The Buzz with ACT-IAC

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The Tricky Business of the Pandemic Economy with Combiz Abdolrahimi Jan 19, 2022

Show notes

One of the many, many consequences of our current global pandemic has been the severe disruption of supply chains. Our nation's economy has lurched and stumbled along these past two years, plagued by variable labor markets, demand shifts and shipping bottlenecks.
Unfortunately, the next global emergency may not be far off, so government leaders and industry groups are looking for ways to build a more resilient, flexible economy.
For more about these trade issues and how we might address them, The Buzz is joined by Combiz Abdolrahimi, global emerging technology leader with Deloitte, and chair of the FinTech Subcommittee at the Trade Finance Advisory Council within the Department of Commerce.
This is the second half of The Buzz's interview with Combiz. The first half, on cryptocurrency regulation, can be found here.
Combiz's LinkedIn
NYT's Postcards from a World on Fire

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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)

Exploring Pittsburgh's Transportation Options with Kim Lucas Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

It's no secret that the US transportation system is built around the car. Compared to other developed countries, our cities are less walkable, less bikeable, and have less robust public transit networks. Roughly 87% of miles traveled in the US are by car, and this has enormous consequences for the health and welfare of individuals and communities . Traffic, accidents, air pollution, space dedicated to parking, costs of vehicle ownership - all of these negative externalities that impact our quality of life.
To help combat this, many US cities are finding ways to encourage and facilitate alternative mobility options - Pittsburgh is one such city.
This week, The Buzz is joined by Kim Lucas, Acting Director of the Department of Mobility & Infrastructure for the city of Pittsburgh. She's helping to spearhead a new program, Move PGH, designed to make it easy for Pittsburghers to ditch their cars and get connected to all different types of transportation services.
More about Move PGH: https://move-pgh.com/
Pittsburgh's Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is hiring!

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Demystifying Procurement: A Brief History of Government Contracting with Jim Nagle Jan 04, 2022

Show notes

For those outside of the acquisitions community, the practices, policies and processes of federal procurement can seem quite impenetrable. But given that the US Government spent more than $665 billion on contracts in 2020, it is not a subject to be ignored.
To that end, The Buzz with ACT-IAC presents: Demystifying Procurement - a series designed to take you through the ins and outs of this complex, but vital, topic.
This week, host Colin Larsen interviews lawyer, author and lecturer Jim Nagle. In addition to his over 40 years of experience in procurement law, Jim has also published six books on the subject - including History of Government Contracting.

In this episode, Jim gives some important historical background on how the federal acquisitions system developed, how it changed, and why.

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Looking Ahead to 2022 with Dave Wennergren Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

This week on The Buzz, the final episode of 2021! This year has brought plenty of change, challenge and adaptation to the government IT community, and the next year looks to bring even more.
To help us look forward to 2022, The Buzz is joined by ACT-IAC's very own CEO, Dave Wennergren. On this episode, Dave gives his perspective on the Biden-Harris Management Agenda, the importance of government-industry collaboration, and how organizations can promote faster and smoother IT modernization.
Links:
President's Management Agenda
ACT-IAC Zero-Trust Project
ACT-IAC Communities of Interest
From all of us at ACT-IAC, thank you for listening to The Buzz! New episodes will return in 2022.

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Decrypting Cryptocurrency with Combiz Abdolrahimi Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

Although Bitcoin has been around since 2009, it is only in the past couple of years that cryptocurrency has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar industry. The lack of regulation governing crypto assets led SEC chair Gary Gensler to liken the market to the "wild west", with thousands of different coins and platforms and fortunes made and lost overnight.
Governments the world over are taking notice. Cryptocurrency isn't going anywhere, and regulators are trying to understand how to responsibly foster the nascent technology without letting it wreak havoc on consumers or the economy.
To help make sense of where crypto is going, The Buzz is joined by Combiz Abdolrahimi, an expert in the field of financial technology, currently at Deloitte. Combiz also serves as chair of the FinTech Subcommittee at the Trade Finance Advisory Council within the Department of Commerce.
Combiz's LinkedIn
President's Working Group Report on Stablecoins
This episode includes part one of the conversation with Combiz. Part two will be available in the new year.

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ICYMI: Exploring Possibility Government with Mitchell Weiss Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

This week, The Buzz presents a recorded session from Imagine Nation ELC 2021.
Harvard Business School professor Mitchell Weiss took the stage (virtually) this year to talk about his book, "We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems", in which he advocates for a public service model that incorporates entrepreneurship, experimentation, and creative problem-solving to tackle our nation's challenges and better serve the citizen.

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Winning Ideas for Simplifying Acquisitions Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

Back in September, the Buzz previewed a virtual Shark Tank competition hosted by ACT-IAC's Emerging Tech and Acquisitions COI (you can listen to that episode here). The question competitors sought to answer was "How can emerging technologies help streamline the acquisition lifecycle ?"
This week, host Colin Larsen talks with the winners of that event to discuss where these ideas came from, how they work, and why it matters.
Guests:
Jaime Gracia - IRS Acquisition Manager and Government Chair of ACT-IAC’s Acquisitions Community of Interest
"Intelligent Automation for Automating Contract Modifications"
David Gill - Procurement Data Scientist, IRS
Jessica Mosely - Consultant, Summit2Sea
"WAFR - Waste Abuse Fraud Report"
Miguel Acevedo - RPA Consultant, Summit2Sea
Ken Ganatra - Intelligent Automation Technology Lead, Summit2Sea

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ICYMI: Department of Energy CIO Ann Dunkin on Tackling Resilient Infrastructure at Scale Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

After attending Imagine Nation ELC 2021 in Hershey, PA last week, The Buzz returns with an in-person ICYMI from the event.
On the final day of the conference, Darby Chellis Bade, Vice President of EPA Programs and Executive Lead at GDIT, sat down with Department of Energy CIO Ann Dunkin to discuss one of greatest public policy challenges of our time - resilient infrastructure.
In this session, they discussed how the Department of Energy works to support resilient infrastructure mitigation efforts and how the department's IT modernization strategies contribute to that goal.

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Thoughts on Thinking Machines: Managing Risk in AI with Elham Tabassi Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

The field of Artificial Intelligence has grown in leaps and bounds over the last decade. The rapid development of AI technologies brings with it an equally rapid transformation of our communities, economies, and individual lives.
As we integrate more of these AI systems into our world, we will need to consider the challenges and risks they pose to our society. Fortunately, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently embarked on a project to do just that. NIST is currently developing a framework for assessing and managing the risks of developing and applying AI systems in collaboration with the global AI community.
This week on The Buzz, host Colin Larsen is joined by Elham Tabassi, Chief of Staff at NIST's Information Technology Laboratory, to discuss some of the early results of this effort and some big ideas from the project's recent workshop.
More about NIST's AI Risk Management Framework: https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework
A summary of RFI responses can be found here.
Session recordings from the first workshop: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2021/10/kicking-nist-ai-risk-management-framework

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Catching Up With Imagine Nation ELC 2021 Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

ACT-IAC's largest annual conference, Imagine Nation ELC, is coming up from November 7-9! This week on The Buzz, host Colin Larsen chats with members of the conference's executive committee to give listeners an idea of what to expect this year.
First, Maria Roat, the government chair, and Jonathan Benett, the industry chair, highlight some of the exciting speakers and sessions during the 3-day conference. Next, Sudha Venkateswaran and Steve Krauss, two of the ELC's vice-chairs, talk more about the themes and topics of Imagine Nation 2021 and what makes this conference unique.
You can get all the details of this year's conference here.
This episode of The Buzz is brought to you by Adobe, a proud sponsor of ACT-IAC’s Imagine Nation ELC 2021. Adobe Government is committed to creating equitable digital experiences for all. Visit adobe.com/government to learn more.

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