Source: FedScoop
Staffing up and establishing policies to support departmentwide use of artificial intelligence are among the first steps for the Department of Health and Human Services’ new assistant secretary for technology policy following a reshuffle that put Micky Tripathi at the helm, overseeing the agency’s technology, data and AI portfolios. The department announced the reorganization last week, primarily moving responsibilities from the Assistant Secretary of Administration to other components of the department. Among those changes, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which Tripathi already led, is getting a new Office of the Chief Technology Officer that will house the department’s chief technology, data and artificial intelligence officers. The HHS is currently looking for officials for all three roles. In an interview with FedScoop, Tripathi said “job one” is getting those positions filled and an organizational structure in place. After that, AI compliance — particularly with the Office of Management and Budget’s memo on AI — and policy-setting are top of mind. Tripathi, who is currently acting CAIO, said the department wants to have policies in place so employees embrace AI technologies and don’t “shy away from them” for fear of being out of compliance. Setting up those guardrails soon, so that “everyone in the department feels the comfort with being able to use these tools appropriately, is going to be an important thing,” he said.