GovCast: VA’s Platform One Offers Sandbox to Software
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Release Date: 08/19/2025
CISA CIO on Agentic AI, Building the Cyber Workforce | AI GovCast
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CIO Bob Costello joined GovCIO Media & Research at its AI Summit earlier this year to discuss how the agency is deploying agentic AI and tackling cybersecurity workforce challenges. Costello outlined how CISA is integrating AI into operations while prioritizing security, oversight and workforce readiness. Costello also highlighted CISA’s partnership with the Office of Personnel Management on the Scholarship for Service CyberCorps program, which aims to strengthen the federal cybersecurity talent pipeline. He said agencies need new...
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AI Demands Secure, Expanded Data Infrastructure | AI GovCast
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Federal government’s accelerated use of AI is driving attention toward data infrastructure. Efforts to train models and secure data mean AI is increasing both the volume of data agencies generate and the expectations placed on the infrastructure. Pure Storage Senior Director of Strategic Federal Programs Doyle Choi focused on what AI and cybersecurity mean for the growing data demands and how he’s seeing agencies rethinking storage and infrastructure strategies. The interview also looks at how agencies are prioritizing infrastructure investments to support AI responsibly to balance speed...
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Flipping the Script on AI Adoption at Space Force | AI GovCast
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Agencies are implementing AI in different ways, from developing internal tools to buying off-the-shelf solutions. At Space Force, Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer Chandra Donelson and AI Innovation Lead Oliver Tannheiser told AI GovCast that they are using innovative strategies to bring AI to Guardians. Flywheel Award winner Tannheiser said that Space Force is using GPT systems to give Guardians access to 33 different large language models, allowing them access to different ways to solve problems using AI. Donelson added that Space Force is shifting its AI adoption mindset to...
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Introducing Technically Zen, an Upcoming Podcast on Wellness in Tech
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Tune in for an interview with a cybersecurity and technology leader who will host an upcoming new podcast series created for the government technologist. Meet the voice behind the show who discusses the importance of wellness and leadership in federal IT. Technically Zen explores the intersection of well-being and technology, with honest conversations about mental health, leadership, resilience and what it takes to build a sustainable career in tech. The host of the series goes by JoJo D, also known as the Chaos Guru, a longtime technology and cybersecurity leader. She highlights what the show...
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NASA Transforms Agency Culture to Harness AI for Next-Generation Space Missions | AI GovCast
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Artificial intelligence has become a critical enabler across NASA. Deputy CAIO Krista Kinnard discussed its impact on engineers using "text-to-structure" capabilities, the design for stronger spacecraft components, program managers optimizing complex schedules and HR teams streamlining operations. NASA's approach to AI represents a cultural shift from the agency's historically siloed structure to one emphasizing cross-pollination and collaboration. Kinnard explained how the agency consolidating its AI infrastructure across all 10 NASA field centers nationwide. She also discussed how NASA is...
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What’s Coming to Federal IT in 2026 | GovCast
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
A new presidential administration and changing priorities defined 2025 in government IT. In the new year, agency tech leaders are looking ahead to implement AI, executive electronic health records across systems and modernize services and software with emerging tech like AI. IT leaders from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the departments of Veterans Affairs and War explored how the government is moving beyond pilot programs to integrate emerging capabilities directly into mission-critical workflows. Featured conversations include: 1:07: 1:55: 3:30:
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GovCast: NWS Turns to HPC, AI to Power Next-Gen Forecasting
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
The critical watches and warnings issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) inform everything from a firefighter’s deployment to wildfires to the public’s beach plans. This information is powered by some of the most advanced computational infrastructure in the world. According to David Michaud, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s Central Operations at the NWS, high-performance computing (HPC) is the indispensable foundation that turns raw atmospheric data into actionable public safety information. Michaud joined GovCast to discuss HPC and the IT systems...
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CyberCast: EPA Evolves Cyber Defense Amid Rising Threats
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
The U.S. is facing a surge in advanced threats from nation-state actors like China and Russia, who are increasingly probing critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. David Travers, director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Water Emergency Response and Cybersecurity, noted how escalating risks to the nation’s water sector has shifted over his 30-year career, how adversaries are leveraging emerging technologies like AI to improve attacks and how the agency is adapting. He also detailed how partnerships with Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and...
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GovCast: Marne Innovation Center Empowers Soldiers to Solve Battlefield Challenges
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
The Army needs innovative and efficient solutions to problems. At the Association of the United States Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C., Innovation Officer at the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division’s Marne Innovation Center (MIC) Capt. Brendan Shutt explained how the Army’s grassroots innovation model is transforming problem-solving. The center embeds innovation directly into training environments, sourcing problems from soldiers in real time and involves warfighters firsthand in innovation. He said its soldier-driven, agile approach offers a compelling blueprint for...
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HealthCast: IHS Modernizes Native Health Care with PATH EHR
GovCIO Media & Research Podcasts
Mitchell Thornbrugh, CIO and director of the Office of Information Technology at the Indian Health Service (IHS), is leading a transformative effort to modernize health care delivery for Native American and Alaska Native communities. Patients at the Heart Electronic Health Record (PATH EHR) is an enterprise-wide initiative uniting more than 200 staff from federal, tribal and urban health facilities. At the core of Thornbrugh’s vision is an understanding that rural and underserved areas face distinct health care challenges, including limited resources and workforce shortages. By approaching...
info_outlineThe second Trump administration has spent 2025 accelerating its software modernization initiatives through the creation of agencies like the U.S. DOGE Service and other entities designed to digitize and modernize the American government. Modeling after DOD enterprise software container platforms, the Department of Veterans Affairs stood up its own Platform One application in 2021 to drive software modernization within the agency.
Matthew Fuqua, technical lead at VA’s Platform One, told GovCIO Media & Research Platform One is a sandbox environment where software developers can safely experiment and build applications using protected data. He said his team took inspiration from similar endeavors in federal government and built a platform where developers can focus their efforts solely on coding. Fuqua said that Platform One’s ethos centered around “speed, stability, scale and security,” and each tenet drives the mission of providing services through software that can benefit veterans.
Platform One supports the VA’s DevSecOps strategy to streamline its operations and shift away from the traditional waterfall approach to software development that hinders innovation at speed. In a DevSecOps environment, Fuqua’s team is able to monitor, update and secure troves of data rapidly, shortening processes that used to take days down to hours. Fuqua said that AI has opened the door to new potential applications but data security is paramount when considering building new software.