The Buzz with ACT-IAC

Latest Episodes:

The Future of Federal Buildings with Elliot Doomes Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

Since the mass adoption of remote work began in 2020, there has been an ongoing question around what the shift in commuting habits means for American downtowns. What should office space look like? Where should people be living and working, and how do they get between those two places? All of these have implications for local policymakers, developers, and property owners.
And the Federal Government is, in a way, all three of these. The Public Buildings Service (PBS), a division of the GSA, is responsible for maintaining all of the 352 million square feet of federally-owned property across America. The PBS also seeks to invest and develop urban communities, trial and prove sustainable buildings solutions, and be a willing and enthusiastic partner with state and local government in achieving their goals. Now, as the entire federal government reassesses how its employees will work, the PBS is also doing its best to steward federal properties towards their best and highest use.
This week, we're joined by PBS Commissioner Elliot Doomes to discuss the many facets of the agency's current initiatives.

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Intro/Outro Music: See a Brighter Day/Gloria Tells
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound
(Episodes 1-159: Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young Community
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound)

ICYMI: AI Acquisitions at the Department of State with Michael Derrios Feb 13, 2024

Show notes

This week, The Buzz presents a session from our 2024 Acquisition Forum, which specifically focused this year on AI in government.
Our forum ended with a fireside chat between Susie Rainey, Diplomacy and Exploration Lead at Accenture Federal, and Michael Derrios, Senior Procurement Executive at the US Department of State. Together, they discuss the implications of artificial intelligence-driven systems in the procurement process.
Submit a nomination for the 2024 Innovation Awards here!

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Modernization and Reform at the FAA with Robert Puentes Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

In just a few short years, the aviation sector has experienced the whipsaw of a pandemic-era travel freeze followed by a post-pandemic travel explosion.
Like many other industries, our already complex air travel system has experienced some recent pain points related to labor shortages, technological failures, and governance challenges. Some are new, but others are long-standing concerns that have resurfaced due to the pressures of a rapidly changing world.
This week, we're joined by Robert Puentes, president and CEO at the Eno Center for Transportation, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on improving all facets of American transportation. He'll give us a primer on the interaction of private, federal, state and local actors that make up the aviation sector and how they can build a more resilient air travel system.

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The Green Transition Dilemma with James Salzman and J.B. Ruhl Jan 31, 2024

Show notes

As we've explored on this show before, the past few years have seen an unprecedented level of public and private investment in green energy, green infrastructure, and electrification. Between the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, over $1 Trillion has flowed into the green economy. This reflects the urgency of the crisis and the need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to attempt to avoid worst-case global warming scenarios.
Unfortunately, when it comes to physically building all these projects - from wind turbines, to lithium mines, to transmission lines - we are seeing massive, decades-long delays in the permitting and planning process, often as a result of environmental law meant to, ironically, protect us from pollution and ecological harm. In the fight against resilient infrastructure, every second counts, and we cannot afford these delays.
Our guests this week are James Salzman and J.B. Ruhl, environmental law professors at UCLA and Vanderbilt, respectively. They are the authors of The Greens' Dilemma, a framework for understanding how our regulatory regime is inhibiting our capacity to confront resilient infrastructure, what the stakes are, and what to do about it.
Read The Greens' Dilemma: Building Tomorrow's Infrastructure Today

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ICYMI: Pursuing Greatness with Art Jackson Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

This week, The Buzz presents something a little different than usual.
ELC 2023, ACT-IAC's flagship conference in Hershey, PA, opened with a rousing, inspirational keynote from Art Jackson about personal leadership.
Art Jackson is a professional speaker and coach, West Point graduate, and former IT executive. Learn more about him at https://artjackson.com/.
Learn more about the ACT-IAC Associates Program here!
Submit a nomination for the 2024 Innovation Awards here!

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ICYMI: CX Progress at the IRS with Danny Werfel Jan 17, 2024

Show notes

This week, The Buzz presents a session from our December 2023 CX Summit. CX is a key component of the Biden-Harris President's Management Agenda.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act appropriated an additional $79.4 billion to the IRS to assist in modernization and improved service delivery. In this keynote, Commissioner Danny Werfel details the challenges and priorities of the agency as they strive to build a simpler, fairer, tax system for Americans.
Learn more about the ACT-IAC Associates Program here!
Submit a nomination for the 2024 Innovation Awards here!

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All About Tech Hubs with Alejandra Castillo Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

In August 2022, Congress passed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors – or Chips and Science Act. Congratulations to whoever came up with that acronym. The law authorized more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in funding for domestic technology manufacturing and development. It has been recognized as a key piece of the reignition of US industrial policy – which has lain dormant for much of the 21st century.

As you can imagine, direct funding of research across the US is a key component of this legislation – so the bill set aside funding for the designation of Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs. The Economic Development Administration is spearheading this program, and now that things are up and running, we can start to dive deeper into the Tech Hubs Program, what it seeks to accomplish, and why it matters.
To do this, we're joined by Alejandra Castillo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.
Resources:
Tech Hubs Overview
List of Awardees
Learn more about the ACT-IAC Associates Program here!
Submit a nomination for the 2024 Innovation Awards here!

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Farewell 2023 with Dave Wennergren Dec 20, 2023

Show notes

This week will be the last episode of The Buzz for 2023, and we're taking the time to reflect back on a busy year at ACT-IAC with Dave Wennergren, our CEO.
We review the major topics of interest for the federal government, how to deal with a rapidly-changing world, what ACT-IAC has been up to, and what to look forward to next year.
Thank you, listeners, for making The Buzz a part of your week in 2023. Have a fantastic holiday season, and we'll see you in 2024.

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FTX Fallout and the Future of Crypto with Hilary Allen Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

The last time we discussed cryptocurrency on this podcast in April 2022, both the economy and the technology sector were in very different places. Right around that time, inflation really began to accelerate, peaking at 9.1% year-over-year in June. The Federal Reserve pumped the brakes and hiked interest rates 5% in a 4-month period. The entire cryptocurrency market essentially collapsed by the end of 2022 - including several high-profile failures like the FTX exchange.
In November, the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT initiated the most visible phase of the generative AI arms race, and crypto faded into the background of public consciousness as a new tech hype cycle took over.
But crypto has not disappeared, and the Federal Government has yet to conclusively settle the most important questions concerning cryptocurrency regulation.
To discuss what went wrong, why this all matters, and what we should do next, The Buzz is joined once again by Hilary Allen, Professor of Law at American University.
You can listen to our first conversation with Hilary here.

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ICYMI: 2023's Leaders in Acquisitions Excellence Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

This year, ACT-IAC's Imagine Nation ELC was our largest conference ever, with more than 1200 in-person attendees! We also had more sessions than ever, and The Buzz is excited to bring a selection of recordings from this year's event to our podcast audience.
This session features the presentation of the Federal Acquisition Institute's 2023 Chief Acquisition Officers Council Awards. After a brief introduction, moderator Christine Harada, Senior Advisor in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, sits down with all our award-winners for a robust panel discussion around the important work they've done in 2023.
Awardees:

Individual Award - James Greer, AWARE Program Manager, IRS
Team Award - Bonnie Evangelista and the Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace Team, Department of Defense
Small Business and Procurement Individual Award - Darlene Bullock, Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Utilization, DHS
Small Business and Procurement Team Award - Anthony Lomelin and Team
Indian Affairs Acquisition Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Lisa Wilusz Program Management Excellence Award - Mouncef Belcaid & Peggy O' Connor and Team, Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network Program Management Division, FirstNet Authority, Department of Commerce
Sustainable Acquisition Award - Gabriel Rangel, General Services Officer, U.S. Embassy of Tanzania

Congratulations again to all awardees!

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