The Government Technology Insider Podcast

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has been brought squarely to the forefront of care in both the public and private sector. After nearly a year of experience with telehealth and high adoption rates, agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are looking to make telehealth services permanent and expand the use of telehealth to support mental health services, including both group and individual therapy.In order for telehealth services to truly meet constituent needs, there is still much to do in terms of expanding rural bandwidth capabilities, COVID reimbursement allowances for telehealth needing to be made permanent, as well as ensuring that all HIPAA challenges are being met.These were some of the key themes from the first podcast in the “Public Health Trends in 2021 & Beyond: What a Difference a Pandemic Makes” series, which featured insights from Lea Sims, Sr. Manager, Healthcare, Insurance, and Lifesciences at Verizon; and Dr. Jerry Hauer, Senior Advisor at Teneo. Both executives discussed how innovation will be critical for overcoming these challenges – ultimately driving telehealth adoption even further this year.

On the journey to modernization, federal agencies have looked for ways to integrate innovative technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to improve experiences and service delivery. However, federal leaders have been cautious about implementing generative AI solutions, because while this technology holds great promise, it also comes with its own set of challenges to navigate. Government Technology Insider talked with Maximus’s Kathleen Featheringham, Vice President of AI for Federal Technology Consulting Services, and Clayton Davis, Senior Director for AI for Federal, to discuss best practices for integrating generative AI to improve customer experiences.

Chris Perry, Director of Transformation, NGEN SMIT at Leidos, and Reece Morgan, Navy OCONUS Program Director at Verizon, break down the essential details on the NGEN SMIT contract and how it can help the Navy modernize.

Agencies face many challenges when it comes to data sharing. For example, there is no solid validation process when it comes to searching and sharing information. With data sharing challenges, it’s difficult for agencies to assure what data was used when building the solution. This is especially important when using external Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. When agencies implement these external AI solutions, knowing what data was used helps to reassure that no bad actors or data disrupted the model.Concepts, such as federated AI, offer a possible solution for validating data. Federated AI helps agencies to share data through algorithms by maintaining a central location for each of the agencies’ data. Most importantly, the raw data never leaves the agency’s security perimeter, which allows agencies to know that the data they are working with are still valid.These were the key themes in the third part of our The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence in Government podcast series, hosted on Government Technology Insider, where Kal Voruganti, Senior Fellow and Vice President at Equinix; and Scott Andersen, Distinguished Solution Architect at Verizon, discussed this topic further.

With the volume of data being generated increasing on a daily basis, it’s becoming difficult for agencies to move and process their data in a timely manner. To this end, agencies are looking to identify solutions that can help solve these challenges. One idea that is catching the attention of federal chief data officers is data gravity, the idea that applications can move data right to their solution and this concept is driving the adoption of edge computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.This was a key theme in the second part of our The Evolution of Artificial Intelligence in Government podcast series, hosted on Government Technology Insider, where Kal Voruganti, Senior Fellow and Vice President at Equinix; and Scott Andersen, Distinguished Solution Architect at Verizon, discussed this topic further.

From phishing emails targeting employees to hackers looking to gain sensitive data, there’s a wide-range of areas that need to be protected, as we examine the impact the pandemic has had one-year later on federal remote workers. And these security threats continue as we head into a post-pandemic environment.Although the security environment has already drastically changed for remote workers, how can federal agencies stay secure when employees continue to work remotely and access sensitive data? And what trends are coming to the forefront?These were the key themes for the fourth part of the Government Technology Insider Federal Remote Worker Podcast Series -One Year Later. Allan Russell, Senior Security Manager for Public Sector at Verizon and Brian Golden, Public Sector Cybersecurity Solutions Executive at Verizon, discussed this topic further.

Last March when the COVID-19 pandemic first swept the U.S., the federal government had to rapidly adapt to remote working conditions, which involved enhancing unified communications throughout the federal government and the public sector in general.In looking back over the past 12 months, we saw a rise in the use of virtual reality and next-generation collaboration tools, especially at the Department of Defense (DoD). Cloud-based solutions also took hold across the government for enhancing collaboration in a secure way. These immense changes are likely to stay in place well into the future.These were the key themes for the third podcast in the Government Technology Insider Federal Remote Worker Podcast Series - One Year Later where Tim Stone, Principal Consultant for Unified Communications and Mobility at Verizon, shared his insights into how unified communications will continue to evolve for ongoing remote mission delivery, new security trends and how the American Rescue Plan will play into this space.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, mobile connection became a necessity for federal agencies. In the past year, many workers in the federal government were thrust into remote work virtually overnight. In looking back a year later, there have been many changes with respect to mobility that have taken place to make this possible for federal agencies and employees.From agency-provided devices to bring your own device, there’s much more to the mobility story including how federal agencies are using mobile connections to spread the word about critical citizen information like vaccine distribution and stimulus payments.These were the key themes for the second installment in the Government Technology Insider “Federal Remote Worker Podcast Series - One Year Later” where Bryan Schromsky, Managing Partner 5G, Public Sector Verizon, discussed this topic further.

It’s clear the pandemic changed how government contact centers work. For one, remote work has now become the new norm for many in the federal government, including those that work in contact centers. Additionally, government contact centers agents have had to deal with an influx of requests – from vaccine information to stimulus checks, and much more.To meet these customer experience expectations, government contact centers have implemented new tactics and technologies to stay on top of citizen needs, while remaining safe remotely. What are these technologies and how will they impact the future? What trends can we expect to see in the next year and how does security play into it?These were the key themes for the first podcast in the Government Technology Insider Federal Remote Worker Podcast Series - One Year Later on Contact Centers and CX with Michelle Morris, Managing Client Partner for Public Sector Customer Experience at Verizon.

Being able to rapidly respond to a crisis is paramount for any public safety effort. For first responders in tribal nations, communications devices are a particularly critical component to success. However, there are several challenges that tribal communities face when it comes to public safety.With vast nations and lands to patrol, first responders serving tribal communities need to ensure that they are fully connected when responding to emergencies. In addition, satellite-based technologies can fill the gap that cell towers leave in a crisis in these remote areas.These were the key themes in the third part of our “Critical Communications in Tribal Communities” podcast public safety, hosted on Government Technology Insider, where we were joined by Lynda Zambrano, Executive Director, National Tribal Emergency Management Council, and George Barela, Public Safety Manager, Verizon, to discuss this topic further.