The Wrap: Replicator 2 Emerges; NIST the AI Whisperer; VA Greenlights Tele-Emergency Care

Welcome to The Wrap for Monday, September 30!

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

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Replicator 2 Emerges

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went public today with details of the second phase of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative that is taking a broad swing at quickly fielding unmanned systems in part to meet China’s military buildup. In a Sept. 27?memo?made public today, Austin said “Replicator 2” will focus on countering threats posed by small drones – also known as uncrewed aerial systems (C-sUAS) – to U.S. military installations. The first tranche of Replicator capabilities includes uncrewed surface vehicles, uncrewed aerial systems, and counter-uncrewed aerial systems of various sizes and payloads from both traditional and non-traditional vendors. “I am confident the Replicator Initiative will complement and advance the significant C-sUAS work already underway in the DoD,” Austin wrote in the memo. “The expectation is that Replicator 2 will assist with overcoming challenges we face in the areas of production capacity, technology innovation, authorities, policies, open system architecture and system integration, and force structure,” he said.

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NIST the AI Whisperer

What has the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) been doing to help Federal agencies document compliance with the Office of Management and Budget ’s (OMB)?governmentwide AI policy? The answer to that question is plenty, according to NIST Chief AI Officer Elham Tabassi, who talked about the work during a Nextgov/FCW webinar on Sept. 26. Compliance plans from agencies were due last week covering how to achieve consistency with Federal AI policies on a host of fronts including updating their internal policies, collecting information for their AI use case inventories, removing barriers to responsible use of AI tools, and determining whether a use is rights- or safety-impacting, among other items. “One particular effort that relates to the use of AI across the government is, as part of the [October 2023 AI executive order], OMB had a task to come up with a minimum risk requirement by agencies for the use of AI in their operations, and asked NIST to work with the OMB and agencies to come up with implementation plans,” Tabassi said. “It’s one thing to say we want AI systems to be safe or secure, then we have to work with the community to come up with what that means,” she said. “Another step to that is assure that AI systems are safe and secure … what are the tools – they call them benchmarks – that’s needed to go from just saying that the AI systems are trustworthy to actually test and assure that the systems are trustworthy and responsible?” Please do click through for more details on individual agency AI planning.

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VA Greenlights Tele-Emergency Care

Following a wide-ranging pilot that produced good results, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is going ahead with a plan to make tele-emergency (tele-EC) services available to military veterans nationwide. The pilot took in more than 60,000 calls from vets and produced a 60 percent case resolution rate – meaning that the callers’ needs were met without them having to leave their homes. “Veterans can now be evaluated for possible emergencies from the comfort of their home,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal. “Sometimes, you’re not sure whether what you’re experiencing is a minor emergency or not – and tele-emergency care can help you resolve those questions,” he said. How it works: tele-EC is a part of VA Health Connect, a phone service that veterans can call nationwide. Vets who contact VA Health Connect will speak to a nurse, who will then connect them to tele-EC. Tele-EC providers will then evaluate the veteran over the phone or on video and recommend treatment or follow-up, including if in-person care is needed. In life-threatening emergencies, the nurse will call 911 and stay on the line until help arrives.

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GAO Prods for FAPIIS Compliance

Where does a Federal agency go to check on whether prospective contractors are up to snuff with their performance and business ethics? One source is the General Services Administration’s ( GSA ) Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) contractor database, which produces score cards on those attributes, and according to a new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) also features notable gaps in reporting from Federal agencies particularly in the areas of contract terminations and administrative agreements. GAO found, for instance, that eight out of 24 agencies that reported Federal contract terminations in the separate Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) entirely failed to do the same in FAPIIS – with only one agency reporting matching termination records between both systems.?GAO recommended that the Office of Management and Budget make efforts to reiterate integrity reporting requirements, and for GSA and the United States Department of Defense to “take steps to ensure their personnel have awareness of integrity reporting requirements.”

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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].