Connect with us

Technology

The goal of the new direct hire authority is to help agencies with the AI talent boom

Published

on

The goal of the new direct hire authority is to help agencies with the AI talent boom

In keeping with the Biden administration’s major push to hire more AI specialists across the government, the Office of Personnel Management is attempting to facilitate the hiring of AI specialists by agencies.

In a memo released on Friday, OPM stated that it has granted direct hire authority for a few government-wide positions, including IT specialist, computer scientist, computer engineer, and management and program analyst.

“This authorization will assist agency efforts to increase AI capabilities in the federal government,” OPM said in the memo.

With immediate effect, the direct hire authority enables agencies to appoint people to four distinct AI-related positions in specific grade levels on the General Schedule using a more efficient procedure.

The authority covers appointments to competitive service, career, career-conditional, term, and temporary positions and is applicable to newly hired federal employees across the country.

President Joe Biden signed a comprehensive executive order on AI in October, and OPM was granted authorization to hire people directly a few months later. The executive order gave OPM the responsibility of spearheading the hiring of AI specialists for all government agencies.

OPM stated in the memo that agencies can only appoint people directly to positions that will be directly related to implementing the AI executive order, even though roles like IT specialist can have a fairly broad scope.

Direct hire authority generally seeks to expedite the hiring process for agencies by doing away with some candidate rating and ranking processes. According to OPM’s website, agencies are typically granted direct hire authority to fill positions “when a critical hiring need or severe shortage of candidates exists.”

OPM also granted agencies direct hiring authority in September 2023 to add more senior-level workers in operations research and data science, two more fields that might further assist AI-related work. In addition, OPM stated in the memo dated December 29 that specific Schedule A appointments are now permitted to help with the executive order’s implementation.

However, it won’t be simple to staff the government’s AI workforce extensively. Former Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer Maria Roat told Federal News Network that in order to integrate AI into their mission, agencies will need to aggressively hire data scientists and computer scientists.

Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office recently noted that while there may be promising uses of AI for agency work, many applications of AI in government are still in the planning stages rather than being fully implemented.

OPM still has work to do to comply with the AI executive order’s requirements. OPM is also responsible for providing agencies with guidance on how to leverage incentive pay plans or current pay flexibilities to draw AI specialists into government employment. Furthermore, OPM will spearhead a government-wide pooled hiring initiative aimed at integrating AI specialists into agencies.

Jobs at AI.gov are posted in a job portal for those interested in applying to various fellowship programs or working for the government as an AI specialist.

For the four AI-related jobs, OPM may terminate the direct hire authority at any time before December 31, 2028, whichever comes first.

OPM stated that it will keep searching for other jobs involving AI-related work in the interim and assist agencies in staffing up in the area as needed.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Technology

Apple’s own 5G modem-equipped iPhone SE 4 is “confirmed” to launch in March

Published

on

Tom O’Malley, an analyst at Barclays, recently visited Asia with his colleagues to speak with suppliers and makers of electronics. The analysts said they had “confirmed” that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is scheduled to launch near the end of the first quarter next year in a research note they released this week that outlines the main conclusions from the trip. That timeline implies that the next iPhone SE will be unveiled in March, similar to when the present model was unveiled in 2022, in keeping with earlier rumors.

The rumored features of the fourth-generation iPhone SE include a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer A-series chip, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM to enable Apple Intelligence support, and the previously mentioned Apple-designed 5G modem. The SE is anticipated to have a similar design to the base iPhone 14.

Since 2018, Apple is said to have been developing its own 5G modem for iPhones, a move that will let it lessen and eventually do away with its reliance on Qualcomm. With Qualcomm’s 5G modem supply arrangement for iPhone launches extended through 2026 earlier this year, Apple still has plenty of time to finish switching to its own modem. In addition to the fourth-generation iPhone SE, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier stated that the so-called “iPhone 17 Air” would come with a 5G modem that was created by Apple.

Whether Apple’s initial 5G modem would offer any advantages to consumers over Qualcomm’s modems, such quicker speeds, is uncertain.

Qualcomm was sued by Apple in 2017 for anticompetitive behavior and $1 billion in unpaid royalties. In 2019, Apple purchased the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business after the two firms reached a settlement in the dispute. Apple was able to support its development by acquiring a portfolio of patents relating to cellular technology. It appears that we will eventually be able to enjoy the results of our effort in four more months.

On March 8, 2022, Apple made the announcement of the third-generation iPhone SE online. With antiquated features like a Touch ID button, a Lightning port, and large bezels surrounding the screen, the handset resembles the iPhone 8. The iPhone SE presently retails for $429 in the United States, but the new model may see a price increase of at least a little.

Continue Reading

Technology

Google is said to be discontinuing the Pixel Tablet 2 and may be leaving the market once more

Published

on

Google terminated the development of the Pixel Tablet 3 yesterday, according to Android Headlines, even before a second-generation model was announced. The second-generation Pixel Tablet has actually been canceled, according to the report. This means that the gadget that was released last year will likely be a one-off, and Google is abandoning the tablet market for the second time in just over five years.

If accurate, the report indicates that Google has determined that it is not worth investing more money in a follow-up because of the dismal sales of the Pixel Tablet. Rumors of a keyboard accessory and more functionality for the now-defunct project surfaced as recently as last week.

It’s important to keep in mind that Google’s Nest subsidiary may abandon its plans for large-screen products in favor of developing technologies like the Nest Hub and Hub Max rather than standalone tablets.

Google has always had difficulty making a significant impact in the tablet market and creating a competitor that can match Apple’s iPad in terms of sales and general performance, not helped in the least by its inconsistent approach. Even though the hardware was good, it never really fought back after getting off to a promising start with the Nexus 7 eons ago. Another problem that has hampered Google’s efforts is that Android significantly trails iPadOS in terms of the quantity of third-party apps that are tablet-optimized.

After the Pixel Slate received tremendously unfavorable reviews, the firm first declared that it was finished producing tablets in 2019. Two tablets that were still in development at the time were discarded.

By 2022, however, Google had altered its mind and declared that a tablet was being developed by its Pixel hardware team. The $499 Pixel Tablet was the final version of the gadget, which came with a speaker dock that the tablet could magnetically connect to. (Google would subsequently charge $399 for the tablet alone.)

Continue Reading

Technology

Windows 11 PCs with Arm Processors now have an Official ISO for Clean Installations

Published

on

Power users occasionally prefer to start over when they acquire a new computer, so they follow the pro-gamers’ advice and reinstall Windows using a brand-new ISO image that comes straight from Microsoft and is free of bloatware and needlessly complex “driver management programs.” Up until recently, the new Snapdragon laptops’ more specialized version of Windows 11 didn’t support that.

The Windows 11 build on these new laptops is unusual because of the Arm64-based hardware, which differs from the typical x86 and x64 innards found in most laptops and desktops. Microsoft has finally released a disk image (or ISO file) for these devices after several months of waiting. To perform a direct reinstallation or make a bootable flash drive for a different device, you may now download it straight from Microsoft’s website. It is identical to the installation media utility that is currently available.

Be aware that there may be some glitches if you use this method for a fresh install. Compared to previous designs, the Snapdragon X system-on-a-chip has a lot fewer hardware variables, but because it’s so new, Windows Update might not include all the necessary components. You may need to use an Ethernet connection or the old-fashioned sneakernet to manually load drivers from another computer. You may also need to do some Googling to locate all the files you require for that.

Continue Reading

Trending

error: Content is protected !!