The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has concluded operations of a nearly two-year-old spacecraft designed to serve as a testbed for various science experiments. 

The Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft ended its service life on May 31st after 706 days of activities on orbit, AFRL said Thursday. A SpaceX-made Falcon Heavy rocket sent DSX to space in 2019 for the Department of Defense's (DOD) Space Test Program.

DSX's total service life exceeded AFRL's initial expectation by almost a year. Michael Starks, who now leads DSX’s primary mission, said the spacecraft accommodated more than 1,300 experiments.

“This is a huge contribution to understanding how the space environment affects our spacecraft and how we can protect against it – it was a mission that only AFRL could do," he said.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has released a document to help organizations protect call processing systems from cyber threats. The report, titled “Deploying Secure Unified Communications/Voice and Video over IP Systems,” provides guidance on the security of Voice and Video over Internet Protocol (VVoIP) and Unified Communications (UC) systems.

Workplaces use VVoIP and UC systems to facilitate messaging, video conferencing and voice communications. NSA advises organizations to divide networks, limit device access, apply security patches as needed, encrypt media traffic and assess the security of devices before linking with networks.

The report also informs readers about the risks that may threaten VVoIP and UC systems if security measures are not applied. NSA also produced a smaller cybersecurity information sheet to complement the report and teach organizations steps to secure VVoIP and UC systems.

Julie Dunne, former commissioner of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), wrote in a commentary that the U.S. government should recognize the Federal Acquisition Security Council (FASC) and how it could help address supply chain security risks facing agencies.

The SECURE Technology Act of 2018 authorized the establishment of the FASC, which could help facilitate information sharing to mitigate supply chain-related risks in the federal marketplace, Dunne wrote.

“The FASC presents an opportunity for a unified federal government approach in partnership with vendors to address supply chain risk in federal acquisitions,” she noted.

Dunne discussed how the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) could help advance FASC’s efforts and authorities and how the council could promote threat information sharing using its authority.

She called on the FASC to direct the General Services Administration and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to back supply chain risk assessments by providing shared services.

“Finally, the FASC should exercise its authority to consult and convene with other interagency councils such as the Chief Information Officers Council, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States,” Dunne added.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ office of inspector general (OIG) has recommended that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) establish and implement standard operating procedures to improve scanning and indexing of non-VA medical records into the electronic health records system.

“These procedures should clearly define all [Health Information Management] and community care staff responsibilities and the procedures for accurately scanning, importing, and indexing non-VA medical records,” according to the OIG report.

VHA should ensure that HIM officials provide and delegate training, quality assurance monitoring and quality checks for community care personnel with oversight of health record management operations.

The recommendations were made after the inspector general found that community care personnel did not always accurately encode non-VA records into the EHR system and that VHA facilities lacked standard procedures with defined responsibilities for staff.

“Inaccurate indexing of medical records poses a risk to veteran care and increases the burden on VHA staff who have to locate and correct the errors, reducing their time for other tasks,” the report reads.

A report by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank, recommends that Congress and the Biden administration create a national advanced industry and technology agency to oversee programs and policies meant to help the U.S. ensure its industry leadership.

“This new agency, ideally at least as large as the National Science Foundation (NSF), would lead a number of core tasks, including analyzing U.S. industry strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and responding with well-resourced solutions, including support for domestic research and development (R&D) and production partnerships and investment in advanced research facilities,” Robert Atkinson, founder and president of ITIF, wrote in the report published Thursday.

The document suggests that the proposed agency – NAITA – should be composed of five divisions: data and analysis; advanced industries; emerging technologies; innovation systems; and cross-agency and cross-government coordination.

NAITA should oversee the development of a national advanced industry and technology strategy and help pursue industry competitiveness by coordinating an interagency process to align programs and policies within federal and state agencies and international organizations. A Senate-confirmed director appointed by the president should chair NAITA, according to the report.

“Advising the director would be a board of 15 to 20 members, with at least two-thirds of which from industry, with others including industrial strategy experts, venture capitalists, and leading engineers and scientists,” the report reads.

Defense Secretary and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient Gen. Lloyd Austin said at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing the U.S. should put more money into technology research, deployment and repurposing efforts to confront China's pacing challenge, DOD News reported Thursday.

Austin told panel members that President Biden's $715 billion defense budget request for fiscal year 2022 would continue to fund traditional space, aircraft and shipbuilding programs at the Department of Defense (DOD). He added that allies and partners across the globe will play a role in the country's asymmetric advantage goal.

"I would just tell you that one of the strengths of the United States of America is that we have a lot of allies and partners who want to work with us," the defense secretary said.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, told the same committee that investment efforts in the proposed FY 2022 DOD budget and the department's joint warfighting concept “will pave the way for a Joint Force of the future.”