The Obama Administration receives thousands of emails, phone calls and letters every day. And, since August, American citizens have been able to contact the president through Facebook as well, thanks the the White House's Messenger bot. Now, the administration is going a step forward and releasing the bot's source code onto the internet for anyone to use. This is done "with the hope that other governments and developers can build similar services...with significantly less upfront investment," according to the White House Blog. Anyone who's familiar with the Drupal 8 coding language will be able to take the administration's boilerplate code and easily launch a bot of their own.

Ben Dickson is a software engineer and the founder of TechTalks. Insider threats are the biggest cybersecurity threats to firms, organizations and government agencies. This is something you hear a lot at security conference keynotes and read about in data breach reports, white papers and surveys -- and these insider threats are becoming increasingly more difficult to detect and prevent, as well as more frequent. This seemingly unstoppable growth accentuates the problem and shortcomings of current solutions, and warrants the need for new defensive technologies to detect and stop the digital daggers aimed at our backs. Data science -- the application of mathematics, big data analytics and machine learning to extract knowledge and detect patterns -- is an emergent, advanced technology area that is proving its effectiveness in the realm of cybersecurity, including fighting insider threats.

US Government report lays out guidance for AI use and regulation and puts regulating super AI's in the too hard bucket Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and development is starting to reach critical mass and new breakthroughs are being announced almost every day. Now a new report from the US Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP), who advises Barak Obama directly on AI matters has prepared a new report on the technology which they see is increasingly poised to reshape the way we live and work. Titled Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence the report makes 23 policy recommendations on a number of topics concerned with the best way to harness the power of machine learning and algorithm driven intelligence for the benefit of society. The OSTP position is that government has several roles to play in driving the direction of AI. Namely, "It should convene conversations about important issues and help to set the agenda for public debate. It should monitor the safety and fairness of applications as they develop, and adapt regulatory frameworks to encourage innovation while protecting the public. It should support basic research and the application of AI to public goods, as well as the development of a skilled, diverse workforce. And government should use AI itself, to serve the public faster, more effectively, and at lower cost."

The Royal Navy is testing just how much robot craft can do by themselves in military exercises off the British coast. Operation Unmanned Warrior 16 is a chance for allied nations and the defense industry to show off their latest maritime autonomous systems, as part of a broader military exercise called Joint Warrior. "Fire and forget" torpedoes capable of homing in on the noise emitted by a target -- then sinking it -- have been around since World War II, but the systems involved in this exercise are less offensive. More than 50 craft are taking part this week, including uncrewed helicopters and underwater vehicles, and an autonomous rigid inflatable boat (RIB). They will perform tasks such as surveillance, intelligence-gathering and mine countermeasures.

President Obama geeks out & calls for citizen science to push the frontiers of the future of humanity.

As technologist Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab and a board member at the The New York Times and at Sony, recently predicted, "This is the year artificial intelligence becomes more than just a computer science problem." This week, the White House issued a formal position paper with 23 recommendations on artificial intelligence. Let me cut to the chase: they don't think superhuman A.I. is imminent. While you're relaxing in the good news, take in the pleasant surprise that the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which advises the President in policy and budget development, coordinated efforts to deliver this cohesive position paper. The outcome is a chunky, committee-clarified read, but for all that, it cuts to the chase on big issues in nontechnical language.

Three key guiding philosophies were presented across the reports: AI needs to augment humanity instead of replacing it, AI needs to be ethical, and there must be an equal opportunity for everyone to develop these systems. Human-machine collaboration in its many forms is major theme in the reports, titled "Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence" and "National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan." "The walls between humans and AI systems are slowly beginning to erode, with AI systems augmenting and enhancing human capabilities," the Strategic Plan report says. The White House imagines virtual personal assistants housed in smart glasses, automated factories that assist humans in complex building tasks, and systems that provide better data for farmers, all in the context that these could be job creators and not job stealers.

Google employee Suzanna Bobadilla wants to encourage more Latinos to pursue career paths in the tech industry. SAN FRANCISCO -- Google is giving 1 million to Silicon Valley organizations that serve Latino students and their families as it pushes to increase the diversity of its workforce. The Internet giant's philanthropic arm Google.org is making a 750,000 grant to Silicon Valley Education Foundation to support its work narrowing the achievement gap and 250,000 to the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley to increase high school and graduation rates for Latino students. Both organizations are working to build career pathways for Latinos into tech companies like Google. Ron Gonzales, president and CEO of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, says programs like his are "low-cost, local solutions to this (tech) industry crisis of not having enough diversity in the work force."

The German government is warning the nation's Tesla owners about the dangers of putting too much trust in their cars' Autopilot system. Reuters reports that the German Transport Ministry has taken the step of sending a letter to all of them as a reminder that they are ultimately responsible for the operation of their vehicles, and that Autopilot is merely an assist system. The feature, which can autonomously maintain the car's speed, brake for obstacles, steer within a lane and even change lanes on command, became a point of controversy after a driver in Florida suffered a fatal crash while using it. An internal report from the German Transport Ministry called it a "considerable traffic hazard," according to Der Spiegel. Since launching it last year, Tesla has modified the way Autopilot operates, in part to prevent its misuse, by restricting how long and at what speeds drivers are able to remove their hands from the wheel.

TYSONS CORNER, VA, Oct. 13, 2016 -- In-Q-Tel has partnered with Brainspace in an investment agreement that seeks to advance the latter's machine learning and data analytics tools to support digital investigations, ExecutiveBiz reported Wednesday. Brainspace said Tuesday the partnership also serves to build on its efforts to meet the operational requirements of the Intelligence Community. About Executive Mosaic: Founded in 2002, Executive Mosaic is a leadership organization and media company. It provides its members an opportunity to learn from peer business executives and government thought leaders while providing an interactive forum to develop key business and partnering relationships. Executive Mosaic offers highly coveted executive events, breaking business news on the Government Contracting industry, and delivers robust and reliable content through seven influential websites and four consequential E-newswires.