The Technology Modernization Fund is soliciting proposals for artificial intelligence-related investments under the Biden administration’s recent executive order on implementing AI in federal agencies.
The fund “is offering multiple paths to funding to help agencies better operate across organizational boundaries, improve coordination between existing programs to advance delivery of the agency mission, and modernize legacy systems. Agency proposals seeking $6 million or less and having a project timeline of no more than 1.5 years will receive an expedited review process for investment in an effort to help agencies achieve positive outcomes and impact quickly,” said an announcement from the GSA.
“All proposals must include a clear plan for user testing, risk mitigation, evaluation metrics, and senior executive support, but agencies have flexibility in how they approach their project and potential solution,” it says, adding that “use of the TMF has the potential to accelerate AI usage in government.”
The GAO recently found some 228 AI applications in use in federal agencies, more than 500 more in the planning stages and about another 500 in the research or exploratory stage, while cautioning that the government “must manage its use of AI in a responsible way to minimize risk, achieve intended outcomes, and avoid unintended consequences.”
The issue also has attracted the attention of both the House and Senate, with a bill (S-1865) having cleared the committee level in the latter to require agencies to be more transparent when using automated intelligence and systems such as facial recognition software to interact with the public or to make decisions.
The TMF is a central government-wide fund designed to provide up-front money for the entirety of IT projects rather than stretch out the spending over time, often at a higher cost. Allocations mostly have gone toward projects to replace legacy systems.
