FedScoop

This week, the 2024 #FedScoop50 Awards brought together federal technology leaders at The Hay-Adams in Washington, D.C., to celebrate their outstanding contributions to innovation and transformation in government and public service. A huge congratulations to this year’s honorees—your dedication to progress is driving meaningful change and shaping the future of federal technology. Special thanks to our sponsors— AWS Public Sector, Google for Government, Salesforce, SAP | Carahsoft, and T-Mobile for Government—for supporting this celebration of excellence. ? Explore the full list of 2024 winners: https://lnkd.in/ex3P9fH5 Golden Gov: Federal Executive of the Year: Paul Abbate | Leslie Beavers | Guy Cavallo | Ann Dunkin | Dr. Kelly E. Fletcher | Jason Gray | Mina Hsiang | Eric Hysen | Clare Martorana | Drew Myklegard | Melinda Rogers | Danny Werfel Federal Leadership: Tony Arcadi | Hemant Baidwan | Sheena Burrell | Terry Carpenter | Kirsten Dalboe | Michael Duffy | Brian E. | Marcela Escobar-Alava | Dr. Matthew Graviss | Cynthia Kaiser | Ted Kaouk, PhD | Robert King | Ann Lewis | David McKeown | Adele Merritt | Eric Mill | Daniel Morgan | Nand Mulchandani | Yemi Oshinnaiye | Kaschit Pandya | Lakshmi Raman | James Saunders | Micky Tripathi | Zach Whitman | Charles Worthington

The #FedScoop50 awards were a fun evening, as always. Thanks Goldy Kamali and the FedScoop team for bringing everyone together. It was great to see everyone, especially Goldy's fabulous parents!

The Internal Revenue Service’s experimentation with voicebot and chatbot functionality should continue, but several tweaks to the technology are needed for better customer service, an advisory panel to the tax agency said Wednesday. In its 379-page annual report, the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council devoted a small section to results from its testing of artificial intelligence-powered voicebots and chatbots in use by the agency’s taxpayer services division. https://lnkd.in/eM6ZBp2e

Sheena Burrell, the chief information officer of the National Archives and Records Administration, has taken a new job as chief innovation officer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Burrell will join FDIC to lead its Office of Innovation — known also as the FDIC Tech Lab or FDiTech — on Dec. 2, an agency spokesperson confirmed to FedScoop. https://lnkd.in/emd3PeWZ

Legislation from a bipartisan pair of House lawmakers that would extend the Chief Data Officers Council past the end of the year passed out of committee Wednesday after being introduced Monday. The Modernizing Data Practices to Improve Government Act (H.R. 10151), introduced by Reps. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., which cleared the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, is the companion piece to a Senate bill that was introduced in September. Under the bill, the CDO Council would be kept alive until 2031. It would also have to assess data governance and data-sharing issues that prevent “adoption and interoperability of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence across agencies,” according to the bill’s amendment in the nature of a substitute. https://lnkd.in/eYJPzKNt

The Energy Department has a new deputy chief information officer. Dawn Zimmer, who previously directed business partnership services and focused on information technology at the Federal Aviation Administration, announced in a LinkedIn post Thursday that she was filling the principal deputy chief information officer position. https://lnkd.in/ep7pVPad

When federal officials gathered at the Chief Data Officers Council symposium Thursday, it didn’t draw protesters outside the building with signs calling for more data and evidence in government. And in some ways, that makes those issues less pressing for leadership, Jacob Malcom, the Department of Interior’s statistical official, said on a panel discussion about evidence-based decision-making. “There isn’t a big constituency,” he explained. https://lnkd.in/esSX6kBB

? What a night at the The Hay-Adams ? Last night, the #FedScoop50 Awards celebrated the outstanding achievements of federal tech leaders across a number of categories and acknowledge their tireless efforts to make a positive impact in the government community and in public service. As an #EventProfs, it's always a privilege to create environments that amplify milestones, foster connections, and spark conversations. From the stunning venue to the lively reception, every detail came together seamlessly—including the signature Georgetown Cupcakes that added a sweet touch of FedScoop / Scoop News Group magic. It’s moments like these that remind us of the power of events to elevate achievements and bring communities together.

One insight that seemed to be consistent at the Federal Chief Data Officers Council Symposium yesterday was the importance of fostering a data culture throughout government agencies and making that case to leadership. In my coverage for FedScoop, I included some of the most interesting comments and anecdotes on that topic, plus some of the findings from the Data Foundation's recent survey of CDOs ??

Among the ways data officials are building that culture: Shark Tank-style competitions and a “data bodega.” https://lnkd.in/e6swcREM