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USPS considering 30 edge AI applications to automate mail processing

The U.S. Postal Service is considering about 30 artificial intelligence applications for the Edge Computing Infrastructure Program (ECIP) developed in 2020.

Apps using optical character recognition (OCR) to streamline imaging workflow, automatically checking if packages have the right postage and deciphering damaged barcodes could all launch before summer.

In three weeks, USPS Senior Data Scientist Ryan Simpson and six NVIDIA architects designed deep-learning models capable of analyzing the billions of images generated by processing centers equipped with edge AI servers. Not only can the distributed edge AI system’s seven algorithms process 231 packages a second, but one is even capable of reverse image searching the 100 million packages USPS sees daily.

“Missing packages that used to take eight or 10 people several days can now be tracked down by one person in a couple of hours,” an NVIDIA spokesperson told FedScoop. “ECIP also enables rapid application deployment; new capabilities, that previously would have taken months, can be deployed in as little as two weeks.”

ECIP runs on the NVIDIA EGX platform across 195 USPS sites after most of the necessary hardware was finished in August, and already added a second computer vision app. NVIDIA’s Triton Interference Server functions like an automated digital mail person delivering AI and machine learning models when and how each of the sites needs them.

The forthcoming OCR use case will live as a deep-learning model in an ECIP container managed by Kubernetes and served by Triton, rather than requiring standalone IT infrastructure or a public cloud service.

“The models we have deployed so far help manage the mail and the Postal Service — it helps us maintain our mission,” said Todd Schimmel, manager of letter mail technology at USPS, in a statement.

But various USPS components ranging from enterprise analytics to finance and marketing have proposed the nearly 30 ECIP apps currently being considered.

AI apps require the real-time computing ECIP affords for large amounts of data.

“Because edge computing processes data locally, instead of in the cloud or a data center, it minimizes latency and bandwidth needs — allowing for real-time feedback and decision-making,” said the spokesperson. “Edge AI solutions also provide greater security protections.”

ECIP and the apps being developed for the system play into USPS’s broader effort to make better use of the data it collects to both improve its efficiency and save taxpayer dollars.

Despite the progress USPS has made, edge AI remains a nascent technology.

“Every day, people in our organization are thinking of new ways to apply machine learning to new facets of robotics, data processing and image handling,” Schimmel said.

Agencies sharing AI use cases after December executive order

The executive order on trustworthy artificial intelligence issued by President Trump in December has encouraged agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs to share best practices.

The VA’s National AI Institute is working with other VA components, like the Data Governance Council and Veteran Engagement Board, as well as outside agencies to create an AI use case catalog, said Gil Alterovitz, director of AI at VA.

The trustworthy AI executive order set the process in motion by requiring the retirement of AI applications that didn’t meet a set of minimum standards and setting deadlines for inventorying and sharing agency use cases.

“It’s really enabled agencies to learn from each other,” Alterovitz said during the SNG Live: Enhancing AI in Government event presented by FedScoop. “In interacting with other agencies through different councils we’ve been able to learn about and share different AI use cases.”

VA is further looking to pilot a set of modules that can be added to an internal review board on AI, Alterovitz said.

Before researchers build AI models, they’ll go through a voluntary checklist for planning purposes. The checklist builds on the work of VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care and the Food and Drug Administration and will encourage safeguarding research participants and veterans’ data, as well as training data to eliminate bias.

VA developed an initial AI module to assist its hundreds of medical centers nationally with COVID-19 individual risk prediction by analyzing morbidity and mortality data over time. Explainable AI was leveraged to help patients understand their risk of illness.

New, post-hospitalization data is being fed into those statistical models for additional insights to inform treatment decisions at a dozen rural and urban pilot sites, Alterovitz said.

Space Force wants to become the first true ‘digital service’

The Space Force, the newest branch of the military, wants to take advantage of its institutional youth and become the first “digital service” in the military.

The goal is to have its members — dubbed guardians — be digitally fluent and have their space operations revolve around being “an interconnected, innovative, digitally dominant force,” according to its recently published “Vision for a Digital Service” document.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond said it’s a necessity that the Space Force be digital, as conflicts in space will involve operating high-tech satellites, not the physical combat typical in other military services. Force leaders have expressed this notion often in the past, but this is the first time they’ve put it into doctrine.

“Becoming a Digital Service is more than just a generational opportunity; it is a warfighting imperative,” Raymond wrote in the document’s introduction.

The force’s goal is to use digitally native technology and modern data management practices to ensure that the military can keep up with emerging threats in space. The document highlights the importance of initiatives already underway, like training guardians in digital technology, as well as new approaches to data management that will allow the force to share more and leverage new technologies like artificial intelligence.

“We need to leverage information and data to accelerate our ability to develop, field, and operate joint space capabilities with unparalleled speed and ruthless proficiency,” the document states. “We must exploit digital solutions to thrive and adapt within a hostile, complex, and dynamic environment that is inherently more bound to—and driven by— technology than any other defense domain or mission set.”

The force has already taken steps to beef up its data management and security practices. It inked a deal with Palantir to fuse its space data in April 2020 and another in September with Xage Security to protect it. It’s a trend likely to continue.

The service is also staying lean, introducing only three major components within its organization chart for personnel, strategy and operations.

“While some could regard the relative leanness of our Service as an obstacle to success, it may in fact be one of our greatest strengths,” the document states. It’s a point that congressional overseers want to hear, as many have suggested that the Space Force should not take on new bureaucratic bloat as it stands up and integrates with the rest of the force.

Another new digital-native workforce feature of the Space Force is allowing guardians to be “digital nomads,” employees that can work from anywhere, enabled by collaboration technology. While it’s unlikely guardians will start buying vans, dawning their uniforms in the mornings to work on a laptop next to a national park like the nomads portrayed in cinema, the force believes a culture that uses digital tools to the max will support its vision of becoming a digital force.

“Furthermore, the USSF must support a world in which we are no longer bound to a single physical location. This can give the USSF the flexibility to have Guardians operate virtually as ‘digital nomads,’ seamlessly supporting a variety of missions from a range of locations as part of an intrinsically mobile force,” the document states.

New report: Align open data, open source and cloud policies for maximum value

For the last few years, federal data leadership has been moving in an “open” direction. Federal policies and legislation have directed agencies to make their data more open, to use open source solutions, and to use the cloud to manage and publish data more efficiently.

But the potential of these new initiatives has not yet been realized. We need more resources, leadership, and policy alignment to make government information more available across agencies and to the public; to ensure that government decisions are driven by evidence; and to increase the efficiency and lower the costs of government operations.

A new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government, in collaboration with the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) analyzes “open” government policies and shows how they can be made more effective. The report describes current government policies, shows how they complement each other, highlights implementation challenges, and recommends improvements.  It focuses on four policies: the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act), the Federal Data Strategy, the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, and the Federal Source Code Policy – and describes the resources, leadership, and alignment needed to implement them effectively.

Resources

Funding and other resources are critical to modernize systems, establish  data governance, build technical infrastructure, and implement projects like technical upgrades and data sharing and migration. Since agencies differ in their needs and capacities, resources should be spread strategically so that all agencies can modernize in ways that make the most sense for their particular needs. The report recommends that the Federal government:

Leadership

Changing culture at Federal agencies requires strong, consistent leadership over time. Leadership at the Office of Management and Budget, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and CDO Councils, and agency CIOs and CDOs should focus on aligning efforts and finding synergies across the domains of open data, open source, and cloud. CIOs and CDOs should play complementary roles in this effort. For example, CIOs can focus on systems and technology while CDOs work on data governance. The report recommends that the Federal government:

Policy Alignment

Beyond efforts to align the source code policy with open data policies, Federal policies governing open data, open source, and cloud adoption have generally proceeded on separate tracks. Currently, CIOs are very engaged in Evidence Act and Federal Data Strategy implementation—which provides useful leverage to increase data sharing at agencies—but CIOs should also consider how the two imperatives can help advance cloud and open source goals. A unified approach is needed to align open data, open source software, and cloud adoption as interrelated pieces of a larger puzzle. The report recommends that the Federal government:

High-level Recommendations

In addition to these specific recommendations, the report includes five high-level recommendations that cut across all areas of implementation. Federal leadership and agencies should:

As agencies continue on their technology modernization journeys and work to implement laws like the Evidence Act, leaders will have many decisions to make about moving to the cloud, using OSS, and embracing open data. They will discuss these topics virtually and — hopefully soon — in person at events like Think Gov, IBM’s upcoming look at how technology is helping the government adapt, respond, and achieve its mission in a rapidly changing world. By focusing on resources, leadership, and alignment, they can help ensure that  their efforts will have the desired result.

Joel Gurin is President and Matt Rumsey is Research and Communications Manager of the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC. They can be reached at joel@odenterprise.org and matthew@odenterprise.org. The IBM Center for the Business of Government published this report with support from RedHat.

Brett Goldstein to step down as Defense Digital Service director in June

The Pentagon’s “SWAT team of nerds” will lose its head nerd next month as Brett Goldstein cycles out of his job as director of Defense Digital Service.

Katie Olson, the current deputy director, will be elevated to acting head of the organization that places technologists on “tours of duty” in the Pentagon.

Goldstein came to the role with a mix of public sector and private industry experience, being an early employee of restaurant reservation site OpenTable. He also served in government before that, working as the chief data officer and chief information officer of the City of Chicago.

Goldstein served as head of DDS for two years. During those two years, he oversaw an expansion of DDS’s work and its response to the coronavirus pandemic. He now plans to take up a position as a consultant on cybersecurity and emerging technology to the DOD, according to POLITICO, which first reported his departure. 

Goldstein oversaw a transformation of DDS from a startup bursting with new ideas to an organization trying to sustain its growth. He was the second director, replacing Chris Lynch who stepped down after four years of work in the Pentagon in 2019. Lynch left and founded his own defense contracting firm, taking many DDS employees with him.

Upon Lynch’s departure, Goldstein worked to build out a new team and turn its startup energy into something more sustainable.

“That’s when I realized that we had taken this team from being a generator of good ideas and good feedback to rapid response solution delivery — this vision of a SWAT team of nerds, but a SWAT team of nerds that delivers left and right,” Goldstein told FedScoop in March.

“I saw lots and lots of good ideas,” he added. “But we hadn’t really conquered the sustainable piece, or ensuring the outcome, or the commitment to stay with something when it went from sexy and shiny to kind of boring but still critical.”

DDS led several pandemic response projects. When the Navy moved two floating hospitals to New York as cases spiked in March 2020, DDS created anti-unmanned aerial systems tech to keep the ships safe from buzzing drones. Later, it led a project to help ward off hackers from Operation Warp Speed, the project created to speed up vaccine development and distribution planning.

The group has other health-related projects underway, like its work to digitize a century’s worth of pathogen samples housed in the Department of Defense’s Joint Pathology Center. It also has expanded bug bounty programs as it tries to strengthen its connection to the hacker community.

Navy will push ahead with Project Overmatch, even without extra money

The vice admiral overseeing the Navy’s implementation of Project Overmatch — the military’s concept for the future networked warfare — says the department will continue to push ahead on the project, even with a declining budget.

Initial projections of the fiscal 2022 budget show a flat defense appropriation. Taking into account inflation, that would give the military less actual dollars to work with. But that’s a scenario that will not impact the Navy’s most important modernization goals, Vice Adm. Douglas Small told a virtual audience during a Center for Strategic and International Studies event Friday.

“Where the budget moves in top-line is not going to affect how we deliver in Overmatch if I have anything to do with it,” Small said.

Project Overmatch is the Navy’s attempt to create a maritime network of ships, sensors, weapons and platforms that will allow the service to connect its operations and give commanders broader insight in real-time. And it won’t just be for the Navy: Any service, ally or partner operating at sea will eventually be able to link into the network, using the data-sharing capabilities to enhance their field of vision and coordination of operations, Small said.

It’s all part of the Pentagon’s Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) military-wide concept of operations where everything gets connected through networks carrying data from air, sea, land, space and cyberspace and artificial intelligence helps sift through it. The hope is that by linking together sensors and shooters, commanders will have more options and be able to converge different operations to achieve greater impact.

“The power of the platform is everything; that’s what we are trying to bring to the Navy,” Small said.

Small leads a team in San Diego building the technical capabilities of Project Overmatch. Those technical capabilities will fulfill the new naval strategy for distributed maritime operations and support the integration of unmanned systems. To build those capabilities, he said his team is working on a unified platform that will host suites of applications designed both in-house and by contractors.

“Overmatch is about connective tissue — we provide links and we provide applications for decision advantage,” he said. “Our job is to make sure that those links and those tools work across any part of that continuum of conflict.”

That technology will continue to be built no matter the budget, Small said.

“If you look at it by any metric, we have a lot of money, and I think what we are trying to do is go after this with more of an abundance mindset, not a ‘gosh I wish I had this much more,” he said. “What that leads to is we are starting with what we have, that’s starting with the people that we have, with the funding that we have, with the technical expertise that we have, which is eye-watering.”

New multi-domain operations software running in Air Combat Command

The Air Force‘s Air Combat Command now has basic software that can host a suite of applications and combine data from across different operations, achieving a key milestone for technology leaders, the service says.

The software contains a suite of nine applications linked through a common data layer, a small-scale version of what the senior-most leaders in the Pentagon say the entire force will need to do to win future wars. Kessel Run, the Air Force’s software factory, built the product called Kessel Run All Domain Operations Suite (KRADOS), which crossed the minimum viable product threshold in April and was used for the first time in May.

The software is used in the Air Combat Command’s Air Operations Center Weapon System’s (AOC WS) planning and execution process.

“This is a huge milestone for Kessel Run, ACC and our users,” Col. Brian Beachkofski, commander of Kessel Run, said in a release. “Only a year after delivering stand-alone applications to support operations, we’ve fielded an MVP suite of nine applications connected by a common data layer for usability assessment and user feedback.”

Kessel Run said it had users in the design process to ensure it worked for airmen. The KRADOS system builds off an initial group of applications connected for a narrower set of functions, but now with nine applications, the system combines data across different areas of use. Building systems that can use and generate data across domains is a top priority of the department under the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept of operations.

“The AOC WS is Kessel Run’s most complex development effort, and while the program still has a long road ahead, we are definitely picking up speed and the KRADOS MVP is an important point of progress,” Col. Timothy Hofman, chief of the Air Operations Center, said in a statement.

The decades-old Theater Battle Management Core Systems is being transitioned out in favor of the newer Air Operations Center Weapon System as Kessel Run develops more code to support faster data sharing and more applications integrated into the system. The Air Force’s broad JADC2 project,  the Advanced Battle Management System, aims to do similar integration of applications and data on a much larger scale.

“This is an extremely important moment for the command and Air Force,” Lt. Gen. Greg Guillot, commander of 9th Air Force, said in a separate release on the software’s first operational use. “Improving the Air Tasking Order process makes AFCENT and our distributed command and control capabilities more efficient, and this innovation will also help improve AOC operations across the Air Force and in other combatant commands.”

Lawmakers request overdue 21st Century IDEA guidance for agencies

Lawmakers want the Office of Management and Budget to issue immediate implementation guidance for agencies on the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act.

Democratic members of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations are giving OMB 45 days to provide agencies with compliance guidelines for the accelerated use of electronic signatures, website modernization and digitizing forms, they said in a letter sent to the agency Thursday.

Congress passed the 21st Century IDEA in 2018, but the increase in remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for agencies to deliver location-agnostic services to people.

“Because the Trump administration failed to issue statutorily required guidance to assist agency implementation of the law, federal agency implementation has been inconsistent, creating uneven access to the federal government’s essential information and services,” reads the letter, signed by subcommittee Chair Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and larger Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., among others. “The intent of the 21st Century IDEA was to accelerate digital modernization at agencies to improve how individuals access federal services, and to increase trust in government while driving down the cost of government operations.”

The 21st Century IDEA requires agencies to upgrade their websites, replace paper-based forms with digital- and mobile-response options, and create plans to expand use of electronic signatures.

All of the law’s deadlines passed without full agency compliance.

“The requirements of this law are intended to give agencies the tools needed to deliver a world-class digital experience to the public and federal employees,” reads the letter. “While we believe the law effectively clarifies and defines what is expected of agencies in complying with the 21st Century IDEA, guidance from OMB is needed to harmonize the various requirements of the law with other administration initiatives.”

AWS DOD Director Liz Martin on how cloud is transforming defense missions

A technologist by trade, few things spark Liz Martin’s imagination more than using the latest technology to solve complex mission challenges.

So by almost any measure, she landed the ideal assignment four years ago, when Amazon Web Services (AWS) hired her to help the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) gain a deeper understanding of the art of the possible using cloud technologies.

That opportunity took on new significance in March, when AWS promoted her to lead all of its global business with the Defense Department.

Since her days as a developer, and later as a solut

Defense Department

Liz Martin, DOD Director, AWS

ions architect in the telecom sector, “I always understood the need to work backwards from customers’ challenges,” Martin says. In her role with AWS, that means working backwards from defense missions. “The DOD has made significant progress in adopting cloud technologies in the time since I joined AWS. But as the security landscape continues to evolve, it remains critical for defense agencies to stay ahead of the emerging threats with the latest technology developments.”

What struck Martin most about the Defense Department when she first joined AWS was the critical nature of DOD’s mission. “DOD’s most sensitive missions pose different challenges than running a back-office IT system. When our warfighters are in the field or at the tactical edge, those missions leave no room for failure.”

According to Martin, cloud technologies are helping DOD agencies address challenges such as the need for speed, resiliency and reliability, as well as supporting operations on a global scale.

“While our mission is focused on technology delivery, we have a similar commitment to the idea that our warfighters deserve access to the best technology in the world. And I think that resonates with our DOD customers and with the defense community at large.”

Need for speed

“One of the areas that we are helping the DOD is around speed,” she says. Pentagon and military leaders understand it’s critical “to accelerate the speed to adopting innovative technologies — to continue to stay ahead. It’s a very challenging global environment, and technology can provide a significant edge in a way that it hasn’t in the past.”

One of the key components to achieving that edge, she says, revolves around gathering and analyzing data faster and where it’s needed most.

“All of the server power in the world isn’t going to deliver your mission outcomes if you don’t have the data you need available to you when and where you need it,” says Martin. So, AWS is working with DOD teams on ways to integrate sensor data in austere environments and the so-called tactical edge.

“Analytics at the edge is very important because critical missions require an incredible number of sensors, diverse areas for collecting data, and the ability to make sense of that sensor data to make decisions in real time,” says Martin.

“We have a variety of products, like our ruggedized AWS Snowball Edge and AWS Snowcone computing and storage devices — ranging in size from a Kleenex box to a piece of carry-on luggage — that can be deployed in forward positions to create a local cloud,” she explains. “They can process all of that data locally, in real time, and also upload it into one of our larger regional data stores or analytics platforms, when conditions permit.”

Another problem the military faces when it comes to IT solutions is its massive scale.

AWS is helping DOD develop creative solutions to take the cloud to austere environments while also utilizing secure cloud computing regions to handle the large scale of the military’s IT requirements.

Reimagining what’s possible

Martin says AWS continues working with defense and military leaders to better understand the full capabilities available through the cloud, as well as how those capabilities might be put to more effective use.

“There are still a lot of folks who think the cloud is just a server in someone else’s location,” she recalls. “The notion of expandable compute and storage capabilities is certainly part of the story. What’s more compelling are the high-value activities that customers can achieve by leveraging the AWS cloud and the functions it offers, like high performance computing and real-time analytics,” she says.

At the same time, she also sees many pockets of cloud-based innovation through her work with the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Space Force, and Combatant Commands.

She credits defense officials for tackling significant problems over the past three years, including “some very large workloads moving into the cloud at all classification levels — as well as massive enterprise IT systems where scale is essential.”

DOD agencies can now move classified and mission-critical IL 6 workloads securely into AWS’s exclusive Secret Region cloud facility. Those and other initiatives promise to give defense officials greater speed and flexibility as they continue to scale up digital warfare capabilities and focus on initiatives like the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) program.

Martin adds that AWS is committed to helping DOD customers develop their workforces, as well as supporting veterans, reservists and military families at Amazon. There are more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses employed at Amazon across the United States. “We find that many of the qualities that are foundational to military service align well with our Amazon culture,” Martin says.

What’s different today than when Martin first started her role at AWS, she adds, is the extent to which DOD mission owners are realizing the benefits of cloud technology. “By eliminating the undifferentiated heavy lifting of the underlying IT infrastructure, the DOD can focus on delivering its critical missions,” Martin says.

Learn how AWS can help your agency capitalize on today’s cloud.

Read more insights from AWS leaders on how agencies are using the power of the cloud to innovate.

Telework is here to stay in the Navy, at least for now

The Navy is extending its remote work policy even as many across its forces get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a memo published Monday.

The Navy said sailors and other personnel will need to continue working remotely at least 50 percent of the time in accordance with “health protection level B” for vaccinated sailors and civilians.

“This update continues to build on what we have learned about combatting COVID-19 while still maximizing our operational readiness,” said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, the Navy’s operations chief in charge of coordinating the service’s response to COVID-19. “I expect we will continue to improve services available for our Sailors and their families while protecting the force as the number of personnel vaccinated grows. The key is for everyone that is eligible to get vaccinated.”

Health protection level B, the Navy’s highest level for vaccinated employees, is set for 2-15 new cases per 100,000 population in the last seven days.

The Air Force and Army are also both in discussions for how long they will continue teleworking, with the Army expended to update its telework guidance soon. The changes come as the larger Department of Defense works to build out its “enduring” suite of virtual work tools to support continued telework.

The DOD’s technology to support both in-person work and telework is planned to be rolled out by summer. DOD365 is a new high-security version of Microsoft’s Office suite of tools.

The current telework platform, the Commercial Virtual Remote (CVR) environment, is scheduled to sunset in June and was always designed to be temporary, even though the military’s telework policies are extending.

“Our enduring capability is going to be with us for a long time,” acting DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman told FedScoop in March.

The DOD recently published new guidance for how leaders should evaluate their facilities’ risks to coronavirus spread. The guidance gives different levels for how many employees should work in-person based on the level of community transmission.

The Air Force does not have updated policies for how it plans to address a workforce with a growing number of vaccinated airmen and other personnel.