The Fed Mission Success Round Up: Government Decisions and AI; VA to Lean On Automation; and IRS Pro-Digitization Efforts

Welcome to the Fed Mission Success News Round Up brought to you by Makpar. Each week, we will provide a summary of actionable news and insights to help aid in overall mission success for Federal agency IT decision-makers and influencers.   

Are Government Decisions Being Made by AI? Lawmakers Want to Mandate Disclosure 

A new Senate bill aims to ensure that government decisions deemed “critical,” such as those related to employment, financial assistance, healthcare or government benefits, are made with automated systems come with disclosures about the use of these systems.  

New Report Identifies Over $100 Billion In Potential Government Services Savings 

The federal government can save more than $100 billion over the next 10 years by fixing recent overlaps, duplication and other critical issues impacting government services, according to a new Government Accountability Office report. 

New Bill Would Give CISA Greater Cyber Outreach Responsibilities 

Lawmakers have introduced the Cybersecurity Awareness Act, a new bipartisan bill that aims to equip the most frequent targets of ransomware attacks and underserved communities across the country with critical access to cyber training, education and resources. 

VA to Lean On Automation, Better IT to Tackle Wave of Benefits Claims 

The Veterans Benefits Administration believes that the use of automated tools and modernized information technology systems will help it reduce its claims backlog and enhance the efficiency of its claims processing moving forward, according to a new report.  

FEMA Plans New Fire Tracking System Armed With Machine Learning and Biometrics 

In 2025, the U.S. Fire Administration, a division of FEMA, wants to replace the National Fire Incident Reporting System with a solution that leverages with machine learning and biometrics. 

IRS’s Smith: Be Pro-Digitization, Not Anti Status-Quo When Driving Innovation 

In a recent Ask the CIO Federal News Network interview, Harrison Smith, Director of the Enterprise Digitization Office at the IRS, discusses a digitization effort that takes paper tax turns, extracts machine-readable data and electronically files them. 

IRS to Get a New Acting CIO 

The IRS’ chief technology officer, Kaschit Pandya, will be taking on the additional role of acting CIO at the tax agency, according to this recent NextGov article.