government data

Neon incident response workflow ending in lessons learned, a model for turning government IT project failure into learning

Perceiving “failure” as lessons learned: 5 truths for modernizing government tech

Government tech leaders can break the cycle of risk aversion by reframing project setbacks as essential learning opportunities that drive iterative modernization and cultural change by Intelliworx Few topics attract attention in technology circles like a failed IT project. In government circles, the fear of failure with technology projects is real. High-visibility government technology projects that fall short of promises earn negative news, commentaries, GAO reports and potentially congressional hearings. The risk of failure is fairly high, too. By the government’s own accounting, its track record leaves a lot to be desired. As a result, it’s reasonable for a civil servant to believe that being part of a high-visibility IT project that fails will adversely impact their career progression. This incentivizes the status quo and resistance to change. Silicon Valley recognized this problem – phrases like “fail fast” and “embrace failure” changed the perception of that word. Instead of viewing […]

The top skills the government needs to implement AI effectively

Data analysis, project management for AI, and infrastructure management are among the top skills agency leaders say they need to develop to move AI pilot projects to production There’s a lot that’s been said about prepping government data for AI. One of the top ways leaders are working to achieve that goal is “expanding workforce training on data management and AI.” That’s according to a survey of 200 government leaders conducted by ICF and Wakefield Research. The survey found 70% of respondents “acknowledged that they will need to upskill existing staff and/or hire new talent to implement AI effectively.” What’s more, “58% say they either have – or can develop – the skills necessary for AI implementation without hiring additional staff.” That 58% figure is a combination of two findings: 31% said their agency has the skills needed now; and 27% said, “yes, if we upskill our current team.” The […]

How government agencies are prepping data for the AI transformation

Governance frameworks, workforce training and partnering with external organizations top the list of strategies to get data AI-ready There’s one recurring theme in published commentaries about the government’s effort to implement AI: data readiness. “The major challenge facing federal agencies is data readiness,” wrote Daniel Kent, an assistant vice president for systems engineering, federal, at Everpure, in a commentary published by FedScoop. That’s just one example. We cited three others previously in this piece: Should data integration be elevated as a federal tech priority? There are probably many more. The message seems to be resonating, according to a survey of federal leaders working on AI initiatives by ICF and Wakefield Research. While the survey found 83% of respondents said government data “isn’t quite there yet,” about two-thirds (66%) are “confident that their data will be AI-ready in two years or less.” 9 ways agencies are getting data AI-ready So, […]

3 survey findings about the government’s efforts to implement AI in agencies

A report on the findings identifies the top challenges for implementing AI, the technical and non-technical barriers to scale and the benefits of pressing forward “Federal agencies are embracing AI at an accelerating pace…the key now is to scale AI efficiently and cost-effectively, transitioning from experimentation to execution, and ultimately to sustained usage.” That’s according to a survey commissioned by ICF and conducted by Wakefield Research: The AI Advantage: Moving from exploration to impact. The survey polled 200 U.S. federal program and mission leaders with the following qualifying titles: program manager, mission owner, division lead, branch/area chief, CXO, CIO, VP or equivalent.” While recent news reports indicate the official tally of government AI use cases compiled by OPM has doubled since a year ago, many of these are experiments. The ICF survey found 41% of respondents indicated they “are running small-scale pilots.” Another 16% “are actively scaling AI efforts,” and […]

Why is integration so hard for the federal government?

Siloed development and inconsistent data standards create integration barriers at scale, making fed tech interoperability as much a governance and cultural challenge as a technical one by Intelliworx One of the biggest challenges in modernizing its technology is integration. GAO reports have cited interoperability as a key challenge that has hindered several high-profile technology projects. Why is integration such a challenge? “[Government] Systems don’t talk to each other. They weren’t designed with that goal in mind, so it creates a big, big gap in what’s needed right now versus what’s available,” the EPA’s CIO Carter Farmer told FedScoop in a piece exploring the proliferation of technical debt. Many of the legacy systems the government relies on are decades old. In a sense, systems integration is a bit like trying to plug a modern smartphone into an old landline telephone jack and expecting the contacts to synchronize and the apps to […]

CIOs, CAIOs, and CDOs: survey says these federal roles need more clarity

“Despite modest improvements in overall role clarity, the expanding and overlapping nature of data and technology leadership roles create ongoing confusion.” Sometimes a job grows too large for any one leader to effectively manage. Managing technology is a prime example. Where technology was once the sole purview of the CIO, the integration of technology into daily work has made it too big a job for any one leader. There have been a number of new technology-related leadership titles cropping up in the last decade or so: chief technology officer (CTO) chief information security officer (CISO) chief privacy officer (CPO) or the senior agency official for privacy (SAOP); and chief data officer (CDO). The role of the CDO was fueled by the Evidence Act, which was signed into law in early January 2019. It required government agencies to create a CDO position, whose goal was to ensure government data was accessible […]

Federal CDO-CIO relationships are driving a data-centric culture

CDOs say close collaboration with CIOs also helps IT project prioritization, lends authority, and supports budget allocation Federal chief data officers (CDOs) faced a wave of changes in recent years, according to a survey of chief data officers, by Deloitte and the Data Foundation: “The CDO community navigated a year of unprecedented change, including a new administration, unexpected workforce reductions, and evolving AI priorities, while continuing to mature as a function across the federal government.” One of the most significant changes was to their reporting structure as nearly a quarter (24%) got a new boss last year. More than half of CDOs (52%) say they now report to the chief information officer (CIO), which is up substantially from 36% in 2024 and 33% in 2023. Stay in touch by subscribing to our email newsletter. We will never share or sell your email address. Complementary working relationships The CDO reporting […]

Federal chief data officers are “critical” to scaling government AI

CDOs are the caretakers of government data, drive internal and external collaboration, and may have sound ideas for developing AI implementation metrics The federal government’s experimentation with AI has grown substantially. OMB recently reported 3,600 different use cases, which represents 70% growth over previous years, according to FedScoop. As the use cases pile up, one technology role is emerging as instrumental for success in AI: the chief data officer or CDO. The “expanding intersection of data and artificial intelligence responsibilities” was “a common theme” in a newly published survey by Deloitte and the Data Foundation. As one of the 189 CDOs polled for the 2025 Survey of Federal Chief Data Officers, which was published in March 2026, characterizes the role as ‘more critical with the introduction of AI.’” The survey findings point to three clear reasons, which follow below. Stay in touch by subscribing to our email newsletter. We will […]