Emerging Technology and Innovation Conference
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 8:00am to 1:30pmWednesday, May 26, 2021 - 8:00am to 1:30pm
Venue Address:
VIRTUAL
See map: Google Maps
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 8:00am to 1:30pmWednesday, May 26, 2021 - 8:00am to 1:30pm
Venue Address:
VIRTUAL
See map: Google Maps
Registration Fees:
Government: $0.00
IAC Members: $295.00
Non-Members: $495.00
Event Details
Overview
Emerging technologies (ET) are evolving at a rapid cadence measured in weeks, not months or years. Likewise, innovation is much broader than inventing or adopting a new technology – it includes changing how business is done to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and customer service. The technologies that make our lives easier and the forward innovative thinking that breeds creativity, will catapult us into the next level of government IT.
ACT-IAC has created the Emerging Technology and Innovation Conference, to be held virtually May 25 – 26, 2021, to focus on the innovations and emerging technologies that are on the forefront of change in Federal IT. This year’s agenda revolves around three major themes: Resilient Infrastructure, Emerging Technologies, and the U.S. Science and Technology Agenda.
In addition to a dynamic set of speakers and opportunities to engage, the conference will celebrate the winners of the 2021 ACT-IAC Innovation Awards, who will share their innovation successes and lessons learned. You’ll also hear from successful industry emerging technology and innovation solutions in our Showcase of Excellence. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to network with your peers and discover the art of the possible as we collaborate together to accelerate the delivery of government mission outcomes.
Download the Conference App
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Keynotes:
Bob Burns, Executive Director, OIC, Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Charles Clancy, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, General Manager, MITRE Labs, Chief Futurist
Clare Martorana, Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
Alka A. Patel, Chief Responsible AI, Department of Defense/JAIC
Dave Zvenyach, Deputy Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service, Director, Technology Transformation Services, U.S. General Services Administration
Speakers:
Gabe Chang, Ambassador, Client Technical Leader, and Federal CTO Architect , IBM
Paula Gold-Williams, President and CEO, CPS Energy
Saif Ishoof, Vice President for Engagement, Florida International University
Padraig Moloney, Vice President, External Technology, Leidos
Rima Kasia Oueid, Commercialization Executive, Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy
Jim Perschbach, President & CEO, Port San Antonio
Dr. Brandon Rodenburg, Senior Quantum Physicist, MITRE
Mike Sarasti, CIO/Director Of Innovation & Technology, City of Miami
Pete Tseronis, Founder and CEO, Dots And Bridges LLC
David M. Wennergren, CEO, ACT-IAC
Dr. Carl J. Williams, Deputy Director, Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Contributors to Planning:
Emerging Technology Community of Interest
Mission:
Provide an energetic, collaborative consortium comprised of leading practitioners in data science, technology, and research, engaged with industry, academia, and public officials and executives focused on emerging and leading technologies which transform public sector capabilities.
For more information about engaging with this COI, please visit our website.
The Institute was established to help the government apply the most innovative practices and technologies available, from both the public and private sectors, to solve the most challenging issues the government faces in improving services to citizens and government operations.
The Institute is supported by funding provided by IAC member companies. Sponsor representatives, ACT-IAC leaders, and government advisors form the Innovators Circle that oversees the activities of the Institute. ACT-IAC thanks all of them for making the work of the Institute possible. For more information about Institute membership, click here.
Agenda
Agenda - By Date
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
8:45 am to 9:15 am
Keynote
Keynote:
Clare Martorana, Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
9:15 am to 9:45 am
Keynote
Keynote:
Dave Zvenyach, Deputy Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service, Director, Technology Transformation Services, U.S. General Services Administration
9:45 am to 10:00 am
Break
10:00 am to 10:30 am
Keynote
Keynote:
Alka A. Patel, Head of AI Ethics Policy, Department of Defense, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
10:30 am to 11:30 am
Future of Quantum Panel
Speakers:
Gabe Chang, Ambassador, Client Technical Leader, and Federal CTO Architect , IBM
Dr. Brandon Rodenburg, Physicist and Quantum Information Scientist, MITRE
Rima Kasia Oueid, Commercialization Executive, Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. Carl J. Williams, Deputy Director, Physical Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Padraig Moloney, Vice President, External Technology, Leidos - Moderator
11:30 am to 11:45 am
Break
11:45 am to 12:45 pm
ACT-IAC Innovation Awards Presentations
There were over 150 nominations for the coveted ACT-IAC Innovation Award. Each nominee is worthy to be recognized, but a panel of judges selected thirteen awardees to bestow the award to. This session will highlight 7 of the thirteen awardees:
- Smart White Cane for the Blind - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
- Army Vantage – PEO EIS/PM ARDAP
- Shepherd Case Management System – HHS Administration for Children and Families and REI Systems
- NASA COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Tracking Application Built on SaaS Platform - Accenture Federal Services
- ContagionNET - DataRobot
- Sara Alert™ - MITRE
- BUYSMARTER – Full Contract Scan Artificial Intelligence Tool - Unissant
12:45 pm to 1:30 pm
Showcase of Excellence (Exhibitor Presentations)
Innovation is everywhere! Hear from four companies who are making strides in technology in the federal landscape.
Leidos
OnPoint
Port San Antonio
ManTech
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
8:45 am to 9:15 am
Keynote
Keynote:
Charles Clancy, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, General Manager, MITRE Labs, Chief Futurist
9:15 am to 9:45 am
Keynote
Keynote:
Bob Burns, Executive Director, Innovation and Collaboration, DHS Science and Technology, Directorate (confirmed)
9:45 am to 10:45 am
Smart Cities Panel
This panel will highlight how Smart and Connected Cities require resilient, sustainable, and flexible infrastructure to catalyze innovative transformation. Conducting technology due diligence in an “Internet-of-Things” society to ensure risk mitigation and the art-of-the-possible investment while enriching a 21st century workforce across our Nation’s critical sectors with the real-time data and intelligent automation, is a challenge. The panelists will share their thoughts, strategies, and experiences on building the future.
Speakers:
Paula Gold-Williams, Chief Executive Officer, CPS Energy
Saif Ishoof, Vice President of Engagement, Florida International University
Jim Perschbach, Chief Executive Officer, Port San Antonio
Mike Sarasti, CIO / Director Of Innovation & Technology, Miami City
Pete Tseronis, Founder and CEO, Dots and Bridges, LLC
10:45 am to 11:00 am
Break
11:00 am to 12:00 pm
ACT-IAC Innovation Awards Presentation
There were over 150 nominations for the coveted ACT-IAC Innovation Award. Each nominee is worthy to be recognized, but a panel of judges selected thirteen awardees to bestow the award to. This session will highlight 6 of the thirteen awardees:
- C.O.D.A. (COVID-19 Outreach Digital Assistant) – Integrity Management Services
- HealthPrism™ - Deloitte Consulting LLP
- HHS WATERS Blockchain Platform: COVID-19 Immutable Test Results and Analysis – Oracle
- LCR – Laser Coating Removal Robot - XYREC INC
- redOx – Simple Technology Solutions
- Remote Temperature Monitoring for the Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers – VHA Innovation Ecosystem
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Showcase of Excellence (Exhibitor Presentations) and Closing Remarks
Innovation is everywhere! Hear from four companies who are making strides in technology in the federal landscape.
SAIC
Lumen
Verizon
Rubrik
Keynote
Executive Director, OIC Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate
Deputy Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service, Director, Technology Transformation Services
Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
Innovation Award Winners
Army Vantage - PEO EIS / PM ARDAP
BUYSMARTER – Full Contract Scan Artificial Intelligence Tool - Unissant
C.O.D.A. (COVID-19 Outreach Digital Assistant) - Integrity Management Services
HealthPrism™ - Deloitte Consulting LLP
HHS WATERS Blockchain Platform: COVID-19 Immutable Test Results and Analysis - Oracle
LCR - Laser Coating Removal Robot - XYREC INC
redOx - Simple Technology Solutions
Remote Temperature Monitoring for the Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Shepherd Case Management System - HHS Administration for Children and Families and REI Systems
Innovation Nominations A-C
Accelerating the Online Decennial Census - Amazon Web Service
The U.S. Census Bureau worked with AWS to bring its vision of a digital census into reality. From getting the right infrastructure framework in place and processing and storing the information collected, to helping fuse data to reduce redundant entry and improve citizen experience, the Census Bureau has turned to AWS to support its work across its survey processes. To help bring the Census online, the Census Bureau moved its 2020census.gov website to AWS GovCloud (US), Amazon’s Regions designed to host sensitive data and address the most stringent U.S. government security and compliance requirements. Over 7,000 Amazon instances allowed 2020census.gov to scale in order to meet the demands of ~$1.2M concurrent users, 17,000 officer workers and 260 regional offices and over 500,000 census takers. All this was stood up in an accelerated 18 months and resulted in a resilient operation without a single second of down-time.
AchieveIt – AchieveIt
Our company worked with clients to break down their mission and vision and build long-term organizational strategic plans. As execution began, individual teams tracked and reported on their plans in their own way. As the fires of the day-to-day became more urgent and important, long-term planning consistently was pushed to the wayside. For most organizations, this leads to a strategic plan in a binder on the shelf collecting dust. Our clients needed a cloud-based software, accessible from anywhere, that used a common framework and could track and manage key organizational plans across the enterprise. A platform with a single source of truth where they could easily see all supporting goals and activities, regardless of which plan they came from. This is how AchieveIt’s integrated plan management software was born. We have built software to help clients get everything in view, get everyone engaged and get every possible advantage.
Achieving DevOps Continuous Deployments and Releases on Large Scale Development Programs - ASRC FEDERAL
Moving an organization from waterfall development to SAFe Agile development requires methods to accelerate the frequency of production deployments and releases. Advanced software development communities use configuration to separate production deployments from production releases so that end-users only see released features and not deployed features. Most of the methods used in public enterprises are not able to be used on the USDA Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) network. To resolve that situation, FPAC Information Systems Division, Conservation Branch and ASRC Federal created an internal adaptation that blends government requirements and flexible configuration management. This solution moves USDA FPAC NRCS toward one stream of code that has active and inactive portions which is far simpler to manage than other methods.
Aiden - Aiden Technologies
Aiden is an intelligent packaging-as-a-service managed service providing fully automated patch management enabling organizations to keep Microsoft Windows networks secure in a highly scalable manner. The Windows environment requires enterprise installations of software updates and patches that are “packaged”. Application packaging involves the preparation of standard, structured software installations targeted for automated deployment. Automated installations, or packages, must meet the installation requirements for a specific environment: corporate standards for software usage and desktop design, multiple languages, regional issues, and software-related support issues. Packages must be prepared for both commercial software and applications developed in-house. The packaging process is executed by a large and often expensive team of agency or contractor packaging engineers.
Air Force IT Pulse – USAF
This is a "Voice of the Customer" program for enterprise IT in the Air Force. The enterprise IT community needed to listen to users and track their experience with IT. We now do this with a daily pulse survey to a small percentage of Airmen. The survey includes one required question and several optional ones. The response rate has ranged as high as 18% since launching in January 2020. The data is invaluable in guiding enterprise IT decisions and priorities. The data tracks the impact of the Air Force's IT investments such as the Enterprise IT as a Service program and the readiness of bases to support major IT investments such as ABMS. The data also feeds into a cross-organizational team called ROLE-IT that addresses common user experience issues with enterprise IT.
Animal Health Services Cross-Platform Solution - Koniag Government Services
This innovation pertains to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Animal Health Services (AHS) Mobile Information Management (MIM) Modernization efforts. The AHS cross-platform solution is innovative because it uses a single codebase to open up a multitude of options for the end users of the product and allows them to use existing mobile devices. Currently, the veterinarians who use the legacy system, use windows devices that have to be custom purchased at a premium price to perform animal health activities in the field. The devices are expensive, hard to maintain and are end-of-life at this point. Nearly every user already has powerful devices at their fingertips. The Android and iOs devices that most users own have very high-end components that rival laptops. These devices also come with higher levels of built-in encryption and protections compared with the mobile devices of the past. Making use of commonly available devices and allowing veterinarians to use standard mobile devices could make for a much friendlier option for the clients of AHS. These changes will provide complete flexibility to not only the federal workers, but also state and local government workers as well as private contractors.
Apios – Geocent
In our industry, software delivery and security are the top priority. After years of going from project to project, building code from the ground up each time, our engineers thought: why not build a reusable foundation? Apios, our reusable software pipeline, was born. Apios is a modular and extensible software development framework that wraps ideation, human-centric design, data engineering and management, and foundational security in an automation and abstraction platform. It empowers organizations by a rapid and secure software development lifecycle. It provides the basis for orchestrating a collaborative partnership between all stakeholders and facilitates the execution of that strategy, thereby enabling rapid development iteration and ensuring teams remain strategically focused on solving the complex problems they face day in and day out.
Applied Cyber Technologies Pipeline Ecosystem - PEO/EIS
In 2018, Applied Cyber Technologies (ACT), a product office within the Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO) portfolio of the Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), was established to identify the most innovative ways to rapidly assess, integrate, acquire and field advanced defensive cyberspace solutions for soldiers. In 2020, ACT began developing its Pipeline Ecosystem. Pipelines are essentially a set of data processing elements connected in a series, enabling organizations to automate technical processes that are traditionally performed manually. Building a pipeline ecosystem takes considerable effort, but the operational advantages it offers are substantial. Pipelines provide significant time and cost savings, but their biggest benefit is their ability to free up technical experts to solve problems that machines can’t. Notably, due to the iterative nature of technology processes, the pipelines’ benefits multiply exponentially over time, making them a true force multiplier.
Applying Intelligent Automation to Acquisition Challenges - ASI Government
The IRS sought to create an innovative acquisition approach to achieve dramatic reductions in cycle time for buying emerging technology, engaging and partnering with industry innovators, enabling solutions to quickly pivot and demonstrating effectiveness of the technology with a return on investment metric. This led to the creation of Pilot IRS. IRS used Pilot IRS to identify, test, procure and deploy a robust and highly automated internal data quality system that is used to review, assess, and correct data discrepancies in real time ahead of procurement audits. This solution brings together Robotic Process Automation and Automated Intelligence Natural Language Processing to retrieve contracts and verify actual contract data aligns with publicly available data sources to ensure compliance with DATA ACT requirements. The Pilot IRS process proved to be simple, while minimizing risk and delivering capabilities incrementally and at a low cost.
Arkansas Driver Practice Test and Appointment Scheduler - NIC Arkansas
The online Arkansas Driver Practice Test and In Line Online Appointment Scheduler for the Arkansas Drivers Skills Exam have modernized Arkansas State Police testing operations. The Arkansas Driver Practice Test website, mobile app, and voice app offer aspiring drivers a way to enhance their study preparations for taking the written driver exam, while the In Line Online Appointment Scheduler allows applicants to make an appointment online for the Arkansas Drivers Skill Exam rather than waiting in line at a testing location. These innovations have transformed existing capabilities by improving the quality and efficiency of testing operations and by removing barriers created by manual, paper-based processes. Now applicants can take the practice exam via the website, or download the free app available for both iOS and Android devices. Those wanting to take the practice test orally can interact with the voice app through their Amazon Echo or Google Home Digital Assistant. Using this hands-free, voice-enabled approach, users can simply say the answers to the questions asked by the assistant and get instant feedback on their results. By providing the online practice exam in both English and Spanish, as well as the voice-enable approach available through the Alexa Skill or Google Assistant, Arkansas State Police is adopting new and innovative technologies to deliver services more efficiently in a way that focuses on the user.
Army Futures Command Modernization Application and Data Environment (MADE) – AIS
In just eight months, AIS helped the US Army Futures Command build a modern analytics platform in Microsoft Azure. “AIS designed and built both the core cloud infrastructure services and data enclaves comprising AFC-MADE,” says MAJ Nathan Parker, Data Scientist in the Data and Decision Sciences Division, Army Futures Command. “In fact, for AFC-MADE, we required an Impact Level 5 (IL-5) enclave, and AIS enabled us to achieve IL-5 Authority to Operate (ATO) accreditation in an extraordinarily aggressive eight-month timeline.” To speed the acquisition of the IL-5 ATO, the AIS team used the company’s ATO Framework, which provides an accelerated ATO roadmap using Azure ATO templates. In less than one month after ATO authorization, ten workloads began the process of moving to a cloud environment that is far more stable, cost-effective, and secure than previous environments.
Army Vantage - PEO EIS / PM ARDAP
Army Vantage is an open, extensible enterprise data analytics platform that connects to and integrates data from new or legacy systems in any form and at any scale from the Army’s data domains. The platform enables Army users at every echelon and across classification levels to view comprehensive Army-wide data, perform analytical workflows, analyze trends, collaborate live and make data-driven decisions. The program’s innovative approach to managing data is designed to solidify Army Vantage as the service’s common data platform, enabling Army goals and objectives by making data visible, accessible, understandable, trusted, interoperable and secure.
Artificial Intelligence for Past Performance – Phase 2- DHS
The Artificial Intelligence for Past Performance project seeks to infuse emerging and innovative technology into one of the Government’s most important data sets, the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS). CPARS contains a wealth of data about how contractors have performed on Government contracts and task orders. It has over a million records for hundreds of thousands of vendors. Until now, that data has mostly been accessible through individual reports (e.g. the base period past performance evaluation for a company). The CPARS AI project is using artificial intelligence to unlock the potential of this data to better allow acquisition professionals to perform past performance reviews during solicitation evaluation.
Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Playbook – Department of Energy and EY
The AI Risk Management Playbook (AIRMP) is the first-of-its kind foundational asset that provides a holistic and integrated view of AI risks throughout AI lifecycle and outlines best practice strategies to proactively manage them. It is also an interactive tool that offers searching and filtering capability around risk management through the lens of Artificial Intelligence in practice. The playbook – the result of a collaboration between DoE and Ernst and Young (EY) – consists of the following five sections - Trustworthy AI Principles, AI Lifecycle, Key Uses of AIRMP, a comprehensive list of risks, and a Search Tool.
Athena Platform - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FERC employees must analyze data on a daily basis that has grown exponentially in volume and complexity, making it extremely challenging for staff to keep up. It was clear that incremental improvements would not be sufficient, FERC needed a transformational approach to data analytics. In response, FERC’s new Data Governance Division, under the leadership of FERC’s first Chief Data Officer Kirsten Dalboe, proposed the creation of the “Athena” Platform – a cutting edge data science platform hosted on Microsoft’s Azure commercial cloud. The high level concept of the Athena Platform was simple: bring the people, data, and capabilities as close as possible in a new cloud environment. The Athena Platform proposed shifting all databases to scalable cloud infrastructure, deploying cloud-based analytical capabilities that leveraged distributed compute advantages, and empowered analysts to share interactive reports with a browser link. Phase I of the Athena platform is ahead of schedule and FERC analysts have been empowered with better access to data and analytical capabilities.
BeyondTrust Universal Privilege Management Approach - Connect Marketing
BeyondTrust introduced our innovative Universal Privilege Management (UPM) approach in February 2020 to address a more comprehensive set of unique privilege use cases our customers face. The UPM model is a more complete response to the critical needs related to privilege control, securing and manages privileges across every user, session & asset. It enables organizations to automate the control, monitoring, and auditing of privileges, privileged access, and privileged identities within every area of your IT environment. This flexible approach to privilege control and least privilege enforcement enables customers to realize “quick wins” that address the most pressing threats quickly. Customers are able to get up and running quickly with simple deployments and fast track user adoption for an immediate reduction in security risks.
Blockchain-based Grant Disbursement – Quanaxy
According to AGA, 40% of grants money are wasted in administration, auditing, delaying, reporting, and corruption. Our Blockchain-based end-to-end grant disbursement solution completely roots out inefficiency, corruption, and waste in the traditional channels of grant disbursement which has been an opaque, expensive, and inconvenient process, especially when delivery must go through different layers of administrative and jurisdictional agencies and sub-recipients. The Quanaxy Blockchain-based grant disbursement software leverages an innovative patented token framework. Instead of giving grants to grantees as cash and losing track of sub-disbursements and spending, the grantor tokenizes the grants and disburses the token to sub-disbursers. The final recipients request to redeem the token for cash. This framework provides transparency, traceability, and real-time auditability to grant disbursement processes.
BUYSMARTER Full Contract Scan Artificial Intelligence Tool – Unissant
BUYSMARTER is an AI and Natural Language Processing based application that can be defined as “Category Management on Steroids” using AI to provide the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services with the highest level of analysis of the entire department’s contract data seen in the federal acquisitions space. Unissant has led the design, development, testing, and deployment of the BUYSMARTER Application, and the Full Contract Scan AI tool within it, to successfully facilitate enterprise acquisitions at HHS. AI is not a singular tool; the innovation team led by Unissant brought together over 19 open-source AI tools to bring the FCS AI tool to life. The FCS AI tool can scan through 1.5 terabytes of contract data in less than 2 seconds.
CANDOR – Aveshka
The NATO Strategic Foresight Analysis Branch looked to leverage big data, cutting edge AI, and machine learning to help model and generate scenarios of the future to better monitor, anticipate, and prepare for a rapidly changing security environment. Aveshka built and deployed CANDOR, a web-accessible, scalable, and portable platform that enables scenario generation for foresight analysis and predictive modeling. It speeds time to insight, giving their analyst team and leadership a quicker and more accurate view into what a future world could be. CANDOR quickly and efficiently extracts data and information about people, places, and events, thereby providing analysts with a better understanding of sentiment and customer conversations. In addition to robust language processing capabilities, the CANDOR platform also offers video translation, social media processing and translation, dictation and translation, and geotagging information services. Each of these capabilities are integrated with Tableau to produce comprehensive data visualizations and customer knowledge graphs that are used to support, enhance, and expedite the making of mission-critical decisions.
CD4ML with Agnostic CSP IaC deployment - Excalibur Solutions
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) deployment of the cloud-native, CSP agnostic AI/ML and microservices platform for continuous training and delivery of the ML models within AWS, Google, on-prem, cloud services for model precision and accuracy refinement.
CDM Dashboard Ecosystem Deployment – CGI
CGI Federal’s CDM Dashboard Ecosystem Deployment provides a uniquely effective solution to facilitate the next iteration of the federal government’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, a shared service providing high-level cybersecurity capabilities and tools for agencies. CDM enables agencies to find cybersecurity risks on an ongoing basis and prioritize them so that cybersecurity professionals can turn their attention to the most significant problems first. However, as the program has evolved to keep abreast of current threats and challenges, and gathered increasing amounts of data from deployed CDM tools, its components were at risk of no longer interfacing effectively. CGI Federal’s innovation solved the problem. CGI Federal’s innovation, the CDM Dashboard Ecosystem Deployment, uses an existing Microsoft SQL database in the dashboard to provide the data enrichment function. This allows the CGI interface to assemble and aggregate data elements needed to describe a person, identity or device, with very quick ingestion of data into dashboard ecosystem.
Challenge-Based Acquisition - The MITRE Corporation
Challenge-Based Acquisition (ChBA) is based on the concept that Government agencies can best perform acquisitions if they present the solution to be acquired as a need (the challenge) and potential providers are free to propose innovative solutions that fill the need. Challenges are issued in terms of operational needs and are accompanied by mechanisms for evaluating proposed solutions and contractual terms for provider participation. Typically, solutions take the form of simplified implementations, and evaluations assess how well a solution satisfies the need. ChBA is especially appropriate in situations where the Government’s need is urgent and time critical, where no traditional solution seems viable, or where emerging technologies have the potential to provide non-traditional solutions. ChBA requires both industry and the Government to depart from their normal way of doing business. Innovation, partnership, communication, and collaboration are paramount in effectively executing a successful ChBA.
CMS RapidATO Project (“ATO ASAP”) – CivicActions
An Authority to Operate (ATO), the security approval process to launch a new IT system in the Federal government, was designed to identify and control system vulnerabilities before a system is live and collecting or transmitting data. While the goal of the ATO process is laudable, the ATO process has become obsolete and an obstacle to progress. The massive checklist is confusing and non-intuitive, even to security professionals. The result is a slow and burdensome process that delays the release of new systems. To solve this problem, CivicActions is working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to develop the “RapidATO.” RapidATO is a digital service that guides teams through the authorization process. One of the main goals of this service is to serve end-users who don’t have in-depth knowledge of compliance. We’re developing the RapidATO product to be intuitive and easy-to-use for all stakeholders.
Connected NYCHA: Older Adults - City of New York
New York City provided 10,000 tablets to low-income older New Yorkers living in public housing, combined with free internet and hands-on coaching to help some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers during the height of the pandemic. During COVID-19, the City is focusing efforts on vulnerable communities to ensure that they have access to important information and essential services, as well as the ability to stay connected with family and friends. The City realizes that older New Yorkers who are low-income are more likely to suffer negative health impacts, in greater need of key resources, and less likely to have affordable internet connectivity so residents age 62 and older and living alone were prioritized for tablets. Participants receive free support from the Department for the Aging and Older Adults Technology Services to help older NYCHA residents in setting up and learning to operate their tablet, access free classes and resources, and engage with friends and family.
Consolidated Hospital Diversion Status Dashboard for Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia - Wize Solutions
This innovation is a combined dashboard that provides the "diversion" status of hospitals in the southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee "Tri-Cities" area. The problem is that EMS professionals, when transporting a patient to an area hospital, need to know if any hospitals in either Tennessee or Virginia are on "diversion" - if they are temporarily unable to accept patients at all, or to certain specialized areas of the hospital. Since the closest hospital could be in Tennessee or Virginia in this region, EMS professionals have to look at pages maintained by the state of Tennessee, and the state of Virginia, before determining which hospital is the best destination for each patient. Time is valuable in the EMS field, and having to load two different pages and not having a convenient way to compare the data on both pages simultaneously, is not ideal. Our partner at the local EMS agency asked if it would be possible to consolidate the data from the two websites into one easy to use dashboard, saving time and potentially saving lives.
ContagionNET – DataRobot
ContagionNET combines low-tech disease testing with a high-tech, AI-driven digital platform that prevents COVID-19 outbreaks. The two components complement each other by identifying individuals contagious with COVID-19, ensures accurate case reporting at a granular geographic level, and powers a data-system that can identify outbreaks in advance of widespread transmission. The low-tech disease testing component known as an Antigen Check is a rapid, easy to use or administer, at-home antigen test with unique and innovative characteristics. When a user takes a picture of the test result, ContagionNET software detects the barcode and number of lines in the test pad to calculate the user's risk. ContagionNET’s AI system performs advanced computer vision image processing techniques using affine (geometric) transformations, color histograms manipulation, line and edge detection, clustering, adaptive thresholding, using deep learning models for segmentation, Bayesian optimization, and rule-based modeling. The software is able to reliably and with a high accuracy identify a user's viral load within seconds from the moment the test is taken with minimal human supervision. The ContagionNET platform assists users by predicting how often they should use Antigen Checks, providing localized data and statistics on COVID-19 spread in their community, and aggregating and anonymizing data for reporting to local, regional, or federal health authorities. ContagionNET is able to advise users on how frequently they need to take an Antigen Check. This system can also be deployed at an organizational level, reopening in-person offices and schools with frequent screening. Public health officials can use this data to identify areas where cases are increasing and mobilize health or confirmatory diagnostic resources to a community in need. The data will also be used as a leading indicator for hospitalizations, warning health institutions in the area to prepare for a surge. ContagionNET allows for a near-instantaneous understanding of emerging cases at a ZIP code level.
COVID-19 Digital Pre-Entry Screener - Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology (OIT) quickly developed creative technology solutions to ensure the seamless delivery of emergency services to more than 12 million Veterans. When VA Medical Centers across the country re-opened their doors and began expanding services, OIT launched the COVID-19 digital pre-entry screener to ensure the protection of both patients and staff. In keeping with OIT’s agile methodology, the tool was developed and launched in just 12 days - an unprecedented timeline made possible by VA’s investment in the VA.gov platform, which provides a flexible base for quickly delivering new capabilities. Designed in partnership with Veterans and medical center leadership, the team of designers and developers from OIT’s Digital Experience Product Office incorporated feedback from user testing to ensure the tool met Veteran and employee needs. Some of the tool’s features include clear results, quick access to crisis support, and easy-to-update screening protocols.
COVID-19 Homebound Vaccination Program – LEVICK
AM TRACE LLC developed the COVID-19 Homebound Vaccination Program in partnership with the Anchorage Health Department after recognizing a gap in identifying, reaching, and vaccinating communities and populations of Alaskan natives located in rural Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The program was initially launched as a COVID-19 vaccine hotline, which provided a platform for individuals to access accurate and science-backed information about COVID-19 vaccines to dispel myths, disinformation, and hesitancy. We are leveraging technology to create an impact on hard-to-reach communities and populations. Our main responsibilities include using technology to proactively identify individuals ahead of time, calling the patient, and securing the appointment on their behalf. This service was created in order to increase flexibility for the Anchorage Health Department to meet the needs of homebound requests and Mobile Vaccination Teams’ capacity. The program is innovative and unique because it opens up COVID-19 vaccine access to targeted populations that are often left behind, marginalized, and/or hard-to-reach in Alaska. By eliminating the complexities and difficulties associated with navigating vaccine registration processes, such as computer literacy and lack of internet access, as well as being fully mobile, which removes the need for individuals to travel to vaccine sites, the Homebound Vaccination Program is advancing the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 Natural Language Processing Insight Platform – Medallia
The USA.gov mission is to respond to the public by providing them with information and direction on where to go across the government to solve their problem or issue. When COVID-19 struck, USA.gov were faced with an influx of queries and searches for information across many disparate channels. Much of this data is in the form of unstructured text which made it challenging to understand in real-time what the public were looking for through the huge volume of information. The solution was to utilize a SaaS product to bring in data from all sources such as search data, social data, digital survey data, call center survey data, call center CRM notes and also audio recordings from the call center (planned). An NLP solution is able to analyze all of these data sources and produce AI generated themes showing what the public is looking for. Additionally specific 'topics' are being built out using a specific USA.gov taxonomy so that we can see trends over time of what the public are looking for and using a sentiment model to detect the positive or negative sentiment associations. Segments built in to the data sources allow us to drill down in detail and analyze differences between our English & Spanish content, differences between the source of search referrals and differences depending on the page of our website, allowing us to identify issues in granular detail.
COVID-19 Outreach Digital Assistant (C.O.D.A.) - Integrity Management Services
C.O.D.A. (COVID-19 Outreach Digital Assistant) is IntegrityM’s proprietary AI solution to streamline current public safety efforts that arose from the novel 2019 Coronavirus. C.O.D.A. is a flexible and scalable Chatbot that harnesses powerful natural language processing. C.O.D.A chatbot is an interactive tool that screens end users with CDC approved questions and provides recommended actions based on the responses. It can be used as a self-checker to help organizations make department- or company-wide decisions about employees, contractors, or visitors entering their premises. Although the program can be configured, administrators do not need to re-invent the wheel, as C.O.D.A. is preprogrammed with CDC recommended screening questions. The fields that prompt end users to input screening information are designed with security in mind. C.O.D.A .does not store any users’ health data to ensure their privacy. The information end users input is collected and stored as de-identified data. C.O.D.A.’s user-centered design consolidates traditional communication channels into one central interface, where agencies and organizations can run reports regularly or refresh their logs on a continuous basis.
COVID-19 Surveillance and Situational Awareness Model - Cerner Corp.
Cerner collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide relevant health data and near-real time analytics, which served as a test bed for a revamped federal health surveillance reporting model and for a visualization and capacity management solution that has enabled the general release to commercial health care providers. Because each state has its own independent requirements, levels of system capability, and pace of administering reports, it was not possible for the federal government to get the enhanced data needed through state agency data platforms at the pace needed to get in front of COVID-19.The required data was already being entered into the EHR and Cerner platform by site-level health care workers but took a circuitous route to finally reach federal decision-makers. Adding to the latency, more than 100 separate data streams to CDC were established and siloed from one another preventing a comprehensive public health view of the United States. Cerner entered into an agreement with CDC to stream health data directly to them from participating Cerner commercial clients, through the EHR alleviating CDC’s reliance on complex, established data processes. In February 2020, Cerner approached CDC with a novel solution to overcome this delay by taking data health provider data from the EHR vendor using Cerner as a data clearinghouse to CDC. A second element was CDC’s use of Cerner’s Command Center® COVID Dashboard prototype, which provided streamlined and real-time COVID-19 data modeling, visualization dashboards that aided CDC to make national projections to activate preventative measures and gauge policy effectiveness. The data models Cerner provided captured disease indicators, transmission rates, and health system capacity.
Critical Workforce Identification Initiative - Department of Commerce
Federal agencies navigating the uncertainties and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and their responsibilities to provide a safe and healthy workplace face questions: what is their essential worker population and where are they located? What additional health and safety measures do we need to put in place to ensure business continuity during the pandemic? To address these questions, the Department of Commerce examined available data sources and identified key elements needed to better understand the quantity and location of essential employees. The Department’s COVID-19 Coordination Team designed and built an end-to-end solution, the Critical Workforce Dashboard, to identify nearly 20,000 critical workers across 13 Bureaus disbursed nationwide. This custom dashboard ingests, aggregates, and analyzes critical workforce data to inform health and safety decision-making. It provides a holistic view of how its workforce might be impacted by localized hot spots or re-opening restrictions and can trigger whether the Department needs to take action related to facility access, travel limitations, and social distancing to support employees ability to carry out mission-critical duties.
Customer Experience Management Platform - Accenture Federal Services
CEM is a business intelligence platform that empowers its users to make data-driven decisions. At its core, CEM develops state-of-the-art data visualizations that leverage the latest advanced analytics techniques, integration tools, AI, and RPA. CEM utilizes several innovative processes and features in its design and capability. First, CEM focuses on user-centric design to maximize customization for each user group. This is accomplished through an in-depth, collaborative design process that incorporates functional and highly interactive training sessions and material. Although the use cases are crafted specifically for the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce, they can be extended for any federal government agency. Second, blending push/pull delivery methods allows users to interact with the products in a variety of ways, either via email alerts or more thorough analysis via an internal web application.
Cybersecurity Quality Services Management Office and Marketplace - CISA and FTRIB
Introducing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)-developed and -managed Cybersecurity Quality Services Management Office (Cyber QSMO), the revolutionary, first-of-its-kind, and game-changing approach for delivering high-quality, cost-effective cybersecurity shared services to Federal Civilian Executive Branch government agencies. The Cyber QSMO’s mission is to centralize, standardize, automate, and offer high-quality, cost-effective cybersecurity services and products, thereby providing a one-stop shop for 101 federal civilian departments and agencies. As part of its end-to-end service management model, Cyber QSMO also provides adoption and integration support to its customers through a unified shared services platform. As a single shared service office, Cyber QSMO is now charged with identifying, vetting, acquiring, managing and delivering cost-efficient, leading-edge, high-quality cybersecurity solutions to federal agencies (and in the future to state, local, tribal and territorial government entities). To deliver its array of cybersecurity solutions, the Cyber QSMO launched its virtual storefront called the Cyber QSMO Marketplace in October 2020. Government agencies can acquire the best-in-class cybersecurity-protection services sourced directly by Cyber QSMO through the Marketplace offering 70+ services including Vulnerability Disclosure Platform, Security Operations Center Services, and Protective Domain Name System Resolver Services.
Innovation Nominations D-H
Daily Check-In Automation – GSA
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandatory telework measures, the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Division within the GSA Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) developed an automation that assists in the daily tracking of employee work locations. The Daily Check-In Automation provides GSA Leadership with real-time intelligence on the working disposition of GSA staff. The automation allows OCFO to understand where their employees are working from and will also allow OCFO to track when employees begin to occupy GSA office space as COVID-19 mandatory telework subsides. Specifically, the automation quantifies the number of employees that are reporting to a job site and their location, as well as the number of employees teleworking or on leave. The automation enables GSA leadership to accurately monitor occupancy status and trends at GSA facilities, ensuring health and safety strategies are appropriately deployed. The Daily Check-In solution leverages a broad range of technologies to deliver this capability including Google Apps Script, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Google Mail, Listserve, and Data Warehousing - all orchestrated into a seamless workflow.
Dcode – Dcode
Drawing from accelerator, venture, and training models, Dcode is a wholly unique company that cannot be pigeon-holed into one category. The company leverages what has already existed to avoid recreating the wheel and without competing directly. First came the accelerator when Meagan saw a gap in the market. What was available then before Dcode was especially not friendly to tech founders and missed the mark overall in terms of effectiveness. Most shops at the time were former government leaders charging way too much for minimal results, leaning on their personal network to drive their businesses without the concrete expertise to actually help tech companies scale in the federal market. So, Dcode took the opposite approach and set out to make the federal market accessible so that the government could bring in better tech fast. Meagan initially and now the tech scouting team reaches out to venture capitalists to educate and work with them to bring the top emerging tech Dcode’s accelerator. The key ingredient? Community. Emphasizing the importance of community, Dcode lowers the barriers to entry and minimizes risk for all parties involved: the tech, government, venture, and industry partners. With its profitable model, Dcode set a trend and has seen many copycats since its founding. Still, no competitor or tangential brands know all sides of the government innovation ecosystem with the same degree of expertise and connectivity.
Defense Innovation Unit AI-enabled Digital Pathology Solution – Google
Google Cloud was selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to prototype an AI-enabled digital pathology solution at select DoD facilities. The project includes the delivery of augmented reality microscopes to DoD’s medical facilities and access to artificial intelligence (AI) models that can help military doctors with cancer detection tasks on multiple disease areas. The early access to the digital pathology platform is for research use only. DIU is the organization exclusively focused within the Department of Defense (DoD) on scaling commercial technology across the DoD. The goal of the DIU-Google Cloud project is to help improve the accuracy of diagnoses, assisting physicians who face an overwhelming volume of data when making diagnostic and treatment decisions--and to help lower overall healthcare costs. Working with DIU, Google Cloud will prototype the delivery of an augmented reality microscope that overlays AI-based information for doctors, providing pathology-based cancer detection tools at the point-of-care. Google’s approach will leverage TensorFlow, an open-source framework to help deliver machine-learning models as well as the Google Cloud Healthcare API for data ingestion and de-identification to maximize patient privacy.
Defensive Cyberspace Operations Resource for Updates, Innovation and Development (DRUID) - PEO/EIS
Applied Cyber Technologies (ACT), a product office within the Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, was established to identify the most innovative ways to rapidly assess, integrate, acquire and field advanced defensive cyber solutions for cyber soldiers. In 2020, ACT prototyped Defensive Cyberspace Operations Resource for Updates, Innovation and Development (DRUID). This cloud-based continuous integration/continuous delivery pipeline resides within ACT’s broader Pipeline Ecosystem and enables secure collaboration between cyber soldiers, industry, military and academia. Critically, it resolves the long-standing challenge of how to effectively bring various entities into an environment where they can assess, test and develop tools collaboratively. DRUID is the first pipeline of its kind in the Army’s defensive cyber enterprise, and it is changing the paradigm of how we assess, develop and acquire solutions for cyber forces. DRUID removes the technical limitations of a physical space and creates a virtual environment for rapid and iterative collaboration. Designed to deliberately drive innovation, DRUID allows for seamless vendor inputs by providing industry access to ACT’s environment via the public cloud. DRUID houses a fully automated workflow (“pipeline”) to build, scan, harden, integrate and package application sets that DCO currently uses on its fielded platforms. DRUID leverages the accessibility of the public cloud while maintaining the security level of private infrastructure. Critically, DRUID’s automated pipeline enables vendor tool integration to happen in a matter of hours instead of months. Vastly increasing the speed of tool development is critical to our ability to win in cyberspace. DRUID offers automated workflows to the defensive cyber enterprise without requiring the swapping out of the entire infrastructure to support containers. DRUID allows industry solutions providers to collaborate with us in adaptable, open-source code, making them true partners in a way that wasn’t possible before. DRUID significantly enhances cyber force readiness as well. Cyber Soldiers can now build, scan, remediate and push complex application images to the integration environment with 100 percent automation. Additionally, the outputs from DRUID create an application “marketplace” in ACT’s existing Pipeline Ecosystem, thereby expanding cyber forces’ access to unique skill sets from industry, academia and government, across a global network.
Democratizing Access to Genomic Sequencing Data - National Center for Biotechnology Information/National Library of Medicine - Amazon Web Services
The Sequence Read Archive (SRA) is the largest repositories of raw genomic sequencing data, hosting over 36 petabytes of sequence data to date. This rate of growth presents unique challenges for efficient storage and accessibility to this invaluable database. To that end, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invited the biomedical research community to provide input on next steps for the future of the SRA. NIH sought to reduce the size of the SRA by eliminating base quality scores (BQS), making them more efficient to work with and store at scale--however, BQS are considered by leading researchers to be a vital attribute of raw genomic sequencing data. Together with Amazon Web Services, NIH is transitioning the SRA to the AWS Open Data Sponsorship Program. This move will surface petabytes of genomic sequencing data in world-readable cloud storage, allowing data users to locate and retrieve their data of interest. It will also minimize the complexity by which researchers can locate and retrieve SRA data. Because the Open Data Sponsorship Program functions by covering the cost of storage, egress, and transfer of sponsored datasets, the move will also provide an avenue to maintain the valuable indices of sequence quality.
Democratizing Data – ERPi
The Democratizing Data project addresses the challenges of leveraging the vast amount of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinical data to better understand, present, and respond to Veteran issues. The objective of Democratizing Data is to develop and test solutions that improve the user experience of accessing meaningful data to advance user-identified goals. This project, and the underlying data architecture, allows rapid access to statistically valid synthetic data and address the issues of data inaccessibility, siloed data, and protecting patient privacy. Synthetic data sets allow the unlocking of data access to engage the widest possible audience in innovation, research, and quality improvement across a wide range of opportunity areas. It addresses the issue of accessibility by allowing a self-service user interface. It reduces complexity by incorporating and meaningfully organizing diverse, large data sets including data not typically found in electronic health records. Further, it protects personal health data and allows a limited set of internal users to access patient data, while providing the option to secure synthetic data sets quickly for more generalized audiences. Democratizing Data uses synthetic data from the MDClone platform. The data includes patient-oriented data, including both clinical and non-clinical data. The platform can extract information for any event on the care path. The highly skilled team that developed the data made it possible to interact with the data using simple terminology and does not require programming skills to use. The flexible infrastructure makes it possible to continuously add new data sources, capture institutional challenges, or create new events, including analyzing unstructured data using natural language processing capabilities. Compared to the speed of most methods of data extraction, this tool is 100-1,000 times faster. The initial collaboration with MDClone centers around suicide prevention, chronic disease management, precision medicine, health equity, and COVID-19.
Department of Interior Automated Career Paths - Forum One
The US Department of Interior implemented an innovative solution to employee recruitment and retention. DOI was interested in providing a new way to show employees what career paths are available to them beyond just job postings. The new AI-driven feature will provide a training plan to reach the new career. On the new DOI Careers page (doi.gov/careers), users are invited to "Find Your Path." After answering a series of questions, they are given potential careers that best match their experience, skills and desired work environments. As a next step, DOI is developing AI that will show current staff what courses they should take to gain the skills necessary to qualify for the desired positions.
Department of Labor Enterprise-wide Shared Services - Department of Labor
With the guidance and determination of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Enterprise-wide Shared Services Program (ESS), DOL has transformed its administrative services to become more efficient and customer-centric. DOL introduced the ESS concept in April 2018 to streamline and improve DOL’s internal administrative services. This program was driven by several Federal directives from the past several administrations to consolidate administrative services under a central authority and to resolve Departmental challenges in compliance and collaboration. The human resources (HR), information technology (IT), personnel security, and procurement functions were included due to their disparate structure of staff and oversight throughout the Department. The team led these functions through initial research and stakeholder engagement, to transition planning, and finally completed implementation in 2020 with the transition of 800 staff into shared services organizations.
Department of State Global Application Portal and Core - Eagle Harbor Solutions
The ADG is the State Department’s software startup group with a "Field First" focus and recognizes the need for custom software solutions to fill in the gaps between off-the-shelf applications and the unique needs of US diplomatic missions and their employees. The ADG’s field first investment benefits all US diplomatic missions by supporting real technological solutions to solve common problems in the field. The ADG leverages 20% of the regular duty time of qualified LE staff and Eligible Family Members from US diplomatic missions in every geographical region. ADG members support operations, ensure security compliance, train application users, and develop new software. This investment in US Government staff encourages innovation, advances skills, and augments their professional experiences.
Department of State, Global Talent Management Bureau, TalentMAP Team - MetaPhase Consulting
The Department of State (DOS) Global Talent Management (GTM) Bureau - Executive Office (EX) develops, maintains, and supports over 70+ Human Resources (HR) applications. These HR applications support DOS HR efforts including those related to Foreign Services Officers (FSOs). FSOs play a critical role in DOS’s mission to represent America's foreign policy abroad, and to advance the interests and security of the American people. In 2018, GTM leadership kicked off an effort to replace one of their FSO specific legacy applications - the aging Foreign Service bidding (FSBid) application. FSBid managed the internal job application (or “bidding”) and assignment processes for FSOs and has been a source of frustration for FSO users. As a tool FSBid was counterintuitive, users dealt with lack of centralization and unreliable open position data. Yet the system played a significant role in their career trajectory within DOS. The legacy system has met the end of its lifecycle due to limited technical innovation and enhancement options. In Fall 2018, GTM/EX started development to replace the legacy application with a modern, scalable, user-centric designed application called TalentMAP - a Department-wide workforce planning and talent management platform for Managing the assignment processes, Aligning people with positions, and Projecting DoS workforce planning of the future. GTM/EX went outside of their usual tech stack and processes to develop the new bidding and assignment solution. TalentMAP’s primary goal is to bring about a more secure, reliable and dedicated system through Agile Development, Human Centered Design, and Open Source Technology. These 3 project pillars were critical in bringing innovation and business value to GTM/EX and its user base.
Department of Veteran Affairs Mobile Application - Ad Hoc
Principle 6 of VA’s Digital Modernization Strategy states: “Every service will be equally available in desktop and mobile environments.” On VA.gov today, nearly 40% of all traffic comes from users on their mobile devices. This traffic is typically driven by users that want to complete quick transactions, such as viewing the status of a claim or locating a VA facility. A flagship VA mobile application was created to more fully realize VA’s Digital Modernization Strategy, and to test the hypothesis, validated by user research, that native functionality in a mobile app would allow Veterans to more easily complete key transactions across VA health and benefits services. This innovative method of access will provide a seamless, faster experience for Veterans. A constellation of 30+ VA mobile apps exists today – the vast majority of which are single-feature health apps with specific tools for interactions like prescription refills or tracking pain relief. Although not the first, this mobile app offers a new kind of access for Veterans, bridging resources across VA organizational structures, like VBA and VHA. The VA chose this multi-purpose approach because qualitative co-design sessions and quantitative research on benefits utilization reveal a desire to consume and manage both health and other benefits in one place. The app will include the following features:
-Biometric login: simplifies the sign-in process, which has long been a pain point for Veterans
-Profile: Veterans can view and edit their personal information, including direct deposit information for payments
-Claims & Appeals Status: Veterans can view claim statuses and manage some claims
-Facility Locator: directs users to their nearest VA facilities
-Appointments: Veterans can navigate to their appointments, view, or cancel them
-Veteran Crisis Line: Veterans can access the crisis line and integrate with their phone’s SMS features as needed
-Secure Messaging: Veterans can message their VA health providers through the app
While currently in prototype, the VA mobile app is scheduled to be released on Google Play Store and Apple App Store in May 2021.
-Biometric login: simplifies the sign-in process, which has long been a pain point for Veterans
-Profile: Veterans can view and edit their personal information, including direct deposit information for payments
-Claims & Appeals Status: Veterans can view claim statuses and manage some claims
-Facility Locator: directs users to their nearest VA facilities
-Appointments: Veterans can navigate to their appointments, view, or cancel them
-Veteran Crisis Line: Veterans can access the crisis line and integrate with their phone’s SMS features as needed
-Secure Messaging: Veterans can message their VA health providers through the app
While currently in prototype, the VA mobile app is scheduled to be released on Google Play Store and Apple App Store in May 2021.
Department of Veteran Affairs Online Scheduling - Ad Hoc
VA Online Scheduling (VAOS) is a suite of software applications that deliver enterprise-wide online scheduling capability at the VA. In 2020, VAOS was reimagined as a Veteran-driven experience with the goal of making it a Veteran’s preferred method for scheduling and managing appointments. By applying human-centered design practices and redesigning VAOS on the VA.gov platform, VA has improved usability of the application, improved satisfaction of the online scheduling experience, and enhanced the system’s long-term maintenance using modern and innovative technology practices.
Department of Veterans Affairs Digital Transformation Center - B3 Group
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Center of Excellence (CoE) accelerates health/benefits outcomes for veterans and military families. The DTC was developed to rapidly turn around IT projects and programs through a large scale modernization. One of the only implementations of COTS products in the public sector of this scale, the DTC program has closed the gap in the existing time-to-value delivery of services at VA. By moving technologies to the cloud, onboarding SaaS and PaaS products to meet a wide range of needs, and streamlining governance and security of the products/solutions, the VA is able to move quickly while customizing pre-built tools in order to meet its needs. Each tool has been pre-approved for use in the VA environment, meaning it has been shown to be secure and reliable, and because the team is not starting from scratch with each additional task, layers of approval and testing have been stripped away. This shared ATO model – where the ATOs granted to the DTC program cover a broad range of functionality for shared platform solutions – is unlike anything that had been attempted before at VA and is the ultimate catalyst for innovation on DTC. Building upon the flexibility offered by a shared ATO model, VA has prioritized the use of low code features and integrations with a focus on sharing and reusability. It has also offered flexible contracts for quick implementation services using both IT and non-IT funding, while solidifying agreements for enterprise licenses that enable wider accessibility to enterprise tools for VA business offices, including standard terms and pricing.
Digital and Customer Care program for Federal Student Aid - Accenture Federal Services
FSA’s Digital and Customer Care (DCC) program is an outgrowth of the Department’s ambitious strategy to dramatically reimagine the customer experience for all FSA participants, including students, and their families, financial aid providers, regulators, governmental entities, or other stakeholders. The Department partnered with Accenture Federal Services to tackle this transformation, embracing the bold vision of a Next Generation Financial Services Environment (NextGen), an innovative and streamlined world-class solution to benefit students and parents. The team incorporated human-centered design techniques to inform the development of a seamless, inclusive solution where borrowers can learn about, apply for, and manage their federal financial aid, all in one place. DCC integrated and consolidated previously disconnected websites, customer care solutions and communications platforms. Using Cloud technologies with robust capabilities such as Amazon Web Services and Salesforce, the Department rolled out a scalable and secure platform with the requisite agility to support FSA’s innovation agenda by using:
• A single digital platform that integrates 13 different legacy websites and serves as a borrower’s front door to FSA services via the StudentAid.gov website and the redesigned myStudentAid mobile app, eliminating the need for multiple log-ins.
• A modern marketing platform supporting real-time, personalized email and SMS communications.
• A consolidated customer care platform empowering customer service agents and back-office processers to better manage customer inquiries.
• The ‘Aidan®’ virtual assistant, a 24/7 service using natural language understanding to answer FAQs about student aid and provides key transactional functions, including checking loan balances and making payments.
• A single digital platform that integrates 13 different legacy websites and serves as a borrower’s front door to FSA services via the StudentAid.gov website and the redesigned myStudentAid mobile app, eliminating the need for multiple log-ins.
• A modern marketing platform supporting real-time, personalized email and SMS communications.
• A consolidated customer care platform empowering customer service agents and back-office processers to better manage customer inquiries.
• The ‘Aidan®’ virtual assistant, a 24/7 service using natural language understanding to answer FAQs about student aid and provides key transactional functions, including checking loan balances and making payments.
Digital End-To-End Efficiency Playbook - Deloitte Consulting
The DEEE Playbook helps government agencies get started and drive digital transformation and innovation in their business processes. It enables agencies to use digital and emerging technologies to identify cost savings, improve customer experience, and enhance controls via digital transformation. The DEEE Playbook is a simple approach and a set of tools to quickly identify inefficient business processes and effective solutions to drive large scale cost savings and efficiency gains. DEEE shifts away from the current trend in automating individual tasks (i.e., “point solutions”) and looks at transforming the entire process, which is where much greater cost saving opportunities exist. A common challenge agencies face is knowing where to get started with transformation and how to think about all the potential technologies in the marketplace. The DEEE Playbook provides tools and job aids to quickly find the best areas for efficiency gains using data-driven criteria. It also presents a simple easy-to-follow approach that incorporates leading practices of Human-Centered Design (HCD) to analyze processes. Finally, it provides educational material and decision aids to understand and evaluate a wide range of digital and emerging technologies that are best suited to their needs (including Robotic Process Automation, Data Analytics, Smart Workflow, Conversational Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Intelligent Optical Character Recognition, and Blockchain).
Digital Intelligence Platform for Drug Safety Reporting - FDA and Deloitte Consulting
This virtually deployed innovation pairs together a suite of intelligent automation tools to create an end-to-end “no human touch” automated document solution which processed the agency’s 30-year archive of 525,000+ drug safety reports. Data that was previously unusable by drug reviewers is now automatically integrated across workflow and analytics tools enabling quick and easy access to visual data and custom reporting. Robotic Process Automation is used to collect incoming files, initiate data extraction, and perform post-processing analysis and reporting. Intelligent Optical Character Recognition extracts over 120 complex fields across a dozen versions of the safety report form with 99% accuracy. A data wrangling tool performs over 500 data cleansing steps in less than 3 minutes.
Digital University – U.S. Air Force
Provides the latest commercial IT technical training to anyone in the Air Force. Features "paths" to guide Airmen into the technical training our software factories need the most. Also features skills and "force multipliers" to help Airmen just get their feet wet in a topic and increase digital literacy. Highlights the open positions in software development, user experience, AI, etc. to encourage completing training. This training is available on demand, as needed, to help Airmen solve technical challenges in the short term plus build skills for the long term. The site is available on personal devices and requires no prior registration, approval, etc. The user experience is intentionally modern and commercial. The site is now live and collecting user data which will feed into backlog for updates.
Discover Dovel - Dovel Technologies
Discover Dovel is a a showcase of our technical solutions – spanning the IT spectrum: full lifecycle using agile development, Cloud integration, hybrid deployments, and advanced data analytics. Discover allows Dovel a digital platform that can adapt to today’s business environment. We use Discover to:
Show how to build an agile and scalable digital platform by creating and integrating reusable APIs and multiple Cloud environments.
Offer a central place where business and IT leaders can critically assess our core capabilities for potential implementation into their environment.
Give users a place to experiment and see our unique advantages and competitive differentiation.
Provide use cases that showcase the business metrics and successes that our technical capabilities offer our customers.
Show how to build an agile and scalable digital platform by creating and integrating reusable APIs and multiple Cloud environments.
Offer a central place where business and IT leaders can critically assess our core capabilities for potential implementation into their environment.
Give users a place to experiment and see our unique advantages and competitive differentiation.
Provide use cases that showcase the business metrics and successes that our technical capabilities offer our customers.
DoD Cloud Infrastructure as Code - Defense Information Systems Agency
DoD Cloud IaC is a game-changing solution for the Department of Defense, allowing the Department to move to the cloud at speed. DoD Cloud IaC is expected to decrease cloud deployment automation timelines from 30 weeks down to potentially as little as 2 hours, allowing customers to focus on mission critical tasks, including data analysis and application development. DoD Cloud IaC will provide real-time continuous monitoring and compliance and support architecture standardization across all Impact Levels and data classifications. Currently, DoD entities wanting to move to the cloud face significant complexity in the design and engineering necessary to secure cloud services. This is specifically visible in cloud virtual networking environments, auditing, least privilege access, and authentication. Due to the amount of authorization and accreditation paperwork required and a lack of templates, mission owners can often spend anywhere from 12 weeks to over a year on this routine upfront engineering and security work and lose critical time towards cloud adoption. The Cloud Computing Program Office (CCPO) created DoD Cloud IaC to solve for this long-standing challenge by providing pre-authorized baselines that serve as a platform to host mission applications. Each baseline includes inheritable controls in Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS). These controls allow an Authority to Operate (ATO) package to inherit security controls previously approved in IAC and saves mission owners valuable time during the Assessment & Authorization (A&A) process. The controls significantly reduce the security requirements for which mission owners are typically responsible for by leveraging inheritance from the Cloud Service Provider’s (CSP) Platform as a Service (PaaS) services significantly streamlining the process and cutting down on duplication of efforts. Whenever possible, DoD Cloud IaC leverages native security services offered by CSPs over traditional data center tools for improved integration with cloud services. Moreover, DoD Cloud IaC baselines can be built into DevSecOps pipelines to rapidly deploy the entire environment and mission applications. Within its first year of production, DoD Cloud IaC baselines successfully shortened the deployment of the networking, identity, and security policies for security compliance down from weeks to mere hours.
DoD’s Largest Collaboration and Productivity Transformation - Dell Technologies
For years, the Department of Defense (DOD) agencies have relied on multiple, disparate IT contracts, using various platforms and tools, creating budgetary and interoperability challenges. As cyber threats intensified and the world became increasingly remote due to the pandemic, this disjointed network of tools became a significant barrier to collaboration and security. With mission-critical decisions being made every day, the DoD needed to implement a solution that was cloud-based, secure, device agnostic, globally available, flexible and easy to adopt. To seamlessly integrate messaging, content management, productivity and collaboration applications and tools, DoD and the General Services Administration (GSA) released the RFP in May 2020 for the Defense Enterprise Office Solution (DEOS). The contract tasked a group of industry-leading technology companies–Dell Federal, General Dynamics IT and Minburn Technology Group LLC-–to provide a solution to this long-standing problem by unifying and modernizing legacy IT services such as DOD Enterprise Email, Enterprise Portal Services, and Defense Collaboration Services to enable enterprise-wide collaboration and ubiquitous access to information across the DoD. The cost savings for the initial purchase order for AADP2 alone saved the government over $20 million. Hassan Harris, GSA’s Special Projects Branch Manager and Supervisory Senior Contracting Officer, has been working closely with contractors responsible for the DEOS work to seamlessly integrate multiple capabilities, including:
• Messaging: email, calendar and contacts
• Content management: web portal, file sharing, storage, archive and index, search, and filter, workflows and orchestration
• Productivity suite: word processor, spreadsheet, database management, drafting and diagramming, project scheduling and tracking
• Collaboration: one-to-one instant messaging, presence, persistent group chat, web conferencing, native audio, native video, white boarding, and desktop sharing
• Messaging: email, calendar and contacts
• Content management: web portal, file sharing, storage, archive and index, search, and filter, workflows and orchestration
• Productivity suite: word processor, spreadsheet, database management, drafting and diagramming, project scheduling and tracking
• Collaboration: one-to-one instant messaging, presence, persistent group chat, web conferencing, native audio, native video, white boarding, and desktop sharing
Drop Ease - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Retired U.S. Army Major Terri Ohlinger serves as the Nurse Case Manager of Eye Surgery at the Cincinnati VA Eye Center. In her role as Nurse Case Manager, Terri noticed two extremes when it came to post-operative outcomes. For some, Terri found herself asking the doctors to refill patients eye drop prescriptions earlier than anticipated. For others, she noticed a significant lack of adherence to recommended dosing. An anecdote that seeded the idea of the innovation was that a patient, when asked why he was not using his eye drops, said that he could not grip, squeeze, and aim the bottle. After researching the issue, she found that no commercially available device did both: aim and squeeze. In response, Terri developed Drop Ease to help patients with manual dexterity issues effectively administer their prescription eye drops. Drop Ease is a simple, easy to use eye drop delivery system designed for manual dexterity issues that allow patients to aim and dispense eye drops with minimal effort.
Enterprise Registration & Licensing System - West Virginia Secretary of State
In late 2019, the Office of the Secretary of State of West Virginia began developing a new cloud-based system that would enable businesses, charitable organizations and other licensees to complete their entire licensing and registration process online. "Even though we didn’t see the pandemic coming, we try to develop services and infrastructure that allow us to recover from disasters or shift if something goes really, really wrong," says Dave Tackett, CIO. Our IT department had already delivered a one-stop online business registration portal as well as Alexa voice assistance technology that allows constituents to ask questions like "How do I register to vote" but Licensing was one of the last customer service functions that still relied on mainly manual processes, requiring constituents to mail applications and documentation, email them or visit in person. The office wanted to provide a modern user experience where customers could apply as conveniently as possible and in a way that would allow workers to quickly process their applications. The main goal: Eliminate paper-based processes and reduce staff workflows by five to ten percent while staying in compliance. The interface is configured to provide better data collection, using business rules when populating information to ensure required fields are entered. Individual user dashboards show alerts, notifications, invoices, and information on recent transactions without having to search the system. In addition we wanted to maintain public record integrity. The licensing application runs natively in the cloud, providing the highest level of security in the industry. Configurable interfaces and API settings provide the adaptability to interface with 3rd-party systems or with other agencies, allowing data to be securely sent and received from the application. This includes industry best practices from NIST regarding security, information protection, and authentication methods to protect citizens and the administration.
FEMA Grants Outcomes - Karsun Solutions
Introduced under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Grants Management Modernization (FEMA GMM) program FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO) consolidates the agency’s 40 plus grants programs and 10 legacy IT systems into one platform. These programs represent over 11 billion dollars a year in grant money and 2.44 million grant transactions per day. Entering production in 2020, the platform will provide full grants lifecycle management. In its final state users may apply, track, and manage both disaster and non-disaster grants from one location. The agency sought a solution to address both the addition of new grants programs and the full grants management cycle while modernizing legacy programs. To address these complex challenges, FEMA GO uses a cloud native solution combined with microservices implementation. This hybrid solution leverages open source tools, Agile, DevSecOps, and microservices to layer functionality and efficiency within the data and platform architecture while minimizing risk and cost. The result is a platform that supports ongoing consolidation of grants programs while enabling the rapid onboarding of new programs without disruption to the system. This innovative modernization approach should both reduce sustainment costs and improve Operations and Maintenance while streamlining business processes. Because the platform gives FEMA the ability to introduce a new grant program with minimal disruption to the existing system it empowers the agency to develop new programs in a way that might get aid to communities faster. Its flexibility allows grants to reach communities quicker. The platform is currently deployed. The FEMA GMM team successfully added grants programs throughout 2020. These included grants supporting fire departments and disaster mitigation efforts while simultaneously introducing a new grant program to quickly fund PPE for COVID-19 first responders.
Fernglas – Secure Multi-Cloud Management - ManTech Advanced Systems International
Securing and managing multiple clouds is complex and challenging. ManTech’s innovation, Fernglas (patent pending) provides a comprehensive solution to manage all phases of a multi-cloud journey. FERNGLAS is a single pane of glass or single command and control unit for managing thousands and/or millions of cloud assets across multiple hyperscale cloud providers. The supporting integration is achieved via a vendor neutral multi-cloud management platform for enterprise using ManTech’s LaunchRAMP® cloud adoption framework and plug and play architecture.
Fernglas capabilities include:
— Multi-cloud IAM and governance and centralized RBAC access for ALL cloud accounts
— Multi-cloud Cost Management and Optimization
— Service catalog and end-to-end automated provisioning
— Multi-cloud Continuous security and compliance
— Multi-cloud Application portability and interoperability
— Predictive multi-cloud operations management
— Cross-domain multi-cloud data security.
Fernglas capabilities include:
— Multi-cloud IAM and governance and centralized RBAC access for ALL cloud accounts
— Multi-cloud Cost Management and Optimization
— Service catalog and end-to-end automated provisioning
— Multi-cloud Continuous security and compliance
— Multi-cloud Application portability and interoperability
— Predictive multi-cloud operations management
— Cross-domain multi-cloud data security.
Fighting COVID-19: How the CDC Responded to High Demand for Information – Adobe
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) newsletter demand increased exponentially overnight, and by the end of March 2020, the average daily page views of CDC.gov website leapt to 20 times the pre-pandemic numbers. The CDC understood the critical impact of delivering the right information—which would frequently change by the hour—to citizens who needed it as soon as possible, and they would only be able to do this with the right analytics and communications tools. Recognizing that a demanding constituent base was growing and needed timely information, CDC required better analytics and communications to determine the information millions of people wanted as well as how to proactively send it to them. To avoid losing time to trial and error, they formed a cross-functional task force team to create a new process that would eliminate interruptions and delays in important public communications, reduce or remove the need for IT support, and improve the citizen experience. The CDC partnered with Adobe and utilized their Experience Cloud, including Adobe Analytics and Adobe Campaign to 1) quickly send out time-sensitive information in emails, alerts, and newsletters to an exponentially growing subscriber list, and 2) tailor and rapidly update website content and alerts to meet the variety of questions and information needs of millions of citizens. Today, more than 2 million people receive up-to-date information related to COVID-19 via email, SMS text and newsletter subscriptions. With one multichannel communication tool, the CDC now reacts quickly and nimbly to reach millions of US citizens with critical, time-sensitive, and personalized alerts and advisories on public health issues like COVID-19. With the timely distribution of uniform, data-informed, and relevant content, the CDC continues to increase public knowledge and positively impact public safety.
FoodSafe - Equinoxys Inc
According to federal data, one in six Americans (or 48 million people) is sickened and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each year. The unfortunate fact is these figures are likely to be far higher, as most food illnesses go unreported. FDA Commissioner responded, in part, with a pledge that the agency would act to speed up recalls, including the release of new guidance on recall communications with consumers. One change under consideration is publicly disclosing information about the retail and food service locations that sold or served recalled products. FDA releases recall information via website, social media and other methods which are not timely and efficient to the consumers daily life. On the other hand, when consumers are facing food related issues, reporting adverse events back to regulatory agencies such as FDA to take further action is not timely and efficient, and sometimes is troublesome. Our solution is to leverage cutting edge technologies, such as Machine Learning, Image recognition, and Mobile technology to build a robust bidirectional communication channel, to allow food consumers to receive the latest food related personalized information, and also automatically detect food related safety signals in a timely manner by leveraging consumer reported big data on the food safety domain.
Fresh Haystack Solution to Address the Enterprise Industrial Security Market - CANDA Solutions
Fresh Haystack Enterprise Industrial Security is a hyper-automation tool for the Federal Government, Defense Industrial Base, Federal Systems Integrators, State & Local Governments, Higher Education facilities as well as any highly regulated industries where any background investigation and continuous monitoring is needed to further help the security mission and national, industrial and personnel secrets are a concern. Fresh Haystack is a modular SaaS based solution offering capabilities for Pre-screening On-Boarding Personnel/Contracts/Facilities Management and Continuous Monitoring Insider Threat Enterprise Risk Analysis & Management. Fresh Haystack enables a solution for National Industrial Security Program (NISP) compliance through realtime personnel security case management. Comprehensive workflows addressing eFOCI, Facilities Clearance Management, Candidate Prescreening, Collateral & SCI Security, Federal Suitability & Public Trust & Adjudication. Fresh Haystack orchestrates the routing of forms, handoffs and approvals, and automates cross-functional communication with Recruiting, Human Resources, Security, Program Office and Government customers/NBIB (National Background Investigation Bureau) for accurate, auditable and secure clearance and continuous evaluation/insider threat case handling. Fresh Haystack offers a unique hyper-automation solution built with an integrated risk analysis engine that provides our clients with the ability to automate much of the pre-screening and on-boarding of cleared personnel and contractors. Fresh Haystack also helps the federal government & the DIB/FSI industry address challenges of CMMC and TW 2.0 as we provide a continuous monitoring ability of all cleared personnel and contractors with a risk analysis of their outside influences called CARES.
Garrison Defensive Cyberspace Operations Platform, Packet Capture Node - PEO EIS
The U.S. Army is facing exponential growth in cybersecurity attacks from sophisticated nation-state actors that aggressively target and gain access to the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN), compromising, stealing and destroying critical information. Defensive Cyber Operations (DCO)’s Cyber Platforms and Systems (CPS) program faces the challenge of not being able to sufficiently monitor and analyze the large amounts of data within the DODIN, or properly allocate defensive resources to detect, deter, deny or disrupt malicious activity. CPS’s Garrison Defensive Cyberspace Operations Platform (GDP) Packet Capture Node (PCN) provides a different and innovative approach to cyberspace threat detection and response than traditional network and security monitoring applications. PCN delivers efficient access to all network traffic while storing it for forensic analysis, reducing threat detection time from weeks to hours. Over the next several months, CPS delivered all requirements in a footprint that was 70 percent smaller than its nearest competitor, reducing the entire deployment to a three rack-unit compact form factor about five inches in total rack height. This form factor reduces the size, weight and power (SWaP) needed to run mission-critical applications with powerful processing chips.
Georgia Driver Record and Integrated Vehicle Enterprise System (DRIVES) - Georgia Dept. of Revenue
The State of Georgia partnered with a private entity to implement a new, more efficient, vehicle titling system that completely transformed the state’s approach to administering millions of vehicle registrations. The new system is formally known as the Georgia Driver Record and Integrated Vehicle Enterprise System project but is commonly referred to as DRIVES. Not only did this innovation completely replace aging technology, but it also streamlined various systems for vehicle titles and registration management into a single and fully integrated system for motor-vehicle administration. The system’s foundation is built on FastVS software which incorporates industry best-practices leveraging knowledge gathered from various motor vehicle agencies across the United States. This base allows for the efficient processing of common transactions associated with vehicle-administration services. In just 18 months, state and FAST project personnel delivered the new system to production by tailoring the base software to meet Georgia Department of Revenue’s (DOR’s) distinct requirements for the state’s vehicle title and registration programs. A deployment of this magnitude typically takes state motor-vehicle agencies five to 10 years to achieve. The new DRIVES system is the backbone for tracking and managing all vehicle-related transactions in Georgia. The DRIVES system is used by 159 Georgia county offices to provide vehicle-related services to the public. Implementing a system of this scope and scale involved incorporating input from various stakeholders from law enforcement agencies and that of officials from state, county, and city governments. DRIVES interfaces with nationwide systems, such as those designed for vehicle fraud and detection by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), and private-sector systems that allow motor-vehicle services to be provided outside of standard office environments, such as in grocery stores.
Global Combat Support System - Army Medical Logistics - PEO EIS / PM ARDAP
GCSS-Army’s MEDLOG Minimum Viable Solution was developed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in urgent response to the Army’s need for a unified, streamlined system providing real-time data on unit preparedness and the availability of potentially life-saving medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE). Due to their disjointed and stand-alone operations, the Joint Medical Systems were unable to harvest and aggregate real-time data in combined reports, leading to delays in determining PPE inventory levels, locations and the arrangement of transportation to areas where it was most needed. The data challenge prompted Headquarters Department of the Army, and Army Materiel Command leaders to decide to move multiple Joint Medical Systems’ capabilities into a single, integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The stakeholders agreed to a minimum viable solution using the existing GCSS-Army procurement process for supply chain management and the existing ground maintenance process for preventative and corrective maintenance, and readiness of medical equipment. The GCSS-Army MEDLOG Minimum Viable Solution — designed to adapt existing GCSS-Army functions to unique medical logistics needs — would enable the medical logistics community to make sound, informed decisions in mission-critical operational environments through real-time, accurate and insightful information.
At a high level, the solution would enable the medical logistics community to:
• Provide medical supply chain management
• Supply medical asset management, preventative maintenance and readiness of medical equipment
• Oversee medical property accountability within the operating force environment in a manner that is as responsive, capable, and efficient as direct patient care activities
• Make sound, informed decisions in mission-critical operational environments through real-time, accurate and insightful information
PEO EIS’s GCSS-Army product office began deploying the solution to the field in phases. Partial new functionality was implemented in August and December 2020. The remainder of the functionality is tentatively scheduled for implementation in May 2021.
At a high level, the solution would enable the medical logistics community to:
• Provide medical supply chain management
• Supply medical asset management, preventative maintenance and readiness of medical equipment
• Oversee medical property accountability within the operating force environment in a manner that is as responsive, capable, and efficient as direct patient care activities
• Make sound, informed decisions in mission-critical operational environments through real-time, accurate and insightful information
PEO EIS’s GCSS-Army product office began deploying the solution to the field in phases. Partial new functionality was implemented in August and December 2020. The remainder of the functionality is tentatively scheduled for implementation in May 2021.
Global Combat Support System - Army Prepositioned Stock - PEO EIS / PM ARDAP
The Global Combat Support System-Army (GCSS-Army) Army Prepositioned Stock (APS) will address the Army’s imminent need for a modernized, streamlined APS system that not only increases response and readiness during combat, but also greatly enhances the planning of future operations. APS includes combat equipment, materiel and supplies in multiple, dispersed locations around the world that are issued to Army units deploying rapidly during crisis situations. The Army currently lacks an automated, national to tactical, end-to-end process for managing APS property accountability and maintenance information. When fielded, the GCSS-Army APS solution will enable the issuing of complete sets of equipment to deploying brigades in four hours, as compared to 96 hours using today’s systems, and the 48 hours required by the Combat Developer, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command. The GCSS-Army APS solution will receive, store, maintain and issue materiel stored in APS based on National Command Authority orders. Once fully fielded, the integration of the APS solution into the GCSS-Army baseline will provide a single system for anticipating, allocating and synchronizing the flow of resources in support of combatant commanders. GCSS-Army APS will integrate enterprise information and provide all echelons with access to critical logistics information that may affect the outcome of combat operations, combat power and planning for future operations. The solution also eliminates the current paper records for property accountability and financial management, as well as automates the handoff of equipment in the battlespace, thereby making the system more efficient and effective. The GCSS-Army APS solution will account for, manage maintenance for, receive, issue and store equipment for approximately 300 battalion and 200 company sets of equipment when fully fielded. It is scheduled to begin deployment in March 2021 and complete deployment in December 2021.
Global Engagement Center - Insights Quantified - Accenture Federal Services
The Global Engagement Center (GEC) is responsible for leading the interagency effort to identify and counter foreign disinformation and propaganda. In Summer 2019/Spring 2020, the GEC launched a cloud-based analytics and information-sharing platform, GEC-IQ, providing unprecedented capabilities for interagency and international coordination to support this mission. The first analytical collaboration system of its kind, the GEC enabled over 700 end-users to-date, across 20+ government agencies and organizations to work in a single environment and build a common operating picture of global disinformation threats. The platform provides advanced data science and analytical tools to an interagency community of analysts, transforming previously siloed research into collaborative and accelerated global efforts to counter disinformation and propaganda. The platform provides disinformation analysts access to advanced analytical tools, including social and traditional media monitoring, data visualization, and statistical analysis tools. GEC-IQ further enables partner-capability building through codifying algorithms, standardizing best practices, and sharing analytical tradecraft across the community. Most critically, GEC-IQ significantly highlights disinformation and propaganda efforts by adversaries through knowledge sharing. The platform gives analysts and their organizations access to a centralized repository of data, a library of learning material, and published finished analyses. All this culminating in an increase in organizations’ ability to recognize, understand, and counter disinformation and propaganda. GEC-IQ has innovated this space by bringing these elements together on a single platform. Disinformation practitioners and decisionmakers are now able to perform the research, use analytical tools, publish findings, and communicate those findings seamlessly with a global community of practitioners.
GLȲD(Σ)™ (pronounced GLIDE) - Integrity Management Services
GLȲD(Σ)™ provides a unique solution to longstanding challenges manually performing sampling and extrapolation. GLȲD(Σ)™ is a statistical analysis application for perform Sampling and Extrapolation. It takes many of the manual steps out of the Sampling and Extrapolation processes and performs accurate and reliable calculations with the click of a button, thereby relieving managers, statisticians, and analysts from time-consuming statistical calculations, which could result in inaccurate results and lead to misinformed decision making. GLYDE provides consistent and repeatable sampling and extrapolation methodologies that have been successful in multiple Medicare and Medicaid overpayment appeals, and produces uniform reports for review and decision making. Extrapolation in Payment Integrity often results in a party owing an extrapolated dollar amount back to the government. This can understandably be controversial and extrapolation results are often challenged in formal government hearings. These hearings often involve contesting the statistical methodology used to reach an extrapolated overpayment amount. In Medicare alone, there were over 3,000 appeals cases requested in fiscal year 2013 and the number continues to grow. Parties that appeal adverse Medicare payment decisions have success rates higher than 60 percent and are extremely skilled in picking apart any statistical methods that led to the payment decision. This makes GLȲD(Σ)™’s transparency and reliability incredibly important to healthcare program integrity. Increasing the ability of overpayments to withstand these frequent challenges could save the government millions of dollars. GLȲD(Σ)™ is an innovative statistical analysis application, which will help Federal, State, and private healthcare systems perform statistical analyses, including sampling and extrapolation. GLȲD(Σ)™’s extrapolation feature relieves managers, statisticians, and analysts from time- consuming statistical calculations, which could result in inaccurate results and lead to misinformed decision making. The sampling and extrapolation process is defined by transparent calculations and strict guidelines. Analysts and managers can quickly run sample data through GLȲD(Σ)™ and extrapolate results to a population, leading to more informed decisions about where and how to spend resources.
Grants Management Blockchain Demonstration Project – MITRE
The Grants Management Blockchain Demonstration Project is attempting to develop and demonstrate a different business operating model where all parties involved in a grant award can provide grants management information once, in a standard data taxonomy, using a single user/system interface that fits their needs, and can access the information they need throughout the life cycle of the grant, from award through closeout. The Grants Management Blockchain Demonstration Project is also attempting to demonstrate a different solution delivery model that is not reliant on solely federal government funding and a federal government-managed, centralized architecture. First, the solution is using distributed ledger technology (DLT) and a multi-node distributed architecture. Second, the solution is being developed by multiple industry teams of grants management solution and blockchain technology providers partnered with federal, state, and community-based grantmaking agencies and grant recipients. If this consortium of public-private entities is successful, the Grants Management Blockchain Demonstration Project can serve as a model for modernizing the grants management ecosystem in the next few years.
HealthPrism™ - Deloitte Consulting LLP
HealthPrism™ uses data on 240+ million adults across the United States with 1,500 social determinants of health data points to identify tailored intervention recommendations for highly vulnerable populations. HealthPrism™ data is curated from public and commercially available sources. HealthPrism™ includes predictive risk models for diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, opioid use disorder, depression, and many other health conditions. Importantly, HealthPrism™ provides upwards of 8 years of historical SDoH data to inform pathways and patterns critical to early identification, improved health outcomes, and reduced healthcare costs. HealthPrism™, formerly known as Opioid360™, was initially built in early 2019 to apply Deloitte’s predictive population health analytics capabilities to the opioid epidemic that had swept across the country. In March of 2020, the HealthPrism™ team worked to transform Opioid360™ existing capabilities to combat the spread of COVID-19. Within a matter of weeks, the tool had been re-engineered and deployed to help state decision makers better understand populations most at-risk for COVID-19 complications and hospitalizations. The HealthPrism™ solution provides insight into inequities and disparities due to social determinants of health factors that are prevalent within a selected population, making those populations at higher risk during the pandemic. HealthPrism™ is currently being used in multiple states and federal health organizations to support COVID-19 response and recovery. Since March 2020, the organizations using HealthPrism™ have developed additional predictive models that are beneficial in protecting vulnerable populations. These new predictive models include housing insecurity, unemployment, food insecurity, transportation insecurity, as well as behavioral analytics that model hesitancy and openness to change. Our team working alongside state and federal health agencies have used these models to identify, protect, and immunize vulnerable populations.
HHS WATERS Blockchain Platform: COVID-19 Immutable Test Results and Analysis – Oracle
Oracle worked with HHS and another partner Data Robot to create the HHS WATERS (Wireless Automated Transmission for Electronic Reporting Systems) Blockchain platform. The WATERS platform was also named in honor of Dr. Michael Waters, an FDA Scientist who worked on finding accurate and quick tests for COVID-19 until he passed away in September, 2020. The intent of the platform is to be an information superhighway for COVID-19 data, securing the information in a shared single source of truth through blockchain. This system is in production on a FedRAMP-certified Oracle Government Cloud and has received a conditional authority to operate (cATO). There have already been over 800,000 patient test results that have passed through the system. By this summer, it is expected that there will be millions of test results passing through this system. We believe this is the largest production implementation of blockchain in the U.S. federal government.
HireVue Video Interview and Assessments Platform – HireVue
The HireVue platform is the industry leading video interview and assessment platform and the only solution with a FedRAMP ATO. With the sudden pivot to "remote everything" over the past year, the HireVue solution has become a very timely solution to a pressing and long-standing problem in federal agencies: reducing the time to fill open positions while enforcing unbiased assessments that promote more diverse and inclusive outcomes. Using the power of conversational AI to facilitate candidate engagement and natural language processing AI to assess candidates' answers to structured interview questions, HireVue is currently making an impact in agencies with pressing hiring needs. HireVue enables candidate engagement through mobile messaging channels, allows candidates to record and hiring managers to evaluate interviews at their respective convenience, freeing up valuable time from scheduling and ensuring that under-represented communities have an equal chance to participate in the interview process.
Hopper - Customer Value Partners
Hopper is a Managed Platform-as-a-Service (MPaaS) solution that accelerates software delivery through cost-effective automation and scalable infrastructure. At its core, Hopper is a software factory in-a-box composed of a set of integrated development, security, and operations tools designed to increase productivity and accelerate the path to agency Authority to Operate (ATO). Hopper removes barriers by accelerating installation and configuration more quickly and efficiently. CVP Hopper provides a combination of intelligent, self-healing, automated infrastructure to enable a faster way to build, secure, deploy, and scale enterprise software. Based on over a decade of CVP’s work with clients and its own Research and Development laboratory, Hopper accelerates the establishment of environments and then provides the governing Enterprise Architecture to facilitate a “cloud-native containers culture.” Powered by CVP’s Service Catalog of pre-defined government-vetted components and technology solutions, environments can be deployed via Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to any public cloud or VMware-based datacenter with the single click of a button. As new tools emerge on the market, CVP augments its Hopper Service Catalog accordingly, and those catalog items are immediately available to clients of the MPaaS offering. Hopper also supports an accelerated path to ATOs via third-party partnerships, from which all required security controls are baked in, and all ATO documentation is automatically generated at a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) moderate or high certification level. In addition, continuous ATO is enabled via automated compliance and security posture management. Hopper either directly supports or integrates seamlessly with DevSecOps environments and processes, whether in-house or outsourced as a Managed Service.
Hopper Tools Incubator - National Science Foundation
Hopper – NSF's Tools Incubator provides a platform for NSF staff (local innovators) to share tools and solutions with colleagues that have been developed to improve work outcomes at NSF; collaborate on the creation of new tools to address emerging needs; and refine tools to improve and expand their capabilities and functionalities. Once shared in the portal, tools become visible to all NSF staff, allowing innovators to showcase their tool(s) and foster use across NSF. Tools and solutions can include simple templates or efficient workflow documentations, software automations and beyond. Sponsored by NSF's Innovation Management Group (IMG), Hopper aims to consolidate, organize, and classify shared tools with the goals of reducing duplication, increasing transparency, and fostering collaboration across NSF. The IMG manages NSF's IT Investment Portfolio that focuses on innovation, research and development (R&D) and emerging technologies. IMG's purpose is to establish related process methodologies and innovation framework for identifying, prioritizing, incubating, and integrating innovative solutions and offerings, as well as measuring, monitoring, and reporting.
How’s My Waterway, Version 2 – Telling the Water Story – EPA
The How’s My Waterway (HMW) Team is a cross-agency team that delivered a new game changing product that changed how the general public interacts with water information. Following a services-first and user-centered design approach, the HMW team delivered a first-of-its-kind application that provides easy access to information on state water quality assessments, permits, drinking water, water quality monitoring, protection projects, protected areas, wild and scenic rivers, watershed health scores and activities underway to restore water quality. HMW v2 is a revolutionary application released in June 2020 that has transformed how EPA is able to communicate with the general public about water quality. It is the capstone application from a decade-long process of implementing and promoting data standards, promoting data integrity, developing electronic reporting methods, opening data access via web services, and integrating data across EPA systems. It is a responsive, map-centric, mobile ready web application that integrates data from several different systems at EPA and beyond via web services to give an overall picture of water quality on three levels: community, state, and national. HMW v2 was developed through close partnership with states and tribes, and this partnership has been critical to the success of HMW v2. The HMW v2 team has accomplished something phenomenal and never before seen in government. They have shown the true potential of EPA’s Digital Strategy and exemplify the best practices and data sharing principles that are so important for a tool to function seamlessly. HMW v2 also speaks for itself. You can see it at https://mywaterway.epa.gov.
Humanless Unmatched Transactions (HUNT) - Summit2Sea Consulting
Our solution automates the adjustment of complex financial transactions for the DoD using AI (AutoML) and Robotic Process Automation. HUNT can help the DoD financial management workforce spend 30% less time on unmatched transactions, which cost the department billions each year to correct manually. The novel innovation accomplishments of HUNT include: Integration of AI with RPA, AutoML - quickly building, experimenting and testing to build highly accurate AI models, Getting data AI ready with autolabeling, Integration of AI into DoD cloud environment, and an Agile mindset that delivered the promised results within the 6 month timeline. HUNT is a collaborative effort between the DoD Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), DoD Comptroller and Summit2Sea Consulting.
Innovation Nominations I-P
Impact Summit Series - GSA Technology Transformation Services
This first-ever series brought together more than 2,000 registrants, including: federal decision makers and practitioners, industry, and members of the larger civic tech community. These IT leaders converged to learn about the federal government’s IT modernization efforts. Each of these seven events highlighted the voices, great work, and outcomes of TTS agency partners who are working at the intersection of innovation and policy. Sixty-nine speakers from 22 federal agency partners shared first-hand, visionary, and tactical examples of how they have designed, developed, and delivered products and services, with the support of TTS, that advanced digital solutions for the public and public servants. As the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading across the globe, upending lives and blocking traditional ways of gathering, TTS committed to still sharing the successes of its partners in a virtual environment, with the hope of inspiring even more modernization efforts across the federal tech space —and sharing with the larger community that the good work in government technology continues on, even during a global crisis. The planning team pivoted to an online series of virtual events that would span several months. This series, first with a Kickoff and followed by six supporting events, covered areas of focus, such as: Accelerators, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud and Infrastructure, Data and Analytics, Experience, and Identity, reached over 2,000 participants with 1,787 unique stakeholders (64% government and 36% industry and media). And the value gained did not stop with the last event. TTS created and implemented an omni-channel communications strategy to keep attendees and the broader federal IT community informed and involved.
Implementing Efficiencies in Suspension and Debarment Using Document Analysis and Procedural Compliance System – HHS
In 2020, HHS issued more than $655 million in grants and contracts awards. Through the work of three FTEs in 2019, HHS issued 13 suspensions, 24 debarments and 40 proposed debarments while monitoring a caseload of up to 65 total cases by the Suspension and Debarment Official (SDO). For each case, staff manage multiple court documents, emails and information artifacts while engaging with respondents, attorney designees and Operating and Staffing Divisions to ensure the SDO has the most accurate and timely information prior to decision-making. ORIC estimates that each analyst synthesizes between 200 and 300 papers for each case containing unstructured data to develop between twenty-five to fifty key data fields. A portal for secure communication with and among ORIC staff, HHS staff and individual respondents external is currently not available. Staff have expressed a need to capture information using centralized surveillance of key internet sources to augment existing cases. Also, as new information is discovered, it is critical that documents are reviewed, managed and associated in a central location for each case to determine its impact on recommendations to the SDO. For each case, analysts must input and maintain an action history that captures key information used to describe the lifecycle of each case. Key data is captured and updated manually using an Excel sheet prioritization based on the referral date. Based on the sensitivity of the information collected by ORIC, a critical concern is ORIC’s ability to ensure and maintain data privacy. Finally, quarterly reporting reconciliation is conducted based on a retrospective review of SDO actions recorded in monthly Excel files housed in multiple shared locations. Current data validation is used by capturing the date of an action; however, there are no mechanisms to ensure data validation and/or accuracy. Staff have requested additional reports, including identification of trends by state, region, agency referral and program number.
Improving Improper Payments Analytics (featuring the State of Arizona) – Google
Federal and state agencies have issued an estimated $560 billion in one-time cash payments,
unemployment and pandemic assistance to those impacted by COVID-19. As of mid-August 2020, more than 60 million constituents have applied for unemployment, overwhelming state staff and systems. As the number of constituents applying for assistance continues at unprecedented levels, improper payments will also increase as a result of bad actors, deceit, and errors. Google Cloud is aiding the efforts of states and local agencies to identify and prioritize improper payments, before funds are distributed thwarting fraud, honest mistakes, and supporting distribution of aid to constituents truly in need. Additionally, the scalable and rapid to deploy environment helps agencies manage huge caseloads and the backlog of claims states continue to face. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Google can help agencies identify and prioritize fraudulent applications before funds are distributed, thwarting bad actors and supporting distributing aid to the constituents truly in need. Google’s Big Data Analytics & AI/ML capabilities enable states to process vast amounts of data at scale and accelerate the distribution of claims quickly, efficiently, and accurately.
unemployment and pandemic assistance to those impacted by COVID-19. As of mid-August 2020, more than 60 million constituents have applied for unemployment, overwhelming state staff and systems. As the number of constituents applying for assistance continues at unprecedented levels, improper payments will also increase as a result of bad actors, deceit, and errors. Google Cloud is aiding the efforts of states and local agencies to identify and prioritize improper payments, before funds are distributed thwarting fraud, honest mistakes, and supporting distribution of aid to constituents truly in need. Additionally, the scalable and rapid to deploy environment helps agencies manage huge caseloads and the backlog of claims states continue to face. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Google can help agencies identify and prioritize fraudulent applications before funds are distributed, thwarting bad actors and supporting distributing aid to the constituents truly in need. Google’s Big Data Analytics & AI/ML capabilities enable states to process vast amounts of data at scale and accelerate the distribution of claims quickly, efficiently, and accurately.
Incident Procurement Modernization Robotic Process Automation - USDA Forest Service
Internally USDA Forest Service (FS) had noted inefficiencies in existing Data Act reporting processes which put the timeliness and accuracy of the reporting at risk for incident procurements. Two external audits had noted weakness in the processes used to record obligations, including those related to Incident Response resource orders. Obligations were often not recorded until long after dispatch when an invoice was received and processed, the process to reconcile and correct assignment of costs to an incident was time consuming and error prone, and the process to report transactions as required by the Data Act were not timely and were labor intensive. A joint team was formed with staff from Fire, Procurement, and Incident Finance to develop corrective actions. The team designed a new process from the ground up, focusing on the capabilities of Process Robotics. Key features included a requirement that no change would be made to any existing IT system, historical averages would be used to provide an estimated dollar amount for the initial contract action, adjustments to increase the obligation would be made if the dispatch duration exceeded the initial estimate, and the process could not change how the field dispatched resources. FS partnered with the Department OCFO and OCIO offices to use existing contracts and IT infrastructure to rapidly develop and deploy an RPA solution with an initial $200K investment.
Industry Collaboration on Zero Trust, TIC 3.0, and Agile ATO - The MITRE Corp
We have formed an industry collaboration involving US Government and multiple vendors lead by the MITRE FFRDC. The objective is to test Software Defined Perimeter technology for Zero Trust access control protection of a blue-green DevSecOps environment established to demonstrate continuous automation in cyber assessment and authorization (A&A). The collaboration examines multiple A&A tools vendors, the MITRE Security Automation Framework (SAF) and the NIST Open Security Controls Assessment Language (OSCAL) for A&A information sharing.
Infosys Government Services Blockchain Platform - Infosys Public Services
The Infosys Government Services Blockchain Platform (IGSBP) offers a ready-to-deploy blockchain-powered solution for different government departments and their partner organizations to collaborate and deliver services to citizens securely and transparently. Examples of these services include secured issuance of licenses and tax documents, verification of digitized health, intellectual property, and other types of citizens’ records. It can also help prevent prescription drug abuse by tracking the drugs from origin to store and comparing the current prescription to the patient’s drug consumption history. IGSBP enables governments to digitize various services, enable collaboration among departments, eliminate duplication, and deliver an improved citizen experience. For example, the New England Area State leveraged IGSBP to build a blockchain-based system for its Department of Business Regulation (DBR). Residents use the portal to apply for professional licenses/permits. The required identified/credentials/documents are collected and verified automatically in the portal. License issuance and verification are facilitated by a decentralized system of records. Users from different government departments like the DBR can see the request and process it appropriately (approve/reject/transfer etc.). Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable IGSBP to exchange information with other internal and external systems.
Infosys Vaccine Management Solution - Infosys Public Services
IVM is a comprehensive, end-to-end vaccine management solution providing public and private institutions with the core capability to effectively manage any vaccination program and ensure the overall health of citizens and employees. It is robust enough to address the unique complexity of COVID-19 vaccines while flexible enough to accommodate current programs like the annual flu vaccination campaigns. Cloud enabled and designed with speed and simplicity in mind, IVM can be deployed quickly helping to accelerate time-to-value and user adoption. Unlike other vaccine administration platforms, IVM takes a holistic approach to addressing the full life-cycle needs of a vaccination program. IVM’s modular components and open API’s provide the flexibility to implement individual modules to meet specific needs or all components gradually over time. Furthermore, as requirements evolve with potentially new strains and viruses warranting novel vaccines and programs in the future, our solution can be easily extended and enhanced for long-term sustainability and value. IVM complies with the guidance and standards set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other regulatory bodies and the federal government. As this pandemic is global, with no boundaries, so is IVM. It can be readily adapted for any public health agency or private institution. Coupled with widespread testing and contact tracing, IVM can elevate the efficacy of an overall containment strategy, limiting the duration of and damage caused by a pandemic. The IVM solution has six primary modules that together provide a range of capabilities including proactive outreach and advocacy campaigns, resident enrollment, prioritization, eligibility screening, vaccine scheduling, and follow-ups to the rigorous data analytics and reporting necessary for an effective, fast, and transparent pandemic response.
Innovation Community Center - Department of Energy - Department of Energy
The Innovation Community Center (ICC) is a digital hub and innovation platform for accelerating mission outcomes through collaborative innovation exchange, market research, and sandboxes / Quality Assurance (QA) and operational environments for rapid prototyping, proof of concepts, and production pilots. The team is exploring and putting to use emerging technologies including advanced analytics, AI, machine learning, and containers to name a few. Over the past year, we have progressed from the design and launch of the ICC to completing 40 proof of concepts and 15 pilots through agile methodology and governance. Our outstanding team is now poised to standardize on a product and service catalog and add new offerings such as analytics as a service. The ICC is a facilitator and accelerator. It facilitates the awareness and sharing of emerging technologies across DOE. It accelerates DOE entities time to market for the application of emerging technologies.
Integrated Global Media Analysis – Perspecta
Perspecta’s communications analysis methodology is a transdisciplinary approach that includes the social sciences, marketing principles and expertise on issues of interest, and combines qualitative and quantitative content analysis, allowing us to fully understand how well messages will resonate with global audiences and measure their effectiveness. It is a labor intensive and nuanced process, taking multiple analysts and significant training time. To solve the problem we built a ML tool, Integrated Global Media Analysis (IGMA), that combs through voluminous open-source communications—global broadcast, print, social media, millions of communications and events—in near real-time with an interactive platform that extracts and presents operationally relevant information in an integrated view. The IGMA platform empowers intelligence analysts by combining ML with strong analytical tradecraft, enabling analysts to better inform strategic development, planning, execution and assessment. Designed as an open system with a micro-services based architecture, the IGMA platform provides the analysis of unstructured communications data through ML-enabled global communication and event analysis, utilizing advanced text exploitation to provide deeper understanding from multisource, unstructured text—revealing patterns and trends to facilitate threat explanation and anticipation. Multimodal data integration with full multilingual support are the cornerstones of our approach. Open-source communications are collected in near real-time and processed in a fully scalable and secured environment. IGMA automates translation of native tongue media through natural language processing, providing coding of sentiment and themes through a series of models such as sentiment analysis, entity extraction and theme classification. Analytical algorithms leverage this rich knowledge base to provide intelligence analyst with actionable insights.
Integrated Value Model - Department of Veterans Affairs
The concept of integrated value can be "applied as a tool or method for strategic transformation" (see https://www.huffpost.com/entry/integrated-value-what-it-is-what-its-not-and-why_b_59cffdc3e4b0f58902e5ccbf). Our development of IVM as a relational database depicts the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies, plans, priorities, programs and performance measures (P5) as a neural network, connected by how elements of P5 enable other elements to achieve their end-state. You can see a 3D rendering of the interrelatedness of policy and strategic plan elements at http://basilwhite.com/ivm/. Imagine doing this for the whole network across the federal government to support work for OMB, OPM, and Performance.gov (that's where the bulk of the data is available) and to see individual agency activities as well as activities across a theme, such as customer experience or diversity and equity.
Intelligent Automation to Enable CBP's Mission through Reimbursable Services – BRMi
Our innovation is the application of an Intelligent Automation platform to support CBP’s Reimbursable Services Program (RSP), itself an innovative initiative allowing for an increased level of service above appropriated levels at points of entry to the United States through public-private partnerships. With hundreds of stakeholders paying for hundreds of thousands of field officer hours, there is a lot of administrative overhead to ensure that the right stakeholder is billed and that the field office is properly reimbursed. We applied the UiPath platform to create automated assistants automating previously manual processes, including most importantly the cross-checking of data across multiple systems including SAP ERP and other back-end legacy systems of record and the application of intelligent rules to identify discrepancies. This frees officers in the field from manual data checks totaling hundreds of hours a week so they can focus on critical border mission tasks, while eliminating errors downstream which additionally saves the program office and the Office of Finance tens to hundreds of hours each week. Supporting our client through this initiative we discovered that many business processes were not being executed due to a lack of resources to run and manage them. This has a downstream effect where updates to back-end systems were not taking place with the iterative pace of need. Applying automation to several business areas we were able to reduce the back log and increase the quality of the underlying data to meet the needs of the stakeholders. And most importantly freeing up those resources to handle the critical needs of the mission.
Intelligent Vaccine Impact Solution – Google
Google Cloud’s Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution is a set of core technologies to help regional and local governments deliver successful COVID-19 public health strategies, ranging from vaccine information and scheduling, to distribution and analytics, to forecasting and modeling COVID-19 cases, and more. The Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution helps increase vaccine availability and equitable access to those who need it, and assists governments in building awareness, confidence, and acceptance of vaccines. We designed our solution to easily integrate with existing technologies, knowing that governments will administer their vaccine distributions in unique ways. Google Cloud researchers developed a novel, time-series, machine-learning approach that combines AI with a foundation of epidemiology. Using a unique set of Looker dashboards, state epidemiologists and public health professionals can now aggregate the results of these models in BigQuery with both public and private datasets to drive better policy decisions. The second core component of the Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution is the vaccine information portal. Working in partnership with SpringML, MTX, Deloitte, and other partners, Google Cloud has built several vaccine information portals that help people learn about vaccine availability, determine if they qualify, sign up for vaccination, and submit their information so that when they are eligible they can be vaccinated as quickly as possible. Once constituents have visited the vaccine information portal, they then interact with the scheduling management component of the Intelligent Vaccine Impact solution. And to assist in scheduling and reminders, standard text messaging notifications can help patients remember appointments and vaccine information. The solution also offers convenient online registration and pre-screening, location searches, and appointment setting, as well as automated reminders.
IRS Research, Applied Analytics, and Statistics Innovation Lab - Deloitte Consulting
The Innovation Lab – Automation with Analytics program is advancing IRS tax administration through its integration of robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning (ML) technological capabilities with existing systems and business processes. The Innovation Lab’s automations seamlessly integrate with existing IRS infrastructure to modernize the use of IRS business applications by automating over 100 actions each. The automations enable the IRS workforce, processes and culture to evolve and improve performance over time. The three automations transform labor-intensive processes and reside in two IRS programs: 1) the A6020(b) program and 2) the CPEO program. The Automated 6020(b) (A6020(b)) program processes employment business returns for employers who do not file returns voluntarily and on-time, called nonfilers. After performing a current state analysis on the A6020(b) program, the Innovation Lab identified and designed two automations: 1) the first automation enables a data-driven approach to selecting productive tax records via ML case prioritization and 2) the second automation conducts research for nonfiler Status 001 modules, applies an IRS standard to determine if an assessment is merited, and calculates the basis for assessment. The Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO) Program is responsible for oversight of CPEOs and confirms the ongoing suitability of CPEOs and new applicants by performing manual checks on the CPEO, its related entities, and responsible individuals. The IRS developed an automated routine that performs rules-based research and case processing - providing a fair, consistent, and complete evaluation of CPEOs. Additionally, a hybrid ML and RPA solution is being used to learn from historical A6020(b) modules to predict which inventory cases lead to favorable and unfavorable outcomes. This approach significantly elevates A6020(b) productivity by identifying productive and nonproductive cases.
Land Change Analysis Tool – USDA
The LCAT team developed a geospatial technology to produce game changing results in agriculture land change identification, while saving tens of thousands of labor hours, increasing records accuracy, and helping to greatly reduce errors in critical systems that execute billions of dollars annually. The USDA administers farm and tract land ownership, land-use, and legislation-based program enrollment through the national Common Land Unit (CLU) database. This dataset contains 38 million polygons (field boundaries) used to support agricultural program eligibility. Each of the 2200+ USDA County offices are responsible for the creation and maintenance of their own area CLU data to serve as near real time base areas of acreage calculations for agriculture programs. Due to increased customer service requirements and reduced federal staffing, CLU maintenance often falls in the priority of actions to be completed, with less than 15% of all maintenance being completed on schedule. This innovative approach harnesses the power of AI/ML technology and combines it with high resolution aerial imagery to produce a detailed land cover data set that increases geospatial capacity in the ~2200 field offices around the country. In order to achieve this goal, the LCAT team developed new methodologies in data processing to relieve highly computational processes from an aging infrastructure. LCAT transfers the heavy lift of manually examining thousands of images at the county office, and through the lens of AI/ML at the enterprise level, produces reports that can be customized to reflect any percentage of noticed differences to the attention of the end user for continued validation. This tool can now develop geospatial intelligence for the FPAC user, actionable information that saves both time and money by improving their business workflow through the incorporation of advanced geospatial and information technology techniques. LCAT has further increased efficiency in records management by detecting discrepancies in comparisons of two like images of the same area over different time captures.. Executive leadership acknowledges that these tools allow for a more advanced, systematic approach to CLU maintenance that saves significant time and money.
LCR - Laser Coating Removal Robot - XYREC INC
The LCR robot is a systems integration of a newly designed robot fitting to the size of large objects, like aircraft, the integrated high-power 20kW laser system incl. a full air-cleaning system, and an autonomous moving platform, self-orienting in space and towards the large object, i.e. an aircraft. The objective of the system is to remove paint, as commanded, layer-by-layer, of aircraft fast, approx. 45% faster than current solutions, safe for people and aircraft, and environmentally friendly. It is the first robot of this scale, the first system to exploit a high-power laser, the first system fully autonomous, the first system to solve an environmental burden process, and a very unhealthy, dull and cumbersome, labor activity. Best of all, it is economical with a lower operational cost.
Luna Credential System - Thales Trusted Cyber Technologies
The Luna Credential System (LCS) introduces a new approach to multi-factor authentication by maintaining user credentials in a centralized hardware device that is securely accessible by endpoints in a distributed network. It unites the familiarity of certificate-based authentication with the security of a FIPS 140-2 certified hardware security module (HSM). LCS is a multi-purpose, secure credential system ideally suited for an environment in which the endpoints cannot use a traditional small form-factor token. Composed of the Luna Credential HSM and the Luna Credential Client, LCS supports a number of use cases including Windows Logon and authentication to PK-enabled applications and websites. LCS addresses use cases including: Non-Person Entities (NPEs) Identity Credentials, User Authentication, Credential Data Protection, and Digital Signatures.
Machine Learning to Help CMS Detect and Prevent Fraud, Waste and Abuse – GDIT
More than 100 million Americans rely on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. CMS administers the Medicare program, which provides healthcare insurance to beneficiaries over the age of 65, and works with states to administer the Medicaid program, which provides similar services to those with limited incomes or financial resources. Given the critical nature of these programs and the sheer number of Americans who depend on the programs’ integrity, it is essential that the agency is able to swiftly and effectively identify and mitigate fraud, waste, and abuse. General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) has been a long-standing partner to CMS. Our most recent innovation, and the subject of this award nomination, involves our modeling and analytic support. We routinely develop statistical models to detect suspicious behavior in claims data, complaints, enrollment behaviors and more. This process involves mining through billions of lines of data to find suspect patterns as quickly as possible, minimizing false alarms, and highlighting actionable leads. We combined existing machine learning technology with emerging tools to create a streamlined automated machine learning (AutoML) approach to improve the analytics modeling work done today. This approach enabled our team to quickly assess a large number of models in a short turnaround time. This assessment helped us quickly evaluate many advanced, modern machine learning algorithms to determine a “champion” model best at fraud prediction.
ManTech Analytics Center-Archimedes Platform - ManTech Advanced Systems International
Defense of our national interests and thwarting of adversary’s intent to impede our capabilities has evolved into an analytics challenge that deeply relies on data feeds from a unique set of sensors (machine, human, reports, etc.) and hyper multi-intelligence fusion points. This complexity is compounded by several factors that includes data that spans a variety of classification levels (UNCLASSIFIED through TOP SECRET), different update rates, existence across disparate networks, and a pressing need for (near) real-time analysis. Our customers are often required to deliver a useful set of data fusion and analytic products against prioritized and commander information requirements. ManTech developed the ManTech’s Analytic Center-Archimedes Platform (MAC-AP) which integrates practice, governance, data, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, automation, and date and object visualization schemas. MAC-AP provides analytic governance, automation, and data processing on a framework that greatly increases the speed to mission for difficult data problems. MAC-AP is cloud agnostic analytics platform that operates at speed and scale, whether in AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise, or any combination thereof. MAC-AP also addresses these factors through robust data cleansing, scalable data ingest pipelines, ability to rapidly integrate data into ML models, and provide rapid analytic results by analyst communities or other systems.
ManTech Space Range – ManTech
In 2021, the power of the United States to deliver global space capabilities is unprecedented. Unfortunately, so is the power to hack them. A June 2018 cyberattack attributed to Chinese espionage took control of satellites and telecom systems in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Warfighters rely on vital space assets for data, intelligence and communications essential to mission success across the multi-domain ecosystem of land, sea, air, cyber and space. Similarly, all 16 critical infrastructure industries – from health care and public health to the Defense Industrial Base and financial services – depend on precise timing and dependable voice and data communications made possible by America’s space enterprise. In a very real sense, space is the most important and sensitive critical infrastructure of all. Every facet of space, from complex ground stations to data transport facilities to the spacecraft themselves, faces the same challenge: securing critical mission and command and control (C2) functions. While the nation has committed to designing resiliency and redundancy into current and future systems, it must still protect legacy space assets. The Number 1 responsibility of the space community is to safeguard our space assets with advanced cybersecurity solutions that anticipate and foil attacks. ManTech has embraced the challenge of identifying and capturing the unique threats and vulnerabilities in the space domain with the ManTech Space Range. Built upon the success of ACRE®, ManTech’s innovative and fully operational cyber range, we are expanding our robust, scalable and hyper-realistic range to encompass the unique requirements of a cyber infrastructure supporting a space enterprise. ManTech’s Space Range redefines how national security interests safeguard vital space assets from the ground up – command & control centers, satellites and the communications links that connect them. Our offense-informed cyber defense is an integral part of how we replicate any space, ground and network environment at any classification level to tackle today’s toughest cyber threats.
Mental Health Solution – Appian
An Appian-based HIPAA-Compliant Mental Health Case Management system using low-code integrations with Microsoft Teams, Alexa, Blockchain, and AI/ML to deliver telemedicine, voice assistant, secure sharing of medical records, and data-driven clinical decision support.
MITRE’s Supply Chain Security System of Trust™ - MITRE
Before SoT, the concepts of “trust,” “trustworthiness,” and “security” for supply chain participants had disparate meanings, requirements, and expectations for each of the various organizations participating in the supply chain (acquirers, suppliers, and service providers), and our research found that these differences were often a core factor in supply chain disconnects, failures, and uncoordinated actions within the supply chain participants. The innovative aspect of SoT is to create what did not exist previously: a comprehensive, consistent, and repeatable methodology, anchored in a common framework of the aspect of trust surrounding supply chain risks—along with a probabilistic risk assessment process—that is customizable, and will enable all organizations within the supply chain to approach trust of the security of each other and the supplies and services being delivered in a compatible and consistent manner. SoT is achieving this innovative goal by creating (1) a single structured corpus of the concerns surrounding trust with respect to organizations, products/components, and service offerings; (2) a repeatable method for capturing the techniques and mechanisms available to gather objective evidence as to whether the concerns with trust are or are not substantiated; (3) a mechanism for winnowing and tailoring the overall SoT to a custom set of concerns and investigative questions that considers the resources of an organization, the significance of the system or service to its operations, and the consequences that could result from failing to fully vet concerns; and (4) an objective scoring mechanism(s) that an organization can adapt to its priorities, operational sensitivities, and experience with its type of business and partners.
Multi-party Secure Data Sharing with CGI SecureDataFabric – CGI
CGI SecureDataFabric™ is a distinctly-designed software platform that facilitates data sharing through a unique security platform, giving information seekers the insights they need while simultaneously allowing data owners to control their data without a centralized data repository. This transformational technology promotes efficient access and discovery of data across and between organizations—within and even between agencies—while providing robust audit traceability and promoting discoverability. It validates access without the need for duplicating data, which commonly sacrifices data integrity, authority and non-repudiation. CGI SecureDataFabric™ derives its name from the effects of its core enabling technologies: Blockchain and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC). Pairing these technologies creates a secure data fabric ideal for data sharing, access and discovery across multiple security environments. Blockchain grants access to search data networks, and ABAC permits access to data based on user attributes. Essentially, Blockchain serves as the key to a building and the ABAC controls provide keys to the building’s individual rooms. Simply put, leveraging SDF for your cyber and advanced analytics initiatives creates a secure data fabric that connects unrelated data sources and infrastructure types to provide a framework that enables the sharing of data where it resides. As the fabric metaphor suggests, this secure data fabric interweaves all of its data sources into a whole. Adding the “secure” component completes the picture with powerful measures to keep the data safe and unadulterated as it moves across the fabric.
NASA COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Tracking Application - Accenture Federal Services
NASA partnered with Accenture, who had previously enabled State and Local governments to react fast and effectively to COVID-19, by rolling out a Salesforce-based Contact Tracing application. Accenture’s Salesforce, contact center, and analytics expertise led to technical solution launch for a US state within just 9 days, followed by a ramp up of 200 volunteer contact tracers within the first 3 weeks, and another 1,000 tracers the following week. With this success, the Accenture solution leveraged a pre-packaged asset to accelerate delivery of a unified solution. NASA is now using the Salesforce platform to bring employees back to the workplace safely while progressing on its mission. NASA’s contact tracing application is a premier example of an innovation solution because it demonstrates how SaaS platforms can be quickly built, scaled, and deployed to directly impact workforce health and productivity. For NASA to achieve its missions, teams needed to be onsite, and the contract tracing application was the first of its kind to generate agency-wide visibility into the response of bringing employees and contractors back to the mission centers safely and securely. This innovation was also successful because of the speed at which it was configured and deployed – few other solutions in government IT never have a start-to-finish turn time of less than five weeks. At the time of deployment, since COVID vaccines were not yet widely available, NASA’s innovation proved to be the best product fit for achieving results in a short timeframe and would have been difficult to fully implement without the team’s approach and coordination.
National Institute of Health Office of Extramural Research Virtual Conference - Highlight Technologies
Using a combination of the vFairs virtual events platform integrated with the Slack communications platform, and other tools, Highlight and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) teamed up to attract over 12,000 science investigators and administrators to the first-ever NIH Virtual Seminar on Program Funding and Grants Administration held October 27-30. When COVID-19 put a halt on in-person events, this solution enabled NIH to continue to get important grants and funding information out in support of institutional projects to enhance health, extend healthy lives, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability. The vFairs platform was chosen for its life-like conference experience and interactive tools. Attendees were able to view recorded discussions and threads of session chats. Sessions will eventually be posted on YouTube and on the NIH site to provide NIH with even greater reach to the research community. Much of the material also provides an excellent overview of grants and funding for new employees and can be incorporated as part of the onboarding process. Over 40 virtual booths were also available, giving attendees the opportunities to home in on specific funding and grants challenges, as well as to direct specific questions to NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers. Many of the booths integrated with Slack, WebEx, and Zoom to offer more finely tuned discussions. For example, when an investigator visited the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases booth, they could drill down on topics to chat about a specific disease or therapeutic.
National Museum of Natural History DIY Exhibit - Forum One
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) has nearly 150 million natural history objects in its collection. Yet, most people will never make it to Washington DC to view the museum in person. A longstanding problem for museums, even before the pandemic, was to enable those who can't visit the museum to appreciate the exhibits. NMNH set out to let anyone bring exhibits to their own communities through a DiY Exhibit project where people could apply to download exhibit material (print, 3d images, videos, etc.) to exhibit in their own community in any of multiple languages. The first exhibit, called "Outbreak", was about the risk of a global pandemic—little did they know how prescient this would be! The digital solution enables people to apply to create an exhibit, agree to NMNH rules, and then download the relevant material.
Neustar Trusted Caller Solutions – Neustar
Neustar’s Trusted Caller Solutions puts TRUST first in outbound communications. If 80% of calls go unanswered, how can you engage consumers with important information as quickly as possible? Neustar operates as a critical component in the telecommunications industry. Neustar’s Trusted Caller Solutions uniquely address some of the communication challenges for government. Caller Name Optimization was created to ensure outbound calls are not spam tagged, call blocked and being spoofed in the marketplace. Our solution registers and monitors phone numbers across the carrier ecosystem to ensure this problem is mitigated. This solution provides a portal for customers to manage their phone lines and to have transparency into activity. For landlines and mobile phone numbers that are a part of the callerID universe, we ensure there is a consistent caller name – and for those phone numbers that do not have callerID we help facilitate the removal of potential spam tag. A new component of Neustar’s Trusted Caller Solution is Branded Call Display where the logo and name of an agency can be displayed on the incoming call along with the purpose for the call. So, if it’s a state or federal health agency calling on COVID related outreach, the consumer can have high confidence that it is the department of health calling with ‘important health information’ and not a robo call to renew their car warranty. Neustar operates as the hub of the telecommunications industry, provisioning 90%+ of the phone numbers on a monthly basis for the nation’s CallerID. When you add solutions like Phone Intelligence Behavior along with Caller Name Optimization and Branded Call Display together, government agencies can provide best in class capabilities that consumers should expect from their state or federal government programs. It is imperative trust is a major part of outreach communications.
Nightingale - Customer Value Partners
CVP Nightingale, a Managed Platform-as-a-Service (MPaaS), helps agencies gain critical data-driven insights for more precise, fact-based decision-making. Nightingale delivers rapid business insights by enabling organizations to move from data silos with limited-range tools to leveraging the latest in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and scalable cloud resources to gain automated insights, all securely and cost-effectively. Unlike traditional tools:
- During data preparation, AI can be used to improve data quality, reducing the manual effort required to prepare high-quality data for consumption.
- Unlimited amounts of data from disparate systems can be stored in a data lake in open formats while accessible via high-performance query engines to other applications.
- By using the latest in explainable AI and big data tools that can easily scan petabytes of structured and unstructured data, agency managers can quickly define a target KPI they wish to optimize and use the insight from an ML model to automatically find the factors influencing it, letting them make dramatically faster and more objective business and operational decisions.
CVP also offers Nightingale with our own data scientists as an end-to-end "Managed Analytics Service", allowing agencies to accelerate decision-making, reduce operational costs via a shared pool of data science talent, and gain operational efficiencies with proven processes and talent that is ready to go with a platform on day one.
- During data preparation, AI can be used to improve data quality, reducing the manual effort required to prepare high-quality data for consumption.
- Unlimited amounts of data from disparate systems can be stored in a data lake in open formats while accessible via high-performance query engines to other applications.
- By using the latest in explainable AI and big data tools that can easily scan petabytes of structured and unstructured data, agency managers can quickly define a target KPI they wish to optimize and use the insight from an ML model to automatically find the factors influencing it, letting them make dramatically faster and more objective business and operational decisions.
CVP also offers Nightingale with our own data scientists as an end-to-end "Managed Analytics Service", allowing agencies to accelerate decision-making, reduce operational costs via a shared pool of data science talent, and gain operational efficiencies with proven processes and talent that is ready to go with a platform on day one.
Novel Education in Virtual Reality (NEVR ) - BSI Solutions
Novel Education in Virtual Reality (NEVR) is an interactive, fully immersive platform that uses the power of virtual reality for education and training from the classroom. This innovative concept in educational technology provides students and teachers stand-alone Virtual Reality headsets that enables them to enter the classroom from anywhere. Immersing the students directly into the situations they are learning about and 3D visualization, the ability to retain knowledge is a lot higher than in traditional ways of learning. NEVR has the power to completely revolutionize education as we know it.
NSF R&D Labs - National Science Foundation
The R&D Labs is an environment to build and demonstrate prototypes involving emerging technologies. The focus spans disciplines across all information technology portfolios such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain and next generation web applications. NSF has coordinated across multiple service area teams including Applications, Infrastructure and Security, to build a research and development focused AWS environment. While our existing enterprise application AWS environment contains a definitive set of approved services for development of our mission critical applications, we’ve allowed greater flexibility in our labs environment with an additional set of Labs Only approved services. With these, our team has taken up the task of exploring a host of new technologies and methodologies, imagining and implementing new inventive ways of solving business operation challenges. From implementing AI via machine learning to the algorithms that comprise natural language processing, we have used these technologies to tackle real issues sourced from our Foundation’s divisions staff. Our experiments have led to the successful execution of pilots to put the tools we have developed into action to prove their effectiveness in automating manual work and increasing the efficiency of day to day tasks. We’ve also shed new light on known issues, creating collaboration opportunities between the R&D Labs and enterprise application teams and providing research groundwork for future solution development.
NYC CityScanner - City of New York
CityScanner is a low-cost alternative to traditional methods of collecting environmental data. The sensor attaches to the roof of vehicles and collects detailed data at a more geographic level than traditional fixed-position sensors. The CityScanner sensors capture data related to environmental conditions including air quality (particulate matter 1, 2.5, and 10), temperature, humidity, and road conditions in New York City. The solar-powered sensors are removable and do not permanently alter vehicles. Currently, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) manages 90 stationary monitor sites that are used to capture air quality data across the city through the New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) program. Data modeling is used to estimate air quality levels in areas between the stationary monitors. The pilot allows DOHMH to validate the data models by comparing NYCCAS data to the City Scanner collected data from the areas that lie between the stationary monitor sites. The initial pilot ran for four weeks in January and February 2020 on part of the Bronx borough vehicle fleet, generally operating in the southeastern part of the borough.
130,000 AIR QUALITY DATA POINTS COLLECTED
130,000 AIR QUALITY DATA POINTS COLLECTED
NYC Internet Master Plan - City of New York
The Internet Master Plan is an unprecedented, bold, far-reaching vision for broadband infrastructure and service in New York City. It frames the challenges of achieving universal connectivity, clearly states the City’s goals for the next generation of internet service, consists of actions the City is taking to help all service providers contribute to those goals. It is both comprehensive in its view of the city and tailored to each neighborhood’s unique conditions. The Master Plan presents public and private actors with the opportunity to address major, persistent gaps in infrastructure; deliver higher-performing connectivity for residents and businesses; and set a course for eliminating the digital divide in New York City. The Mayor of New York City has committed $157 million, which is the largest single investment by any American city to close the digital divide. In addition, the City has made available through a coordinate process 100,000 assets (e.g. rooftops, rooms, poles, street furniture, and more), which is unprecedented. The City of New York envisions open-access, neutral-host internet infrastructure and low-cost, high-performance broadband service for all New Yorkers that is founded upon five principles – equity, performance, affordability, privacy, and choice. These principles will serve as measures for success and as design parameters for the City’s approach to broadband infrastructure and services. The Internet Master Plan is a 4G and 5G technology plan, a racial equity plan, and an economic recovery plan all rolled into one. This Master Plan marks the beginning of a new era for the City in the delivery of broadband infrastructure and services. Specifically, the City is taking the following four steps: Coordinating City Processes, Optimizing Public Assets, Partnering on Infrastructure, and Enabling Service Delivery .
NYC IoT Strategy - City of New York
The NYC Mayor’s Office of the CTO developed the NYC Internet of Things Strategy (NYC IoT Strategy) in order to support a healthy cross-sector IoT ecosystem in New York City – one that is productive, responsible, and fair. The NYC IoT Strategy is built around six key principles:
Governance + Coordination
Privacy + Transparency
Security + Safety
Fairness + Equity
Efficiency + Sustainability
Openness + Public Engagement
The NYC IoT Strategy offers recommendations to address these issues and outlines five broad goals for near-term City action:
1. Foster Innovation by creating structures and programs that support research, testing, and experimentation with IoT technologies
2. Promote Data Sharing and Transparency around City IoT use by engaging residents about IoT initiatives, and aggregating information and data from the City’s work to make them available across agencies, and for the public, where appropriate
3. Improve Governance and Coordination of the City’s use of connected technologies through new policies and processes
4. Derive Value from Cross-Sector Partnerships by supporting and pursuing new opportunities for collaboration
5. Engage with Industry and Advocate for Communities by creating new channels for exchange and advocating for digital rights.
Governance + Coordination
Privacy + Transparency
Security + Safety
Fairness + Equity
Efficiency + Sustainability
Openness + Public Engagement
The NYC IoT Strategy offers recommendations to address these issues and outlines five broad goals for near-term City action:
1. Foster Innovation by creating structures and programs that support research, testing, and experimentation with IoT technologies
2. Promote Data Sharing and Transparency around City IoT use by engaging residents about IoT initiatives, and aggregating information and data from the City’s work to make them available across agencies, and for the public, where appropriate
3. Improve Governance and Coordination of the City’s use of connected technologies through new policies and processes
4. Derive Value from Cross-Sector Partnerships by supporting and pursuing new opportunities for collaboration
5. Engage with Industry and Advocate for Communities by creating new channels for exchange and advocating for digital rights.
nyc.gov/cto - City of New York
An innovative, modular, easily customized government website. Too often, government websites are slow, stale, and formulaic. People too often think they have no other choice. The NYC Mayor's Office of the CTO built nyc.gov/cto as a proof of concept to show what is possible for other agencies within New York City and beyond. Using a simple WordPress content management system, we deployed modern frameworks and commonly used languages to create a fast, fresh experience that engages visitors with content that matters to them. Analytics have shown increased engagement relative to the prior website and other City government websites.
NYC[x] Innovation Fellows - City of New York
Since March of 2020, the New York City Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer has successfully partnered with volunteer technologists from U.S. Digital Response on multiple COVID-related projects. In August of 2020, New York City launched the award-winning NYC[x] Innovation Fellows program to expand on this successful collaboration, embedding three-to-five-person technologist teams in City agencies to rapidly solve specific challenges through the use of lean, agile, and user-centered methodologies. The first cohort of twelve Innovation Fellows launched in August of 2020 for an eight-week sprint, each contributing toward one of three high-priority projects:
1. Lowering language barriers with an open source and modular pipeline that enables and manages continuous translation, or
2. Driving digital equity by mapping existing and potential broadband assets, or
3. Fighting hate crimes by tracking bias and discrimination incidents across New York City.
The output of each project included the creation of a usable technology product that provides immediate value to partner agencies in their missions to better serve New York City. Innovation Fellows will gain invaluable hands-on experience solving critical challenges for the largest municipal government in the United States, demonstrate how powerful digital best practices can be for agency partners, and create real and lasting benefits for millions of New Yorkers. The second cohort of fifteen Innovation Fellows launched in November 2020 for a ten-week sprint to rapidly advance one of three digital products for:
1. Fostering business opportunities for minority & women owned business enterprises, or
2. Simplifying the City’s payment portal (which processes $20 billion + annually), or
3. Helping connect older adults to needed services and programming online.
1. Lowering language barriers with an open source and modular pipeline that enables and manages continuous translation, or
2. Driving digital equity by mapping existing and potential broadband assets, or
3. Fighting hate crimes by tracking bias and discrimination incidents across New York City.
The output of each project included the creation of a usable technology product that provides immediate value to partner agencies in their missions to better serve New York City. Innovation Fellows will gain invaluable hands-on experience solving critical challenges for the largest municipal government in the United States, demonstrate how powerful digital best practices can be for agency partners, and create real and lasting benefits for millions of New Yorkers. The second cohort of fifteen Innovation Fellows launched in November 2020 for a ten-week sprint to rapidly advance one of three digital products for:
1. Fostering business opportunities for minority & women owned business enterprises, or
2. Simplifying the City’s payment portal (which processes $20 billion + annually), or
3. Helping connect older adults to needed services and programming online.
OpenCloudCX - RIVA Solutions
RIVA’s Innovation Solutions Center (ISC) developed OpenCloudCX based on Spinnaker and Hygeia as a new frontier in AI-based multi-cloud deployments that builds in securities, standardizes deployments, and predicts how operations will perform. OpenCloudCX integrates with a large majority of cloud providers including: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. OpenCloudCX combines a robust yet flexible pipeline which allows for creation and deployment of immutable images for expedited rollouts and rollbacks, and elimination of debug configuration drift. This is accomplished by leveraging an immutable infrastructure in the cloud with deployment strategies such as red/black and canary. In addition, OpenCloudCX allows for creation of robust deployment pipelines that run integration and system tests, spin up/down server groups, and trigger pipelines via git events. OpenCloudCX allows users to achieve 100% DevSecOps maturity in minutes. OpenCloudCX also brings investment in the development of deep learning models.
PowerForte - NetImpact Strategies
PowerForte was developed for a NetImpact client in January 2021 to automate one of their existing manual processes. Its initial use case centered around the automation of the daily development and distribution of a single manually-generated report for a client. The manual 16-step process (described in a 36 page runbook) was condensed into a one-click solution. This resulted in a 99.47% in time efficiency, which translates to roughly 325 hours and ~$33,000 saved annually. When expanded across additional reporting activities within the existing client, PowerForte has the potential to save our client hundreds of man hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars. NetImpact is currently in the process of automating an additional 11 weekly reports for this client. When complete, the compilation and distribution time for these reports is expected to be reduced from 10 hours weekly to ~8 minutes and saving them ~$600,000. Additionally, the PowerForte process removed the potential for calculation errors derived from manual data prep. During its thirty-day pilot run, PowerForte identified three calculation errors on the part of the individual doing the manual report development, as well as a long-standing calculation error that has been present in process since its inception. While the task of remediating the error for several years worth of past reports was not undertaken, it is estimated that given access to the dataset, this task would have been accomplished in a single day rather than over the course of several weeks. The best part of PowerForte is that it is client-agnostic. The components and processes developed can be easily ported to any environment, and it is particularly effective for those clients who are upgrading to Microsoft 365. The distribution mechanism for reports is flexible. Reports can be distributed via auto-generated e-mails, Teams messages, posted to a website or SharePoint site, or some combination therein.
PRIDE in All Who Served - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Clinical psychologists Dr. Tiffany Lange-Altman and Dr. Michelle Hilgeman believe that sexual orientation and gender identity are vital in helping Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provide culturally competent care for Veterans. To help VHA employees better address the specific health care needs for their LGBTQ+ patients, they developed the PRIDE in All Who Served program (PRIDE). LGBTQ+ Veterans experience increased risks of stress, social isolation, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. PRIDE delivers better care by combating discrimination and addressing Veteran reluctance to seek medical care. PRIDE is a 10-week health education program that helps the VHA clinical staff better provide affirming care to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) numerous LBGTQ+ Veterans. Group facilitators follow a session-by-session manual with corresponding Veteran handouts on each topic. The manual includes information about how to access relevant services within VHA’s system. During sessions, participants focus on improving their overall wellness, increasing social connection, and empowering Veterans to engage in services related to their personal health care needs.
Project CONVERGENCE - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Providing health care services for 9 million Veterans is complex. To meet its mission to honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest health care system in the United States, strives to be at the forefront of innovation. To meet this need, the VHA Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Information and Technology (OIT) deployed advanced, 5G-enabled clinical care systems at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (PAHCS) on February 4, 2020, with a goal to deliver unprecedented improvements in care to our Nation’s Veterans, as well as being a leader in the Fourth Industrial Revolution in health care powered by 5G. Known as Project CONVERGENCE, the initiative brings Verizon’s 5G technology, Medivis’ 3D holographic clinical visualization system, and Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 headset with Microsoft Azure together in an effort to reduce costs and improve the quality and safety of surgical care for our Nation’s Veterans. Together, they are delivering a 5G-enabled, AR surgical navigation system. The initiative will develop a strategy and roadmap for testing technologies to advance health care and provide Veterans with the one of the first 5G medical campuses in the United States. Project CONVERGENCE focuses on the development and evaluation of advanced technologies enabled by 5G networking. It tests how multiple emerging technologies can be combined to improve the Veteran health care experience—and importantly, Veteran health outcomes. The partnership brings a wide range of cutting-edge technologies to the health care industry—notably, advanced computer-spatial imaging and augmented reality—that will lead to the enhancement of tools for advanced medical education, procedural training, presurgical planning, and patient literacy. VHA’s work continues, building upon this platform to deliver ever more sophisticated clinical care solutions that will transform the entire health care delivery experience for Veterans and the Nation.
Project Resilience – ERPi
Project Resilience’s goal is to build a Veteran community using innovative wearable technology focused on improving health and wellness. Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Project Resilience is utilizing wearable biosensors and smartphones to support self-care for Veterans before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic based on changes in continuous heart rate, blood oxygenation, and accelerometry. The data collected will also inform the development of clinical workstreams that will enable early detection, optimizing care visits, and move towards more evidence-based Veteran care. Wearable biosensors and mobile applications offer readily scalable, low-cost patient-generated data to detect and manage the personal and population health effects of COVID-19, for those directly affected and those who might be. Wearable biosensors enable daily, continuous physiological data for heart rate, respiration, activity, and more data tied to contextual, labeled data on smartphones. Based on initial results, hundreds of thousands of Veterans are already using these technologies every day. As a form of telehealth services, these technologies offer data-driven software to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. The resulting data can show how remote monitoring supports transforming widespread population health into personalized medicine for every Veteran. The clinical workstreams developed will enable earlier symptom detection based on physiological trends, optimizing care plans and office visits, and move toward better outcomes based on the evidence generated. HA Innovation Ecosystem (IE) launched an initiative in collaboration with Fitbit to offer select eligible Veterans, caregivers, and VHA clinical staff a program to help manage their health and wellness during the current challenges presented by COVID-19 and beyond. This initiative is focused on eligible Veterans, caregivers and VHA clinical staff who currently use Fitbit devices, and will provide them with free access to Fitbit’s paid programs and services to help them manage stress, improve sleep, and increase physical activity.
Innovation Nominations R-Z
Ramper - TechIcon, Inc.
The FedRAMP ecosystem (CSP, 3PAO, JAB, PMO) faces data and communication challenges in the continuous monitoring (CM) phase. POA&Ms data are unsynchronized and distributed as they are tracked using complex spreadsheets, various file formats, and emails. Ramper brings automation to the FedRAMP ecosystem through a centralized data store, which eases communication and facilitates collaboration between all organizations. It is feature-rich and extensible with a focus on reducing POA&Ms resolution time. Ramper provides a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) -- similar to OSCAL formats -- and it is used with organization-specific web interfaces to show users pertinent information. The application is extended to PMO, JAB, and approving agencies and is used for POA&Ms, CM reviews, and DR workflows. It implements collaborative workflows and reduces time to resolution for risk mitigation. The Ramper dashboard changes the CM paradigm from a monthly to daily or on-demand activity. The JAB and approving agency users can review POA&Ms with appropriate artifacts, notes, and other documentation. Ramper has several dashboards to provide different metrics using the SSOT POA&Ms data. The real-time analytics are packaged in visually pleasing interactive widgets and provide a deep insight into the state of POA&Ms in a System. These widgets are used to identify the POA&Ms, Controls, or Assets that need immediate attention. The FedRAMP workflows require input and feedback from different stakeholders, including users from JAB or an approving agency, 3PAO, and CSP. Ramper enforces organizations to mitigate risk efficiently, causing an enormous reduction in the organization’s operating costs and the time to mitigate risk. Ramper implements a datastore with modern web techniques and APIs and provides a Single Source of Truth for cybersecurity findings per FedRAMP standards. Ramper is the step in the direction of consistency of POA&Ms data and FedRAMP workflows throughout the FedRAMP ecosystem. Its extensible and feature-rich nature will lead its users to a smooth transition from an approving agency to JAB, with enormous time savings during the pre-ATO and annual ATO activities. Ramper uses its proprietary parser to interface with popular network and vulnerability scanners, to directly fetch scan findings and convert them into POA&Ms -- enabling Ramper users to complete a lengthy manual task within seconds.
Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure (RATE) – Philips
Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure (RATE), is the first large-scale empirical exploration into the prediction of pre-symptomatic infection in humans and is part of efforts to improve military readiness and community health. The solution acts as an early warning system that facilitates faster diagnosis and treatment of infection to reduce individual downtime and aid in quickly containing the spread of a communicable disease by isolating exposed individuals earlier. RATE has revealed that using artificial intelligence (AI) to look at certain combinations of vital signs and other biomarkers could strongly predict the likelihood of infection up to 48 hours in advance of clinical suspicion, including observable symptoms. In addition, it found that the combinations of significant vital signs and biomarkers varied based on time before clinical suspicion of a hospital acquired infection (HAI). The RATE algorithm is currently integrated into a wearable device, allowing a soldier's health to be non-invasively monitored and delivering earlier alerts to potential infection. The technology could further be applied in a civilian capacity by helping to monitor hospital patients for infection prior to clinical symptoms. Traditional approaches to diagnosing infections rely on recognition of overt signs, which can mean implementing medical countermeasures after individuals have already been compromised and potentially exposed others. Characterizing pre-symptomatic sentinels indicative of infection using AI mechanisms can help reduce time to diagnosis and treatment.
Rapid Creation of REST Application Programming Interfaces – DHS
We can create on-demand RESTful service URLs that customers can ping with a simple URL call to pull a customized set of data from Mobius exactly to their needs in a variety of file formats (XLSX, CSV, or JSON.), and have the services up and running in less than one day. This is innovative because instead of spending resources creating a huge, complex, difficult API and trying to anticipate customer’s needs beforehand (which will never fully work,) we can deliver a single URL that returns industry-standard file formats and allow the customers to build their own solutions for ingestion, transformation and analytics around that.
RedOx - Simple Technology Solutions
Platform corrosion (on vessels, aircraft, and infrastructure) currently costs the Department of Navy (DON) over $6.8B annually, and the Department of Defense almost $17B per year. Not only costly, the corrosion inspection process is highly manual and dangerous requiring inspectors to climb in fuel tanks and other hard to reach places on the vessel’s interior and exterior. Due to its highly manual nature, the platform inspection process is time consuming and requires drydocking vessels, which also has significant cost implications. In collaboration with the DON’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), Simple Technology Solutions (STS) built an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) corrosion detection and analysis solution, redOx, using commercial drone and Google cloud-native computer vision capabilities. redOx detects and analyzes corrosion in aerial images of vessels with 90% accuracy and very few false positives. The expected business value to DON is reduced platform inspection timelines by automating data collection (via drones) and analysis (via AI/ML); enhanced safety by avoiding putting inspectors in dangerous situations; and moving from a timeline-based platform maintenance schedule to a condition-based schedule. This is a complex engineering problem requiring hardware, software, integration, modeling, and edge computing capabilities. For that reason there is no similar solution on the market today. While parts of the government and commercial sector - specifically the oil and gas, maritime, and construction industries - use drones to capture inspection data, no one has automated the image analysis part of the inspection process. Said another way, there is no end-to-end, fully automated corrosion inspection and analysis solution available commercially or Government-wide.
Remote Temperature Monitoring for the Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Remote Temperature Monitoring (RTM) for the Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) is a public-private partnership between Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE), VHA National Podiatry Office, Office of Health Equity, and Podimetrics. It supplies at-risk, diabetic Veterans with Smart Mats that use thermal imaging to measure the temperature of a Veteran’s foot. Veterans simply stand on the mat for 20 seconds each day, and their information is recorded and uploaded to the cloud. In the cloud, an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system analyzes it for signs of DFU. These mats can detect DFU up to five weeks before they would normally present. This technology allows clinicians to prevent added deterioration and avoid other possible complications. Catching DFU early, can save limbs and lives. A Veteran who has developed their first DFU faces a 5-year mortality rate of 43%. With 25% of Veterans suffering from diabetes, DFU are a major concern for VA. Last year alone, VA treated 154,000 DFU, which accounted for more than 80% of non-traumatic amputations in VA. That is why VA has worked aggressively to spread RTM as a standard practice. Through the creation of a national task force, the team has tested and scaled the devices across VA. This task force completed exhaustive quality assurance (QA) chart reviews, research investigations, and educational sessions. The team also streamlined the purchasing guidelines and redesign of preventative care models. Thanks to this effort, the program is now at over 40 VA Medical Centers (VAMCs), with mats being prescribed to Veterans who are at the highest risk for amputation. The results for Veterans are nothing short of staggering. Early QA data at participating sites has suggested that the Podimetrics system results in a near elimination of all severe ulcers, use of expensive graft product, and major amputations.
ReportFraud.ftc.gov – Leidos
Our innovation is an easy-to-use, cost-effective, and cloud-native new service for consumers to protect their community by reporting fraud, scams, and bad business practices to ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Consumers submitted 2.2 million fraud reports to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2020 alone, and 34% of those consumers reported a financial loss, totaling $3.3 billion. The ReportFraud.ftc.gov site is designed to connect people with specific advice that is tailored to how the consumer reported losing money. For those who did not report losing money, the site is tailored to help people learn how to stop unwanted contacts, or how to otherwise recover from the scam they experienced. ReportFraud.ftc.gov is a fast, reliable, and secure website, with plain language Frequently Asked Questions that help consumers determine if something is a scam, if a call is from a scammer, if the business they’re dealing with is legitimate, or if a check or claim form from FTC is real. ReportFraud.ftc.gov is available 24/7, in English and Spanish, and is optimized for consumers’ desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. Consumers report what happened to them and get individualized recovery steps to help protect themselves and their community. Importantly, consumers can report complaints anonymously, for someone else, or even for companies they work for. Consumers can also search for answers from the Frequently Asked Questions page or through an automated Chatbot.
Robotic Process Automation Pilot Program - Department of Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) launched an enterprise-wide RPA capability to improve best in federal IT service solutions in support of our agency mission work. In February 2020, DOL launched a partnership with GSA’s Centers of Excellence to further IT modernization. OCIO identified and implemented use cases of RPA to automate several repetitive, administrative processes for DOL’s procurement office and IT organizations. The use cases, which resulted from OCIO’s partnership with GSA, focus on purchasing and acquisitions, and market research—three heavily used processes across the department that required time-consuming, repetitive, and manual tasks from hundreds of staff. Currently, three RPA bots have been deployed: one with OCIO and two with the Office of the Senior Procurement Executive (OSPE). Five additional bots are also in the pipeline for development. The first of the two bots with the OSPE supports the Contractor Responsibility Determination process, which helps select vendors who are capable of doing business with the government. More than 2,000 requests for determination are made annually, handled by a team of 112 staff, but the process is highly repetitive, manual, and time consuming at 1-2 hours per contract. The bot OCIO launched for the Contractor Responsibility Determination performs the task in 3 minutes, and significantly reduces risk of inconsistency. The second bot in OSPE supports the Exercise of Options process, which helps execute contract options in a timely fashion. To extend a contract option, a Letter of Intent must be sent within 60 days of the end of the prescribed contract year. The Exercise of Options bot helps address the 900 annual requests received by automating the scheduled report alerts, increasing compliance and reducing time and cost of contract renegotiation for deadlines missed. The third bot with OCIO supports the Market Research process, which helps determine new IT products and services available as solutions and is needed for initiating new contracts or renewing existing ones.
Robotics Process Automation Operations Center at the Social Security Administration – CGI
In response to the SSA’s need to reduce staff time spent on repetitive processes and tasks, SSA and CGI collaborated in the development of an enterprise-wide, comprehensive Robotics Process Automation (RPA) Operations Center (ROC), operational strategy and governance model based on UiPath. The ROC includes intake processes, multiple development models, governance and operations support. Along with RPA, the ROC provides experience and expertise in change management, attended Bot security, onboarding, development, testing and implementation efforts. ROC team members have the business, technical, and domain expertise required to develop effective solutions. ROC team members developed the necessary scripting standards, templates and process definition documents for an effective RPA governance model. The ROC team also worked with multiple teams across SSA to establish a High Availability (HA) implementation to meet the demand and service objectives. Within a year, SSA successfully launched its first Bot. Since launch, over 30 Bots are in active use. A sample of these Bots include recovery and collection of overpayment, which has reduced the annual 10-minute debt management process to only 7 seconds, award claim reviewer, a very complex process used by 3000+ users from several payment centers, a reclamation registration process which processes 800+ records in 20 minutes with accuracy as opposed to several days. Because of these successes, over 100 more Bots are in development for areas such as claim processing, reporting and auditing. SSA’s RPA implementation has already had such substantial impact on the agency’s mission that it won a coveted SSA Commissioner’s Award in 2020.
RPA as a Service - NetImpact Strategies
We have automated a bi-directional and non-intrusive system integration that will return invaluable time back to the organization by using UiPath RPA. What took Government resources hours have been condensed to minutes and with greater accuracy. For one customer in HHS, we were able to convert a 5 hours long task that demanded both high attention and menial updates into 10 minutes and for another in DoD, we’ve removed the time-consuming need of keeping multiple systems synced with the same information. Robotic process automation (RPA) helps organizations save time and effort and elevates their employees’ experience. Software robots are digital colleagues that take care of the tasks you don’t want and in a time where resources are scarce, this means our workforce can do more with their time and limited resources. Robots perform repetitive or rules-based tasks such as the searching, multi-system look-up, aggregation, sorting, mapping, analysis and distribution of your corporate data. Different automations apply these capabilities differently: Attended robots act like a personal assistant residing on the user’s computer to take a series of user-triggered actions to complete simple, repetitive tasks to streamline a workflow. Running on the user’s computer, the robot works alongside the person to improve quality and productivity. It handles the routine tasks involved in the process and delivers the information when the user needs to speed up the task. It can also be programmed to deliver guidance and recommendations.
SAMSOC - San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology Security Operations Center - San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology
In the summer of 2019 the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT) together with other partners started the design and implementation of a mock-up Security Operations Center, with the main goal to create general public awareness on Cybersecurity threats and to inspire young students to explore careers and job opportunities in that field. Since operational Security Operations Centers are off-limits to the general public, most people don’t even know they exist, let alone the vital and interesting work that goes on there. This simulated SAMSAT SOC or SAMSOC, is a resource that lets us show what the real thing looks like, what its components are, what are the kind of jobs and careers are available in this exciting environment. To develop the SAMSOC, not only did we combine multiple technologies in an innovative way, we also established a working relationship with various partners from other non-profit organizations, government agencies, educational institutions and commercial enterprises. This team integrated novel technologies such as live stream video over local area networks, IP telephony, real-time threat data feeds and telemetry from various sources around the world, with popular low-cost hardware workstations, off the shelf large screen smart TVs, and commercial simulation tools to create a deeply immersive experience. The first phase of the SAMSOC was completed in early 2020. In February 2020 our first cohort of students from the local Brentwood STEAM School of Innovation participated in a class to learn about the SAMSOC and basic concepts related to Cybersecurity.
Sara Alert™ - MITRE
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MITRE collaborated with public health authorities to create Sara Alert™—an open-source, cloud-based tool that supports public health response to existing and emerging disease threats. Sara Alert automates home quarantine and isolation monitoring, enabling public health resources to be directed where they are most needed. A unique quality of the tool is that it does not require broadband access or a cell phone to participate in reporting. Sara Alert is available for public/private use and is easily integrated into other tools. The tool is currently in use in approximately 775 state, tribal, local, and territorial jurisdictions serving over 50 million people. Over 2.6 million have been monitored in isolation and quarantine. The innovative, cloud-based tool was designed by public health officials for public health officials, with a focus on accessibility, access, and privacy. The Sara Alert tool is provided free of charge, and the tool and supporting materials are available in multiple languages to ensure accessibility and health literacy. This tool enables the rapid identification of exposed individuals requiring assistance, allowing a health department to arrange a medical visit with minimal additional exposure. By automating response, public health professionals are able to more rapidly respond to individuals based on disease risk, prioritizing those who need help most. The system promotes the efficient exchange of information, reduces the burden on public health professionals, and rapidly identifies people who may need medical assistance by allowing users to remotely report daily symptoms via web, text, email, and phone calls.
SBA Insight – SBA
SBA Insight serves as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s enterprise data environment and no-code/low-code platform for technical business product development (e.g., data integrations, pipelines, applications, workflows, dashboards, customer portals). This platform is widely used throughout the agency to support mission-critical programs, including major elements of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 response: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The goal of this platform is to serve as a common operating environment for excellent service delivery across a variety of SBA offices, programs, service lines, and silos—including customer experience, access to capital, disaster assistance, government contracting, technical assistance, and internal operations management—leveraging the power of data integration and shared SaaS development platform. Ultimately, SBA Insight aims to provide the enterprise with the following capabilities: Documented Cost Savings and Avoidance, Customer Obsession through Data Integration, Widely Available Productivity Toolkit, Effective Program Marketing and Development, and Meaningful Enterprise Dashboards and Analytics.
SeeIT Executive Dashboard – Leidos
The NASA End User Services and Technology (NEST) team at Leidos created the SeeIT Dashboard to provide an enterprise-level view of program performance. Customers benefit from real-time and easy-to-access data that is most important to them. The SeeIT dashboard is an innovative approach to data visualization utilizing a collaboration platform that enables situational awareness, facilitates program management and execution, gathers metrics, and monitors program performance, quality and risks. SeeIT is a web-based, interactive dashboard providing an executive view of program activity at the NASA Agency level with drill-down capabilities to individual Centers. SeeIT provides customers with a common tool to access near real-time information—providing users with actionable data to support rapid and informed decision-making. SeeIT provides role-based transparency to executive leadership, management, security, operations staff and other IT stakeholders. The goal of SeeIT is to offer visibility into the status of all performance work statement (PWS) sections of the contract.
ServiceNow integration for Tenable.sc (SIFT) – Perspecta
Security must be built into every level of an enterprise digital workflow process and access to cyber risk management compliance data is vital. Tenable—an essential tool for vulnerability and compliance scanning—and ServiceNow—the gold standard for information technology service management (ITSM) platforms to enable workflow automation and end-to-end service delivery—are both widely used throughout the public sector. However, this wide usage and a lack of integration of critical data, leaves significant security gaps which negatively impact security incident response, vulnerability management, and IT service and operations management for large swaths of the public sector. Together with ServiceNow and Tenable.sc capabilities, we have enabled continuous compliance monitoring and ATO. By providing a standard pathway, this innovation opens up a range of possibilities to help agencies mature both their compliance and their DevSecOps approaches.
Shepherd Case Management System - HHS Administration for Children & Families (ACF) and REI Systems
The Shepherd Case Management System ELECTRONICALLY PROCESSES CASES FOR VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING, increasing the efficiency of victim identification, expediting victims’ access to services, increasing security of sensitive victim information, and strengthening data analytics for anti-trafficking programs. The SCMS solution was developed for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children & Families (ACF) Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP). SCMS consists of a web portal for case submission and tracking, case management and workflow for ACF OTIP staff, and email notifications. These components are supported by data management for audit tracking and facilitating data sharing, reports, and role-based user access.
Smart White Cane for the Blind - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Smart White Cane for the Blind is a cane for use by individuals who are blind or visually impaired which incorporates various sensors and processors to aid in navigation and safety while walking. This innovation, developed by Brian Higgins, a blind rehab specialist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who is also visually impaired, utilizes object detection and avoidance technology that fits the standard orientation and mobility device used in blind rehab, the white cane. Brian Higgins’ new Smart Cane utilizes the capabilities of the traditional white cane but also includes light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and ultrasonic sensors capable of detecting objects in front of the user as well as objects at heights from ground level to well above the height of the user. This is a novel use of this sensor combination for a “smart cane”, which far exceeds the capabilities of the very few commercially available smart canes on the market today. The Smart Cane is not intended to be moved in front of the user in an arc similar to other canes but rather travels a GPS predetermined course or is guided by the movements of the user along their path. Sensor data can inform the user to change course by auditory cues or vibration in the handle or can direct the cane to steer automatically.
Social Links - GPA Digital Lab, Department of State
The Social Media / Digital Strategy and Training (SOC/DST) team and the Digital Lab came together to solve a strategic barrier for social media engagement – easily accessible content for users. With both teams housed under the Bureau of Global Public Affairs (GPA), the DST team supports the DOS’s robust network of social media staff by providing consultations, training, troubleshooting, and guidance across the globe through the Social Media Solutions Desk. This lifeline is crucial to the Department’s social media practitioners working on digital communications worldwide. The Digital Lab supports DOS as the center of excellence for design thinking and innovation. Together with other GPA teams, the Digital Lab helps solve problems of strategic significance using design thinking and product development to meet the end user’s needs. Through design thinking and agile development, the Digital Lab developed the Social Links plugin, which provides a secure, centralized platform that is open sourced, customizable for cohesive branding, includes advanced analytics for strategy development, and has a user and consumer-friendly interface. The Social Links plugin integrates seamlessly with WordPress, where content strategy managers across the Department can manage all social media posts, schedule publications, manage access, and be in control of how the messages are presented.
Social See Something, Say Something Application (SQUINT™) – MITRE
The free, MITRE-developed application called “Social See Something, Say Something,” or SQUINT, is an innovative solution that can help detect and counter misinformation on social media. The application relies on a trusted crowd—such as public officials or nonpartisan partners—to detect and perform the initial analysis of misinformation. SQUINT is a tool that offers a fast, reliable way for officials to report and correct bad information that appears on social media. Its game-changing potential can help combat misinformation and truth decay. While SQUINT was initially deployed to detect election-related misinformation during the 2020 election cycle, it can also be applied to different domains, such as COVID-19-related misinformation.
Space Traffic Management Prototype - CGI Federal and Slingshot Aerospace
With the anticipated launch of tens of thousands of satellites into Earth’s orbit in the coming years, space organizations across the globe are increasingly concerned about the threats posed by high volumes of space traffic and orbital debris. These dangers, including the potential for destructive and expensive satellite collisions, have made it of the utmost importance to space organizations to reliably track the location and the orbital properties of space objects. Multiple data providers, both government and commercial, capture and collect satellite orbital information through the use of globally distributed ground sensor networks. However, the reliability of this data is impacted by multiple factors, including terrestrial weather, space weather, satellite movement, as well as underlying data provider strengths and weaknesses. To solve this problem, in 2020 CGI Federal partnered with Slingshot Aerospace on a mission to help the U.K. Space Operations Center (UK SpOC) determine the reliability of satellite data, and combine ambiguous satellite readings to necessary provider, movement, and weather contexts. To accomplish this, CGI Federal and Slingshot data scientists in concert with Slingshot’s astrodynamicists used sensory and telemetry data on 572 satellites over a three month time period to create algorithms to identify anomalous satellite state vector readings, and assign individual data point and provider-wide quality scores based on current satellite behavior and past trends. CGI Federal developers also connected terrestrial weather data to each ground sensor location to assess for each satellite reading as an additional contributor to uncertainty. This effort enhanced the quality of the data in an active data curation capability from Slingshot Aerospace, leveraging advanced analytics at the backend, which empowers users and ensures confidence in satellite orbit data and location readings.
StrataGem™ - Rigil
StrataGem™ is a mission-oriented mobile learning platform that provides a rich experience for the organizations and individuals who use it - no matter how they choose to style their training curriculum. With adaptive learning, competition, metrics-based data reports, and self-evaluation features, StrataGem™ transforms learning. Notably, StrataGem™ has proven to innovate training in the federal space and meet specific mission objectives. It helped keep the nation’s air traffic controllers current on their critical training during the global pandemic, bringing agility to the learning process in a risk-averse organization where safety is the top priority. Through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), training is now securely on-demand via StrataGem™ and easily accessible to those keeping our airspace safe. Once adopted, organizations have full control of the tool and can easily tailor content on their terms, without any hands-on IT support or additional costs, using pre-designed configurable mobile solutions that are custom fit for different learning styles, job roles, facilities, and geographic locales. Trainers who use it can control permissions by audience and create learning cohorts.
Streamlined Past Performance Reporting - Library of Congress
The collection and use of Contractor Past Performance reporting has been a long-standing challenge within the Federal Government, with compliance rates for submission and content lagging for many federal agencies. The challenge results from a time consuming process of preparing a single report annually for major contracts. The problem can be overcome through more frequent, less complex reporting leveraging the Internet Payment Platform (IPP) to more closely reflect commercial practices. A brief survey, similar to those used for common on-line purchases and experiences, associated with a monthly invoice, is more likely to generate meaningful real-time information related to how well a contract is performing. Aggregating this information across the federal government can furnish buyers and requiring activities useful information on a company's experience, strengths and weaknesses with whom they are considering entering into a contract.
Streamlining U.S. Trade With Automated Robotic Processes - US Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP), Office of Trade (OT) Quota and Agriculture Branch (QAB) collaborated with OT’s Trade Transformation Office (TTO) and DevTech Systems Contractors to develop three distinct process automation “Bots”. Together, these innovative automations save the international trade community (importers, customs brokers, freight forwarders, compliance firms) hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, expedite import transactions and commercial entry processes throughout the year, and refocus subject matter expert labor hours on compliance with U.S. import/export laws and border enforcement efforts. These Bots also help the U.S. Government eliminate debt interest charges it had been paying to importers as a result of refund processing delays.
Student Training Records System – Leidos
The Student Records Training System (STRS) was created to be a unique solution to a longstanding training documentation problem with a focus on standardization and automation across multiple locations and multiple programs. Historically, training documentation has always been maintained in multiple excel files and paper documents, which led to multiple issues, to include, improper maintenance of records, duplication of records, loss of records, unauthorized data access, and an inability to appropriately track status of training throughout the large group. This has had a negative impact for all those who engage in training, be it an overall leader, a certifier, a trainer, or the trainee. To solve this problem and bring greater efficiency and visibility to training overall, we developed a cloud-based web application that serves as a centralized database for maintenance and storage of training documentation for Air Force Mission Qualification Training (MQT) documentation.
The MITRE Innovation Toolkit – MITRE
MITRE’s Innovation Toolkit presents a customized collection of novel tools, techniques, and methods that help teams work together more effectively and develop innovative solutions to difficult problems. These tools are delightfully low-tech. They do not require downloading special software, nor do they require any particular technical skills. Each one is customized for use in public and government domains, with particular attention paid to ensuring the tools foster equity and inclusion. Many of the tools are based on human-centered design practices, but several are entirely new tools not found elsewhere. One such example is a reductive thinking technique for groups called Stormdraining. With this tool, the rules of brainstorming are reversed, and the goal is to distill a large set of ideas into a small, focused, actionable set of practical steps. One particularly novel aspect of ITK is our emphasis on “tool chains,” where the output of one tool serves as the input of the next. For example, a team might use an ideation tool called the Lotus Blossom to generate a large set of ideas, then apply the Trimming tool as a way to down-select and prioritize which ideas to move forward with. Regardless of the particular toolchain, using these tools in series helps to continue the team’s problem-solving momentum and answer the “now what?” question that often goes unanswered after a standard brainstorming session.
Threat, Identification, Determination, Evaluation (TIDE) - Argonne National Lab
TIDE software is the most comprehensive, generally applicable, and thoroughly vetted facility threat assessment tool available today. It provides objective, facility-specific evaluations of likely threats to the approximately 9,500 federal facilities protected by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service (FPS), thereby alerting the facilities of their most pressing threats, which will ultimately drive the need for security-related upgrades and mitigation methods. TIDE software evaluates multiple sources of information to provide a complete picture of the potential criminal and terrorist threats to a facility. These sources include information obtained during facility security assessments; open-source information; threat and intelligence reports; and federal, state, and local criminal databases. As part of its approach, TIDE also leverages historical attack occurrences, the modus operandi of threat actors, and other threat-related information in developing a risk profile for a facility. TIDE provides FPS inspectors with a clear understanding of the threats facing a facility. TIDE pulls back the curtain and informs users of the underlining factors that led to the selection of each major threat. Only with this level of insight are decision makers armed with the information they need to make informed decisions about security upgrades. Ultimately, TIDE’s assessments provides FPS inspectors with reports that succinctly articulate the primary threats to each facility including detailed explanations of the factors that drove TIDE to reach its conclusions. TIDE reports may also include interview results, as well as maps, charts, and graphs.
TourHealth COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Solution – NIC
TourHealth, a turnkey, mobile COVID-19 testing and vaccination solution launched in the summer of 2020 by NIC, Impact Health and Next Marketing. Since its launch, TourHealth has tested more than 500,000 people across the United States. TourHealth leverages the strengths of three industry leaders in digital government and information technology, infrastructure and logistics and field-based health and wellness to provide:
• Engagement and Assessment: Using NIC technology to help determine who needs to be tested and vaccinated and to capture consent.
• Scheduling and Notifications: Using the same Software-as-a-Service platform to allow individuals to find location-based testing and vaccination sites, schedule appointments and receive notifications and reminders.
• Onsite Testing, Vaccination and Clinical Resources: Administering COVID-19 tests and vaccinations with credentialed clinical staff.
• Logistics: Rapid mobile event facilities, equipment, location and traffic planning.
TourHealth uses NIC’s innovative mobile application Gov2Go®, the first personal assistant for government to secure test scheduling, symptom self-assessment, user notifications and result delivery, and is directly integrated with TourHealth lab partners.
• Engagement and Assessment: Using NIC technology to help determine who needs to be tested and vaccinated and to capture consent.
• Scheduling and Notifications: Using the same Software-as-a-Service platform to allow individuals to find location-based testing and vaccination sites, schedule appointments and receive notifications and reminders.
• Onsite Testing, Vaccination and Clinical Resources: Administering COVID-19 tests and vaccinations with credentialed clinical staff.
• Logistics: Rapid mobile event facilities, equipment, location and traffic planning.
TourHealth uses NIC’s innovative mobile application Gov2Go®, the first personal assistant for government to secure test scheduling, symptom self-assessment, user notifications and result delivery, and is directly integrated with TourHealth lab partners.
Transforming Records Management Technology – EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency is transforming records management to more effectively harness essential information stored in the Agency’s records and Andrew Yuen has been at the center of this transformation. The first of these innovative applications supports the tremendous effort EPA is undertaking to digitize current paper records. Andrew and his team have developed a web application to facilitate the submission and tracking of hardcopy records to centralized EPA digitization centers. The Paper Asset Tracking Tool (PATT) is an easy to use Cloud-based tool for EPA Regions and Program Offices to submit and track paper records sent to the Agency’s digitization centers. Andrew is also the force behind a new application using machine learning to effectively classify electronic records. This new Cloud-based application will move the Agency beyond manual or hand-coded business rules for classifying electronic records. The machine learning application, Content Ingestion Services, developed by Andrew and his team is a process that uses statistical techniques, or models, to predict the categories of electronic records. The approach leverages text extraction and natural language processing to turn electronic records into machine-readable data that can be run against a supervised machine learning text categorization model.
Treasury Financial eXperience - U.S. Dept. of Treasury Bureau of the Fiscal Service
In September 2019, Fiscal Service initiated development of the Treasury Financial Experience (TFX): Your How-To Guide for Federal Financial Management. This digital solution was built as a user-centric resource, integrating information across multiple areas to streamline financial management guidance and provide a more personalized experience for those who use it. The TFX site incorporates a modern design, intuitive navigation, robust search capabilities, and access to expanded resources. The first key factor in making TFX a success was content transformation; conquering the challenge of understanding the depth, variety, and complexity of disparate sources of FFM guidance – as well as the connections between them. The TFX team scoured through the TFM and corresponding guidance, worked with key stakeholders to organize the content in logical, functional areas so users could find the information they need, and to ensure search results are intuitive and comprehensive. Transforming the content required a phased and coordinated approach to inventory, cleanse, categorize, tag, and systematically migrate FFM content to the Drupal 8 web content management system (WCMS) on which TFX is built. The tagging and content organization capabilities of the WCMS system help facilitate easier access to information for users and better management of the content by administrators. Transforming content by itself is not enough, the second key factor in making content more accessible to the user was a robust search. The TFX search feature allows users to look for content throughout the site, organizing results by frequency that the searched term appears.
Trueface Access Control – Trueface
The 96th Test Wing and 87th Security Forces Squadron has a national defense-related mission need for increased touchless entry at base access points in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, there is a need for approved individuals to gain entry expeditiously to the installation using facial recognition in combination with touchless entry in order to eliminate the spreading of a virus due to unneeded contact amongst humans or identification cards at base entry points.
TSA Customer Experience and Employee Experience Prototype and Pilots - Dorris Consulting International
TSA’s Customer Service Branch (CSB) has designed and piloted innovative solutions to transform the TSA citizen and employee experience and has served as the prototype for similar innovations government-wide. CSB is responsible for the customer experience of 750 million passengers a year and supports the employee experience of 65,000 TSA staff. The collective TSA CSB and OMB, OPM, and GSA teams collaborated to create the first-ever federal Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience EX prototype comparing employee engagement data with customer experience data. The collective TSA CSB and OMB, OPM, and GSA teams collaborated to create the first-ever federal Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience EX prototype comparing employee engagement data with customer experience data. The collective TSA CSB and OMB, OPM, and GSA teams collaborated to create the first-ever federal Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience EX prototype comparing employee engagement data with customer experience data. Using the new CX/EX prototype, CSB also found early evidence that airport volume impacts customer experience results—perhaps even more than employee engagement. By gaining this insight, the CSB team was able to target airport locations with the right passenger volume for directed customer experience interventions.
TSA IdeaFactory Employee Innovation Program - B&A
For nearly 14 years, TSA’s IdeaFactory has empowered the agency’s large and dispersed workforce to submit and collaborate on innovative ideas to improve the workplace and keep the nation’s transportation systems secure. IdeaFactory is used by more than 30,000 employees each year, mostly from the agency frontlines. Employees post suggestions for improvements, comment on others’ suggestions, and participate in policy or strategy feedback campaigns. Nearly 200 successful employee-originated ideas have strengthened security, enhanced workforce support, and improved the passenger experience. IdeaFactory has been recognized by the White House as a role model program for open government. In April 2021, TSA launches an updated IdeaFactory, taking advantage of cutting edge community innovation technology, implementing significant process improvements behind the scenes, and lending new energy to a historically successful program.
U.S. Census Bureau Trust & Safety Team - U.S. Census Bureau
The Census Bureau recognized the dramatic increase of social media, mobile phones, and digital platforms between the 2010 Census and today. Nefarious actors could use these platforms to spread misinformation and disinformation, leading to public mistrust and a potential undercount, impacting the distribution of billions in federal funding, research data, congressional representation. The 2020 Census required a flexible design that took advantage of new technologies and data sources while minimizing risk to ensure a high-quality population count. The Census Bureau knew it needed to broaden detection capabilities to mitigate rumors that could pose harm to its employees and the 2020 Census count. As a result, it formed the Census Bureau Trust & Safety Team, the first of its kind in a federal agency, dedicated to protecting the 2020 Census from misinformation and disinformation and amplifying authoritative content. The Trust & Safety Team’s comprehensive strategy to address the unique 2020 Census challenges included, but was not limited to:
• Utilizing technology platforms such as Sprinklr and Meltwater to conduct 24x7 social media scanning and monitoring.
• Reporting false content to social media platforms for review and removal to mitigate the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
• Establishing strategic partnerships with social media and technology companies, consumer advocate organizations, and civil society organizations to amplify Census Bureau messaging and mitigate both direct and indirect threats.
• Launching a dedicated page on the 2020census.gov website, Fighting 2020 Census Rumors.
• Empowering the public to report on social media and send reputational threats directly to the Census Bureau’s email inbox, [email protected]
• Utilizing technology platforms such as Sprinklr and Meltwater to conduct 24x7 social media scanning and monitoring.
• Reporting false content to social media platforms for review and removal to mitigate the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
• Establishing strategic partnerships with social media and technology companies, consumer advocate organizations, and civil society organizations to amplify Census Bureau messaging and mitigate both direct and indirect threats.
• Launching a dedicated page on the 2020census.gov website, Fighting 2020 Census Rumors.
• Empowering the public to report on social media and send reputational threats directly to the Census Bureau’s email inbox, [email protected]
U.S. Web Design System – GSA
In 2019, based on extensive user research, GSA launched U.S. Web Design System version 2 (USWDS 2), a new foundation for the future of our design system. The design system is an open-source toolkit of principles, guidance, and code that makes it easier for agency digital teams to build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites. USWDS 2 coded flexibility into the design system’s DNA — facilitating continuous improvement over just all-or-nothing redesigns. When GSA launched USWDS 2, site traffic went from 16,000 to 150,000 pageviews a week. The release blog post had 20,000 pageviews over the 4-day launch period. We received 300 new stars in the design system’s Github repo, and Public Sans (the design system’s typeface) went from 100 stars to over 3,000 stars in the same period. In January 2020, GSA released website standards. The standards encourage agencies to adopt the design system incrementally, and they provide a practical way for agency teams to adapt the design system as they adopt it. Recently, the team conducted research with federal partners to better understand the challenges agencies face in dealing with emergency response situations like COVID-19, and how the design system can better support them in the future. They interviewed 60 individuals who spanned agency roles and responsibilities to learn about their needs related to using the design system. Taking action on what they learned from the research, the USWDS team created and updated several design system components and templates to address the common needs agencies faced. They released 10 updates to the design system in 2020 —USWDS 2.10 includes twice as many components as 2.0, including a bundle of components and page templates to support agencies’ emergency response efforts for COVID-19.
US Construction Indicator Re-engineering Using AI/ML and Satellite Imagery - Reveal Global Consulting
US Census Bureau Economic Indicators Division, Construction Programs, contracted Reveal Global Consulting to re-engineer the US Construction Indicator. Reveal's team of data scientists, AI/ML experts, and innovative technologists designed, built, and deployed an innovative solution that enables Census to automate the collection, analyses, and dissemination of construction activity information monthly. The US Construction Indicator use case required an end-to-end advanced analytics solution with a strong Analytic Process Automation (APA) platform at its core. APA eliminates barriers to data analysis by unifying multiple tools into one platform that provides end-to-end, self-service analytics across big data management prep, analytics and data science, and process automation to accelerate insights and actions. The solution:
• Uses AI to analyze satellite image data showing construction activity over time (provides "ground truth")
• Modernizes construction industry indicators (housing starts, residential and non-residential construction spending, and others)
• Identifies alternative sources of data to reduce reliance on surveys
• Leverages advanced analytics and automates manual processes to optimize performance
• Provides advanced analytics and data visualization to provide Census users and external stakeholders with timely, relevant insights for optimal decision-making
The solution collects, filters, formats, and aggregates unstructured data from numerous Census and third-party sources. The data is ingested into the Alteryx platform. Alteryx provides a unified analytic process automation (APA) platform that enables the creation and scheduling of workflows, that can collect satellite imagery and automate analysis using geospatial and AI/ML capabilities to validate, compile, and create more accurate and timely construction indicator insight.
• Uses AI to analyze satellite image data showing construction activity over time (provides "ground truth")
• Modernizes construction industry indicators (housing starts, residential and non-residential construction spending, and others)
• Identifies alternative sources of data to reduce reliance on surveys
• Leverages advanced analytics and automates manual processes to optimize performance
• Provides advanced analytics and data visualization to provide Census users and external stakeholders with timely, relevant insights for optimal decision-making
The solution collects, filters, formats, and aggregates unstructured data from numerous Census and third-party sources. The data is ingested into the Alteryx platform. Alteryx provides a unified analytic process automation (APA) platform that enables the creation and scheduling of workflows, that can collect satellite imagery and automate analysis using geospatial and AI/ML capabilities to validate, compile, and create more accurate and timely construction indicator insight.
USAID President’s Malaria Initiative Data Integration and Visualization for Eradication Platform – NTIS
The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) is an interagency initiative that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) leads and implements together with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). PMI’s strategic mission is to reduce malaria-related mortality across 27 focus countries. The PMI Malaria Data Integration and Visualization for Eradication (MDIVE) solution is a data science platform, in an advanced prototype stage, empowers both PMI staff and malaria researchers around the world to address mission--critical questions with current and emerging data science capabilities. When fully realized, PMI MDIVE will support goals to predict malaria caseloads in focus countries and plan interventions that can prevent and mitigate disease impacts. Currently, MDIVE supports data analytics solutions that enable PMI staff and researchers to collaborate on disease modeling, scenario planning, and program operations. The prototype solution enables the organization to advance its data sharing and data science capabilities. It supports capabilities to 1) aggregate heterogeneous data in one virtual environment, 2) process and harmonize these data, 3) share these data across PMI staff, partners, affiliated researchers, and other donors, and then 4) offer data analytics, data science, and data visualization tools that enable experts to transform these data into evidence and actionable insights. PMI MDIVE represents an innovative solution developed through a unique and innovative framework available to the federal government. USAID and PMI partnered with the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Department of Commerce to scope, design, and develop the platform through the NTIS Joint Venture Partner (JVP) program. The NTIS provides a unique pathway for federal agencies towards innovation and digital transformation to achieve mission outcomes effectively and efficiently. It is available to all Federal Agencies seeking an agile capacity to scale to meet critical mission data priorities. USAID worked with NTIS to select the private sector partner Civis Analytics for the co-creation effort to deliver the platform prototype. To date, USAID works directly with Civis Analytics to develop and maintain the MDIVE platform atop Civis’ data analytic platform offering.
USDA National Organic Program, Organic Integrity Learning Center - A P Ventures
The National Organic Program (NOP)—part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)—is the organization responsible for developing and enforcing standards associated with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) and the USDA organic regulations. USDA’s AMS NOP faced a longstanding challenge because the NOP did not have one central system for training required for organic certification operations, organic inspectors, and organic handlers and producers. the NOP in 2019 transformed materials, created new material, and launched the Organic Integrity Learning Center (OILC). This unique technological solution is a cloud-based, 24x7, online, global learning capability that provides “just-in-time-training” for professionals responsible for organic compliance. The OILC serves as an excellent training aid for organic stakeholders to build competencies to better ensure that organic products meet organic standards. The OILC provides free online training that supports the professional development and continuing education of professionals working to protect organic integrity. Core audiences for the learning center include organic certifiers, inspectors, and reviewers, as well as professionals serving a compliance and enforcement role in organic control systems. They have important roles to play in using their knowledge of regulations/standards and best practices to ensure the proper certification of organic producers and operations, as well as enforcing those regulations/standards to ensure consumer confidence in, and the integrity of, organic products and the industry as a whole.
USDA-NASA Interactive Ethics Training Game – USDA
USDA teamed up with NASA to create the Federal government’s first long-distance Ethics training module in an engaging avatar-based game format. The USDA-NASA Ethics Game combines space travel, agriculture, and the Federal ethics rules in a series of real-life scenarios where players are challenged to test their judgement and knowledge of important ethics requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the reasons why it is vital to maintain the public’s trust in the integrity of the Federal government. Public servants often want to follow Federal ethics rules, but find them to be complex. Moreover, ethics rules are often taught in a manner that does not reflect how easily one can blunder into an ethical dilemma in real life situations. The game is completely randomized and variable, meaning that each game will be different, and the ethics questions will vary and be different each time the game is played. This means that the Ethics Training Game can be used for several years with a player seeing different scenario combinations each time.
Veeam Availability Suite - Veeam Software
Located just south of San Bernardino County, California, the city of Rancho Cucamonga is a rapidly growing metropolitan area with 177,000 residents, 500 full-time and 450 part-time government employees. The City faces multiple risks from natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods and earthquakes, as well as cybersecurity threats inherent to digitized services. Ahead of the global pandemic, the City’s Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) realized the increased need for reliable and readily available health data and embarked on a data protection and modernization effort that increased recovery speed by 99% for the city. Rancho Cucamonga’s IT leaders teamed up with Veeam to help modernize their data protection and roll-out digital resources that increased recovery speed up to 99% for the city, saving 40 hours each month from manual backup processes, and ensuring public safety information is available around the clock by providing bare-metal restoration capability directly from cloud backups. Rancho Cucamonga also made improvements in their public safety video network that monitors areas for crime, the library’s online system offering electronic reading materials, and the city’s Adopt A Pet portal for fostering or adopting homeless animals. A disaster can hit at any time, without warning, however, the actions taken by the City of Rancho Cucamonga means their data will be protected due to Veeam’s Availability Suite capabilities. Moving to Veeam has decreased the service time for file-level restorations from days to minutes and allows for remote performance of restorations, helping to maintain remote work practices during the pandemic response. Through its work with Veeam, Rancho Cucamonga was able to reliably provide extensive public safety information through its website, linking residents to the nation’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for suggestions about how to protect against illness and what to do if symptoms arise.
Veteran Rideshare Services - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Veteran Rideshare Services (VRS) was developed to support Veterans experiencing homelessness by helping them get to job interviews and find housing opportunities. Charles Franklin, a Community Employment Coordinator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System, noticed that as housing costs in inner cities continue to rise, Veterans are more likely to be housed outside of the city where public transportation is less accessible, making it challenging for Veterans to search for employment and attend medical appointments. VRS was created to connect Veterans with rideshare services, including Uber and Lyft. With support from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Ecosystem’s VHA Innovators Network (iNET), VRS has since expanded to nine sites. Today, VRS has grown to become a public-private partnership between the VA and Uber/Lyft rideshare services addressing transportation barriers for Veterans. VRS provides reliable, non-emergency medical transportation to improve access to health care and social services. Ride sharing services can be used as a single source solution nationwide for transportation barriers that low-income Veterans face as they try to reenter the workforce.
Veterans Health Administration Extended Reality Network – ERPi
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Extended Reality (XR) Network is a force multiplier that transforms individual efforts at VHA into nationwide impact. VHA has over 40 sites utilizing XR technologies (including virtual, augmented, and mixed reality), with each operating independently to drive adoption, create workflows, and establish protocols. Until now, XR initiatives have been siloed, blinded to one another’s successes and failures. Frontline staff across VHA have already begun to utilize XR technology to improve patient outcomes for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression as well as in clinical applications such as pain management. The XR Network is a force multiplier that transforms individual efforts into nationwide impact. Each month, the XR Network facilitates a nationwide XR Community of Practice call where VHA frontline staff from VAMCs across the country come together to share their XR stories. Participants commonly discuss the hardware they procured, how and where they found money in their budgets to support the activity, potential use cases for XR (pain management, physical therapy, etc.), and more recently, how best to disinfect XR equipment in response to COVID-19.
Veterans Health Administration Innovators Network - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
One of the core programs within the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE) is the VHA Innovators Network (iNET). iNET was created to build and empower a community of VHA frontline employees. The program supports them through workforce development and culture building to promote creativity and innovative solutioning to better serve Veterans and their families. iNET serves as a space for VA employees to test new ideas and join forces with stakeholders across the Veteran community to improve the way VA serves Veterans. iNET is a network of 37 VAMCs changing the way employees think and solve problems through training and accelerated operationalizing innovation. iNET provides the in-house capability of driving a culture of innovation through a cycle of Ignite-Accelerate-Celebrate. iNET commands the power of hundreds of frontline employee innovators who are uniquely attuned to patients’ needs and ready to make a difference. Through iNET, employees can draw on and learn from each other’s diverse experiences to empower change and integrate innovation into their everyday work. Each iNET site is led by an Innovation Specialist trained in supporting new approaches and spreading best practices, working with outside organizations, persevering through challenges, and leveraging innovation principles. When frontline innovators have ideas for changing and improving the delivery of Veteran care, the Innovation Specialists answer the call. They equip employees with the training, resources, and tools to accelerate innovation. iNET’s Spark-Seed-Spread Innovation Investment Program (Spark-Seed-Spread) serves as a mechanism within iNET to identify innovative employee-driven concepts, programs, products, solutions, and passionate employees invested in learning innovation-related competencies. VHA employees who are selected for investments enter the Spark-Seed-Spread Innovation Accelerator (Accelerator). The Accelerator supports early-stage ideas through individualized mentoring, competency trainings, access to a network of like-minded innovators, financing, and much more. It runs for a fixed-period of time and is a process of intense, rapid, and immersive education aimed at accelerating the lifecycle of young innovative ideas, compressing years’ worth of learning-by-doing into just a few months.
Veterans Health Administration TeleLactation Program - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Research shows that 57% of mothers feel unsupported in their postpartum journey and that three out of four moms who try to breastfeed quit before six months. While there are well established clinical benefits of breastfeeding, it is estimated that 80-85% of VHA facilities are not offering lactation counseling. This is of significance, as half of women Veterans are of childbearing age. At the Memphis VA Medical Center (VAMC), Cody Giovannetti, a VA Registered Dietician and Certified Lactation Specialist, recognized that her facility did not have a program established for women Veterans to receive education on breastfeeding. The TeleLactation Program (TLP) was created to provide pregnant and lactating women Veterans with individualized support, education, and tools needed to successfully breastfeed. Clinics incorporate telehealth modalities of care like VA Video Connect (VVC) services to increase access and keep new mothers at home with their babies. In 2017, at the time of clinic implementation, the routine use of this technology was very non-traditional and forward thinking.
Veterans Mental Evaluation Team - VHA Innovation Ecosystem
Veterans Mental Evaluation Team (VMET) is an innovative model of working with community partners to reach Veterans experiencing mental health crises. VMET reaches these Veterans by using a mental health trained U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Police Department (VAPD) officer and a licensed mental health clinician to respond with local law enforcement to Veterans in crisis, conduct welfare checks, and provide follow-up calls and visits. This novel, patient-centered approach to interacting with Veterans decreases Veteran anxiety throughout the engagement process with law enforcement and provides an opportunity to link Veterans to appropriate services or treatment. Innovation, particularly that which results in a unique solution to a longstanding problem often occurs unexpectedly and from unusual sources. Such is the case with VMET. In February 2018, Tyrone Anderson, a VA community policing officer, and Shannon Teague, a VA homeless-outreach social worker, were tasked to do a cleanup of a homeless encampment spread over 1.5 miles in Long Beach, California, and home to over 500 people, including many Veterans. They were looking to provide housing, as well as substance abuse and financial resources to the Veterans of the encampment. The two experienced great synergy working together during this time, determined to reach chronically ill and Veterans experiencing homelessness in need of support, as well as Veterans experiencing mental health crises. Four months later, the two helped develop the idea of a crisis response team consisting of a full-time VA Police Officer and a full-time licensed mental health professional that could work in collaboration with local law enforcement agencies. From there, VMET was born at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System and VAPD Long Beach stood up its own Veteran Crisis Response Team pilot program later that year.
Virtual Career Center (featuring the State of Rhode Island) – Google
The Rhode Island state government partnered with the tech-for-social-impact nonprofit Research Improving People’s Lives (RIPL) and Google Cloud to create the Virtual Career Center, which will dramatically expand access to key career resources for out-of-work residents. The Virtual Career Center is an innovative, data-driven, easy-to-navigate online platform powered by Google Cloud, which connects out-of-work Rhode Islanders to available jobs that match their skills through the use of a range of Google Cloud technologies and an AI-powered job discovery tool. Rhode Island’s Virtual Career Center is powered by a range of Google Cloud technologies--such as BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Cloud Storage, Cloud Talent API, and Vision API-- in partnership with MavenWave, who built the application interface. Google Workspace, including Google Meet, allows job seekers to schedule video meetings with career coaches, job recruiters and potential employers. Additionally, the Google Job Search API is an AI-powered job discovery tool, powered by Google Cloud, that allows jobseekers to explore career opportunities best suited to their skills and interests.In collaboration with Rhode Island, RIPL scientists are developing a Career Matching ML algorithm, delivered through an AI-powered Chatbot, a first-of-its-kind tool which will set Rhode Islanders quickly on the path to successful and rewarding new jobs and careers. The program will use data from Rhode Island’s Research Data Lake to identify which careers and job openings each person will likely find rewarding, and deliver personalized recommendations directly to jobseekers and to employers. It will make finding great-match careers easier for workers and employers, and kickstart lasting economic growth in Rhode Island.
Virtual Criminal Investigation Solution - BSI Solutions
VCIS (Virtual Criminal Investigation Solution) is a virtual reality simulation that transforms the way law enforcement training is conducted. This immersion offers realistic scenarios with interactive data that can be used for crime scene investigation training. This application helps neutralize the risk of evidence/scene corruption, increase safety and boost productivity by decreasing costs and resources that can be re-allocated into future innovation and development in law enforcement.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Pilot - Department of Labor
The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is embracing a nontraditional, innovative approach to end-user computing through its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) pilot. VDI will facilitate significant cost avoidance by reducing the overall per user hardware cost and significantly reducing the time spent on troubleshooting. VDI decouples patching from critical legacy applications and allows for expedient Information Assurance Vulnerability Alert (IAVA) compliance, alerting and patching users to potential vulnerabilities faster. In addition, VDI saves hardware costs due to the procurement of a thin client, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), or mobile device. The use of these lightweight clients and platforms is made possible by transferring storage and computing requirements to a cloud environment. VDI will decrease provisioning and deployment time by using multi-user hosting sessions, as opposed to working on single workstations. Utilizing VDI-based app layering will reduce the overall complexity and management of one-off images that host agency specific software. Overall, OCIO’s new VDI system will deliver efficiencies enterprise-wide and transform the Department’s reliance on hardware for staff access.
Virtual Tele-Hearings - Department of Veterans Affairs
Building on the Board’s vision to expand two-way communication tele-health technology, the three-way communication tele-hearing platform was created by a joint effort between the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) and the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This virtual hearing platform was designed to connect judges, Veterans, and Veteran representatives together regardless of where each individual was physically located. The platform was in testing and the nationwide launch occurred just as the pandemic hit. Virtual tele-hearing provides a unique solution that enabled the Board to continue to hold hearings during the pandemic, thereby continuing the delivery of benefits and services to Veterans while promoting the health and safety of Veterans, their representatives, and the Veterans Law Judges. Veterans no longer need to drive to the closest Veterans Benefits Administration Regional Office to meet in-person with their local representatives for their hearings. With greater capacity and expanded access to Board hearings, this provides Veterans with more choice and control in the appeals hearing process.
Webex for Government – Cisco
Cisco Webex for Government is a FedRAMP Authorized solution, providing a robust, industry-leading, cloud-based collaboration solution that adheres to stringent Federal security requirements. With decades of experience partnering with the Federal government, Webex provides:
o Consistency and unparalleled reliability and security with operations and applications, regardless of where they reside
o A reputation as a proven and trusted provider
o A broad suite of solutions for collaboration in the cloud
Webex for Government provides a modern experience to government employees on par with the commercial Webex solution available to private corporations. It delivers a single Webex app for calling, messaging, meetings, devices, and Webex Control Hub management for Federal customers. Webex for Government features a secure and seamless work experience for users and a lower total cost of ownership for organizations. Webex for Government offers one-button-to-push to join meetings, high-quality video, and seamless integration with Cisco devices such as Webex Rooms. It enables employees to stay connected by chatting and sharing files in dedicated Webex spaces. It also integrates with popular software applications, enabling seamless Microsoft Office calendar integration. Organizations can let users join meetings from their desktops, tablets, or smartphones directly from their calendars with a push of a button. Additionally, there are ready-made integrations with Enterprise Content Management applications such as Box or Microsoft OneDrive.
o Consistency and unparalleled reliability and security with operations and applications, regardless of where they reside
o A reputation as a proven and trusted provider
o A broad suite of solutions for collaboration in the cloud
Webex for Government provides a modern experience to government employees on par with the commercial Webex solution available to private corporations. It delivers a single Webex app for calling, messaging, meetings, devices, and Webex Control Hub management for Federal customers. Webex for Government features a secure and seamless work experience for users and a lower total cost of ownership for organizations. Webex for Government offers one-button-to-push to join meetings, high-quality video, and seamless integration with Cisco devices such as Webex Rooms. It enables employees to stay connected by chatting and sharing files in dedicated Webex spaces. It also integrates with popular software applications, enabling seamless Microsoft Office calendar integration. Organizations can let users join meetings from their desktops, tablets, or smartphones directly from their calendars with a push of a button. Additionally, there are ready-made integrations with Enterprise Content Management applications such as Box or Microsoft OneDrive.
Zelda Database – Leidos
16th Air Force-funded LEIDOS contractors formed a software development team to work with their Airmen to create a web-based cryptologic mission management data repository for cryptologic missions being executed across the 16th Air Force and 480th ISR Wing. Under 169th Intelligence Squadron direction, the Leidos team coded a new database from scratch on a classified national mission partner (NMP) network which was also accessible via JWICS. This new web-based database was named the Zelda Database (ZDB). ZDB was designed through an iterative software development process using SCRUM methodology. The iterative process implemented intelligence analyst feedback at every step resulting in software that is specifically designed for the user and immediately effective from the user’s point of view. The database integrated multiple functions of cryptologic mission management, including mission scheduling, crew scheduling, crew qualification and readiness status, mission planning sheet coordination, mission pre-briefings and debriefings, tracking of mission production and serialized-reporting, logging of work products, creation and tracking of electronic training records (AF Form 623) and Master Training Plans, becoming the primary one-stop shop for all aspects of cryptologic mission management and training management. New features never before seen in the USAF intelligence community were added to ZDB, such as digital, cross-talking Career Field Education and Training Plan (CFETP) and Job Qualification Standard (JQS) training management, training and readiness integrated web-based mission scheduling, and easily accessible, transparent ISR assessment capabilities based on query-able mission metrics and statistics data management.
Zero Trust Architecture - ManTech Advanced Systems International
ManTech’s Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) aligns industry and academia Zero Trust principals to the DoD Enterprise Architecture strategy. Our strategy has the potential to bring about change in an industry that has yet to fully understand the benefits of ZT or how to even begin the journey. It is a careful analysis of an infrastructure's needs and requirements to address today’s cyber security challenges. With knowledge of the inefficiency in traditional perimeter-based network security, ManTech’s ZTA strategy is following the process necessary to evaluate an organizational constant on any given network, the data. There are three core foundational elements of ManTech’s ZTA strategy: Access Controls, Context and Identity, and Micro-Segmentation and Micro-Perimeters
Zero Trust Architecture for Secure Cloud Access and Adoption - Federal Trade Commission
The FTC began an initiative in 2018 to replace network perimeter-defense-based approaches with a new security architecture using modern frameworks and capabilities including Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), Software Defined Networks (SDN), and Enterprise Identity and Access Management (IAM). This initiative is enabling the FTC to accelerate cloud adoption, reduce ongoing network and security costs by half while increasing bandwidth per user by an order of magnitude or more, all while improving the overall cybersecurity posture. By year end 2020, the FTC had either piloted or put into production numerous components of ZTA and TIC 3.0 as described by CISA, NIST, and NSA. By year end 2021, the FTC anticipates it will fully put into production its ZTA, SDN, and IAM solutions and retire its legacy TIC architecture.
ZIA - A name of Arabic origin meaning "light" - Reckon Point Inc
Remote controlled robot that uses high-intensity UVC lighting to kill COVID-19 and other pathogens.
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange – Zscaler
The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange (ZTE) is a secure access service edge (SASE) built from the ground up for performance and scalability. Zscaler ZTE creates fast, secure connections between users and applications, regardless of device, location, or network. Zscaler services are 100 percent cloud-delivered and offer the simplicity, enhanced security, and improved user experience that traditional appliances are unable to match. Legacy security offerings were designed decades ago to create network based perimeters that connect employees in an office to applications in a data center on an agency network. The world was already shifting to the cloud with mobile users and SaaS-based applications, but the global pandemic rapidly accelerated this digital transformation. This seismic shift is accelerated by agencies’ move to cloud-based SaaS models and the internet becoming the new network -- shattering 30 years of IT networking and security principles. While direct-to-internet access to cloud applications and workloads has democratized information flow and improved mission agility, it has also destroyed the castle-and-moat security architecture exposing organizations to new threat vectors resulting in large-scale security breaches. This heightened the importance of a scalable, cloud-based solution that consistently protects users working from anywhere and from any device.
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