The Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks the public's input on a strategy that aims to address climate change through efforts in forestry and agriculture. USDA said Monday that it needs information on climate-smart agriculture and forestry approaches, bioproducts, renewable energy and wildfire.

The department also seeks insight into how the climate strategy can benefit disadvantaged communities. The strategy will support President Biden’s executive order that aims to address the climate crisis in the U.S. and overseas. 

The order emphasized the significant role of farmers and forest landowners in pursuit of the strategy's goal, with regard to carbon isolation and greenhouse gas reduction.

Interested parties may submit responses through April 30 via the Federal Register.

The National Security Agency’s (NSA) Central Security Service will hold a research event focused on the implementation of principles to address fundamental issues in cybersecurity.

NSA said Monday that  the Hot Topics on Science of Security (HotSoS) event will take place from April 13th to 15th and include virtual plenary presentations and poster sessions through the Hopin and Gather.town platforms, respectively.

The eight HotSoS symposium focuses on cybersecurity and will enable researchers to submit progress papers on relevant topics. The event will also include a breakout session that covers “hard problems” on national security based on proposals from the community.

CSS will accept registrations for HotSoS through April 11th. The call for security hard problems will run through March 21st.

The U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) has concluded a 13-day exercise to assess the capacity of 15 technologies for applications such as offensive cyber, electronic warfare and tactical electromagnetic-spectrum operations, FedScoop reported on Monday.

Cyber Quest 2021 saw assessments of cyber technologies such as an Accenture-developed pattern recognition concept for manipulating digital signatures.

“This is unique because of the dialog it allows,” noted Maj. Gen. Neil Hersey, the Army Cyber Center of Excellence's commanding general. AFC also simulated an airbase attack to test radios with anti-jamming elements as well as features for tracking adversary actions through electromagnetic signatures.

The Army expects the larger-scale tests that took place during the exercise to help inform the service branch’s requirements for future contracts.

Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is slated to implement a consolidated service desk and catalog system that will support more than 700,000 users worldwide.

The first wave of the Enterprise IT-as-a-Service (EITaaS) platform features integrated security management capabilities, automated compliance checks and regular hardware and refresh updates, the U.S. Air Force said Monday. USAF aims to augment devices and speed up login times across U.S. Space Force and Air Force installations through the Wave 1 update.

The Department of the Air Force launched the EITaaS program in a move to deliver a standardized and agile information technology service to USSF and USAF. The team intends to work with industry and offer a contract in 2022 to deliver enhanced network performance to airmen.

“The partnership between EITaaS and the private sector on Wave 1 will set the foundation for delivering enterprise services across the Air and Space Forces,” said Col. Justin Collins, senior materiel leader at USAF’s enterprise information technology and cloud capabilities division, command, control, communications, intelligence and networks directorate.

The Wave 1 update is a part of the EITaaS Risk Reduction Effort, a feasibility assessment program that seeks to study security, operational, organizational and technical standards for enterprise IT systems.

Robert Work, vice chairman of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), said the U.S. must integrate autonomy and AI into systems warfare to stay ahead of adversaries, FCW reported Monday.

Work told the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Armed Services Subcommittee on cyber, innovative technologies and information systems at a joint hearing that the U.S. needs a universal cloud-based digital infrastructure like the Joint AI Center’s Joint Common Foundation (JCF) to support the development and identification of use cases for AI.

“This will literally affect every operation, mission that we do. And it’s going to require a different way of training our and educating our commanders and our people,” he noted.

Eric Schmidt, chair of NSCAI, added that the Department of Defense (DOD) needs to have a stronger stance on large-scale AI adoption. He noted that this entails more resources and control at the commander and combatant command levels.

NSCAI cited recommendations in its report such as more funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to conduct multiple research efforts on the use of AI for disinformation campaigns.

Cobham‘s mission systems business said Tuesday its space pyrotechnic valves on the NASA Perseverance rover mission supported precise landing on Mars. Eight valves fired at exactly the right moment to allow an on-target guided entry, descent and landing on Mars as the Rover’s transitioned from parachute to retrorockets deceleration.

“Cobham Mission Systems is so proud to support NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with proven space propulsion solutions that power Mars exploration,” said Craig Ryan, integrated product team director for Space Systems at Cobham Mission Systems.

During Perseverance’s seven-month voyage to Mars, the pyrovalves were kept closed to isolate fuel until the journey’s final minutes. During the Rover’s descent, the pyrovalves enabled precise navigation and landing by releasing needed fuel on cue, safely landing Perseverance into the scientifically rich location selected by NASA scientists.

Cobham Mission Systems’ pyrovalves are compatible with NASA Standard Initiators and are fully flight qualified.

“We have a long heritage of providing space technologies, starting with the design of John Glenn’s breathing regulator used in the world-famous Project Mercury flight in 1962. Nearly sixty years later, we are delighted to play a role in the successful Perseverance rover Mars landing. Congratulations to the NASA [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] team and all involved,” concluded Ryan.