Dr. Lynne Parker, Deputy Chief Technology Office and Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office within the White House, …

The Pentagon's new Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) has hired nearly a dozen senior leaders to serve in its top positions -- and met its June 1 deadline to reach full operating capability, FedScoop learned Wednesday. This news comes nearly six months after the Department of Defense launched a major organizational restructure to place a number of technology-driving components under this newly established office, with the ultimate aim to better scale digital and Al-enabled capabilities across its massive enterprise. "Following a multi-step process from [initial operating capability] to FOC the CDAO has fully merged and integrated the former component organizations of Advana, Chief Data Officer, Defense Digital Service, and Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. Legacy component names will no longer be recognized or used unless attributed to a product or capability specific to the department," according to a statement from CDAO's spokesperson. Diane Staheli was also recently tapped to lead the CDAO's Responsible AI (RAI) Division.

The Pentagon has tapped artificial intelligence ethics and research expert Diane Staheli to lead the Responsible AI (RAI) Division of its new Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO), FedScoop confirmed on Tuesday. In this role, Staheli will help steer the Defense Department's development and application of policies, practices, standards and metrics for buying and building AI that is trustworthy and accountable. She enters the position nearly nine months after DOD's first AI ethics lead exited the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), and in the midst of a broad restructuring of the Pentagon's main AI-associated components under the CDAO. "[Staheli] has significant experience in military-oriented research and development environments, and is a contributing member of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence AI Assurance working group," Sarah Flaherty, CDAO's public affairs officer, told FedScoop.

The Pentagon has tapped artificial intelligence ethics and research expert Diane Staheli to lead the Responsible AI (RAI) Division of its new Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO), FedScoop confirmed on Tuesday. In this role, Staheli will help steer the Defense Department's development and application of policies, practices, standards and metrics for buying and building AI that is trustworthy and accountable. She enters the position nearly nine months after DOD's first AI ethics lead exited the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), and in the midst of a broad restructuring of the Pentagon's main AI-associated components under the CDAO. "[Staheli] has significant experience in military-oriented research and development environments, and is a contributing member of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence AI Assurance working group," Sarah Flaherty, CDAO's public affairs officer, told FedScoop. Advanced computer-driven systems use AI to perform tasks that generally require some human intelligence.

"Then what are the protection mechanisms that can surround the data?" -In this Story-.

To better retain talent in its ranks, the Marine Corps is turning to machine learning and artificial intelligence to examine recruiting data and identify key attributes of Marines who will likely stay in uniform. The military writ large has struggled to retain specialized skills, especially tech talent, so the Marine Corps has turned to tech to identify key traits in recruits to inform management choices around retention. The new tech is aimed at enabling a broader transition in Marine Corps to better focus on retention -- rather than just recruitment -- and use analytics to inform decisions aroun Marines upon their entry into service. "The intended outcome is to decrease [Marine Corps Recruit Depot] attrition and increase the success of applicants through at least their first term of enlistment," Maj. Jordan Cochran, a spokesman for the corps' Manpower and Reserve Affairs Department, said in an email.

The Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center recently launched new AI education pilots for thousands of DOD employees that range from executive education for general officers to in-depth coding bootcamps. The most recent cohort of participants started taking an "AI 101" course in early February through a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while another recently entered an AI coding bootcamp. The range of educational offerings from the AI-accelerator is designed to eventually be transitioned to other DOD institutions for tens or even hundreds of thousands of people to learn about AI, Greg Allen, the JAIC's head of policy and strategy, told FedScoop. "We are running training pilots to really test," Allen said. "We partner with the broader department of defense … to help them deliver education materiel at scale."

The National Institute of Standards and Technology brought on Mark Latonero as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Latonero will coordinate with international policymakers and standards organizations to advise on the risks and impacts of AI. The White House launched both the National AI Research Resource Task Force and National AI Advisory Committee in 2021 to strengthen the U.S.'s competitive position globally, but less attention has been paid to the problems with the technology. "Engaging with social technical experts along with diverse stakeholders will be central to this work," Latonero wrote, in a LinkedIn post. Latonero is also a research professor at Georgetown University and previously worked as a senior consultant to the U.N. Executive Office of the Secretary General, developing policy guidance on human rights due diligence for digital technology use.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology brought on Mark Latonero as senior policy advisor for artificial intelligence, a spokesperson …

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will issue a solicitation in mid-January 2022 for a new Scalable Ways to Initiate Flexible Tasks (SWIFT) contract that is intended to cover development and operational and maintenance support for existing and prospective apps within a new Center of Excellence. The DHS sub-agency plans to support agile development of Platform-as-a-Service, hyperautomation, visualization and collaborative services applications through the procurement. According to ICE, outsourcing the work to contractors with strong DevSecOps processes will allow it to scale the new procurement model agency-wide and evaluate emerging technologies, software and hosting options. "Automation, continuous integration and continuous development are viewed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer as paramount to being able to successfully deliver value to our customers," reads the draft performance work statement (PWS). The Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) domain covers the ServiceNow and Dynamics systems, as well as emerging technologies, with the goal of developing workflow automation improving user experience through self-service and mobility.