Author Archive

Natalie Alms

Natalie Alms

Staff Reporter, Nextgov/FCW

Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/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.
Natalie Alms is a staff reporter at Nextgov/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.
Tech

AI tools helped Treasury recover billions in fraud and improper payments

Risk screening, check fraud detection and more have helped the government recover more than $4 billion, Treasury announced.

Tech

GSA's Login to offer face recognition to customer agencies

Agencies using the government-created service will have the option to incorporate new face-matching capabilities or stick with existing offerings.

Tech

Hill Dems question IRS on identity verification requirements for Direct File

Taxpayers had to go through outsourced identity verification to use Direct File during the last tax season, a level of assurance the lawmakers note is not required for commercial tax prep companies.

Management

Bipartisan Senate duo seeks to push IRS customer service forward

The tax agency is already working on some of the items in the bill — like improving online accounts.

Tech

IRS delay on key system could cost up to $70 million

The IRS had been considering switching to a new system for core, individual tax processing, but it’s waiting to do so until after the coming tax season.

News

USDA wraps equity commission, vows to continue work 

The department will likely have to contend with anti-DEI efforts as it pursues this goal.

Management

Customer experience bill passes Senate committee

The proposal is one of many that moved through House and Senate committees last week, including a transparency bill that brings additional congressional oversight to the General Services Administration.

Workforce

Harris touts skills-based hiring for feds on the campaign trail

The move to skills-based hiring for federal government jobs has been ongoing under the Trump and Biden administrations.

Oversight

Lawmakers mull a fraud-focused scorecard for oversight

Agency watchdogs warned lawmakers that their centralized fraud analytics capacity could end next year without congressional action.

Tech

White House cyber czar launches a new hiring sprint 

The federal government’s main occupational series for IT jobs saw 3,000 open positions in fiscal 2024.

Management

SSI to move its core disability program application online

The initial rollout will be available to adults who have never married and are applying for Supplemental Security Income for the first time.

Management

ICE struggles to track unaccompanied minors, oversight report says

The agency lacks automated systems to chart the path of underage migrants through the immigration system.

Tech

Energy Department wants to use AI to speed up permitting

The hope is that helping feds dive into historical environmental documents creates efficiencies and better outcomes.

Management

SSA has a plan, but wants more funding to get it done

The 2024 agenda’s top priorities for the remainder of the year stem from over 5,000 recommendations from employees.

Tech

IRS is flying blind without plans to modernize legacy tech, watchdog says

This isn’t the first time the IRS has been called out by oversight officials for a lack of detailed technology planning.

Tech

Benefits.gov to shutter in September

The Labor Department’s benefits-focused website dates back to 2002.

Tech

Senate Democrats push an accessibility refresh

A new bill would revamp the decades old law requiring the government be accessible online, where many agencies are still falling short

Tech

As GSA turns 75, one of its leading technologists reflects on the agency's mission

Ann Lewis, director of the Technology Transformation Services, talks implementation, money and more.

Tech

Trump pledges to ax Biden’s AI executive order

The newly adopted Republican platform calls the executive order “dangerous.”