundtable. He added: “The goal isn’t, let’s have brand new, shiny IT. It’s to make sure that our functions and operations are better serving the American people and that they’re protected.”

Harris also underscored the accomplishments of the scorecard, citing $4.7 billion in savings as a result of closing roughly 4,000 data centers and $27.2 billion in savings as the result of eliminating duplicative systems across government.

“So, tremendous accomplishments all coming out of FITARA and the implementation of FITARA,” she said.

The Thursday roundtable featured agency representatives from the Office of Personnel Management, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID was the only agency to get an A.

Updated scorecard

Among the changes, the new scorecard updated the existing category for Modernizing Government Technology to reflect whether agencies have an account dedicated to IT that “satisfies the spirit of” the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which became law in 2017.

Under that metric, each agency must have a dedicated funding stream for government IT that’s controlled by the CIO and provides at least three years of flexible spending, Connolly said at the roundtable.

The transparency and risk management category has also evolved into a new CIO investment evaluation category, Connolly said in written remarks ahead of the roundtable. That category will grade how recently each agency’s IT Dashboard “CIO Evaluation History” data feed reflects new risk assessments for major IT investments, he said.

The 17th scorecard also added a progress tracker, which Connolly said Democrats on the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation worked on with the GAO to create. Connolly is the ranking member of that subcommittee.

“This section will provide transparency into metrics that aren’t being regularly updated or do not lend themselves to grading across agencies,” Connolly said, adding the data “still merits congressional attention, and we want to capture it with this tool.”

The progress tracker also allows stakeholders to keep tabs on categories the subcommittee has retired for the scorecard.

The release of a new scorecard has in the past been a hearing, but Connolly indicated the Republican majority declined to take the issue up. 

At the start of the meeting, Connolly said he was “disappointed” that “some of the Republican majority had turned their backs on FITARA.” He later noted that by “the difference of two votes, this would be called a hearing instead of a meeting.”

FITARA scorecard grades in September were also announced with a roundtable and not a hearing.

“FITARA is a law concerning federal IT management and acquisition,” a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability spokesperson said in a statement to FedScoop. South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s “subcommittee has held a dozen hearings in the past year concerning not only federal information technology management and acquisition, but also pressing issues surrounding artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. These hearings have been a critical vehicle for substantive oversight and the development of significant legislation.”

This story was updated Feb. 2, 2024, with comments from a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability spokesperson.

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Software license purchases need better agency tracking, GAO says https://fedscoop.com/federal-software-licenses-gao-report/ Mon, 29 Jan 2024 22:38:06 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=75790 Report finds that agencies are missing out on cost savings with the purchases of IT products and cyber-related investments, per a new Government Accountability Office report.

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Federal agencies are missing out on cost savings and making too many duplicative purchases when it comes to IT and cyber-related investments, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

With an annual spend of more than $100 billion on IT products, the federal government is falling short on the consistent tracking of its software licenses, leading to missed opportunities for cost reductions, the GAO found. And though there are federal initiatives in place to “better position agencies to maximize cost savings when purchasing software licenses,” the GAO noted that “selected agencies have not fully determined over- or under-purchasing of their five most widely used software licenses.”

The GAO’s study looked at software licenses purchased by the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies, finding that 10 vendors made up the majority of the most widely used licenses. For fiscal year 2021, Microsoft held by far the largest share of vendors organized by the highest amounts paid (31.3%), followed by Adobe (10.43%) and Salesforce (8.7%).

While the GAO was able to identify and analyze vendors based on government spend, it was “unclear which products under those licenses are most widely used because of agencies’ inconsistent and incomplete data,” the report noted. “For example, multiple software products may be bundled into a single license with a vendor, and agencies may not have usage data for each product individually.”

“Without better data, agencies also don’t know whether they have the right number of licenses for their needs,” the report continued.

For their recommendations, the GAO focused on nine agencies based on the size of their IT budgets and then zeroed in on the five most widely used licenses within those agencies. The selected agencies were the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Office of Personnel Management, Social Security Administration and USAID.

The recommendations centered most on better and more consistent inventory tracking to ensure that agencies didn’t double-dip on software license purchases and were in a better position to take advantage of cost-saving opportunities. There should be more concerted efforts to compare prices, the GAO stated.

HUD did not say whether it agreed or disagreed with the GAO’s recommendations, while the other eight agencies said in responses that they did.

Congress in 2023 attempted to rein in duplicative software across the government with the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act, which aimed to consolidate federal software purchasing and give agencies greater ability to push back on restrictive software licensing. However, after passing the House in July, the bill never moved in the Senate.

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Housing and Urban Development names Vinay Singh as chief AI officer https://fedscoop.com/hud-names-vinay-singh-chief-ai-officer/ Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:37:36 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=74930 Vinay Singh is currently the department’s chief financial officer and will work closely with the agency’s senior IT and policy officials in the new role.

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development has selected its top financial official, Vinay Singh, to serve as the department’s chief artificial intelligence officer following a Biden executive order requiring such a position at federal agencies.

Singh will work closely with Beth Niblock, the department’s chief information officer, and senior official for policy development Solomon Greene “to advance responsible AI innovation, increase transparency, protect HUD employees and the public they serve, and manage risks from sensitive government uses of AI,” a spokesperson told FedScoop in an emailed statement. 

Under President Joe Biden’s recent AI executive order (EO 14110), certain government agencies will be required to name a chief AI officer within 60 days of the Office of Management and Budget’s corresponding guidance, which is currently in draft form and being finalized. According to the order, the new CAIOs are responsible for coordinating an agency’s uses of AI, promoting AI innovation and managing risks, among other things.

While some agencies already had chief AI officers before the Biden order, such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, others are getting started publicly naming their officials. 

In response to FedScoop inquiries, for example, the National Science Foundation and the General Services Administration both disclosed that their chief data officers will serve as each agency’s chief AI officer. The Department of Education also said it tapped its chief technology officer for the role.

Among the responsibilities for the chief AI officers outlined in OMB’s draft guidance will be vice chairing their agency’s AI governance board. Those boards, which will coordinate AI adoption and manage risk, are required within 60 days of OMB’s guidance and will be chaired by each agency’s deputy secretary. 

Prior to the Biden administration order and draft guidance, agencies were already required to have a responsible AI official under a Trump administration order (EO 13960). But according to OMB’s draft guidance, the new chief AI officers will also carry out those responsibilities. For HUD, a decision about the existing role is forthcoming. 

“​​The AI Governance Board will determine the appropriate role and integration of the Responsible AI Official into the important work ahead,” the HUD spokesperson said.

Outside of naming a CAIO, other agencies told FedScoop they’re making progress on AI-related work in response to inquiries.

A NASA spokesperson, for example, said the agency “is developing recommendations on leveraging emerging Artificial Intelligence technology to best serve our goals and missions, from sifting through Earth science imagery to identifying areas of interest, to searching for exoplanet data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduling communications from the Perseverance Mars rover through the Deep Space Network, and more.”

Similarly, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said the agency is working on a “strategy to align with the EO.”

Rebecca Heilweil contributed to this story.

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With AI adoption, agency officials say they need an educated workforce that’s not ‘fearful’ of the technology https://fedscoop.com/ai-executive-order-workforce-agency-officials/ Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:34:18 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=73928 Federal executives discuss AI’s crucial role in data strategy and how to train staffers on best practices amid implementation of the White House’s executive order.

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HERSHEY, Pa. — Every now and then, Sarah Moffat will get a message from a fellow Department of Housing and Urban Development executive seeking a bit of communications assistance. 

“Can you ask our little friend to help me write an email about …” 

The friend in question is ChatGPT, and Moffat — the chief operating officer at HUD’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer — has made it her business to be “the AI person in the office.” 

While Moffat is happy to play the role of artificial intelligence sherpa, it’s clear to her and many of her colleagues that government leaders need to do a better job of communicating AI’s potential benefits to staffers and assuaging their fears about the technology. 

“If we don’t want them to be fearful, if we don’t want them to be resistant, we must be proactive in giving good information,” Moffat said Monday at ACT-IAC’s Imagine Nation ELC conference in Hershey, Pa. “We must be proactive in how we communicate and what we communicate, not just about who we are, but about who they are. And what do these changes mean for them and their future course.”

Many of the topics discussed Monday during the panel on “demystifying AI” were touched on in President Joe Biden’s AI executive order, which he signed hours later at a White House event. The order pushes federal agencies to reduce AI-related risks while also leaning into innovation. 

Much of that early innovation has been captured in a government database of AI agency use cases. At the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration, for example, use cases include everything from B2B matchmaking to a chatbot pilot

Gerald Caron, the ITA’s chief information officer, said the agency has held all-day offsite training sessions with select staffers “to educate them and demystify some of the things” about AI.

“We’re working through and refining their use cases,” Caron said. Staffers will say: “‘I want to do AI and here’s what I want to do.’ Well, that’s really a process improvement thing. So let’s improve that process.” 

Several panelists spoke of the substantial AI potential in organizing and analyzing vast troves of government data. Don Bitner, the Department of Agriculture’s chief technology officer, said that an agency’s data strategy is inextricably linked to AI.

“If your data strategy does not mention AI, you’re not prepping the battlefield,” Bitner said. “Whether or not your organization is ready for it, it’s not a huge deal. But if you’re not at least looking down that road, that’s what you’ve got to focus on.” 

The sheer magnitude of easily accessible data is a net positive — but it also makes agency decision-making that much more difficult and underscores the necessity of embracing AI.

Alexis Bonnell, chief information officer and director of the Digital Capabilities Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, noted that in the past three years, “about 90% of the world’s data came online. … So now I’m having to make five times the amount of decisions but with 1,000-, 100,000-times more information, right? And what is the one thing you want to do as a public servant? You want to make good decisions, good evidence-driven decisions on all categories.”

As agency officials dig further into the executive order’s requirements and move forward in experimenting with AI while simultaneously protecting the public from the potential risks of those systems, recognition has set in among government leaders that there’s no turning back. 

Anil Chaudry, associate administrator in the Department of Transportation’s Office of Planning and Analytics, mused that he spends “less time working on a $200 million contract” than trying to get approvals for his staffers to take “a $1,500 training course.” With AI, will common government barriers of that kind inhibit full-scale adoption?

“If we’re doing this, how do I make sure my workforce is educated, ready to take on the challenges of when generative AI is institutionalized?” Chaudry said. “And that’s what I struggle with now is, how do I make sure that they can supervise what’s going on? And that starts with trying to get them to play, experiment, innovate [and] learn, now.”

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Watchdog calls on HUD to improve data collection for assisted household accommodation requests  https://fedscoop.com/watchdog-calls-on-hud-to-improve-data-collection-for-assisted-households/ Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:10:41 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=70868 GAO says monitoring such requests would make the agency more aware of whether it is fulfilling citizens’ needs.

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The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Department of Housing and Urban Development improve how it collects and analyzes data about requests for reasonable accommodations from assisted households.

In a report issued Thursday, the congressional watchdog said that monitoring such requests — which range from service animal permit applications to requests for bathroom grab bars — would make the agency more aware of whether it is fulfilling the needs of assisted households.

In total, HUD’s assisted housing program supports nearly five million units, which house a total of 11 million people. According to the agency’s analysis of the 2019 American Housing Survey, about 42% of renting households — or 1.8 million households — assisted through the program reported having a disability.

“Although HUD collects information on a household’s disability status, the agency does not systematically collect data on requests for reasonable accommodations. Doing so would make HUD more aware of whether the needs of assisted households were met,” the report said.

The watchdog added: “HUD also does not have a comprehensive, documented strategy for its oversight of compliance with reasonable accommodation requirements. HUD prioritizes its oversight on investigating complaints, which it is legally required to do.”

Responding to GAO’s report, the agency neither agreed nor disagreed with the watchdog’s recommendation. It noted the challenges in addressing the recommendations, including resource constraints. 

The congressional watchdog reviewed issues related to the rental assistance HUD provides to households with disabilities in response to a request from lawmakers.

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Housing agency eyes trauma-informed customer experience improvements https://fedscoop.com/hud-eyes-trauma-informed-customer-experience-improvements/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 13:44:29 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=69529 The effort reflects the Biden administration's government-wide push to improve customer experience.

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering customer experience improvements to its housing discrimination complaint process aimed at not inflicting additional emotional damage on users. 

Customers using the complaint process are often already in a vulnerable state, facing eviction, homelessness, or retaliation from a housing provider, Amber Chaudhry, a customer experience lead at HUD, said at a virtual Data Foundation event Thursday. 

Chaudhry said her team pitched a design concept that includes embedding trauma-informed roles and training and guidance on emotional support to senior leadership in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity on Thursday morning. She said she’s hopeful her team will soon be working on next steps, like piloting those trauma-informed roles and capabilities at the department.

“Our ultimate goal is to reduce the emotional burden on both the end customer — the participants — and FHEO staff involved in the housing discrimination complaint process,” Chaudhry said.

The effort at HUD reflects the Biden administration‘s government-wide push to improve customer experience for programs that was launched in a 2021 executive order. That order provided guidance on how impactful, large-scale government programs — termed High Impact Service Providers — should manage customer experience.

The event, titled “Improving the Government Experience: Building Trust with the Public Sector’s Customers with Better Services,” focused on success stories in improving government customer service. It included speakers from the Office of Management and Budget, the National Parks Service, and professionals focused on technology in the public sector. 

Sean Reilly, chief of budget formulation and strategic planning in the National Park Service’s Office of the Comptroller, said the agency has been able to leverage its designation as a high-impact service provider under the executive order to focus on a consolidated NPS app and improvements Volunteer.gov. 

The changes across the government, one official said, are already making a difference. Amira Choueiki Boland, federal customer experience lead at OMB, highlighted customer satisfaction metrics for the federal government as other industries have struggled.

There was a trend last year in lower satisfaction with customer experiences across industries, Boland said, but the federal government’s score statically didn’t change. That the government “absorbed” some of that trend is a “testament” to the improvements being made, she said.

“We’re seeing at least that we’re going in the right direction,” Boland said, adding there’s still “a lot to do.”

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$41M in TMF funding awarded to three federal cybersecurity projects https://fedscoop.com/41m-in-tmf-funding-awarded-to-three-federal-cybersecurity-projects/ Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:44:12 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=65982 Treasury, Social Security Administration and the Agency for Global Media receive investments to help protect sensitive systems and data.

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The Technology Modernization Fund has awarded a total of $41 million to support cybersecurity projects at three federal agencies.

The General Services Administration, which houses the TMF program office, announced Friday it awarded $23.3 million to the Social Security Administration to accelerate the implementation of multi-factor authentication.

The TMF team also awarded the Treasury $11.1 million to improve the reliability and security of its Treasury Foreign Intelligence Network system — a critical U.S. government system used to share classified information with other agencies and bureaus — as well as $6.2 million to the U.S. Agency for Global Media to speed the adoption of a zero-trust architecture.

It is the latest funding round to come from the GSA-managed fund since it announced a pair of investments focused on improving customer experience at U.S. Agency for International Development and the Railroad Retirement Board.

Prior investments include $1.8 million provided to the U.S. AbilityOne Commission to update a procurement management system, and a combined $20.8 million awarded in October to the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Army.

“Cybersecurity is the great enabler of IT modernization,” TMF Board Chair and Federal CIO Clare Martorana said in a statement. “When we help agencies launch technology that is secure by design, they’re able to drive transformation across products and services to improve the digital experience and maximize investments.”

TMF Executive Director Raylene Yung said: “With these new cybersecurity investments, TMF funding will increase the security of some of the nation’s most critical systems and sensitive data.”

Correction, 2/21/22: This article was updated to clarify details of the TMF’s latest investment projects.

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TMF invests more than $20.8M in 3 agencies’ cyber and CX projects https://fedscoop.com/tmf-cyber-cx-projects-october/ Fri, 07 Oct 2022 00:11:34 +0000 https://fedscoop.com/?p=61402 OPM, HUD and the Army are the latest recipients of funding that will modernize IT systems and move them toward zero-trust security architectures.

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An Office of Personnel Management effort to simplify its website was among three agencies’ projects receiving more than $20.8 million in the latest round of Technology Modernization Fund investments announced Thursday.

The agency plans to improve the user experience of OPM.gov for 22 million annual visitors with the $6 million it received, while the Department of Housing and Urban Development was awarded $14.8 million for IT modernization and the Army an undisclosed amount to develop a Security Operations Center-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) framework.

More than 150 proposals from 70 agencies for $2.8 billion in funding have come in since the American Rescue Plan Act infused $1 billion into the TMF. The TMF Board in June said $100 million of those funds would be dedicated to improving customer experience across public-facing digital services and systems and addressing immediate service gaps starting in fiscal 2023.

“With these new investments, the TMF now has a portfolio of 32 investments totaling over half-a-billion dollars,” said TMF Executive Director Raylene Yung in the announcement. “But beyond funding, we’re working closely with our partners to provide them with expertise and support while also empowering their own teams to execute these projects in a way that ensures maximum benefits for the public.”

OPM will update and secure its website’s content management system in the cloud to more clearly communicate the services and benefits it offers and career information, thereby improving federal hiring, said Director Kiran Ahuja.

HUD intends to implement a cloud platform integrating legacy Federal Housing Administration Connection systems with Login.gov for identity, credential and access management allowing more than 95,000 users to self-register.

The Army’s SOCaaS project will bolster network monitoring for cybersecurity threats at 26 Organic Industrial Base (OIB) sites — depots, arsenals and ammunition plants — worth $8.5 billion.

“Funding from the TMF will help the Army to address this critical and urgent need as much as two years earlier than waiting for agency funding to become available through the regular budgeting process,” said Chief Information Officer Raj Iyer in a statement. “For the Army and its partners, this project will modernize and improve our cybersecurity posture and enhance the command and control of critical OIB.”

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