Page 25 - Federal Computer Week, January/February 2019

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Trump releases AI leadership plan
$2.9B
is the 10-year ceiling for the NASA End-user Services andTechnologies contract recently won by Leidos
President Donald Trump signed the American AI Initiative on Feb. 11, directing federal agencies to invest more money and resources in the development of artificial intelligence technologies.
The executive order appears designed to prepare the federal government for what many experts believe will be a global race for AI dominance. It calls for the U.S. to continue its leadership in AI and lists five principles that will guide future actions: The U.S. must drive technological breakthroughs in AI, develop appropriate technical standards, train current and future generations of American workers to use automated intelligence, foster public trust in AI technologies, and promote an international environment that supports American research and innovation.
It also directs federal agencies to craft internal guidance for AI development across different technologies and sectors and calls on the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop technical standards. High-performance computing resources at several agencies — NASA, the National Science Foundation and the departments of Defense, Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Energy — are to be prioritized for AI-related applications.
In his State of the Union speech on Feb. 5, Trump highlighted AI as one of four emerging technologies (along with advanced manufacturing, quantum computing and 5G) that require continued investments for the U.S. to maintain its technological edge.
Policymakers are particularly concerned that China, which has identified AI as a key pillar of its “Made in China 2025” plan, will exceed U.S. investment and erode American dominance of the technology market.
However, Trump’s executive order does not provide for any additional funding, and some experts wonder how much of an effect it will have.
The Center for Data Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said the order will help push the U.S. government and private companies to keep pace with China, but much more needs to be done.
“If the administration wants its AI initiative to be transformative, it will need to do more than reprogram existing funds for AI research, skill development and infrastructure development,” the group said in a statement.
— Derek B. Johnson
Vendors: EIS deadlines should shift because of shutdown
The partial government shutdown that extended through late January has made some of the deadlines for agency solicitations under the General Services Administration’s five-year, $50 billion Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contract unrealistic, according to vendors and analysts.
“It’s at an awkward point,” said Bob Woods, former commissioner of GSA’s Federal Technology Service and now president of Topside Consulting Group. “They don’t want to extend, but they’ll have to.”
Deadlines for agency EIS solicitations were announced as part of a three-year extension to the Networx and Washington Interagency Telecommunications System contracts. The extension was granted in December 2018 because agencies were slow in issuing solicitations. They have until March 31 to release their EIS solicitations, with the first task order due by the end of September.
problem at many agencies, and the March deadline is likely to yield uneven results.
David Young, senior vice president of strategic government markets at EIS contractor CenturyLink, told FCW that the March 31 and Sept. 30 deadlines are not achievable after the shutdown.
“The March 31 deadline was onerous to begin with,” said Jim Williams, a partner at Schambach and Williams Consulting and former commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service. “Now it’s even worse.”
Young said hundreds of fair-opportunity solicitations are in the works at agencies, but the uneven impact of the shutdown on those agencies has also had an uneven impact on their solicitations. Although he expects the solicitations to arrive, he added that he’s still waiting for the “tsunami” of solicitations predicted months ago to show up.
— Mark Rockwell
Experts say the 35-day shutdown exacerbated the
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