The Department of the Interior proposes to revise regulations implementing the Buy Indian Act, which provides the Department with authority to set aside procurement contracts for Indian-owned and controlled businesses. These revisions would eliminate barriers to Indian Economic Enterprises from competing on certain construction contracts, expand Indian Economic Enterprises’ ability to subcontract construction work consistent with other socio-economic set-aside programs, and give greater preference to Indian Economic Enterprises when a deviation from the Buy Indian Act is necessary, among other updates. Click HERE to read more.

Federal agencies aim to advance their use of artificial intelligence and accompanying emerging technologies, like machine learning, in the coming years. The U.S. Postal Service, for example, will focus on AI and its potential over the coming decade to better serve its hundreds of millions of customers. Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security’s science and tech arm spent almost a year drafting an artificial intelligence and machine learning framework that will guide the agency’s enterprise wide pursuits of those technologies for the coming years. Click HERE to read more.