Back

 Industry News Details

 
Emily Murphy, Administrator Of The GSA Shares Her Thoughts On AI Posted on : Nov 28 - 2020

There is nothing ordinary about the year 2020, and in this highly charged political year, everything gets more attention than might have been deserved in previous years. A few weeks ago, Emily Murphy, Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) started making waves in the news. For many who may not have known her before, she has been leading the GSA for a few years helping bring innovative programs and initiatives to the agency.

Among many things that Emily Murphy is responsible for, one of the most consequential every four years is the ascertainment of a Presidential election winner so that a transition of power can proceed. That particular aspect of the GSA got a lot more news and publicity over the past few weeks than perhaps it ever has in recent history. Even those that deal with the government regularly might not have been aware of such a pivotal role that the GSA has with regards to elections.

Indeed, there are many other things that the GSA is much more known for being responsible for, from its role as the primary manager of real estate and buildings for the government to procuring billions of dollars of products, goods, and services. Indeed, it’s in that latter light that I had the opportunity to interview Emily on how the GSA is approaching artificial intelligence. Automation and AI have served a particularly important role at the GSA, impacting how it goes about running its operations and procuring solutions on behalf of government agencies.

In a recent AI Today podcast, recorded right before the election, Emily Murphy shared her insights into how AI is transforming the federal government. In this article she further shares her insights into AI, the GSA, and the federal government.

During your time at the GSA you helped to launch the Centers of Excellence program. Can you share what the CoE is and how it’s helping advance use of data?

Emily Murphy: I was a senior advisor at GSA, prior to being confirmed as Administrator, and one of the areas I focused on was how GSA could better manage the intersection between contracting and technology innovation. GSA’s Technology Transformation Services, which is part of our Federal Acquisition Service, worked with other agencies to launch the first Centers of Excellence in late 2017, with the first partner (also known as our lighthouse agency) being USDA. We now have announced ten partnerships with different agencies where we have a presence. The Centers of Excellence teams provide technical expertise in support of the following areas: cloud adoption, contact center, customer experience, data analytics, infrastructure optimization, and artificial intelligence. View More