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NSF to Solicit Proposals, Funding Requests for National AI Research Resource Pilot Demo Projects
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NSF to Solicit Proposals, Funding Requests for National AI Research Resource Pilot Demo Projects

The National Science Foundation’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure has announced its interest in receiving Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research — a.k.a. EAGER — proposals and supplemental funding requests for demonstration projects as part of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot.

According to a Dear Colleague Letter published Tuesday, the demonstration projects will be undertaken by teams of AI researchers, cyberinfrastructure specialists and domain scientists who are addressing research challenges that use or rely on one or more NAIRR Pilot resources.

NSF expects the multidisciplinary efforts to lead to scientific publications and demonstrate potential capabilities of a future NAIRR.

Interested stakeholders should first submit a three-page concept outline to NSF. The concept outlines should include a problem statement describing a specific research challenge, a draft budget and a description of the proposed work and NAIRR resources that will be required to perform the work.

NSF will return without review EAGER proposals and funding requests to parties that didn’t both submit an initial outline and were subsequently invited to fully submit by NSF.

“EAGER proposals and supplemental funding requests for demonstration projects submitted by July 10, 2024, will have the highest opportunity to be funded in FY2024. Submissions after July 10, 2024, may be considered in FY2025,” the letter states.

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Defense Department Issues CSO for AI-Powered Biosurveillance Data Analysis Platform
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Defense Department Issues CSO for AI-Powered Biosurveillance Data Analysis Platform

The Department of Defense is seeking a cloud-based information technology capability that will be used by analysts under the agency’s biosurveillance program to help mitigate health and biological threats.

The capability is envisioned as an artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered platform that would enable analysts to address biosurveillance queries by ingesting data and providing anticipatory analysis, according to a commercial solutions opening posted on the Defense Innovation Unit website.

The same system would also work to provide all levels of command with situational awareness.

Multiple agreement awards are expected to result from the CSO, although contractors experienced in developing software at the Top Secret level are preferred.

Interested parties have until June 7 to respond.

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Aeyon-Palantir Team to Lead Navy GFP Remediation Pilot Program Under New Contract; Pat Collins & Akash Jain Quoted
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Aeyon-Palantir Team to Lead Navy GFP Remediation Pilot Program Under New Contract; Pat Collins & Akash Jain Quoted

Aeyon and Palantir have secured a contract from the U.S. Department of the Navy to manage the Government Furnished Property, or GFP, Remediation Pilot Program, which targets audit issues associated with the service branch’s GFP inventory.

As program leaders, the two companies will identify ways to improve the Navy’s GFP management capabilities and work with the government to find appropriate candidates, Aeyon told ExecutiveGov on Wednesday.

“We are thrilled to have been selected by the DON for this important initiative. This contract underscores our commitment to driving innovation and delivering tangible results that strengthen the DON’s audit posture,” said Aeyon Chief Growth Officer Pat Collins.

Akash Jain, president of Palantir and a previous Wash100 Award winner, emphasized the importance of pairing data and operations “to provide decision advantage and speed at all levels of our military.”

“We’re honored to support the Department of the Navy on their critical mission and to be part of the team selected to bring leading technology solutions to their operations,” he said.

Under this contract, Aeyon will leverage its understanding of audit remediation to guide stakeholders through the program’s goals. Palantir will provide its artificial intelligence platform.

Together, the contractors will put together a reconciliation that shows a complete and accurate population of GFP and help BSOs execute causative research efficiently to address any variances. The companies will also create a standard ontology/data model to ensure the consistent application of asset condition codes across BSOs.

“Through this pilot program, we aim to implement tailored solutions that streamline processes, improve transparency, and ultimately bolster the Navy’s financial resilience,” explained Conrad Symber, senior vice president at Aeyon.

Aeyon-Palantir Team to Lead Navy GFP Remediation Pilot Program Under New Contract; Pat Collins & Akash Jain Quoted

Interested in learning more about current Navy initiatives? The Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Navy Summit on August 15 will bring together experts to discuss the service branch’s top priorities and challenges. To view additional information and register to attend the event, click here.

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Charles River Analytics Creates Installation Risk Assessment Toolkit for Air Force
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Charles River Analytics Creates Installation Risk Assessment Toolkit for Air Force

Charles River Analytics has developed a toolkit under a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research funding from the Air Force Civil Engineer Center to support installation security and risk assessment decision-making of the U.S. Air Force.

The Real-Time Assessment and Decision Interactive, or READI, Toolkit is designed to characterize potential threats and provide service members with risk assessments and insights into securing installations by utilizing probabilistic programming and deep learning approaches as well as ecological situation awareness visualizations, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based software company said Tuesday.

READI also employs hybrid AI techniques and uses information from disparate sources to support threat response decision-making.

“It’s helping a security officer understand what should be acted on and in what order to prioritize response activities,” said Nicolette McGeorge, human factors engineering scientist and principal investigator on the READI project.

Phase II of the READI development effort will focus on a wider range of threats caused by hurricanes, floods, fires and other natural disasters. It will build on Phase I efforts that involved characterizing environmental threats, developing probabilistic models and creating visualizations of them to support decision-making.

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Harry Coker: Federal Agencies Advance Resource Public Key Infrastructure Adoption
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Harry Coker: Federal Agencies Advance Resource Public Key Infrastructure Adoption

White House National Cyber Director Harry Coker said he expects more than 50 percent of all advertised federal internet protocol space will advance use of secure routing agreements by the end of 2024 as part of efforts to accelerate implementation of Resource Public Key Infrastructure, or RPKI, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

“We recognize that implementing RPKI is a first step in improving internet routing security,” Coker said Thursday during his address at an event.

“Collectively, we have much more to do to secure the technical foundations of the Internet going forward, and we look forward to the government and private sector working together to address these critical challenges,” he added.

RPKI offers security for internet routing to prevent hackers from compromising traffic.

Coker said several agencies within the Department of Commerce, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, signed contracts in early May to register their IP space and establish “route origin agreements,” which RPKI uses to verify the owners of IP addresses.

“These contracts … are models for other agencies across the government to follow,” Coker added.

POC - 2024 Cyber Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 and hear cyber experts, government and industry leaders discuss the latest trends and the dynamic role of cyber in the public sector. Register here.

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GovCon Index Rose Slightly Last Week
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GovCon Index Rose Slightly Last Week

Last week, Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index was kept afloat by a small overall increase of 0.08%. This slight uptick pushed the average to $5,055.57.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that collects and presents stock market data from 30 major government contracting companies in real time. With this information, users are able to assess the performance of each tracked organization while examining shifting trends in the vast GovCon space.

With an increase of 8.60%, Fluor Corporation was last week’s top gainer. Booz Allen Hamilton (+3.92%) and Parsons (+3.46%) were second and third, respectively. The Carlyle Group, which grew by 3.37%, earned fourth place, and AeroVironment (+2.97%) came in fifth.

GovCon Index began the week with a 0.24% rise and stayed in positive territory until Thursday, when a decrease of 0.89% disrupted its momentum. On Friday, gains of 0.64% reversed this downward turn.

For an in-depth look at daily GovCon Index performance, check out last week’s market reports. To access the complete list of tracked companies, click here.

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NASA Deploys 1st PREFIRE Climate CubeSat Onboard Electron Rocket
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NASA Deploys 1st PREFIRE Climate CubeSat Onboard Electron Rocket

NASA has launched a small climate satellite to space onboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket to study infrared emissions at Earth’s poles.

The Blue Canyon Technologies-manufactured Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment, or PREFIRE, CubeSat established communications with ground controllers five hours after liftoff from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, NASA said Saturday.

PREFIRE carries a thermal infrared spectrometer designed to measure infrared wavelengths, which will inform climate modeling and forecasting in the polar regions.

“This will improve prediction of sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise, creating a better understanding of how our planet’s system will change in the coming years — crucial information to farmers tracking changes in weather and water, fishing fleets working in changing seas, and coastal communities building resilience,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington.

NASA is preparing to launch the second PREFIRE CubeSat onboard another Electron spacecraft.

Rocket Lab provides commercial launch services for the 10-month mission as part of a deal awarded under NASA’s $300 million Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract vehicle.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will provide data processing services for the mission.

Three Expeditions in Computing Research Projects to Receive NSF Funding
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Three Expeditions in Computing Research Projects to Receive NSF Funding

The National Science Foundation is awarding three projects a total of $36 million under the NSF Expeditions in Computing program, an initiative that seeks to finance research that can accelerate innovation in various science and engineering domains.

The first project seeks to reduce the environmental impact of computer systems. Under the leadership of Harvard University, the five-year research initiative could result in a more sustainable way of manufacturing computer systems, the NSF said Thursday.

The second project seeks to develop computational decarbonization, a new field that aims to reduce the lifecycle of carbon emissions emanating from complex computing and societal infrastructure systems. The project is being led by University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The third project seeks to incorporate machine learning into operating systems in order to enable more dynamic hardware resource management. The project is being led by The University of Texas at Austin.

Regarding the awards, Dilma Da Silva, acting assistant director for the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, said, “Congratulations to these pioneering teams whose research will forge new pathways in computational decarbonization and in revolutionizing operating system design with machine learning.”

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Integrated Personnel & Pay System-Army Accelerates Software Development Through Agile Best Practices
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Integrated Personnel & Pay System-Army Accelerates Software Development Through Agile Best Practices

Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, a.k.a. IPPS-A, is working to speed up the development and delivery of software capabilities through the adoption of Agile best practices and is seeking industry support across the areas of automated testing, modular contracting and adaptive software architectures.

The Army said Friday IPPA-A leaders held a breakout session at AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days on May 14 and Lt. Col. Ryan Martin, product manager for IPPS-A Increment II, highlighted the importance of contracting practices to advance the Agile development model.

“If we are going to fully harness Agile software development, we have to change the business paradigm,” Martin said. “We can’t be locked into strict contractual requirements if we want to adjust on the fly.”

Col. Matthew Paul, IPPS-A project manager, said automated testing enables the service to accelerate software development without sacrificing the quality of code.

“We are also going to explore test-driven development. This new design pattern allows us to code a little and test a little. So, if we fail, we fail early, and we fail small,” Paul added.

During the event, Paul also stressed the importance of open application programming interfaces and data architectures.

“If we don’t modernize our data architecture, the data architecture is going to become the bottleneck. Programs will end up spending an inordinate amount of time doing backend data work and rework,” he added.

IPPS-A is part of the Army’s Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems.

POC - 2024 Army Summit

Attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Army Summit on June 13 to hear military officials, government leaders and industry executives share their most urgent priorities, strategies and solutions to their toughest challenges. Click here to register.

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FCC’s Proposed Rules Seek to Protect Wireless Equipment Authorization Program From Untrustworthy Entities
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FCC’s Proposed Rules Seek to Protect Wireless Equipment Authorization Program From Untrustworthy Entities

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed rules to safeguard wireless equipment authorizations from being compromised by entities that have been found to pose risks to national security.

FCC said Thursday the notice of proposed rulemaking would prohibit all entities on the ‘Covered List’ from taking a role in the equipment authorization program and implement a 5 percent ownership reporting threshold as part of efforts to capture all foreign interests that present national security concerns.

The commission is soliciting public comments on how it should consider national security determinations made in other agency’s covered lists when it comes to developing eligibility qualifications for recognizing telecommunications certification bodies — a.k.a. TCBs — or test laboratories in the equipment authorization program.

The proposed rules seek to prevent untrustworthy actors from influencing TCBs and test labs that participate in the FCC’s certification program for electronic devices.

“This action is part of a broader effort at this agency to make network security a priority,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement published Thursday.

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