The Wrap: New AI Datacenter Task Force; NARA’s Paper Lifeline; DoD Deputy CIO

Welcome to The Wrap for Friday, September 13!

From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

New AI Datacenter Task Force

The White House is setting up a new Task Force on AI Datacenter Infrastructure to coordinate policy across government, particularly in light of heavy energy usage expected from the continued proliferation of datacenters that power artificial intelligence (AI) services. Major players in the effort include the White House’s National Economic Council, National Security Council, The White House , and deputy chief of staff’s office, with a mission to “provide streamlined coordination on policies to advance datacenter development operations in line with economic, national security, and environmental goals,” the White House said. Is AI the new coal? Probably not, but part of the task force’s focus will be on repurposing closed coal sites with datacenter developers. “Retired and retiring coal sites provide a “unique?opportunity?for redevelopment of?energy infrastructure that can power new data centers,” the White House said, adding that “existing land and facilities at the power plant site can be repurposed, such as electricity infrastructure for connections to the grid.”

NARA’s Paper Lifeline

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which stopped accepting paper-based records from Federal agencies earlier this year, is tossing out a lifeline that will allow agencies to continue transferring official personnel folders (OPFs) to NARA until June 2025. While the transition to digital-only records pushed many agencies to shift to digitized processes and create electronic copies of paper records, NARA acknowledged that agencies still need more time to fully digitalize records and will allow the delivery of employee medical folders (EMFs) until June 2027 in addition to OPFs. Agencies that have already transitioned to fully digital OPMs and EMFs are not eligible for the exception.

DoD’s new Deputy CIO

Congrats to Nora Christine Dillman, who has been appointed the new deputy director of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the United States Department of Defense (DoD), where she will play a key role in shaping and overseeing the Pentagon’s information technology strategy. Dillman comes to the new job with plenty of Pentagon experience including in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where she contributed to strategic IT initiatives, and with the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Mobility Program Management Office, where she managed mobility and communication solutions. Most recently she was associate deputy assistant administrator at the Drug Enforcement Administration, where she was responsible for overseeing critical aspects of data standardization, software engineering, project management, and executing large-scale IT projects.

Needles in Haystacks

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are revolutionizing national security through their ability to quickly identify critical information from vast data sets, enabling law enforcement and intelligence agencies to find the "needle in the haystack." That was the bottom line from FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate during a talk on Sept. 12 at GDIT Emerge where emphasized that the surge in data – and the requirement to derive meaning from it – is a major and escalating challenge not only for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) but for every organization, whether in business or government. “It’s especially urgent for us, because within all that is the information we need to stop the threat, to protect people,” Abbate said. “So, we are using technology in basic ways and looking at how we can use advanced and emerging technologies, including AI, to refine data, triage data, prioritize data, and find that ‘needle in the haystack’ that we need,” he said, while pointing to the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center in West Virginia as one the FBI’s prime proving grounds for AI tech.

?Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy. And finally, please hit the news tip jar [with leads, breaking news, or simply your two cents] at [email protected].