The U.S. Army Reserve and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a database designed to support cyber talent identification tasks of the reserve unit and help track skills soldiers develop in civilian jobs.

The Army said Friday its reserve component has discussed plans with the Army Cyber Command on the potential adaptation of the Cyber Warrior Database as a standardized tool of the cyber force for talent management.

Col. James Chatfield said CWARD is intended as similar to a casting tool that helps select a particular actor with a specific talent set that fits the need for a particular film.

Chatfield added that the database can support talent identification tasks as well as provide details on the qualifications of soldiers in all the standard Army ASIs as well as a soldier’s practical experience on various missions from their civilian lives and as a cyber soldier and reservist.

A new Congressional Budget Office report says a proposed Senate bill that would require NASA to create a transition plan to facilitate the involvement of industry partners and partner countries in the International Space Station would cost $19.4 billion to implement over five years.

CBO said in a report published Monday that the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2016 would result in the application of pay-as-you-go procedures since its passage would lead to a $35 million increase in net direct spending from 2017 through 2026.

According to the report, the proposed legislation would authorize $19.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 appropriations for NASA and require the agency to develop propulsion systems and strategic framework designed to facilitate human space flight to Mars.

The passage of the proposed legislation “would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027” and would not impose costs on local, state and tribal governments, CBO added.

CBO noted that the bill also lacks private-sector or intergovernmental mandates based on the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not have an impact on revenues.

NASA aims to launch six small satellite missions beginning this month to study Earth’s hurricanes, energy budget, aerosols and weather.

The agency said Tuesday small satellites are often deployed as “secondary payload” aboard other missions’ rockets.

The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes CubeSat will be launched this month to monitor changes in Earth’s energy budget at the top of the atmosphere to help identify greenhouse gas effects on climate, NASA added.

NASA also plans to launch IceCube and the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter CubeSats in 2017 to provide data that will support scientists’ study of clouds.

IceCube is designed to measure cloud ice through a miniature high-frequency microwave radiometer while HARP is built to measure airborne particles and the distribution of cloud droplet sizes.

The Microwave Radiometer Technology Acceleration will also be deployed in 2017 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Joint Polar Satellite System-1 to gather data on temperature, water vapor and cloud ice for weather forecasting and storm tracking, NASA added.

NASA will launch Cyclone, Global Navigation Satellite System — a constellation of eight small satellites that will measure wind intensity over the ocean in efforts to provide insights into tropical cyclones.

The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats or TROPICS will explore insides of hurricanes through a constellation of 12 CubeSats, according to the agency.

TROPICS will use radiometer instruments based on MiRaTA to regularly measure temperature and water vapor profiles throughout the life cycle of every storm, the agency added.

NASA’s Earth science technology office funds and manages RAVAN, HARP, IceCube and MiRaTA while CYGNSS and TROPICS also benefited from the office’s technology investments.

The Commerce Department has awarded $2.5 million in total grants to 24 universities and colleges as winners of a competition that seeks to build up regional economies and promote innovation.

The department awarded the grants as part of the Economic Development Administration’s 2016 University Center Economic Development Program Competition, the Commerce Department said Monday.

“The investments announced today will allow these higher education institutions to build the public-private partnerships that are so vital to helping America stay innovative and competitive in the 21st century,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Awardees will use the grants to implement five-year initiatives, such as the provision of technical assistance to businesses, entrepreneurs and economic development districts; support to the digital game industry; and establishment of a cybersecurity research center.

Awardees include:

• Becker College
• Bowling Green State University in partnership with Ohio University in Athens
• Cleveland State University
• Delaware State University
• Marshall University
• Michigan State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Purdue University in partnership with Ball State University
• Rutgers University
• The Research Foundation for the State University of New York
• University of Connecticut
• University of Illinois-Champaign
• University of Illinois-Chicago
• University of Maryland
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota
• University of Puerto Rico
• University of Rochester
• University of Southern Maine
• University of Wisconsin in Madison
• University of Wisconsin in Menomonie
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Trevor Rudolph, chief of the cyber and national security unit at the Office of Management and Budget, will step down from his position by the end of November to join cyber startup Whitehawk, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

Sources told the publication that Rudolph will serve as head of business operations and cybersecurity at Whitehawk and will oversee customer relations as well as provide thought leadership to the cyber industry.

Jason Miller writes Rudolph’s planned move to Whitehawk comes as the business prepares to unveil an online community that seeks to help small- and medium-sized firms build up their cybersecurity postures.

Rudolph has helped develop the Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan and Cybersecurity National Action Plan as well as create a cyber team in charge of government CyberStat reviews during his five years at OMB, Miller reports.

Prior to OMB, he spent three years as an analyst at the Treasury Department, where he authored various recommendations in support of updates to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Rudolph also served as a senior consultant at Kadix Systems.