ATARC AIDA Guidebook - FINAL 2Q

Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA) Guidebook
2 Background
ATARC
The Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC) was established in September
2012, initially under the name Advanced Mobility Academic Research Center (AMARC) and was
formed in response to the Digital Government Strategy, described in more detail within section
2.2, which was released earlier that year. This strategy describes the need for innovation and
moving the country toward 21st century technological capability to create easier access for the
citizens of the United States to be able to access their data from wherever they are and
whenever they need it. The Digital Government Strategy identified three distinct goals:
1. Unlock the power of government data combined with AI capabilities to spur
innovations across our Nation and improve the quality of services for the American
people
2. Enable the American people and an increasingly mobile workforce to access high-
quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime, on any
device
3. Ensure that as industry adjusts to this new digital world, we seize the opportunity to
procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable
ways
AMARC founder Tom Suder played a prominent role in the formation of the Digital Government
Strategy and created the organization to continue the dialogue between government, industry,
and academia. AMARC hosted a pair of Federal Mobile Computing Summits before being asked
by the General Services Administration (GSA) in 2013 to hold additional events on the topics of
Cloud Computing and IT Networks. As AMARC’s collaborative focus changed from Mobile to
Federal IT, so too did its name. In early 2014, Suder renamed AMARC to ATARC, and within a
year, added Cybersecurity, DevOps, and Data & Analytics to its roster.
Figure 1 provides an overview of the concept behind ATARC and its purpose and value.
Page 4
Figure 1: ATARC Overview
In 2015, the Interagency Program Office (IPO) and ATARC established HealthTracs, a healthcare-
focused discussion during ATARC’s Federal Summits as a primary method of healthcare industry
trend surveillance. This partnership leveraged an existing forum to expand relationships within
the government, academia, and the private sector, nurturing collaborations in order to discuss
key healthcare innovation challenges relevant to the Departments and the IPO. The IPO
continued to collaborate with ATARC through various Federal Summits to examine emerging
technology challenges and resolutions surrounding the use of cloud computing and big data
within the Federal Government.
In 2017, ATARC published a 235-page report to the American Technology Council and Federal
CIO Council titled “Navigating the Future of Mobile Services.”2 Produced in the spirit of the
Digital Government Strategy and in conjunction with the cross-agency Mobile Services Category
Team, the report was a collaborative effort between more than 160 people representing 75
agencies, bureaus, and companies. In 2018, ATARC published its 25th white paper in conjunction
with MITRE as the output from events in the ATARC Federal IT Summit Series.
2
https://atarc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ATARC-MSCT-Report-Navigating-Future-of-Mobile-Services-2.pdf
Page 5
The Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC) announced their merger
with ATARC on May 31, 2018. The merger brought together two non-profits with similar goals
that provide professional development and collaborative forums for Federal Government,
academia, and industry to identify, discuss, and resolve emerging technology challenges. These
engagements resulted in the establishment of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) P2795 Working Group in 2018, to work together in the creation of shared
analytics standards. The IEE Standards for Shared analytics identified the requirements for using
shared analytics over secured and unsecured networks and established consistent methods of
using an overarching interoperability framework to utilize one or more disparate data systems
for analytic purposes without an analytic user having explicit access to or sharing the data
within these systems.
The ATARC AIDA Working Group was formed in response to these initial collaborators
recognizing the need for a manual on the use of AI and data analytics tools and concepts. The
purpose of this working group was to identify and provide harmonized solutions to industry
challenges in implementing AI and data analytics as well as to address the presidential
requirements for artificial intelligence within the Digital Government Strategy.
It is through this working group that this document was created.
Figure 2 provides an overview of the foundational statements for this working group.
Figure 2: AIDA WG Foundational Statements
Page 6
The working group agreed to develop two products to support technology leaders, this
guidebook and a report assessing AI policy entitled “From Ethics to Operations: Current Federal
AI Policy.”3 The AI policy framework report includes all categories of policy related to AI; a
review of current AI policy, legislative, and regulatory activities; an assessment of the current
federal AI policy environment; and recommendations for using the framework to promote a
comprehensive, consistent, and accurate federal AI policy environment.
This guidebook compliments the policy framework, establishing a solid structure that covers the
key principles and best practices for AI application while still fulfilling the objectives of the
Federal Government AI Strategy. The working group first announced the idea of this guidebook
at the May 2021 AIDA Summit. The full ATARC timeline described above is shown in
Figure 3.
Figure 3: History of ATARC
Digital Government Strategy

The Digital Government Strategy aims to serve the American people by combining government
data and AI to fuel innovation and improve services, allow the easy access of high-quality digital
government information and services at any point or place, and ensure that the government
takes the opportunity to acquire and manage devices, applications, and data efficiently,
securely, and affordably through the digital world. In 2011, President Barack Obama signed two
Executive Orders directing both the public and private sectors to build the Digital Government
3
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355165955_From_Ethics_to_Operations_Current_Federal_AI_Policy
Page 7

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Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA) Guidebook

Figure 1: ATARC Overview

Figure 2: AIDA WG Foundational Statements

Figure 3: History of ATARC

Digital Government Strategy

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