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New MITRE Document Proposes AI Regulatory Framework for Next US Administration
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New MITRE Document Proposes AI Regulatory Framework for Next US Administration

MITRE has released a document that seeks to provide the administration that will be elected this November with guidance on the establishment of a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence security and safety.

MITRE said Wednesday that the development of the guidance — entitled Assuring AI Security and Safety through AI Regulation — was prompted by the regulatory challenges posed by rapid advances in AI as well as the technology’s various potential applications.

The guidance offers multiple regulatory recommendations, including enhancing communications between policymakers and agencies tasked with implementing AI strategies; developing guidelines that would make AI governance across agencies sufficiently flexible to meet unique needs and contexts; and understanding how adversaries are using the same technology.

The guidance also offers a timeline and milestones for the rollout of its recommendations, stretching from the administration’s first 100 days, through its first year and beyond.

“With each new presidential term comes the opportunity to reassess and enhance our approach to rapidly advancing technologies,” the guidance notes, adding, “While current policy and legislative activities have begun to address the need for AI regulation, more progress is needed to ensure the proper application and use of this technology, balancing security, ethical considerations, and public trust.”

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Aerojet Rocketdyne Modernizes NASA’s Space Vehicle Engine
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Aerojet Rocketdyne Modernizes NASA’s Space Vehicle Engine

Aerojet Rocketdyne has completed manufacturing the modernized version of the super-heavy-lift rocket engines that power NASA’s Space Launch System, also known as SLS.

The L3Harris Technologies subsidiary said Monday it has enhanced four RS-25 engines with modern flight computers, enabling them to endure higher temperatures due to their proximity to the SLS solid rocket motors.

The enhanced Block 1B configuration of the SLS, which features the new engines, will be used for NASA’s Artemis IV mission scheduled for 2028. The new engines will also be used to power the space vehicles for subsequent Artemis missions.

Aerojet noted that the crewed version of the SLS Block 1B is capable of delivering 38 metric tons to cislunar space per mission, while the cargo-only version can deliver 42 metric tons.

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William LaPlante: Sentinel ICBM Program Meets Established Criteria to Continue
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William LaPlante: Sentinel ICBM Program Meets Established Criteria to Continue

William LaPlante, under secretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, led a comprehensive review of the Sentinel program and certified that the intercontinental ballistic missile program met the statutory criteria to continue.

The Sentinel program seeks to modernize the ground-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad by replacing the aging Minuteman III ICBM system.

DOD said Monday the review was prompted by a critical breach under the Nunn-McCurdy statute.

According to the department, the breach occurred when the program acquisition unit cost or the average unit procurement cost exceeded the current program baseline by more than 25 percent.

Based on the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation’s estimates, the program’s total acquisition costs are now projected at $140.9 billion, up 81 percent from the previous estimates in September 2020.

The review pointed to the program’s command and launch segment as the key driver of the cost growth. The segment includes the launch centers, launch facilities and the process of transitioning from Minuteman III to Sentinel.

“We are fully aware of the costs, but we are also aware of the risks of not modernizing our nuclear forces and not addressing the very real threats we confront,” LaPlante said. “There are reasons for the cost growth, but there are no excuses. We are already working to address the root causes, and more importantly, we believe we are on the right path to defend our nation while protecting the sacred responsibility the American taxpayer has entrusted us with.”

The department’s acquisition chief moved to rescind the Sentinel program’s Milestone B approval and directed the U.S. Air Force to restructure the program to address the breach’s root causes and ensure that an appropriate framework is in place to better manage future costs.

“Having completed a comprehensive and objective assessment of the program, it is clear that the Sentinel program remains essential to U.S. national security and is the best option to meet the needs of our warfighters,” LaPlante stated.

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GovCon Index Maintained Downward Trend Last Week
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GovCon Index Maintained Downward Trend Last Week

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index fell by 1.33% last week, closing with an average of $4,879.92.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that gathers data on the stock market performance of 30 top government contracting companies. This information is presented in real time, enabling users to gain an understanding of the evolving trends currently shaping the GovCon market and the current position of each tracked organization.

Defying overall losses, Mercury Systems grew by 7.47% last week, claiming the top spot in the ranks. With gains of 6.98%, Palantir took second place, and Kratos (+2.96%), came in third. Fluor Corporation was next with a 1.74% increase, and CGI (+1.58%) followed.

The current downward trend began in early June. Since then, GovCon Index has only experienced one week of overall growth.

To access additional information on daily GovCon Index performance, check out last week’s market reports. Click here to view the complete list of tracked companies.

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Mike Wetklow Joins IRS as Chief Risk Officer
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Mike Wetklow Joins IRS as Chief Risk Officer

Mike Wetklow, an internal control and risk specialist, has taken on the role of chief risk officer at the Internal Revenue Service.

In a LinkedIn post published Thursday, Wetklow said he is “excited to join an organization dedicated to public service and to help drive innovation, leverage data, and improve compliance processes.”

“Most importantly, I look forward to collaborating with the talented team at the IRS and contributing to an environment where we can all thrive,” he added.

In this capacity, Wetklow will oversee the agency’s Enterprise Risk Management and Enterprise Audit Management programs, promote risk awareness, ensure proper risk management ownership by the business units and represent the IRS in the Treasury ERM Council, the Federal ERM Council and other forums, among other responsibilities.

Prior to joining the IRS, he spent eight years at the National Science Foundation, where he was deputy chief financial officer and division director for financial management, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Wetklow serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University, where he teaches federal accounting and advanced accounting analytics.

He is a certified public accountant whose government career included time as a branch chief at the Office of Management and Budget, director of the Internal Control Program Management Office at the Department of Homeland Security, program analyst at the Transportation Security Administration within DHS and financial auditor at the Government Accountability Office.

Wetklow also served as a supervising senior accountant at KPMG US.

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Department of Transportation Issues Contracts to Evaluate Complementary PNT Technologies From 9 Companies
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Department of Transportation Issues Contracts to Evaluate Complementary PNT Technologies From 9 Companies

The Department of Transportation aims to subject the complementary positioning, navigation and timing — or CPNT — technologies of nine companies to real-world field tests as part of a broader effort to promote CPNT adoption and enhance PNT resilience overall.

The DOT said Wednesday that over $7.2 million worth of contracts were awarded through the Volpe Center in response to the rapid phase of the agency’s Complementary PNT Action Plan.

The awardees and the value of their contracts are as follows:

  • NextNav – $1.8 million
  • Carahsoft – $1.5 million
  • Microchip – $1.4 million
  • Hoptroff – $934,076
  • Locata – $778,630
  • Safran – $245,300
  • NAL Research – $144,599
  • Parsons – $132,416
  • TERN AI – $51,780

The CPNT technologies of the respective companies will be deployed at various test ranges six months after the award.

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Col. Richard Leach on Building DISA’s Inaugural Intelligence Office
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Col. Richard Leach on Building DISA’s Inaugural Intelligence Office

Army Col. Richard Leach, intelligence director at the Defense Information Systems Agency, said he is focused on establishing the foundation for DISA’s new intelligence office, called J-2, Federal News Network reported Friday.

“My big thing in the last year has been how do I build the J-2? I need people, I need authorities, I need capability, I need funding. How do I get billets? How do we move unused billets from the other parts of the agency that aren’t using it over to the J-2?” Leach told FNN at a conference in Baltimore.

When it comes to forming J-2, the Army colonel said his focus is on DISA’s physical, logical and cognitive equities and that he intends to ensure that the agency’s intelligence requirements are integrated into the defense and industrial enterprise.

According to Leach, it could take at least two years to onboard about 30 people into the new intel shop and make the J-2 unit fully operational.

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CISA Recommends Operational Security Principles for Protecting Voter Information, Election Data From Threats
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CISA Recommends Operational Security Principles for Protecting Voter Information, Election Data From Threats

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued new guidance to help secure the election infrastructure four months before Americans go to the polls.

The Guide to Operational Security for Election Officials, or OPSEC, provides information on potential risks to the voting system and recommends best practices to prevent sensitive data such as voter information or photos of internal systems from falling into the hands of malicious actors, CISA said Friday.

OPSEC identifies and safeguards information and capabilities within an organization. By adopting OPSEC principles, election officials can contribute to maintaining election transparency without exposing data to adversaries, according to the agency.

The guide encourages election officials to imagine how a threat actor may collect pieces of information or indicators to create a bigger organizational picture and find vulnerabilities. Adversaries may collect indicators by browsing social media, reviewing public records, monitoring government offices and personnel, going through a person or organization’s trash and conducting social engineering campaigns, the document revealed.

Regularly training staff on the threats to and ways to protect sensitive information is one of the OPSEC countermeasures that election officials can take ahead of the national elections.

“CISA provides various training programs for election workers, including secure practices, incident response planning, and de-escalation techniques,” said Cait Conley, special adviser to the director of election security at CISA.

The guide is available for download on CISA’s official website.

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FCC Seeks Public Input on Mechanisms Enabling Greater Government Access to Non-Federal Satellite Services
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FCC Seeks Public Input on Mechanisms Enabling Greater Government Access to Non-Federal Satellite Services

The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology is seeking additional comments from the public regarding ways that would increase federal government access to non-federal satellite services, including commercial ones.

Of particular interest to OET are comments on approaches that would provide federal earth stations with interference protection when they communicate with commercial satellite network bands that are not allocated for federal fixed or mobile satellite services, according to a proposed rule the FCC posted July 1 on the Federal Register.

The comments would supplement those that have been collected via a 2013 notice of public rulemaking, or NPRM, which had already offered proposals to address the issues.

Comments are also being sought to a response submitted by the Satellite Industry Association, which served as an alternative to the proposals put forward by the 2013 NPRM.

Finally, comments are also being sought in relation to a rulemaking proposal in 2021, which recognized changes in the spectral landscape in non-federal FSS and MSS allocations since 2013.

Interested parties have until July 31 to file comments and until Aug. 30 to file reply comments.

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Air Force Solicits Proposals for Airfield Operations Data Management System Platform
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Air Force Solicits Proposals for Airfield Operations Data Management System Platform

The Department of the Air Force is looking to acquire a platform-as-a-service, or PaaS, for building and sustaining cloud hosting for the Airfield Operations Data Management System, which provides a cloud-based suite of applications necessary to create operational and managerial agility, share information globally and enable safety and operational trend data analysis.

The solicitation is set aside for small businesses designated as a cloud service provider by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program and authorized to provide a PaaS that can handle Information Level-4 for the Air Force Flight Standards Agency’s Cyber Operations Directorate, according to the notice posted on SAM.gov on Wednesday.

Work includes sustaining the application hosting services through Amazon Web Services.

The vendor will also manage the AWS console, control access lists and security groups for the cloud environment and instance image and archival data backups from web application and database servers.

According to the notice, the Air Force plans to award a one-year, sole-source contract to Solid State Scientific Corp., but the agency will consider proposals or quotations from all potential sources of the required services.

Responses are due July 17.

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Air Defense Summit on July 23 to hear important updates on cutting-edge technology adoption, modernization initiatives and more. Register here.

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