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Government Technology/News/Press Releases
GAO: Army Must Consider Risks in Rapid Dev’t of Next-Gen Combat Vehicles 
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on August 7, 2020
GAO: Army Must Consider Risks in Rapid Dev’t of Next-Gen Combat Vehicles 

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the U.S. Army needs to consider potential risks such as cost uncertainties and program delays when prioritizing the rapid development of next-generation combat vehicles (NGCV).

GAO said in a report released Thursday that such obstacles could also lead to delays in engineering reviews, resulting in an increased risk of technical problems in the NGCV platforms.

According to the report, the Army implements both traditional and middle-tier acquisition approaches and was able to mitigate risks in NGCV programs like the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle and Mobile Protected Firepower. However, the watchdog noted that the Army postponed crucial system engineering assessments and took steps that are inconsistent with GAO’s best practices.

GAO noted that implementing leading practices in program management that reflect cost uncertainties and appropriate engineering reviews "could improve Army's ability to provide insight to decision makers and deliver capability to the warfighter on time and at or near expected costs."

The Army has taken actions such as establishing cross-functional teams to oversee program requirements and coordinating with other Department of Defense entities for cost and risk assessments.

Government Technology/News/Press Releases
DARPA Eyes Industry Partnerships for Rapid Launch Initiatives
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on August 7, 2020
DARPA Eyes Industry Partnerships for Rapid Launch Initiatives

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to tap the private sector after declaring no contest winners for the agency’s commercial launch competition, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

DARPA previously selected Virgin Orbit, Vector Space and Atmosphere and Space Technology Research Associates (Astra) for the DARPA Launch Challenge in 2018. Virgin backed out of the competition while Vector filed for bankruptcy last year. Astra, the sole competitor, failed to conduct the launch within the specified time period.

The rapid-launch competition offered $2 million to any competitor that completed the first launch. DARPA would award $10 million for the first-prize winner of the second launch, $9 million as a second-place prize and $8 million for the third placer.

“As we start to look at space as a warfighting domain in the future, we need to really take a closer look at how do we promote speed as a priority," said Todd Master, program manager for the DARPA Launch Challenge, in a prior interview.

Master said DARPA is looking into integrating the rapid-launch concept into other military activities such as the Rim of the Pacific exercise. The agency also plans to coordinate with the U.S. Space Force and other entities for related efforts, according to the report.

Government Technology/News
University of Arizona to Build, Operate Quantum Network Center Under $51M NSF Grant; CQN Director Saikat Guha
by Nichols Martin
Published on August 7, 2020
University of Arizona to Build, Operate Quantum Network Center Under $51M NSF Grant; CQN Director Saikat Guha

The National Science Foundation (NSF) will award a potential 10-year, $50.6 million grant to the University of Arizona for work to manage a new engineering research center.

The Center for Quantum Networks (CQN) will tackle the creation of an internet-like network specifically designed to link quantum computers, the university said Tuesday. The grant holds a five-year base period valued at $26 million and a five-year, $24.6 million option period.

"The transformation of today's internet through quantum technology will spur entirely new tech industries and create an innovation ecosystem of quantum devices and components, service providers and applications," said Saikat Guha, CQN director.

CQN aims to create a medium through which quantum computing devices can exchange information in the form of quantum bits that boost processing capacity. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale University and Harvard University will serve as partners for the effort.

Cybersecurity/News
Tenable Achieves FedRAMP “In Process” Designation; Bill Kurtz Quoted
by William McCormick
Published on August 7, 2020
Tenable Achieves FedRAMP “In Process” Designation; Bill Kurtz Quoted

Tenable announced on Friday that the company has achieved the “In Process” designation from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) for Tenable.io, the company’s cloud-based vulnerability management platform.

“As a cloud-first company, we understand the importance of and reliance on secure cloud computing, especially in environments as sensitive and critical as the federal government,” said Bill Kurtz, vice president of public sector sales at Tenable.

The FedRAMP “In Process” designation indicates that the company is actively working towards a complete FedRAMP authorization. With an official FedRAMP authorization, the federal government will deploy Tenable.io and Tenable.io Web Application Scanning across various departments and agencies.

“The federal government has relied on our best-of-breed on-premises vulnerability management solutions for decades and we’re excited to soon be able to offer our cloud-based enterprise platform, Tenable.io,” Kurtz added.

Tenable.io provides the industry’s most comprehensive vulnerability coverage with the ability to understand cyber risk and predict which vulnerabilities need to be remediated first.

Tenable.io, powered by Nessus technology, is built on an open and elastic platform. It continuously tracks and assesses known and unknown assets and their vulnerabilities in customer environments to provide a risk-based view of the entire attack surface — from IT to cloud to web applications.

About Tenable

Tenable, Inc. is the Cyber Exposure company. Over 30,000 organizations around the globe rely on Tenable to understand and reduce cyber risk. As the creator of Nessus, Tenable extended its expertise in vulnerabilities to deliver the world’s first platform to see and secure any digital asset on any computing platform.

DoD/News/Press Releases
Mark Esper Announces Operations Security Training Requirements for All DoD Personnel
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 7, 2020
Mark Esper Announces Operations Security Training Requirements for All DoD Personnel

Mark Esper, secretary of the Department of Defense (DoD) and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, has released a memo about DoD’s new operations security training requirements for civilian employees, service members  and on-site contractors, Government Executive reported Thursday.

Esper’s July 20 memo requires all DoD personnel to watch a video message from the secretary, complete the four modules as part of the mandatory training within 60 days and save certificates of the training to prove completion. Those training modules can be accessed through the department’s Center for the Development of Security Excellence website.

OPSEC Awareness for Military Members, DoD Employees and Contractors; Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Information for DoD and Industry; Insider Threat Awareness; and Introduction to Information Security are the four courses all DoD personnel should take, according to the memo.

The report said the updated OPSEC training requirements came after Esper told Senate lawmakers that he had initiated an investigation into unauthorized information disclosures to the New York Times.

Government Technology/News
NSA’s Greg Smithberger: Cross-Agency Team Looking at Mission Areas That Can Accommodate Remote Work
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 7, 2020
NSA’s Greg Smithberger: Cross-Agency Team Looking at Mission Areas That Can Accommodate Remote Work

Greg Smithberger, chief information officer at the National Security Agency (NSA), shared at an Intelligence and National Security Alliance-hosted virtual panel discussion how the NSA works to ensure continuity of work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, C4ISRNET reported Thursday. 

“[T]here’s a pretty interesting cross-agency team right now is looking really hard at all the mission areas that could be doing more on the low side, and our ability to really open up telework,” Smithberger said.

Smithberger, who also leads NSA’s capabilities directorate, said the agency is working on an environment that would enable collaboration with those without security clearances but can provide support to the NSA’s cybersecurity initiatives, capabilities mission or research work.

“It’s kind of become more of a standard for us … to see how much we can actually do in a less protected environment,” Smithberger said. He added that he wants the NSA “to work with some corporate partners who in some cases simply don’t have access to a [sensitive compartmented information facility], but are fully clearing people.”

Government Technology/GSA/News
Julie Dunne on Cornerstone Projects in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Summer 2020 Release
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 7, 2020
Julie Dunne on Cornerstone Projects in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Summer 2020 Release

Julie Dunne, commissioner of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), said GSA provided updates on Multiple Award Schedule Consolidation, Catalog Management, Commercial Platforms Initiative and other cornerstone projects through its Federal Marketplace Strategy Summer 2020 Release.

Dunne wrote in a blog post published Thursday the release announced the completion of the second phase of MAS Consolidation on July 31 and noted the potential benefits to workforce and industry partners once the multiple contract consolidation phase is completed.

“Once complete, our industry partners will have just one Schedule contract with GSA – streamlining their business operations with us,” Dunne wrote. “And, the workforce has fewer contracts to manage, so they can focus on excellence in service delivery. This is really a win-win-win for everyone.”

For the Commercial Platforms, Dunne said GSA has awarded Amazon Business, Overstock.com and Fisher Scientific contracts to support the agency’s proof of concept to test e-marketplace platforms to facilitate the procurement process. She noted that the agency expects to launch the proof of concept in August.

GSA has begun developing the core infrastructure for the Authoritative Catalog Repository as part of the cloud-based Catalog Management project and awarded a contract to build the Verified Products Portal, which will collect product information from manufacturers.

Government Technology/News
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Gets Energy Security Updates
by Nichols Martin
Published on August 6, 2020
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Gets Energy Security Updates

The U.S. Marine Corps is working to update energy security technologies at MC Base Camp Pendleton for augmented command and control across more than 600 facilities.

The update includes repairs, new equipment installation, new utilities and setting up of facility control systems, USMC said Wednesday.

"By installing new LED lighting, boilers, meters and a fiber and radio network, we are significantly reducing Camp Pendleton’s energy consumption," said Lt. j.g. Clayten White, the camp's utilities program manager. 

USMC is pursuing this modernization effort under the Utility Energy Services Contract that aims to improve the energy and water systems at federal facilities and reduce associated consumption.

The government spent $12.7M on the update and will use the resulting cost savings to pay for the effort's expenses over a 13-year period.

Government Technology/News
USAF AFWERX Event Tackles Opportunities to Rebuild, Modernize Tyndall AFB; Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, Lowell Usrey Quoted
by Nichols Martin
Published on August 6, 2020
USAF AFWERX Event Tackles Opportunities to Rebuild, Modernize Tyndall AFB; Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, Lowell Usrey Quoted

A program held by the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX innovation program highlighted opportunities to rebuild the hurricane-damaged Tyndall Air Force Base as a modern, state-of-the-art installation.

The AFWERX Fusion 2020 event ran from July 28th to 30th and included discussions and proposals of technologies that can be applied to make Tyndall the base of the future, Air Force said Wednesday.

“In working with AFWERX, my eyes have been opened to what’s within the realm of possibility,” said Brig. Gen. Patrice Melancon, executive director of the Tyndall Program Management Office.

The event’s virtual trade proposals tackled the technology areas of base security, installation resilience, operational effectiveness, reverse engineering and additive manufacturing, culture of innovation and airman well-being. AFWERX will unveil the top technology proposals on Aug. 7th. These entries will be eligible for the effort’s succeeding phase.

“Yes, the goal is to select the best solutions and implement these cutting-edge technologies and innovations at the base, but we have an unprecedented opportunity to use Tyndall (AFB) as a template for Air Force bases that are secure, resilient and digitally integrated,” said Lowell Usrey, PMO Integration Division chief.

Government Technology/News
Army Continues Efforts to Test, Deploy AI-Driven Space Sensor System; Willie Nelson Quoted
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on August 6, 2020
Army Continues Efforts to Test, Deploy AI-Driven Space Sensor System; Willie Nelson Quoted

The U.S. Army has conducted a live-fire test of space-based sensor technologies designed to facilitate a chain of targeting procedures between ground infrastructure and satellites operated by government and commercial entities, Defense News reported Wednesday.

The demonstration, which took place in Germany in March 2020, is intended to inform the Army’s efforts to deploy a space sensor system that utilizes next-generation concepts like machine learning and electro-optical radars to track beyond-line-of-sight targets.

Willie Nelson, director of the Army’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) cross-functional team, told the publication that the service also wants to leverage on-orbit sensors, artificial intelligence and a Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) platform to provide data for simulations and wargaming activities.

“While this was a technical demonstration, at its core it really was more about how do we operationalize this capability and how do we quickly get this into the field as a capability that soldiers can use,” Nelson noted.

The transportable TITAN system can operate with the Prometheus machine learning algorithm designed to ingest various forms of data from platforms such as synthetic aperture radars (SAR) and EO systems.

Nelson said the Army is also looking into deploying SAR platforms and radio-frequency sensing technologies to support the TITAN architecture.

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