TC Takeaways: FedTalks 2024

The Clearing’s Patrick Bergquist attended the recent FedTalks 2024 conference in Washington, D.C., where he joined more than 1,000 of the country’s most influential leaders for a day of discussion around the ways technology and people can transform government and the United States. Read on for Patrick’s key takeaways from the conference for insight into what’s on the minds of today’s federal leaders.

AI Dominates the Conversation

As always, FedTalks was a great opportunity to meet with both federal and industry leaders to hear the latest on how the government uses and will be using technology in the future. As expected, much of the conversation centered on how government agencies are both using and rolling out artificial intelligence (AI). This space is growing rapidly and will continue to impact how the federal government operates and how it supports the American public.

With this growth comes challenges and new requirements for federal agencies designed to guide governance, innovation, and risk management. Below are a few of the items attendees were talking about throughout the day.

Agencies Were Required to Identify a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) by July 2024.

This new role is producing rapid change and innovation across government; however, standing up these new offices is challenging — especially for smaller agencies. Conference speakers shared that some CAIOs are struggling to implement new OMB guidance for AI.

Agencies Must Convene AI Governance Bodies.

These new governance bodies may be filled with conflict due to the nature of AI and data. AI is built on large amounts of data, and within agencies, there are disagreements about who “owns” data and who can “use” data. Potential solutions for these issues – along with the topic of data governance — led to interesting conversations during the event.

Training will be Critical.

Before designing and rolling out new training for the workforce, you first must identify “who” needs training, and “why” they need it. For example, an agency executive has different needs for training and education than a frontline worker; the leader needs a more macro understanding while the frontline worker needs to understand how to use it effectively. Interestingly, my colleague Nick Srebrow recently shared how to smoothly introduce new technology to an organization in this thought leadership post.

If you would like to hear more about the hot topics from FedTalks and how they may affect your organization, you can reach out anytime to schedule a conversation.