We have curated a collection of intelligent automation “research resources” to provide students and practitioners with background information on this important topic.
Intelligent Automation 101
Accenture has created one-minute, introductory videos which broadly explain Intelligent Automation, Machine Learning and Responsible AI concepts. The videos provide a high-level explanation of these new and emerging technologies, and give examples of their power to transform daily work functions.
ACT-IAC White Paper: Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Primer
The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) white paper, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Primer: Enabling AI/ML Innovation in the US Federal Government, provides an excellent, foundational introduction to AI/ML technologies and use-cases, including their successful application in the federal government to boost mission effectiveness, assist government employees, and provide accelerated and robust data analytic capabilities.
Federal Government Intelligent Automation Resources & Authorities
The National AI Initiative Act of 2020 provides for a coordinated program across the
entire Federal government to accelerate AI research and application for the Nation’s
economic prosperity and national security. The mission of the National AI Initiative is to ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI research and development, lead the world in the development and use of trustworthy AI in the public and private sectors, and prepare the present and future U.S. workforce for the integration of AI systems across all sectors of the economy and society.
Executive Order 13859: “Maintaining American Leadership in AI” outlines high-level U.S. Government AI objectives and initiatives
In June 2021, the Biden Administration announced the launch of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force which will help develop a roadmap to democratize access to research tools that will promote AI innovation and fuel economic prosperity.
OMB Memorandum 18-23: “Shifting from Low-Value work to High-Value Work” encourages Federal agencies to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent automation technologies to (1) reduce the administrative burden on the Federal workforce, (2) increase compliance, (3) save taxpayer dollars, (4) eliminate duplication of effort, (5) boost reporting capabilities, and (6) shift employees’ focus to high-value analysis and decision-making in support of crucial mission outcomes.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a specific software (also known as a “digital assistant” or a “bot”) designed to follow the steps that a human would take to accomplish rote business processes and tasks. The Federal RPA Community of Practice (a group of leaders across the federal government pioneering RPA within their agencies) developed the RPA Program Playbook to share best practices, lessons learned, and key insights into how federal agencies can pilot, develop and scale RPA programs. The Playbook also addresses critical aspects of building an RPA program, including: security, infrastructure, software licensing, governance, user-adoption and operational maintenance.
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence that helps the DoD harness the power of AI. The mission of the JAIC is to transform the DoD by accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI to achieve mission impact at scale. The JAIC website provides a collection of key reference documents describing the DoD’s AI posture and the JAIC’s central role in accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI in the DoD.
Tradewind is a collaborative, streamlined AI acquisition platform that engages the world’s top innovators and helps equip the Department of Defense with the most advanced technologies in the world. Tradewind AI provides information on how to partner with the JAIC on projects and initiatives including a commercial solutions offering (CSO) to pursue an AI-enabled DoD contract writing system.
Innovation Alley: Department of Homeland Security, Procurement Innovation Lab: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL), is leading an effort on behalf of the entire federal acquisition community to determine whether artificial intelligence (AI) could assist contracting officers by rapidly identifying applicable records in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) for source selection or evaluation purposes. Watch the demo.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer Commercial Solutions Opening Pilot Program Guide provides DHS with acquisition flexibilities to competitively procure innovative commercial items. Under the pilot, commercial item acquisitions for innovative commercial items may be solicited, offered, evaluated, and awarded in a simplified manner that maximizes efficiency and economy and minimizes burden and administrative costs for both the Government and industry. Each proposal is evaluated on its individual merits rather than on a comparative basis, and the Government has considerable latitude in determining which of the submitted proposals it will fund.
The Government Accountability Office has developed an AI accountability framework which is discussed in its report, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Artificial Intelligence: An Accountability Framework for Federal Agencies and Other Entities. The framework is designed to help Federal managers ensure accountable and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government programs and processes. The report addresses governance, data, performance, and monitoring.
IBM Center for The Business of Government AI Research
Co-authored by Webinar #3 speaker, Daniel Chenok, this IBM Center for the Business of Government report, Deploying AI in Defense Organizations: The Value, Trends, and Opportunities, captures snapshots of Artificial Intelligence adoption across key functional areas in various defense organizations around the world. Defense experts highlight how AI drives value and boosts mission readiness through advanced analysis and accelerated decision-making, while discussing the challenges and capability gaps to fully implement and optimize AI-enabled technology solutions.
In this IBM report, Delivering Artificial Intelligence in Government: Challenges and Opportunities, the author reviews progress made in applying artificial intelligence to public sector service provision, drawing on lessons learned from commercial experience as well as cognitive computing activity by Federal, State, & international governments. Building on the maturity model proposed in this report, author Kevin C. Desouza has recently published a new report, Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: A Maturity Model, which provides Federal agencies with a starting point for developing an AI capability, emphasizes how AI programs can accelerate the transformation of government programs to better serve the public, and provides them with a framework for establishing a successful AI program.
Partnership for Public Service: A Roadmap to the Future: Toward a More Connected Federal Government
In this report, A Roadmap to the Future: Toward a More Connected Federal Government, the Partnership for Public Service addresses how federal agencies can foster collaboration across traditional silos and leverage new and emerging technologies to not only meet, but exceed expectations of the American public. The report also offers recommendations for improved cross-agency/external stakeholder collaboration, and discusses how AI/ML technologies will improve government decision-making and improve the federal workforce’s ability to execute critical functions.
Why is AI so difficult to scale?
This interview with Webinar #2 speaker, Tifani O’Brien, discusses the process of moving from developing and piloting an AI/ML-driven model into scaling a full production enterprise AI/ML capability. The interview also discusses AI model training, managing data artifacts, optimizing compute energy, and containerization.
Executive Order 13859 (“Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence”) and the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (Division E) serve as the foundation for the U.S. federal government approach to artificial intelligence; focusing on the promotion of AI technology and innovation in the federal workforce and U.S. economy. They discuss AI security, ethics, and collaboration with relevant stakeholders in industry, academia, international organizations and governments. They also address barriers to the use of AI technologies and the need to foster their development and implementation, while also maintaining privacy, safety and civil liberties.
Microsoft Report: Using AI to Reduce Third-Party Corruption Risks
Microsoft has released a report, AI For Corporate Integrity: Identifying Partner Corruption Risk with Data Science, which provides information about Microsoft’s High-Risk Partners (HRP) program. The HRP program protects Microsoft by identifying risky partners requiring additional compliance oversight through an early warning and monitoring system. The platform provides human reviewers with actionable insights about partner corruption risk and creates a critical business impact when making partner vetting decisions.