In response to members’ requests about “What ACT-IAC is focusing on”, the information below identifies the most important topics ACT-IAC is addressing and how members and government can get involved. We plan to update this page on a regular basis as new topics emerge and old ones are retired.
Government members who want more information should contact Mike Howell at MHowell@actiac.org.
Industry who want to join ACT-IAC or hear more information should contact April Davis at ADavis@actiac.org or Carol Miller at cmiller@actiac.org.
The President's Management Agenda (PMA) was released March 20, 2018. The President’s Management Agenda lays out a long-term vision for modernizing the Federal Government in key areas that will improve the ability of agencies to deliver mission outcomes, provide excellent service, and effectively steward taxpayer dollars on behalf of the American people. ACT-IAC leadership decided to focus ACT-IAC’s projects and activities for the coming year on supporting the PMA. The attached document shows the alignment of ACT-IAC’s projects and activities with the PMA Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) goals. Download this document to see how ACT-IAC is supporting the PMA goals.
Acquisition Innovation⇒ Acquisition innovation featured at Acquisition Excellence Conference
Some of the activities within ACT-IAC include:
The ACT-IAC Institute for Innovation, in coordination with the Acquisition and IT Management and Modernization Communities of Interest (COIs), is conducting an "Accelerating IT Modernization Through Acquisition Innovation Initiative". The initiative is designed to speed the adoption of innovative acquisition practices to accelerate the IT modernization called for in the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). The initiative is sponsored by OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy and led by Tim Cooke, who successfully led the ACT-IAC Acquisition Excellence Conferences in 2017 and 2018. The initiative has four teams focused on successful acquisitions of modern technology, acquisition process improvement, resources and authorities that enable enhanced acquisition, and successful buying organizations and what makes them successful. Results from the initiative were presented at Acquisition Excellence 2019 conference on March 12, 2019. Learn more about Acquisition Innovation |
Artificial Intelligence⇒ Download the ACT-IAC Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Primer
Intelligent Automation marries artificial intelligence—including natural language processing, machine learning, and machine vision—with automation. This convergence of technologies produces automation capabilities that dramatically elevate business value and competitive advantages. It is already helping companies transcend conventional performance tradeoffs to achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency and quality. The White House recently issued an executive order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (February 11, 2019.) Resources:
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Blockchain⇒ Attend the Healthcare - Blockchain Forum on March 28
Some specific activities include:
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Customer Experience⇒ CX Webinar on April 11: "Building on OMB’s Guidance to Evolve CX at Your Agency"
ACT-IAC's Customer Experience Community of Interest (CX COI) developed a playbook intended to help government leaders improve service to citizens, with guidance on how to establish a customer experience office or program, which can transform services across an entire agency. Whether customers are veterans, college students, taxpayers, immigrants, seniors, employees, or other federal agencies, the framework and recommendations provided in this playbook can be applied to improve any government service. Download playbook now. Other Available Resources:
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Healthcare⇒ Attend the Healthcare - Blockchain Forum on March 28
Nearly four-fifths of executives at healthcare providers and payers say their information technology has been compromised by cyber-attacks. Since many organizations achieved their interconnectivity by evolution, resulting in inadequate controls, investment in cybersecurity needs to become part of a cohesive, coordinated digital strategy. Effective, low-cost mechanisms are already in place to shield against many elements of the cyber threat. However, far too often executive leaders wait until they are compromised to test their response plans or do not fully embrace cyber as a business risk. Recent ACT-IAC activities have focused on cybersecurity for Health IT and the application of mobile technologies for healthcare solutions. Future plans include a Health Innovation Day on April 10, 2019 and continued investigation into the application of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics for healthcare applications. |
IT Modernization
Agencies are challenged to provide a secure environment as access becomes increasingly open and legacy systems potentially lack the flexibility to adapt to these changing needs. Modernizing legacy systems can be very challenging, risky, costly, and resource intensive; but, with the right strategic approach, the risks can be mitigated and costs lowered. ACT-IAC is continually developing resources to assist agencies successfully plan and manage their legacy system modernization efforts. Resources Developed:
Current Projects:
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Workforce Management
Through the Evolving the Workforce Community of Interest, ACT-IAC endeavors to:
Links: Current and Previous ACT-IAC Initiatives Include:
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Zero Trust NetworkingIn May 2018, the Federal CIO Council Services, Strategy, and Infrastructure Committee asked ACT-IAC to evaluate the technical maturity, availability for procurement, and important issues related to potential federal agency adoption of zero trust networking (ZTN) and software defined networking (SDN). Those technologies could radically transform and improve cybersecurity and data protection and sharing. And, the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract could provide the means for agencies to acquire those capabilities. The project began with market research, presentations and demonstrations, and evaluation of the underlying trust algorithms. Completion and release of the report on this work is planned in March 2019. Future phases of work could include assessment of implementation and policy issues and pilot projects. |
Acquisition policy is an overarching topic for ACT-IAC. Our activities focus on innovation of the acquisition process to deliver technology solutions. 
Artificial intelligence, using the data from complex systems that have been gathered from a variety of sources, combined with predictive analytics, and machine learning technology, is being used by many agencies in creative ways to analyze data, determine patterns, and project outcomes. Government applications of AI are proliferating, and a growing number of federal agencies are exploring the applications of AI to their organization’s core missions and operations. ACT-IAC is assisting the Government by providing insight on how AI can enable them to better meet their mission.
ACT-IAC is actively engaged with the assessment and evaluation of the Blockchain technology – a transparent, trusted, publicly accessible ledger that allows for secure transfers of encrypted information. Through our Emerging Technology Community of Interest (COI), Blockchain events, and the Institute of Innovation, ACT-IAC is becoming the collective point of knowledge for this distributed database. 
People deserve government services that are easy to find, use, and understand, on par with services delivered by the private sector. Improving the citizens’ experience with government requires technology, people, process improvements, and culture change. Customer experience is the overall perception that customers have of an agency, organization, or service.
⇒ Also attend the 
Many federal agencies rely on decades-old, obsolete technologies to support critical mission programs, essential functions, and daily operations.
Developing a Workforce for the 21st Century is a key driver of transformation identified in the 2018 President's Management Agenda and is part of ACT-IAC's strategic priority.