Friend of GovNavigators (FOGN) Kyle Murphy, Founder of Alpha Advisors, joins the show to talk about the perils and promise of AI tools in 2024. Robert and Adam also cover some hot topics from the break at the top of the episode and preview the week ahead.

Well, we knew this day was bound to come. The GovNavigators have run out of podcast guests....I mean friends. No - just kidding. Instead, listen this week to hear a recap of the year in government management (and much more) from Robert and Adam.

This week on the GovNavigators Show, Larry Allen of Allen Federal Business Partners, one of the most knowledgable government acquisition experts in the business joins to share his view of federal contracting right now and gives some end of calendar year advice to both contractors and agencies. He also outs himself as a lover of the pre-shot clock era four corners offense in basketball!

The GovNavigators chat it up this week with the woman in charge of "sparking new life" into the workforce of the Internal Revenue Service. Chief Human Capital Officer Traci DiMartini shares some of the reasons she decided to leave GSA to head up HR at the IRS, why a sense of humor is the best tool in her HR toolbox, and what big plans are in store for one of the best funded agencies in the government.

This week, Dan Pomeroy, Deputy Associate Administrator at the Office of Technology Policy at GSA joins the show to talk about the Biden Administration's work to create a more open and accountable government through the fifth National Open Government Action Plan.

Fed Gov Today Host and (Best?) Friend of GovNavigators Francis Rose joins the show to discuss the latest happenings in government management, his new gig, and proper holiday salutations. Francis remembers his FedHeads hosting days, his beginnings working in government media, and the lost of our friend Charlie Clark.

Show Links

Saying Goodbye to a Giant in Government Journalism

The GovNavigators ship has come in! This week, Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and William Timmons (R-SC), leaders of the House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress, join to share details about their groundbreaking, successful work trying to fix Congress. Their innovative approach to the Select committee helped to develop over 200 recommendations to modernize the way Congress operates - many of which have already been implemented. And they are actually pretty funny too.

This episode of the GovNavigators Show is not to be missed.

After returning from Hershey, PA from the ACT-IAC Imagination #ELC23 conference, Robert and Adam sit down with some of the power players who made it possible. USDA CIO Gary Washington, Safal Partners Malcom Harden, and ACT-IAC CEO Dave Wennergren join the GovNavigators Show to recap one of the biggest government technology conferences of the year.

Show Links

ACT-IAC Events Calendar

President Biden's Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

The GovNavigators chat with Ryan Higgins, Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy CIO, and Trey Kennedy, Senior Strategic Advisor to the CISO at the Department of Commerce about the challenges of securing data and networks at one of the largest and most diverse federal agencies .

Ryan and Trey talk about nontraditional paths to working in cybersecurity, the soft skills necessary to be successful coordinating across organizations with drastically different missions, and the opportunities they have to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity every month (not just during cybersecurity awareness month).

This week, Robert and Adam dive into the inspiring honorees of the Service to America Medals, put on by the Partnership for Public Service, which celebrate extraordinary achievements of public servants (and also dish on the GovNavigators sponsored after party and the emergence of the GovNavigators flu!).

Our guests this week (LaJuanna Russell, CEO of Business Management Associates, and Nichole Atallah and Meghan Leemon with PilieroMazza) share the latest details of changes to SBA's 8(a) Small Business Development Program after some pivotal court rulings and talk about what it will mean for small business government contractors.

Robert and Adam get a visit from The GovNavigators Show overlord Jason Miller to deliver their annual performance review. They discuss the shutdown hangover (the "shutdown letdown"), the latest update to the long-running FITARA scorecard, and an upcoming reorganization at the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA.

There are a host of activities and initiative underway in the federal government right now, and what better way to mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month than by having Mitch Herckis, Branch Director for Federal Cybersecurity at the Office of Management and Budget on to detail them all for us. Mitch also has an encyclopedic memory of E.O. and M-memo numbers, which warms our hearts at GovNavigators.

Defying the odds makers, Congress is able to pass a continuing resolution through November 17, buying additional time to try to complete appropriations bills. But how we'll not just end up back where we started remains unclear.

Jason Van Sice, Vice President for Advanced Recognition Systems at NEC Corporation of America joins the show to talk about the use of biometrics in the digital transformation of travel.

Digital Transformation of Travel

The GovNavigators are joined by CX royalty as Martha Dorris from Dorris Consulting International and Charlotte Lee from Granicus join to talk about the evolution of customer experience initiatives in government and their efforts to create the Customer Experience Leadership Institute at the University of Virginia.

Former Federal executive and DHS CIO Richard Spires joins the GovNavigators Show to talk about his latest book, Government Can Deliver: A Practitioner's Guide to Improving Agency Effectiveness and Efficiency. Richard shares advice and stories from his decades in transforming major private sector and government technology operations and the impetus that lead him to write his second book since leaving government service.

Hosts Robert and Adam also cover the latest on budget negotiations, developments in regulating AI, and an upcoming week overflowing with events. Oh - and they also discuss the launch of their new one-stop shop for government news: The Sludge Daily.

Show Notes

White House Secures New AI Pledges

Launch of The Sludge Daily

Upcoming Event Links

Route Fifty’s Future Cities Program

ACT-IAC's The Future Evolution of the Workforce

AGA’s Internal Controls & Fraud Event

GovExec's 2023 Leading Brands Breakfast

Robert and Adam are back after the Labor Day holiday and review the big items on the fall agenda in Washington. And Indiana's Chief Data Officer (and Executive Director of the Indiana Management Performance Hub) Josh Martin joins the GovNavigators Show to talk about Indiana's approach to data and how to get things done in government.

Show Notes

From shutdown prospects to anti-telework bills: 5 things to watch when Congress returns

As summer draws to a close, the GovNavigators pause to celebrate organized labor - the people who brought you the weekend! And in honor of the long weekend, we bring back the most popular episode of the GovNavigators Show to date - Recoding America with Jen Pahlka.

So grab a cold beverage of your choice, sit back, relax, and enjoy the Labor Day holiday!

Show Notes

Dowager Countess of Grantham

Kings Dominion Law

History of Labor Day

Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better

Friend of the show Charles Cooper, Managing Partner and Founder of Brumidi Group is back by popular demand! Charles joins Robert and Adam to discuss the overflowing fall agenda for Congress as the August recess draws to a close. From appropriations and the potential for a government shutdown to the farm bill, NDAA, tax extenders, Chinese tariffs, and the Senate appointment process, they cover a lot of ground.

Robert and Adam also lean on the GovNavigators intern (and give a h/t to Wayne's World) to flashback to Charles's previous appearance to determine if his prediction turned out to be true.

Show Notes:

Eric Katz GovExec article: Slashing the federal workforce and eliminating agencies: Takeaways from the first Republican presidential debate

Trust in government in the United States has dropped drastically since the 1960s, hovering as low as 20% in some recent surveys. Srikant Sastry, leader of Cherry Bekaert's Advisory Services and Ed DeSeve, Coordinator of the Agile Government Center at NAPA (and Senior Advisor at GovNavigators) join the show to talk about their recent op-ed in GovExec titled, "Trust in the federal government is in a tailspin. Here's how agencies can rebuild it."

Show Links:

Commission on PPBE Reform Interim Report

Circular A-11

Agile Government Center Framework

Treasury Seeks Greater Data Sharing in Interagency Plan to Curb Improper Payments

Robert and Adam stay light on their feet this week and wiggle out of a jam by rebroadcasting a previously recorded episode of the GovNavigators Podcast...I mean the GovNavigators Show.

Don't miss one of the original episodes when friends joined the show from far and wide. And shout out to late 1990's NBC execs for their "It's New to You" summer promo campaign.