WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 You're welcome. Have a great day,  everyone. All right, bye-bye. Thank you,   00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:12.900 guys. All right, guys, we're going to  move in now to our next presentation. 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:22.920 We're going to have our next presentation by  Miss Dana Chisnell, Acting Executive Director   00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:29.820 for Customer Experience at the Department of  Homeland Security. Hello, Dana, can you hear me? 00:00:34.860 --> 00:00:36.120 >> Yes, I can hear you. 00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:39.420 >> All right, I can see you. I just want to  make sure that you can hear me. Sometimes   00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:44.220 that transition, you know, between presenters,  you just never know what happens. Just want to   00:00:44.220 --> 00:00:49.980 make sure everything is working smoothly. Very  good. Seeing you again today, I appreciate that. 00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:56.760 >> Likewise, thank you for introducing  me, as you do that ritual where I ask,   00:00:56.760 --> 00:01:00.660 are you seeing my slides for the  sighted people in the audience? 00:01:03.260 --> 00:01:07.920 >> And I can't hear anyone, so  that's right. So if you guys can   00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.580 see the slides and if you can hear Miss  Chisnell, please put a one in the chat. 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:20.400 Okay, the ones are coming in hot and  heavy again. Looks like we are good to go. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:26.820 >> Excellent! Thank you so much. Hello  everyone, I'm Dana Chisnell. I'm Acting   00:01:26.820 --> 00:01:32.040 Executive Director for Customer Experience  at the Department of Homeland Security. My   00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:39.060 pronouns are she/her. I'm an older white  woman with short graying brown hair and   00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:44.400 I wear brown square glasses. Today, I'm  wearing a red speckled blouse with a bow.   00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.440 I am a person who has not been willing  to admit that I may be disabled. 00:01:50.100 --> 00:01:54.720 The last panel was really fantastic, and I  can't thank the speakers enough for sharing   00:01:54.720 --> 00:02:02.100 their knowledge and experience and being out  with their disabilities. I'm really honored   00:02:02.100 --> 00:02:08.460 to get to speak with you all today and welcome our  employees and contractors and our agency partners. 00:02:10.260 --> 00:02:16.440 What I want to talk about is how an inclusive  environment that centers experiences means   00:02:16.440 --> 00:02:22.380 creating an accessible environment, and I loved  Annette's metaphor, the best metaphor of the day,   00:02:22.380 --> 00:02:27.240 the blueberry muffin thing. I'm  stealing that, it's awesome. 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:35.220 So, the Department of Homeland Security,  with its wide range of operating components,   00:02:35.220 --> 00:02:40.980 has about 1 billion interactions, in  person, with the public every year.   00:02:41.880 --> 00:02:48.060 The numbers and the scale are staggering,  really. This slide shows a few examples,   00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:55.020 for, um, one, roughly 25 million people  survive natural disasters every year.   00:02:56.580 --> 00:03:07.380 The Customs and Border Protection, um, offices  and ports of Entry process around 492,000   00:03:07.380 --> 00:03:19.500 passengers every day. USCIS conducted about  9,900 Refugee interviews in 2021. Employers   00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:31.200 verified around 225,759 people through USCIS'  e-verify Service, uh, just in FY22. 00:03:34.380 --> 00:03:41.160 750 million people travel through  U.S airports every year, and TSA   00:03:41.160 --> 00:03:47.040 screens about 8 million Travelers  per week under TSA pre-check alone. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:55.140 So, um, customers at DHS span from  disaster survivors to refugees to   00:03:55.140 --> 00:04:01.560 domestic and international Travelers, along with  employers and non-citizens, and so many others.   00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:11.640 For the customer experience team in DHS OCIO,  we also see DHS employees as our customers   00:04:11.640 --> 00:04:15.360 because we know that the experience  that you have as an employee   00:04:16.380 --> 00:04:22.980 leaks out into the customer experience for the  public. That if you are comfortable and have   00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:29.100 what you need to do your work, um, you're going  to deliver a better experience to the public. 00:04:30.780 --> 00:04:35.940 A key element of customer experience design is  understanding who your customers are and what   00:04:35.940 --> 00:04:41.880 their needs are. Their needs also come  with context, right? So, like, what are   00:04:41.880 --> 00:04:49.860 they trying to achieve and, and why? What's the  context they're in and, um, when they're trying   00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:55.020 to achieve their goals? Is it stressful, is it  noisy, do they have everything that they need,   00:04:55.980 --> 00:05:02.280 what do they know already about the service or the  process, and what they will have to learn while   00:05:02.280 --> 00:05:11.220 they're trying to reach their own goals? How much  do they know, um, sorry, how are their skills in   00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:17.040 understanding how government is organized? This is  the thing that we force people to do, right? Like,   00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:24.480 you have to know which agency to go to for which  things, which, um, is not always intuitive. 00:05:26.340 --> 00:05:30.600 What physical, cognitive, or intellectual  disabilities might someone have?   00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:38.400 What's the literacy level that they have, and  what amount of English do they actually have   00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:43.200 to understand all of that? We borrow  heavily from a set of methods from humans,   00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:52.260 design, instead of real people, we make  interactions accessible and equitable. 00:05:55.620 --> 00:06:01.200 So, looking at the shared goals of accessibility  and customer experience across DHS, um,   00:06:01.200 --> 00:06:07.380 is what I'm here to talk to you about today. So,  integrating accessibility best practices during   00:06:07.380 --> 00:06:12.900 design, um, putting, mixing the blueberries  in the muffin, not leaving them on top.   00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:17.580 Um, integrating accessibility  practices during design and   00:06:17.580 --> 00:06:21.780 development will enhance the customer  experience for everyone. Accessibility   00:06:21.780 --> 00:06:25.920 further improves customer engagement  by removing barriers to content. 00:06:26.700 --> 00:06:33.240 I'm going to cover three areas of shared goals  between CX and accessibility and highlight an   00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:39.120 example of each of the goals currently in  our work streams. Lots of these overlap   00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:43.860 and the examples could be interchangeable  with any of these areas to some degree. 00:06:45.780 --> 00:06:52.740 So, first, we want to talk about inclusive design.  Um, as I mentioned, a lot of people are very   00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:57.360 stressed when they interact with the Department of  Homeland Security, to think they're high, right?   00:06:57.960 --> 00:07:06.540 Um, people need benefits often in a hurry and,  or they need decisions quickly for a variety   00:07:06.540 --> 00:07:13.440 of reasons. So, there's an added cognitive load  that disables people even further than they might   00:07:13.440 --> 00:07:21.540 already be. Many people DHS interacts with have  low English as well. The department is getting   00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:28.260 better at language access, but there's still a  considerable way to go on this. But we don't talk   00:07:28.260 --> 00:07:36.540 about enough and don't design services well for is  low literacy. About 54% of American adults read at   00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:44.400 or below the sixth-grade level. This covers a lot  of territory, uh, a lot of humans. But when you   00:07:44.400 --> 00:07:51.780 add in refugees and asylees who are not citizens  yet, and people coming through parole programs,   00:07:51.780 --> 00:08:00.900 uh, they're very likely to have low literacy as  well. Um, but DHS tends to default to delivering   00:08:00.900 --> 00:08:07.620 information in print that is challenging for  lots of people to comprehend, even for people   00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:13.800 with high literacy. So, we're asking the question,  why does this happen and what can we do about it? 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:21.780 So, as CX and OAST partner closely, uh,  the result will be increased capacity to   00:08:21.780 --> 00:08:28.020 better address intersections of identity. So,  think about structurally minoritized and, uh,   00:08:28.020 --> 00:08:32.340 or racialized individuals who  also live with disabilities,   00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:39.720 people with low English proficiency, uh, and  more. So, uh, we're going to be realigning   00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:47.220 CX and Accessibility together to increase all  that capacity, and I'm very excited about that. 00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:56.280 So, um, here's an example. Uh, we're talking  about accessible plain language. The CX team   00:08:56.280 --> 00:09:03.120 in OCIO is spinning up a new accessible plain  language practice, um, and we're doing that   00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:10.320 by establishing a dedicated group within a  vision to provide accessible, anti-racist,   00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:15.960 culturally responsive, equitable, and  inclusive plain language services.   00:09:16.980 --> 00:09:26.040 For them, we are also planning to do this  by delivering on the secretary's priority   00:09:26.040 --> 00:09:30.060 on improving equity and indeed just  programs, policies, and initiatives,   00:09:30.060 --> 00:09:36.180 including through increasing language access  by reviewing complaint processes, as well as   00:09:36.180 --> 00:09:43.920 the I-Speak materials to ensure resources  are accessible, meaningful, comprehensible,   00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:52.200 um, and meets the needs of low English proficiency  and low literacy folks. We're going to champion   00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:59.880 plain language and language access as core skills  that everyone across DHS should take into account. 00:10:04.920 --> 00:10:12.240 As you can imagine, taking initiatives like  this, um, mean that there's a lot of culture   00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:17.160 change involved. So, part of the culture  change is addressing this idea of customer,   00:10:17.160 --> 00:10:24.900 um, the CX team reframes this to talking about  human-centered or user-centered, um, Services,   00:10:24.900 --> 00:10:31.980 which makes the goal more relatable. So, you may  have noticed that at the beginning of the, um,   00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:38.580 presentation, I talked about customers and, um,  named the different kinds. That's where we focus,   00:10:39.900 --> 00:10:46.260 um, so we asked the question, um, if we do a  great job with this service or this product,   00:10:46.260 --> 00:10:51.540 whose lives are improved and in  what ways. That conversation also   00:10:51.540 --> 00:10:56.760 supports talking about outcomes rather than  outputs, so how we approach this culture   00:10:56.760 --> 00:11:02.040 change is by leveraging partnerships, working  together with internal partners within DHS,   00:11:02.040 --> 00:11:08.520 and collaborating with community organizations  to facilitate these, um, human-centered outcomes. 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:18.240 So, um, partnering with NGOs helps us  to understand the needs of non-citizens,   00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:23.880 for example, um, there are a couple of notable  examples projects that I can talk about. One   00:11:23.880 --> 00:11:29.160 of them is that we collaborated with Customs and  Border Protection to improve the user experience   00:11:29.160 --> 00:11:36.840 for the CBP One mobile application that people  are using to submit Advanced information, um,   00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:46.140 to a Port of Entry to get an appointment to, um,  be screened for parole. We get to partner with   00:11:46.140 --> 00:11:51.480 other parts of the organization as well, like ICE,  which is working on Plain language observation   00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:57.240 for non-citizens who are apprehended at the  border, so they know what process they're in   00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:06.060 and what their obligations are under whatever, um,  immigration status that they have. So, we partner   00:12:06.060 --> 00:12:12.720 a lot with internal offices in DHS, such as the  Civil Rights and Civil Liberties group, I.T.,   00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:18.840 and many more to create a culture that centers  accessibility, um, and customer experience.   00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:25.680 Through the DHS paperwork reduction act burden  reduction initiative, that was a lot of words, and   00:12:25.680 --> 00:12:32.700 I'm sorry for anybody who's doing sign language  interpretation or, um, if the transcription didn't   00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:40.560 come through very well. Through the DHS paperwork  reduction act burden reduction initiative,   00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:49.140 CX partnered with components to implement  various initiatives using human-centered burden   00:12:49.140 --> 00:12:56.460 reduction methods to build more equitable customer  experiences for both employees and for the public. 00:13:01.380 --> 00:13:09.240 Third, um, a lot of, um, the modernization that is  happening that many of you are probably involved   00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:16.380 with across the Department of Homeland Security  isn't public-facing. Um, it's improving systems   00:13:16.380 --> 00:13:22.620 for government, um, personnel. Um, it's important  because the experience they have leaks into the   00:13:22.620 --> 00:13:28.620 experience that our public customers have.  Additionally, um, accessibility must be a   00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:36.240 core consideration from the start of the project.  Right now, um, for example, DHS treats video with   00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:44.760 captions and audio and language in other languages  besides English as exceptions, mostly because, um,   00:13:44.760 --> 00:13:52.080 I believe the organization doesn't have good tools  or resources. There aren't enough people who have   00:13:52.080 --> 00:14:00.240 the skills to implement these things. Um, we're  going from policy directives to or guidance to   00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:08.160 plain language printed public information and to  other delivery channels, so we need to do better   00:14:08.160 --> 00:14:13.980 on these things. And so I call on everyone who  is in this virtual room today to think about   00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:23.640 how the information that you're creating that  ultimately goes out to the public, um, how you   00:14:23.640 --> 00:14:31.860 can make sure that that's transportable to lots  of other delivery methods and reception methods   00:14:33.780 --> 00:14:40.500 by incorporating best practices like usability  testing. We can save customers a significant   00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:47.820 amount of time and energy because we'll have a  much better, um, idea of what their needs are. 00:14:52.260 --> 00:14:58.860 So, um, I mentioned that we were working with ICE  on, um, informed compliance for non-citizens who   00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:05.280 are in the country. Um, the Secretary's priority,  Secretary Mayorkas, has created a priority that   00:15:05.280 --> 00:15:12.240 includes, um, establishing and implementing a  research-driven framework for communications with   00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:19.080 non-citizens who are apprehended at the Southwest  border that increases compliance with proceedings   00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:30.900 and language access. And this is meant to stretch  across DHS, so from our website at dhs.gov to CBP   00:15:30.900 --> 00:15:38.580 One, the app from Customs and Border Protection,  the ICE non-citizen website and portal for   00:15:41.280 --> 00:15:52.080 scheduling updates, and related websites and other  information at USCIS and the Department of Justice   00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:58.800 because this process stretches into that. We  want to cover all of those things digitally as   00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:04.140 well as through other kinds of messaging and  any kinds of fact sheets that might go out.   00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:16.140 So, um, the DHS CX team has taken on several  multilateral initiatives aimed at simplifying   00:16:16.140 --> 00:16:22.860 the experience that non-citizens are having as  they navigate the immigration system. Right now,   00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:27.060 it looks like you're interacting with four  different governments, not different parts   00:16:27.060 --> 00:16:34.980 of the same government. And so, we would like  to take the first steps toward rectifying that,   00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:41.760 making it easier to, um, to make sure  that you're meeting your responsibilities. 00:16:43.860 --> 00:16:51.000 The goal is improving case management,  um, and compliance, really. So, our team   00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:59.400 is partnering with ICE to deliver designs for  a website, um, as a first step. And then with   00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:04.500 Customs and Border Protection, ICE, uh,  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,   00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:12.120 and various working groups that are involved in  the southwestern border, we've pulled together   00:17:12.120 --> 00:17:18.540 a little working group to agree on an approach,  um, to ensure that migrants and non-citizens, uh,   00:17:18.540 --> 00:17:25.020 can get the information they need, understand  what they find, and take actions to comply. 00:17:29.520 --> 00:17:34.440 So, by creating equitable, accessible,  and human-centered services,   00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:39.120 we build a strong foundation  of trust in the agency.   00:17:40.260 --> 00:17:47.640 So, we'll know that we're successful when we're  all asking, whenever we have a decision to make,   00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:54.060 what are the outcomes that we want for the people  we're serving, and what's the experience we want   00:17:54.060 --> 00:18:01.680 them to have as they're reaching that?  That is where I want to finish out today,   00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:07.340 and now I'll be happy to take questions.  Vince, are there any questions for me? 00:18:07.340 --> 00:18:14.160 >> Yeah, they'll let me—let me get off  of, uh, mute. There, yeah, that was great.   00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:21.180 So, folks, this gives you an opportunity to ask  all of your questions, um, to Ms. Chisnell. That   00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:24.600 was a great presentation. I think that was a  lot of information. I was actually making notes,   00:18:24.600 --> 00:18:30.180 like always. I was trying to catch them the  last part, "Equitable, accessible," and then   00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:34.560 I lost you. You took the screen down right when  I was trying to get that last part written down. 00:18:34.560 --> 00:18:44.820 >> I'll bring it back, okay? Could I do this again  twice without—oh, you're doing great. All right,   00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:50.760 that's about how to do this, is what I want  to do. There you go. Equitable, accessible,   00:18:50.760 --> 00:18:54.740 and human-centered services, we build trust. 00:18:54.740 --> 00:19:05.760 >> Human-centered services, this is great.  Hopefully, everybody on the call really enjoyed   00:19:05.760 --> 00:19:11.100 that because I really did. Um, this is some  good stuff. I was, um, I always like to take   00:19:11.100 --> 00:19:15.300 a lot of notes from all the presenters, and I  really like the way your presentation kind of   00:19:15.300 --> 00:19:21.960 broke it down in really big chunks, but it wasn't  daunting chunks of information, but it made sense,   00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:26.400 right? So, I was just kind of putting down  some notes here, like the inclusive design,   00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:32.040 accessible plain language, cultural  change, partnership and engagement,   00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:38.040 modernization technology services, especially  the last part about the non-citizen informed   00:19:38.040 --> 00:19:43.260 compliance for the multi-lateral information for  those who are not speaking the same language.   00:19:44.280 --> 00:19:50.280 This is just a lot of great, great information.  And now, people, of course, are saying, "Oh,   00:19:50.280 --> 00:19:55.080 thank you." They want to get access to,  you know, your presentation. But I really   00:19:55.080 --> 00:20:00.240 would like for you guys to ask any questions  that you can think of. So, here's—okay, now   00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:05.280 they're starting to come in. Thank you so much.  Let's see if I can find one here for you, Dana. 00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:08.760 >> Looks like Gary has a question, Gary Morin. 00:20:08.760 --> 00:20:15.240 >> Okay, so is the focus on migrants in  non— and let's see what happened here.   00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:20.340 It looks like it broke apart.  Or over U.S. disabled persons. 00:20:20.340 --> 00:20:27.180 >> So, oh, so it's a good question,  and I can see why you asked that.   00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:33.180 Um, I'm gonna stop sharing.  Um, that's all right. Uh,   00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:39.960 we, uh, I use these examples because they're very  present in the work that we're doing right now,   00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:50.700 but our focus is both on the employee experience,  like what do you need to be the highest performing   00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:58.260 person you can be in your job, we want to  make sure that you have what you need to   00:20:58.260 --> 00:21:05.400 meet the mission. And so, one of the things that  we talk about is, uh, Tool Time versus goal time.   00:21:07.260 --> 00:21:16.980 If you're focused on, uh, the technology that  you're using, uh, that the department is supplying   00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:25.080 for your job, uh, then that means that you're  not focused on delivering on the mission. So,   00:21:25.080 --> 00:21:36.480 for example, uh, I watched an, uh, ICE officer  processing someone, and they had to copy and paste   00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:47.400 information from five different systems into one  PDF, and then print that out, get a wet signature   00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:56.340 from the person they were processing, and then  re-scan that document into a system. That's very   00:21:56.340 --> 00:22:05.100 time-consuming. This is not what the age—like,  these are highly qualified, highly trained agents,   00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:14.880 uh, and they're spending all this time and energy,  uh, on this burdensome administrative stuff.   00:22:16.140 --> 00:22:26.520 Add to that, uh, having to do this with  maybe sub-optimal tools that are not, uh,   00:22:26.520 --> 00:22:35.280 accessible to them because they have some level of  disability, uh, and now it just becomes a major,   00:22:35.280 --> 00:22:42.720 uh, a major ordeal. And looking at this  from the person they're processing, uh,   00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:51.420 from the point of view, there, if that person  comes in with medical issues or disabilities, uh,   00:22:51.420 --> 00:23:02.100 it is often the case that we hand people a printed  document in English, uh, to show what we have done   00:23:02.100 --> 00:23:13.740 in this interaction. And, uh, they may or may  not have, uh, the abilities or the skills to   00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:20.520 understand what that is, which disadvantages  them in whatever process they're part of.   00:23:22.800 --> 00:23:27.120 But the truth is, every day, we're working  with all different parts of the department,   00:23:28.260 --> 00:23:36.120 um, on employee-facing tools and  processes, as well as public-facing, uh,   00:23:36.120 --> 00:23:43.140 services that are digital and analog,  so it really runs the full range. 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:51.180 >> Excellent. Excellent. Someone said inordinate  experience impact outward experiences as well. 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:52.500 >> Love it. 00:23:53.300 --> 00:23:56.280 >> All right, any other questions, folks?   00:24:02.580 --> 00:24:08.520 Looks like, I said, okay, how do we, how do we  serve and support non-Americans with disabilities,   00:24:08.520 --> 00:24:14.640 foreign sign languages, print or digital  materials in languages other than English,   00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:18.300 etc., such as CISA? Kind of what you were  talking about there a little bit but— 00:24:18.300 --> 00:24:28.020 >> Yeah, this is, this is a huge challenge. Uh,  CRCL recently updated the Department language   00:24:28.020 --> 00:24:37.020 access plan, but there's a lot of work to do  every day to operationalize these things. So,   00:24:37.020 --> 00:24:49.920 uh, one thing that we can do for, um, for making  information more accessible in other languages is,   00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:57.600 uh, use video and audio. Uh, we could have audio  readouts of printed documents. This helps lots   00:24:57.600 --> 00:25:08.640 of other people too, right? Uh, and, uh, or, uh,  we can use animated video that has a voiceover,   00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:18.000 so you could make it available in lots of other  languages and in lots of other printed languages   00:25:19.020 --> 00:25:25.920 without a major lift. The key is, like, we're  never going to—okay, I shouldn't say never.   00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:37.200 It will be challenging to meet a goal where we  can communicate with everyone in the language   00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:49.320 that they have, but we can prioritize a large list  and expand our offerings across the department.   00:25:51.120 --> 00:25:57.720 Different programs in DHS serve different  levels of language access right now,   00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:06.120 and some of that is because they have done  the work to know who their audience is,   00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:17.520 and some of it is prioritizing the most  frequently encountered languages and   00:26:18.060 --> 00:26:28.200 then working out to folks who, um, have  languages that are, that we see less so. 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:32.400 Yeah, you just made me think of a couple  of things. I'm a geek at heart, of course,   00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:36.240 so I was just sitting there thinking to myself  as you were talking about, like, how do we   00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:41.880 provide it through some form of multimedia, and  then the first thing came to mind to me was AI,   00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:47.760 using some form of Bot where it doesn't have to be  an individual person, right? But then the person   00:26:47.760 --> 00:26:53.460 could put in, "This is my native language that  I want to be able to convert over from English   00:26:53.460 --> 00:26:58.200 so I really understand exactly what is being  asked of me." So I did make a note of that. 00:26:58.200 --> 00:27:06.000 >> So, yeah, so a few years ago, uh, when I first  came back to Federal service in the spring of,   00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:12.060 uh, 2021, I had done a study where we  were looking at immigration and using   00:27:12.060 --> 00:27:19.560 a dedicated device for translation, um,  in places where it was difficult to get a   00:27:19.560 --> 00:27:26.820 human interpreter in the interaction  quickly, and, uh, two years later,   00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:37.200 uh, agents or and officers are regularly using  Google translate, yep, on your device. It's on the   00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:46.380 most people who they interact with, uh, also have  devices that have Google translate on them, and,   00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:57.120 um, while there are certainly imperfections,  uh, it uh has been reasonably effective   00:27:57.120 --> 00:28:04.620 in helping in many interactions where  we're just not gonna find somebody who's   00:28:05.220 --> 00:28:12.920 speaking, uh, an indigenous Guatemalan  language, uh, you know, in a Port of Entry. 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:16.260 >> Exactly, excellent.   00:28:16.920 --> 00:28:21.840 All right, do we have any more questions? This  is—I'm enjoying this conversation, by the way. 00:28:21.840 --> 00:28:27.360 >> Oh, good, thank you. I could talk about  plain language and language access all day long. 00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:35.280 >> Oh, but you'll see, uh, okay, somebody  said, "Oh, it was Nic." Nic came out and   00:28:35.280 --> 00:28:42.240 actually jumped in and said, AI-powered earbuds  for auto language translation, I like it. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.340 >> A universal translator, oh my God. 00:28:44.340 --> 00:28:49.200 >> Yeah, it's in the future,  we're going to get there. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:51.360 >> No, no, it exists now, there's a company   00:28:51.360 --> 00:28:56.940 selling one that can translate to 132  languages, and, uh, the Google buds,   00:28:56.940 --> 00:29:01.080 they came out and one of their selling  features was the auto translation piece. 00:29:01.080 --> 00:29:04.740 >> Okay, so you know, since nobody  else has the question, you know,   00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:08.820 I want to know a little bit more about  these, says you brought it up, Nic. 00:29:08.820 --> 00:29:10.197 >> Yeah, would you mind, Nicshan? 00:29:10.197 --> 00:29:10.800 >> How does it work? 00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:22.080 >> Yeah, so, you know, everyone's on, on, uh, what  is it, those streaming, um, my wife worked for   00:29:22.080 --> 00:29:31.260 them, I should remember this, people, um, they  talk, right? Yeah, so, TikTok largely uses AI   00:29:31.260 --> 00:29:37.740 to auto-translate from various languages to make  people's videos available on different platforms.   00:29:38.520 --> 00:29:44.280 So that same thing, there are several companies  right now that focus on AI-generated language   00:29:44.280 --> 00:29:49.980 and auto-translation. So there are a couple  of companies that also come out with earbuds,   00:29:49.980 --> 00:29:53.040 and if we know anything, if we've been  following the earbud market lately,   00:29:54.120 --> 00:29:59.760 um, they're being used for three purposes:  one is for music, a second one is to work   00:29:59.760 --> 00:30:06.060 as non-medical device hearing aids, and  the third being for auto-translation.   00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:12.900 So you'll start to see that a lot coming out to  the market is enhanced features but also, too,   00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:19.200 most of you are carrying smart devices,  you probably already have two to three   00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:22.500 language translators built into your smart  device depending on which one you're using.   00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:29.280 Microsoft has its own auto-translation, Google  has its own auto-translation, and then Apple has   00:30:29.280 --> 00:30:33.960 its own auto-translation as well, and those  things are often, uh, they're using, we're   00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:41.120 sharing machine learning, so they're improving  by leaps and bounds almost monthly, it seems. 00:30:41.120 --> 00:30:49.740 >> Interesting, that was awesome, awesome.  All right, let me see if there's a recording,   00:30:51.420 --> 00:31:00.180 see if anybody, uh, is adding any other comments  regarding the Google Translate example the Dana   00:31:00.180 --> 00:31:06.060 shared. Are folks on the ground capturing those  repetitive exchanges to help with informed   00:31:06.060 --> 00:31:11.940 content planning? So many opportunities  are there. This is from Miss Rodriguez. 00:31:12.800 --> 00:31:17.820 >> That is a great idea. I don't  know the answer to that question,   00:31:17.820 --> 00:31:22.140 but I'm going to go back and find  out because we should be doing that. 00:31:22.140 --> 00:31:28.260 >> Yeah, excellent, yeah,  thumbs up on that one, Karla.   00:31:29.820 --> 00:31:34.860 Um, okay, how to go about clearing  the technologies in classified spaces? 00:31:34.860 --> 00:31:43.980 >> Ah, oh, this is really hard, is  this from Alex who asked this question? 00:31:43.980 --> 00:31:47.700 >> It is just from a guest,  they didn't say who they were. 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:58.020 >> Okay, uh, yeah, this is a real challenge.  Uh, I know that, uh, first of all, uh,   00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:06.900 you know, SCIFs are not outfitted, and, um, and  also, some of the equipment that you could take   00:32:06.900 --> 00:32:16.440 in there that is accessible is very old, uh, and  so, uh, we have a lot of work to do on that. If   00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:22.200 there are folks in this audience who would like  to work on that, um, please send me a note,   00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.800 and let's figure out how to organize that because  this is not getting to be a smaller problem,   00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:37.800 uh, over time, and, um, yeah, I'm not quite  sure how to attack it, so very open to ideas. 00:32:37.800 --> 00:32:42.480 >> So, that, that question actually  came from Karla Rodriguez. She said,   00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.700 "Awesome, would be happy to help." 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:47.100 >> Lovely, thank you so much. 00:32:47.100 --> 00:32:54.840 >> And then, uh, let's see, Owen couldn't  ChatGPT used as a language translator for those   00:32:54.840 --> 00:32:58.980 in the field, probably. So, I think that's  kind of early in the stages for a ChatGPT,   00:32:59.580 --> 00:33:03.240 which is less than a year old,  but I'm sure it could be, Owen. 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:11.700 >> Yeah, there are, there are versions out  there or APIs that use the engine that do   00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:19.980 do translation. There's a whole lot to say about  large language models generally, like these are,   00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:31.380 uh, basically auto-complete tools, um,  that are not smart themselves. Right,   00:33:31.380 --> 00:33:34.860 they, they're content generators,  they are not truth tellers.   00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:42.240 Um, and we think that they're not truth tellers in  lots of ways, right, like they do make things up,   00:33:43.560 --> 00:33:51.420 um, because they're extrapolating on their  algorithm, which is the thing that tells them,   00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:59.520 uh, to mimic human conversations.  So, uh, there's some interesting   00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:09.960 ideas that could come out of whatever is next from  ChatGPT, but there are a lot of, uh, as someone   00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:20.280 pointed out in the chat, security concerns and  issues, uh, containing it from what it is, uh,   00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:29.340 actually, um, learning from and sourcing, uh,  so you probably get to see experiments over the   00:34:29.340 --> 00:34:35.160 next few years, less around translation, and  more around, like, customer assistance. So,   00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:41.400 um, like virtual assistants will start,  um, incorporating large language models   00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:46.020 that are trained specifically  on a closed set of information,   00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:54.240 which could work, but might still make stuff  up. I mean, I don't know how you prevent that,   00:34:54.240 --> 00:35:04.140 and so there's, there's a lot of work to do there,  um, but the Secretary created an AI task force,   00:35:04.140 --> 00:35:10.440 uh, and, uh, these kinds of things are,  uh, some of what they'll be looking at. 00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:14.700 >> Excellent. So, we have one more  question from DaShunda McDonley.   00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:22.080 Um, how's the department going about collecting  internal customer experiences to inform CX goals? 00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:29.100 >> Yeah, uh, we're doing a few things. We're  leaning heavily on human-centered design methods,   00:35:29.100 --> 00:35:38.220 so, uh, you probably will see surveys and  questionnaires around, but we are very   00:35:38.220 --> 00:35:44.700 keen on learning much more about the lived  experience through qualitative research. So,   00:35:44.700 --> 00:35:53.880 you may be invited to, uh, to an interview that's  confidential between you and somebody on my team,   00:35:53.880 --> 00:36:02.160 uh, or, uh, maybe a small group of trusted folks  who you're open to having a conversation with,   00:36:02.160 --> 00:36:10.860 uh, or, uh, opening up other lines of, uh,  communication. But what we really love to do   00:36:10.860 --> 00:36:16.740 is field research, where we can go to where you  are doing the work that you are doing, so we can   00:36:16.740 --> 00:36:23.880 see what it's like, uh, every day. So, if you're  disabled, for example, and you are working from   00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:33.540 your home office, uh, and, uh, you, we're working  on an employee experience that, that you have,   00:36:35.040 --> 00:36:46.980 uh, that you work through every day, we might  just, like, hang out with you for a few hours and,   00:36:46.980 --> 00:36:53.220 um, so you can help us know what that experience  is like. I know for my own personal experience,   00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:59.520 um, before I joined the federal  government, I had the chance to work   00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:10.860 on accessibility for a large, uh, financial  company, uh, whose name will go unspoken, uh,   00:37:10.860 --> 00:37:15.660 that, uh, was really interested in making  sure that their new website was accessible   00:37:15.660 --> 00:37:23.520 to people with disabilities, and so we went to  folks' homes, and, um, the first blind person   00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:31.200 who we had as a participant in our study,  uh, invited us in, it was really great,   00:37:31.200 --> 00:37:35.820 but it was dark in the house and all the  lights were turned off, and we sighted people,   00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:42.960 and I had to ask to have the voice turned on so  we, uh, so we didn't trip over something, and,   00:37:43.500 --> 00:37:48.120 um, I think we all learned a lot that day,  and, like, there's just no substitute for,   00:37:49.140 --> 00:37:58.200 um, actually getting to, um, see what the work  is like, see what the context is like, uh, and,   00:37:58.860 --> 00:38:03.660 um, live a little bit of that  lived experience for a snapshot. 00:38:03.660 --> 00:38:10.440 >> 100 percent. So, folks, we  are actually at the 2:50 PM mark.   00:38:11.580 --> 00:38:16.380 It's just now, Dana, thank you so much,  this was great, thank you for being, uh,   00:38:16.380 --> 00:38:21.360 very candid and open and just making this more  conversational, uh, for myself and everybody   00:38:21.360 --> 00:38:26.160 that's on the call. I think it does us great  when we have these opportunities to have these   00:38:26.160 --> 00:38:30.840 type of conversations and just let ideas flow,  because I think that's what it's all about,   00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:36.420 having these collaborative moments. If there are  not any other questions, we are going to close   00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:42.240 out for today with closing remarks by Mr. Nicshan  Floyd. Again, Miss Chisnell, thank you so much. 00:38:42.240 --> 00:38:43.680 >> Great, thank you so much. 00:38:43.680 --> 00:38:53.520 >> All right, so folks, we are going  to close out, um, our day one of