Author Archive
Natalie Alms
Staff Writer

Natalie Alms is a staff writer at FCW covering federal technology policy, service delivery, customer experience and the government's tech workforce. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University and has written for the Salisbury (N.C.) Post. Connect with Natalie on Twitter at @AlmsNatalie.
Workforce
OPM issues guidance on implementing Trump-era hiring policy
The U.S. Digital Service has also been embedding in agencies to help build internal competency-based hiring abilities in federal agencies.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Federal CIO: The tech is 'the easy part' of improving CX
Blockers to implementing service improvements frequently center around policy and process requirements, top tech officials said at the Code for America Summit on Tuesday.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Postal Service should 'act swiftly' to scale up identity services, IG says
USPS is working with the General Services Administration on more in-person options for Login.gov, according to a new whitepaper from the U.S. Postal Service's Inspector General.
- By Natalie Alms
Sign up for our newsletter.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
People
Government Eagle Award winner: Gundeep Ahluwalia
The Labor Department's CIO is helping to transform service delivery across the agency.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Federal officials caution employers on using AI in hiring
The Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are sounding the alarm about the potential for AI human resources tools to discriminate against individuals with disabilities.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
ICE has assembled a 'surveillance dragnet' with facial recognition and data, report says
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has used facial recognition to search through the driver's license photos of one in three adults in the U.S., according to a new report by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Federal CIO talks customer experience
Clare Martorana says that the government is working with the private sector to measure how it delivers products and services as part of an effort to improve the experiences Americans have with government services.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Senate bill to update 1960s-era cooperation rules wins support from leading state and local groups
The bill, introduced in the Senate in March, would require an update to guidance on state-federal cooperation that dates back to the 1960s.
- By Natalie Alms
Congress
Senate bill to train acquisition workforce on AI gets House counterpart
The AI Training Act, which passed the Senate last December now has a House companion from Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and James Comer (R-Ky.).
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Measuring administrative burden
Recipients have to invest time and energy to obtain government services and the burden of compliance can take a toll, especially in marginalized communities.
- By Natalie Alms
Congress
Senate Dems seek funds for UI administration
Twenty Senate Democrats told top appropriators that a lack of funding over the years contributed to problems in unemployment insurance during the pandemic.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
IRS leader explains why the IRS went to ID.me
The agency needs to be able to identity proof online users at a certain level to be able to offer a full menu of online services, Rettig told lawmakers.
- By Natalie Alms
Acquisition
Sustainability and the cloud
The federal government's acquisition leaders are operating under the assumption that cloud computing can promote sustainability, but a watchdog says that data on current energy consumption is scarce.
- By Natalie Alms
People
CIA taps its first chief technology officer
CIA Director William Burns named the chief technology officer of the Pentagon's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to be the spy agency's first-ever CTO on Friday.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
How GSA is remaking USA.gov
The revamped "federal front door" won't be a mere portal—users will be able to complete end-to-end government services on the USA.gov website.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
IRS balks at public free-file suggestion from government watchdog
The Government Accountability Office thinks the IRS should identify and create more free-filing options for taxpayers, but the IRS says that it "does not believe a public free-filing option would significantly improve the taxpayer experience."
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
GSA to study facial recognition tech with equity in mind
The General Services is planning a study with 2,000 participants to help the agency decide whether to tap facial recognition tech for its Login.gov service.
- By Natalie Alms
Workforce
State Department taps assessment-based hiring process for data scientists
The department hit its applicant cap in one day after posting a job listing seeking 50 data scientists.
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Agriculture Department offers grants to improve SNAP
The USDA says that the grants fall in line with administration priorities around equity and inclusion, as well as improving the customer experience of Americans interacting with government programs
- By Natalie Alms
Digital Government
Labor Dept. pilot taps state data for a new look at who is getting UI
Data on access to unemployment insurance broken down by demographics can help program administrators make sure that they help everyone entitled to the benefit access it, the Labor Department says.
- By Natalie Alms