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DOE Unveils Funding Opportunity for Particle Accelerator Dev’t
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DOE Unveils Funding Opportunity for Particle Accelerator Dev’t

DOE Unveils Funding Opportunity for Particle Accelerator Dev't

The Department of Energy plans to award $10 million in funds through the Accelerator Stewardship program to support the development of novel compact particle accelerators. DOE said Monday it eyes to build portable technologies that may be utilized for security, energy and industrial purposes.

The technologies are envisioned to measure at least in tabletop size and will potentially assist in cancer treatments and medical applications.

Grant recipients will be chosen through a competitive peer-review process and may be given one to three-year awards. DOE national laboratories, universities, businesses and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for the funding opportunity.

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Japan Eyes Partnership With US for Artemis Moon Mission
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Japan Eyes Partnership With US for Artemis Moon Mission

Japan Eyes Partnership With US for Artemis Moon Mission

Japan’s space agency is seeking to partner with its U.S. counterpart for the Artemis lunar exploration mission, SpaceNews reported Monday. Yoshikazu Shoji, director of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s international relations and research department, said in a presentation at the agency’s Washington, D.C. office that it wants to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with NASA to provide contributions to the lunar gateway.

JAXA’s areas of interest include providing components for the Gateway’s habitation module, which NASA previously announced may be built by Northrop Grumman. JAXA also plans to provide logistics support for the Gateway and send a lunar lander as well as Japanese astronauts to the moon as part of the agreement.

“We are targeting concluding this MOU in the April/May timeframe,” said Shoji. “So we will, maybe very soon, have an agreement between the U.S. and Japan.”

Previously, NASA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Jim Bridenstine visited Japan and entered into an agreement with JAXA for potential lunar exploration partnerships.

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Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Reform Government Surveillance; Sen. Ron Wyden Quoted
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Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Reform Government Surveillance; Sen. Ron Wyden Quoted
Ron Wyden
Ron Wyden

A bipartisan group of legislators has presented a reform bill that promotes civil rights and protection against excessive government surveillance.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., led a team to propose changes in the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for further regulation, the senator’s office said Thursday.

The proposed bill, known as the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act, would reform the PATRIOT Act’s Section 215 that allowed the National Security Agency to administer a mass surveillance program affecting numerous phone calls nationwide.

“I’m proud our bipartisan coalition is standing up for Americans’ rights and commonsense reforms to protect our people against unnecessary government surveillance,” Wyden said.

Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont, compose the bipartisan team led by Wyden.

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David Goldfein Talks Joint C2 System Dev’t, Space Force Goals
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David Goldfein Talks Joint C2 System Dev’t, Space Force Goals
David Goldfein
David Goldfein

Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, has said that he is prioritizing efforts to establish an all-domain system driven by advanced software and machine learning.

The Air Force said Monday that the proposed Joint All Domain Command and Control system will incorporate weapons and sensors designed to operate across the land, air, sea, space and cyber domains. Previously, the Air Force partnered with the Army and Navy for a joint exercise to use JADC2 procedures to execute a simulated cruise missile attack.

“First and foremost, we have to connect the joint team,” Goldfein told attendees at a Center for a New American Security event. “We have to have access to common data so we can operate at speeds that will bring all our capabilities against an adversary.”

Speaking about the establishment of the U.S. Space Force, Goldfein said that Congress must earmark sufficient funding for the new service branch to be successful.

“You’ve got to dominate space. You will see some significant investment in space capabilities. It won’t be just enough to be in the ring and take some punches. At some point, you have to be able to punch back.”

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Stephen D. Steinour Joins Battelle Board of Directors; John Welch, Lou Von Thaer Quoted
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Stephen D. Steinour Joins Battelle Board of Directors; John Welch, Lou Von Thaer Quoted

Stephen D. Steinour Joins Battelle Board of Directors; John Welch, Lou Von Thaer Quoted

Battelle has announced the appointment of Stephen D. Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, to Battelle Board of Directors, the company reported on Tuesday.

“Steve will bring deep financial and business expertise to the Battelle Board,” said Chairman John Welch. “As the leader of one of Central Ohio’s most successful and well-respected organizations, he will bring a wealth of experience and perspective to our team.”

Steinour joined Huntington in 2009, and currently serves as president and CEO. He previously worked at CrossHarbor Capital and served as managing partner. Prior to his time at CrossHarbor, Steinour served as president and CEO of  Citizens Financial Group.

He also served as president and CEO of Division Executive for Fleet Financial Group and executive vice president at Bank of New England. Steinour began his career as an analyst for the U.S. Treasury Department and subsequently worked for the FDIC.

“Steve is a great leader in the Columbus business community and also understands its philanthropic needs,” said Battelle president and CEO Lou Von Thaer. “We look forward to his insightful contributions as we execute on our business and philanthropic missions.”

Steinour serves on the Board of Directors of L Brands, Inc. and Exelon Corporation, and is a member of the Bank Policy Institute. He is also a trustee of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.  He also is a board member of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. He is a former Director of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank.

Additionally, he is a member of The Columbus Partnership and serves on its Executive Committee, is vice chair of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation and vice chair of the Ohio Business Roundtable.

“I am honored to be joining the board of a world-class research organization of Battelle’s stature,” Steinour said. “Battelle, through its innovative work, is helping to improve lives, keep people safe and healthy, and educate the next generation of scientists. I’m proud to be a part of advancing that mission.”

About Battelle

Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle makes the world better by commercializing technology, giving back to our communities, and supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

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OCWD Awards Jacobs PFAS Support Services Contract to Provide Treatment Testing; Jan Walstrom Quoted
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OCWD Awards Jacobs PFAS Support Services Contract to Provide Treatment Testing; Jan Walstrom Quoted

OCWD Awards Jacobs PFAS Support Services Contract to Provide Treatment Testing; Jan Walstrom Quoted

Orange County Water District (OCWD) has selected Jacobs to participate in a pilot program to provide contracted treatment testing support services for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the company announced on Tuesday.

“Jacobs’ unique ability to shape the industry for PFAS solutions is drawn from our multidisciplinary capabilities in environmental, water, wastewater, solid waste, aviation and infrastructure,” said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President and Global Environmental Market Director Jan Walstrom.

PFAS are a family of oil and water-resistant chemicals found in everyday consumer products and airport firefighting foams that have infiltrated groundwater supplies over several decades.

Jacobs will help OCWD explore long-term solutions to ensure that water supplies continue to meet all state and federal water quality standards before the levels of PFAS in Orange County groundwater wells grow.

The goal of the pilot program is to help retail water agencies in Orange County determine the best available PFAS treatment methods. Jacobs will provide testing of different types of granular activated carbon (GAC), ion exchange (IX) products and adsorbents to determine which applications are best suited for Orange County’s diverse aquifer water quality and geochemistry.

“We challenge today and reinvent tomorrow by integrating both proven and leading-edge detection and treatment technologies to address PFAS chemicals transported in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, wastewater, leachate and soil,” added Walstrom.

Additionally, Jacobs has donated $467,230 to the Water For People nonprofit organization to help end the global water crisis with sustainable solutions, the company announced on Jan. 22 2020.

“One in three people globally don’t have access to safe water. One in two people, more than half of us walking the planet, don’t have access to adequate sanitation,” said Water For People CEO Eleanor Allen.

A yearly company initiative, Jacobs will help provide water sanitation services to Water For People’s journey to Destination 2030. The 10-year initiative to support low and middle-income countries obtain United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6. The goal will ensure available and sustainable management of water.

About Jacobs 

We’re challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world’s most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good. With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of approximately 52,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector.

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Oracle Communications Provides Telecom Fiji to Modernize Customer Engagement; Charles Goundar, Jason Rutherford Quoted
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Oracle Communications Provides Telecom Fiji to Modernize Customer Engagement; Charles Goundar, Jason Rutherford Quoted

Oracle Communications Provides Telecom Fiji to Modernize Customer Engagement; Charles Goundar, Jason Rutherford Quoted

Telecom Fiji has announced a partnership with Oracle Communications, who will help the company modernize their customer engagement, speed delivery of new products and services to customers, Telecom reported on Tuesday.

“We chose Oracle Communications because of Oracle’s international track record of reliable and innovative technology solutions…standardized processes that work seamlessly with each other. With a platform based on best international practices, we will provide our customers with the very best in service delivery. That is what Fijians deserve, “said Charles Goundar, chief executive officer of Telecom.

Oracle will assist Telecom’s modernization by integrating 5G software into the company’s communication services, including full digital customer lifecycle processes, zero-touch provisioning, digitally coordinated service delivery and customer bundles. Oracle’s software will increase Telecom’s visibility, while reducing costs, to improve customer service and fleet and technician availability.

Telecom will deploy Oracle’s Billing and Revenue Management, Oracle Communications Order and Service Management, Oracle Communications Network Charging and Control, Oracle Field Service Cloud, Oracle Live Experience Cloud and Oracle Marketing Cloud.

The company’s software integration will be a part of the Oracle Digital Experience for Communications suite, and will enable a transformative digital customer experience coupled with communications-grade modern monetization and service fulfillment.

Digital Experience for Communications has been proven to scale in real time across even the most challenging industries and business models. The solution is delivered on Oracle Private Cloud Appliance and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and will be implemented and managed by Oracle Communications Consulting, the trusted partner of hundreds of service providers around the world.

“Innovative service providers like Telecom are reimagining communications by adopting real-time, scalable solutions to bring new services to market and simplify and automate their business,” said Jason Rutherford, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Communications.

About Oracle Communications

Oracle Communications provides integrated communications and cloud solutions for Service Providers and Enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation journey in a communications-driven world from network evolution to digital business to customer experience.

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USAF Awards Raytheon $197M Contract to Modernize Missile Warning Sensor Systems: Dave Wajsgras Quoted
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USAF Awards Raytheon $197M Contract to Modernize Missile Warning Sensor Systems: Dave Wajsgras Quoted

USAF Awards Raytheon $197M Contract to Modernize Missile Warning Sensor Systems: Dave Wajsgras Quoted

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has awarded Raytheon a 5-year, $197 million contract to help the department modernize the missile warning architecture with a new system that will collect and fuse data from multiple sensors to provide a comprehensive picture of launch activity, the company announced on Tuesday.

“The U.S. government’s global satellite network produces a constant flood of data — petabytes and petabytes of it every day,” said Dave Wajsgras, six time Wash100 Award recipient and president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS). “The Air Force wants to open that network up so they can use as much of that data as possible. That’s a huge transformation not just for the service, but for the whole government.”

Raytheon IIS has developed a new, open framework, called the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) Mission Data Processing Application Framework (MDPAF). The framework will provide advanced processing capabilities to USAF’s network programs.

The company will specifically focus on Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) satellite data from both USAF’s evolving Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation and the future Next Gen OPIR constellation, as well as the processing of data from other civil and environmental sensors.

FORGE will provide more advanced operations compared to satellite ground control programs.  Instead of collecting and analyzing data from specific types of satellites or sensors, FORGE is  able to collect data from nearly any type of satellite or sensor, and then helps operators make sense of that data quickly.

Additionally, FORGE is capable of processing real data. Raytheon has incorporated its deep experience developing applications using DevSecOps and Agile software development processes to dramatically speed development.

“Essentially, this is a smartphone model,” said Wajsgras. “We’ve built an operating system that everyone can build applications for – from Raytheon to the Air Force to universities to small companies. These applications allow the system to process specific types of data.”

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

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Mason McDaniel on ATF’s Cloud Migration Effort; AWS’ Dave Levy Quoted
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Mason McDaniel on ATF’s Cloud Migration Effort; AWS’ Dave Levy Quoted
Mason McDaniel
Mason McDaniel

Mason McDaniel, chief technology officer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said ATF plans to shut down its remaining data center and transition all applications and data to the cloud by the end of fiscal year 2020, FedScoop reported Monday.

He discussed how a snowfall in 2016 served as a wake-up call for ATF to introduce changes to the bureau’s IT environment as well as the efforts of IT officials to communicate to the bureau’s executives the need to advance the move to the cloud.

“The way you have to communicate to the executives who are largely not technical is trying to take whatever the technical debt is you’ve accumulated through not doing stuff in the past and communicate it in business terms,” McDaniel said. “Again if that data center goes away, then all ATF systems drop offline with no primary and failover and no estimate for times to restore.”

McDaniel cited the need to agencies to invest in invisible IT, his team’s efforts to come up with a governance framework to facilitate the cloud adoption and the start of the transition of data and apps to the Amazon Web Services’ cloud platform.

ATF “is a great example of how thinking big can allow government agencies successfully manage the move to cloud, and retire decades of technical debt,” said Dave Levy, vice president of U.S. government at AWS and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner. “We remain committed to supporting the ATF’s critical mission and for technology to continue driving positive mission outcomes.”

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GSA Issues Draft Memo on Consumption-Based Cloud Procurement
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GSA Issues Draft Memo on Consumption-Based Cloud Procurement

GSA Issues Draft Memo on Consumption-Based Cloud Procurement

The General Services Administration issued a draft acquisition letter detailing procedures to authorize policy changes for purchasing consumption-based cloud services under the Federal Supply Schedule program, Federal News Network reported Monday.

“While offering cloud computing on a consumption basis is already permissible under the FSS program, the procedures outlined in this acquisition letter further improve this strategy while seeking to realize the best practices in the private-sector of cost transparency and efficiency, increased cyber security and more robust competition,” Jeffrey Koses, senior procurement executive at GSA, wrote in the letter.

The report said the draft document provides key concepts for the consumption-based approach to cloud services procurement. These include the use of a firm fixed-price contract that is based on the vendor’s market price list and the need for contracting officers to establish a ceiling price for all estimated cloud computing.

GSA also posed five questions to industry with regard to the consumption model and asked insights on the proposed “requirements task order” concept for consumption-based acquisitions.

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