The Federal Risk and Management Program (FedRAMP) has issued Open Security Controls Assessment Language (OSCAL) validation rules to help automate reviews of security packages and speed up authorizations.

The OSCAL validation rules will enable cloud service providers and third-party assessment organizations to perform self-testing to see whether all the required data is included in their security packages prior to submission to FedRAMP, the program said in a blog post-Thursday.

FedRAMP said its review teams will also use the automated validation rules to assess initial packages from CSPs.

“When both FedRAMP and industry utilize automated validation rules, FedRAMP reviewers will spend less time on packages that do not pass initial criteria, and therefore, are not ready for review,” the post reads.

The FedRAMP program management office worked with the General Services Administration’s 10x program on the automated validation rules.

Sonny Bhagowalia, chief information officer of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said the agency has transitioned 45 percent of its information technology applications to a cloud environment and that the remaining migration work will support non-commercial mission systems, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

He said at an FCW-hosted virtual forum that CBP also produced 110 bots through its center of excellence for robotic process automation and will establish an innovation hub for artificial intelligence as part of digital transformation efforts, according to Bhagowalia.

An innovation team under the CBP commissioner office will lead efforts at the agency's AI center to help personnel process huge amounts of mission-critical data, according to Bhagowalia.

Bhagowalia, who also serves as assistant commissioner in the CBP Office of Information and Technology, added that the agency will create a marketplace for the procurement of IT products such as desktop and laptop computers.

The U.S. Army produced and tested its first combat-capable directed energy prototype after two years of development, creating what can potentially deter enemy rockets, artillery, mortars and drones.

The Army said Tuesday its Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) sent a laser-armed Stryker vehicle to Fort Sill in Oklahoma this summer for the Combat Shoot-Off exercise, which ended in late July.

“This is the first combat application of lasers for a maneuver element in the Army,” said Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, the Army’s director for hypersonics, directed energy, space and rapid acquisition.

The Army subjected the vehicle to scenarios that simulated short-range air and missile defense (SHORAD). These scenarios were specifically designed to trial the SHORAD performance of directed energy weapons.

Thurgood said the tests aimed to demonstrate the technology’s safety and targeting performance.

“It’s time to give our Soldiers this first-ever operational capability,” he said after stating that the technology’s research and development phase has concluded.

The Department of Defense, Israel Ministry of Defense and Merage Institute will be hosting an indoor autonomous maneuver technologies challenge intended to advance never-before-seen innovations that will benefit the military and law enforcement tactical operators.

The Mobile Standoff Autonomous Indoor Capabilities (MoSAIC) challenge follows a memorandum of agreement between the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) under the Assistant Secretary of Defense and Low-Intensity Conflict organization and the Directorate of Defense Research and Engineering of IMOD, the DOD said Wednesday. 

MoSAIC will consist of five minichallenges, three of which are virtual while the other two will be physical activities such as indoor navigation, room mapping and through-wall imaging. 

Adam Tarsi, IWTSD international program manager, said he is looking forward to witnessing technologies that leverage artificial intelligence, small multirotor drones and tactical ground vehicles capable of navigating through complicated environments. 

"The MoSAIC challenge is a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs, researchers and companies to present the technology they develop to the U.S. and Israeli governments, to create international collaborations,” said Paul Merage, founder and CEO of the Merage Institute.

Winners and runners-up are set to receive cash and other prizes with a combined amount of $600,000. The DOD noted that the physical testbed for the challenge is slated to happen in the spring of 2022 in Yeruham, Israel.

Inmarsat announced on Thursday that the company has unveiled Inmarsat ELERA to serve as a catalyst for the next wave of world-changing technologies and is ideally suited for the Internet of Things (IoT). 

In addition, the global narrowband network will also serve global mobility customers with their needs in the aviation, maritime, governments and other select enterprises.

“ELERA is perfectly suited to the needs of the connected IoT world,” said Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat. “Global reach, extraordinary resilience, faster speeds, smaller and lower cost terminals are all part of ensuring that we remain ahead of others in meeting the needs of our customers.” 

The unique capabilities of ELERA, combined with Inmarsat’s superior spectrum and the ideally suited orbital position of its satellite networks, will make it the essential catalyst for new IoT use cases, across everything from autonomous transport and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to industrial and agricultural IoT applications. 

This announcement comes following the news that the company had unveiled its plans for Inmarsat ORCHESTRA to bring together the existing geosynchronous (GEO) satellites with low earth orbit satellites (LEO) as well as terrestrial 5G into one integrated high-performance solution.  

“ELERA is a further sign of a company with true momentum and one that is delivering new innovations and strong performance,” continued Suri. “We have sharpened our strategy to focus on driving growth, accelerate decision making, launch new innovations, and are creating a more commercially focused, customer-centric culture.”

ABOUT INMARSAT

Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s most diverse global portfolio of mobile telecommunications satellite networks, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides. Inmarsat’s long-established global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance.

Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a two-time Wash100 Award winner, said the Department of Defense (DOD) needs sensors that can detect missile threats worldwide, DOD News reported Wednesday.

"I would like to have overhead sensors that see everything, characterize everything that goes on on this planet, from a missile perspective, all the time, everywhere. That's the one capability I would like to have because you have to be able to see it to do anything about it,” Hyten said Wednesday at a symposium.

He said the Space Development Agency (SDA) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) are building a space layer architecture. He cited joint fires, integrated air and missile defense, joint command and control, contested logistics and information advantage as “functional battles” priorities.

Hyten told event attendees that industry should speed up efforts to address the challenges posed by Russia and China. He added that the Joint Requirements Oversight Council will hold an industry day at a classified level to discuss the urgent defense capabilities the Pentagon needs from the commercial sector.

GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, will hold its Space Acquisition Forum on Sept. 14, featuring defense officials who will give their perspectives on military acquisition reform and modernization issues. Visit the GovCon Wire Events page to register for the virtual forum.