Federal Drive with Tom Temin

Over a decade ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched an ambitious project to build the world’s largest collection of health and genetic data – the idea being it would be an invaluable tool for disease research. It is called the Million Veterans Program (MVP). And as of this month, it has lived up to its name. There are now a million veterans enrolled and in the dataset. For some of what VA has been doing with the dataset, Federal News Network Deputy Editor talked to MVP Program Director Dr. Sumitra Muralidhar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: VA’s million veterans program, now has a million veterans. We’ll explain what it is. An industry perspective on CISA's latest plan to get more software security assurances from vendors. The Commerce Department is seeing some extra, non-cyber advantages of moving to zero trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA is taking a page from big time TV streaming services as it revamps its multimedia offerings. This month, the agency relaunched its longstanding NASA TV service, which is now called "NASA plus." There is a new mobile app to go with it. To give us the big picture, Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu, talked with Rebecca Sirmons, Executive Producer for NASA TV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Thrift Savings Plan investors, 2023 showed some positive signs. The year also brought some changes to the "I" Fund. For more, Federal News Network's workforce reporter and co-host of the podcast Fed Life, Drew Friedman, talked with certified financial planner Art Stein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Coast Guard is one of the smallest military services -- but it has a big mission. According to the Government Accountability Office, it is still struggling to meet that missing because of longstanding challenges in at least three major areas. To talk through where things stand and how the service can improve, Federal News Network's Deputy Editor Jared Serbu spoke with Heather MacLeod, GAO's Director for Homeland Security and Justice Issues. GAO REPORT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Coast Guard still faces a lot of obstacles to meeting its missions, from acquisition to personnel challenges. TSP end-of-the-year review of your investment decisions. NASA wants to be your new favorite streaming app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Internal Revenue Service is putting its multi-billion-dollar modernization fund to good use by restoring training for its employees and replacing one of its oldest legacy IT systems, according to the head of the agency. The IRS, tapping into nearly $60 billion in multi-year funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, is rebuilding its workforce and modernizing IT systems with a focus on improving service to taxpayers. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, in a keynote address at the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management’s (AFERM) annual summit, said the IRS is seeing a promising return on investment with Inflation Reduction Act funds. “It gives you a cautiously optimistic sense that we are regaining our footing and rebuilding,” Werfel said. “But the risk now is around ramping up and standing up with these funds to make sure that we’re rebuilding capacities in a way that is smart for the long run, but also is meeting taxpayer needs in the short run.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Defense Department should not just focus on short-term success for its Replicator program, which aims to scale small, cheap drones. Instead, DoD will need to replicate this initiative to ensure longer-term success to bridge the department’s valley of death. Specifically, several speakers at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology said the department needs to use Replicator as a model for other initiatives to bridge and scale technology; whether that means buying newer drones in the future or using this model to speed production, innovation and usage of another technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House executive order on artificial intelligence gathered into one place all the concerns and cautions floating around for years. How to protect privacy in training data. How to avoid algorithmic bias. For more on how agencies can improve their AI game, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the founder of the FAIR Institute, Nick Sanna. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talk about joint service. A member of the Space Force has become the first guardian to receive a service medal from the Coast Guard. The guardian spent three weeks aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic. It's cold up there. To kind out how cold, and much more, Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with that guardian, Capt. Henry Cho. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The federal government’s made huge progress in reducing security clearance processing times over the last several years. But there are some early signs of backsliding. As Federal News Network reported last week, the latest data shows top secret investigations took an average of 115 days in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 – up from 84 days during the same period last year. For more on this, Federal Drive Deputy Editor Jared Serbu spoke with Stephanie Kostro, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Professional Services Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the Federal Drive with Tom Temin: Average security-clearance-completion speed, hits a speed bump. Why was a Space Force guardian aboard a Coast Guard Arctic cutter? Turn the White House order on artificial intelligence into action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress is back from its Thanksgiving recess this week -- with not very much time to go before several different impending deadlines. We've talked a lot about the appropriations legislation that still needs to get done for 2024. But the deadlines for some key authorization bills are creeping up even faster. Loren Duggan is deputy news director at Bloomberg Government. He spoke with Federal News Network Deputy Editor Jared Serbu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices