The National Science Foundation has commissioned a partnership between two different organizations for the development of a new education-focused research data hub.

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and the American Educational Research Association will jointly work to foster education, collaboration and community across science, technology, engineering and mathematics data sources, NSF said Friday.

The two will form the Partnership for Expanding Education Research in STEM or PEERS, a web-based data resource hub that would feature new kinds of data and resources to encourage STEM collaboration. The partners will also provide professional development, training and technical support for the expansion of data access and fruition of innovative concepts.

NSF's Directorate of Education and Human Resources launched a competition to select the partnership's participants. Margaret Levenstein, ICPSR director, and Felice Levine, AERA executive director, will serve as PEERS' principal investigators.

“This collaboration reinforces our commitment to build something larger than ourselves and to bring others into the conversation,” Levenstein said.

The Naval Information Warfare Center hosted an event that sought to provide working opportunities and augment communication exchanges with industry.

Attended by over 200 participants from industry and the public sector, the event highlighted panel segments that focused on DevOps topics, the U.S. Navy said Friday.

Participants were also given the opportunity to speak with the panelists and engage in constructive exchanges.

Robin Rourk, a small business deputy director at NIWC Atlantic, said these events enable the government to discuss defense contractor capacities and provide the industry with opportunities to address technical gaps.

Listed as a primary focus area by NIWC, DevOps is a workplace approach that allows developers and operations personnel to interact with security and quality assurance employees to accelerate and secure the development of software products.

The Air Force Materiel Command entered into an agreement with the Air Force Combat Command to optimize communication capabilities between operational teams and program offices in a bid to help warfighters meet mission requirements.

The partnership will focus on developing a framework that will assist airmen in comprehending operational and maintenance standards for weapons systems during their lifecycle as part of the Lead Wing Collaboration program, the U.S. Air Force said Friday.

The program seeks to expand on previous agreements between the two commands and will conduct yearly reviews to validate if they can be incorporated into other weapon platforms or facilities.

“Strong lines of communication and a robust exchange of information between our operators and acquisition professionals is critical to delivering what the Air Force needs to succeed,” said Gen. Arnold Bunch, commander at AFMC.

Kevin O’Connell, director of the Office of Space Commerce, said his office intends to move forward with plans to take over civil space traffic management functions currently under the Department of Defense, SpaceNews reported Friday.

The Trump administration’s Space Policy Directive 3, issued in 2018, mandates the Department of Commerce to assume STM responsibilities including the issuance of satellite collision warnings to operators.

During the 23rd Annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, D.C., O’Connell said his office will push through with STM transition efforts despite receiving a small amount from the requested budget for fiscal year 2020.

“At the macro level for this year, we’ll continue to do a lot of good work within the interagency, with our government colleagues, and we’ll be able to do some work with our allies,” he said.

O’Connell’s comments come after the near-collision of the Gravity Gradient Stabilization Experiment and Infrared Astronomical Satellite in low-Earth orbit.

He noted that his office plans to attend the February meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space’s scientific and technical subcommittee in Vienna.