Acquisition
Biden budget cuts funding for health record refresh amid ongoing program 'reset'
VA’s proposed FY25 budget includes zero funding for future deployments of its new electronic health record system and allocates no additional funds for assessing rollouts at other sites.
Policy
Biden's $1.67 trillion budget boosts tech, AI
The Biden administration’s FY2025 budget request provides agencies with $3 billion “to responsibly develop, test, procure and integrate transformative AI applications across the federal government.”
Modernization
Chicago phase of VA's health record software deployment is live amid larger program 'reset'
The rollout of Oracle Cerner EHR software at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is DOD’s final deployment of the new system and a critical test for the future of VA’s modernization efforts.
People
Bill enhancing contractor whistleblower protections advances to full Senate
The bipartisan proposal would close loopholes that have left federal contractors vulnerable to retaliation.
Artificial Intelligence
Pentagon official says US values will outcompete Beijing in AI
The U.S. continues to lead the global AI arms race with China “because it's powered by a free and open society, committed to responsible-use values and ideals,” according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
Policy
VA budget bill maintains EHR funding but imposes additional ‘reset’ oversight
The bipartisan FY24 budget package allocates over $1.3 billion for the agency’s new electronic health record system but makes 25% of that funding contingent on enhanced transparency around VA’s ongoing EHR “program reset.”
Acquisition
State is taking an ‘important step’ for planned EHR, as key lawmaker moves to speed it up
State’s Bureau of Medical Services has been working for more than a decade to replace its current paper-based medical record system with an electronic solution to better meet the healthcare needs of its diplomatic corps.
Artificial Intelligence
Senate committees to start marking up AI bills soon, senator says
One of the Republican members of the bipartisan AI working group estimated that major Senate committees will begin marking up AI-related legislation “in March or April.”
Digital Government
HealthCare-dot-gov enrollees will also receive voter registration emails, vice president says
The communications are part of a Biden administration effort to improve voting rights and access.
Defense
US tech is still powering Russian weapons, experts warn
American components that have been found in the sanctioned country’s weaponry are “fueling and supporting the growing and gargantuan Russian war machine,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Artificial Intelligence
DOD’s generative AI task force looks for ‘blind spots’
The head of the Pentagon’s Task Force Lima initiative estimated that 60% of its use cases are for a chatbot.
Defense
A minimum viable CJADC2 is ‘real and ready,’ DOD official says
The initial version of the Pentagon’s effort to create an interoperable information-sharing network across all of its military domains is “low latency and extremely reliable,” according to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
Digital Government
Senate Dems call for an update on vote.gov improvements
More than a dozen Democratic senators signed a letter to the General Services Administration asking for an update on the agency’s work to modernize the government’s voting information platform.
Artificial Intelligence
DOD's AI strategy leans on high-quality data
Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Craig Martell said private sector companies will play a crucial role in the Pentagon’s adoption of AI technologies and the pursuit of high-quality data.
Artificial Intelligence
Lawmakers urge VA to tread carefully with AI
The Department of Veteran Affairs’ 2023 inventory of AI use cases listed 100 instances where VA is working to use emerging technologies, with at least 40 of those examples in an operational phase.
Artificial Intelligence
Tech companies vow to fight deepfake election content
Some House and Senate lawmakers praised the voluntary commitments but want legislation to require labeling and disclosure.
Acquisition
VA pharmacy tech glitches put 250,000 veterans at risk, officials say
Data transmission errors in the VA's new commercial health record could potentially lead to providers missing important prescription information on patients who visit multiple agency facilities.
Defense
US reviews export controls in Britain, Australia for high-tech arms sales exemptions
A State Dept. official told a House panel that work to align AUKUS partners with U.S. export control requirements is ‘going very well'.
Digital Government
Senate bill proposes a public website for federal waterway data
New legislation from Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Angus King, I-Maine, would direct the Commerce Department to make “geographic information system data” on federal waterways available on a public website.
Emerging Tech
Commerce advisory committee urges government to boost startup access to talent, funding
Congress should fully fund the Economic Development Administration’s regional technology and innovation hubs program to help the U.S. tech sector maintain its global leadership, according to the committee.
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