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GAO: Policymakers Should Support Increased Training on Use of Forensic Algorithms
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GAO: Policymakers Should Support Increased Training on Use of Forensic Algorithms

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has presented three possible actions policymakers can take to address challenges related to the use of forensic algorithms by law enforcement agencies and one is supporting increased training for criminal investigators and analysts. 

GAO noted that training on human factors could help reduce risks related to analyst error and enable users to understand and interpret the results, according to a report published Tuesday. 

With regard to facial recognition and latent print algorithms, providing analysts training on cognitive biases could help improve objectivity and awareness. 

GAO also recommended that policymakers support the development and implementation of policies and standards on the appropriate use of such algorithms and advance increased transparency with regard to the use, performance and testing of the technology. 

Law enforcement agencies use latent print, facial recognition and probabilistic genotyping algorithms in criminal investigations. However, the congressional watchdog found that the use of forensic technologies presents challenges to investigators and analysts, including potential bias and misuse and difficulty in interpreting results.

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Bob Newberry on Top Priorities of DOD’s Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate
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Bob Newberry on Top Priorities of DOD’s Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate

Bob Newberry, head of the irregular warfare technical support directorate at the Department of Defense (DOD), talked about his top priorities as director and the first one he cited is “greater affordability at the speed of relevance,” which is part of the National Defense Strategy.

“We want to get to contracts in less than a year, so that is really tightening up a schedule from requirements to signing a contract, and we want to deliver whatever capability we’re trying to develop in one to two years,” Newberry said.

Another priority he mentioned is the use of analytical tools based on artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for big data analysis.

“We’ve really expanded that this year on a recent broad agency announcement — we asked the vendors to look at how they could use artificial intelligence or machine learning on all of the requirements to reduce the workload on individual operators,” Newberry added.

Other priorities Newberry cited are increasing lethality with a focus on small teams and individuals, improving survivability for personnel and facilities, strengthening alliances, optimizing human performance and learning and addressing chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats.

Newberry also talked about the directorate’s reorganization effort and the focus areas of the irregular warfare subgroup.

He said industry can reach out to the directorate and present their technologies and ideas through industry days, tactical communications and telematics workshops and challenge programs.

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Pentagon Cancels $10B JEDI Cloud Contract; Acting DOD CIO John Sherman Quoted
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Pentagon Cancels $10B JEDI Cloud Contract; Acting DOD CIO John Sherman Quoted

The Defense Department announced that its potential ten-year, $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud computing contract, which was first awarded to Microsoft in Oct. 2019, has been canceled due to cloud advancement and the development of other initiatives, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.

“JEDI was developed at a time when the Department’s needs were different and both the CSPs technology and our cloud conversancy was less mature,” said John Sherman, acting chief information officer for the Department of Defense (DOD).

“In light of new initiatives like JADC2 and AI and Data Acceleration (ADA), the evolution of the cloud ecosystem within DoD, and changes in user requirements to leverage multiple cloud environments to execute mission, our landscape has advanced and a new way-ahead is warranted to achieve dominance in both traditional and non-traditional warfighting domains,” he added.

Following the decision to cancel the $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract on Tuesday, the Pentagon also announced its intent to seek request for proposals (RFPs) from both Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS), for its new Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) multi-cloud and multi-vendor indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract.

The Pentagon said that AWS and Microsoft are the only two cloud service providers with the capabilities to meet DOD’s requirements for its up-to-date cloud computing efforts under the current administration. However, the department plans to continue its market research to determine other potential CSPs with the capabilities to meet DOD’s requirements.

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Huntington Ingalls Industries to Acquire Alion Science and Technology For $1.65B; Andy Green Quoted
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Huntington Ingalls Industries to Acquire Alion Science and Technology For $1.65B; Andy Green Quoted

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on Tuesday that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alion Science and Technology for $1.65 billion in cash from Veritas Capital, subject to customary adjustments. Alion is a technology-driven solutions provider for the global defense marketplace.

The transaction constitutes an enterprise value-to-expected 2022 adjusted EBITDA1 multiple of approximately 12.2x. It will make Alion a part of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Technical Solutions division and is expected to close in the second half of 2021.

“The combination of Alion and our Technical Solutions business represents a significant value creation opportunity that broadens our capabilities and customer access in our target markets,” commented Andy Green, HII’s executive vice president and president of Technical Solutions.

“The experienced Alion team and the highly complementary solutions and products they provide are consistent with the strategic vision we have articulated for the Technical Solutions business, and we are excited about the significant growth potential this combination represents,” added Green, a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient.

Alion provides innovative advanced engineering and R&D services in ISR, military training and simulation, cyber, data analytics and other next-generation technology-based solutions to Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community customers, with the U.S. Navy representing approximately one-third of the company’s annual revenues.

Alion is expected to continue growing with over $3 billion in backlog, over $5 billion in estimated contract value and a notable opportunity pipeline. The company employs more than 3,2000 professionals, with over 80% of employees maintaining security clearances.

The acquisition will create over $2.6 billion revenue products and solutions business. It also creates substantial revenue and value creation opportunities over the long term, further positioning the Technical Solutions division as HII’s growth driver.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

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SOS International Appoints Michael Garson as General Counsel, Kimberly Parker as VP for Contracts; CEO Julian Setian Quoted
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SOS International Appoints Michael Garson as General Counsel, Kimberly Parker as VP for Contracts; CEO Julian Setian Quoted

SOS International (SOSi) announced on Tuesday that the company has appointed Michael Garson as general counsel and Kimberly Parker as vice president for Contracts. Garson possesses over two decades of experience in the defense, technology and telecommunications industries. Parker joins SOSi from Applied Insight, where she worked as the chief administrative officer, corporate secretary, and vice president of Contracts, Ethics and Compliance.

“Mike and Kim are transformational leaders with valuable experience and proven success in our industry. They will undoubtedly raise the bar in our legal and compliance departments and provide best-in-class support for our customers while optimizing business performance,” commented Julian Setian, SOSi president, CEO and previous Wash100 Award recipient.

Garson worked as executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel of LGS Innovations (now part of CACI) for ten years. Before that, he served as general counsel for the U.S. Government Solutions business at Lucent Technologies (now part of Nokia) for four years. 

He also ran his own consulting business and served as senior managing director of Ankura Consulting, where he assisted clients with strategic planning, internal controls development, organizational restructuring, process efficiency and compliance-focused national security and government contracting.

Before joining Applied Insight, Parker led more than 130 contracts and subcontracts professionals in the $3.7 billion defense and intelligence business at Leidos. She also played a crucial role in Leidos’ $5 billion acquisition of Lockheed Martin’s information technology services business.

SOS International is the largest private, family-owned and operated technology and services integrator in the aerospace, defense and government services industry. The company’s global portfolio includes cybersecurity, software development, intelligence analysis and military logistics technologies. 

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DHS Asks Former SBIR Participants for Technology Ideas; Dusty Lang Quoted
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DHS Asks Former SBIR Participants for Technology Ideas; Dusty Lang Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) invites small businesses to submit ideas with the potential to address the technology needs of various DHS components.

Interested businesses may take part in the Other Agency Technology Solutions requests for information, which seek concepts on a variety of topics including electro-optical/infrared sensors, autonomous vessel tracking and 5G internet of things, DHS's Science and Technology Directorate said Friday.

The RFI is open to previous participants of any federal agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Technology Transfer programs.

“DHS SBIR is uniquely positioned to support DHS’s broad mission by finding ways to advance technology to meet operational needs while leveraging research already developed by another federal agency,” said Dusty Lang, SBIR program director at DHS.

OATS also seeks technologies that can help the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office detect chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. DHS will keep the RFI open for white paper submissions through July 30.

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Marine Corps Achieves First FOC for F-35C Jets; Maj. Derek Heinz Quoted
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Marine Corps Achieves First FOC for F-35C Jets; Maj. Derek Heinz Quoted

The U.S. Marine Corps has declared full operational capability of F-35C aircraft operated by the service's Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, DVIDS Hub reported Thursday.

The milestone verifies VMFA-314's readiness for operations on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and marks the Marine Corps' first FOC declaration for the F-35C aircraft.

Maj. Gen. Christopher Mahoney, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said VMFA-314 will deploy with a Carrier Strike Group in 2022.

“Many hours were spent maintaining aircraft, launching and recovering aircraft in Miramar, at other military facilities, and aboard the ship to conduct the training required to meet these goals,” said Maj. Derek Heinz, operations officer at VMFA-314. 

The fighter squadron received its first F-35C jet on Jan. 21st last year.

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VA Secretary Denis McDonough: Electronic Health Record Implementation to Continue With Changes
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VA Secretary Denis McDonough: Electronic Health Record Implementation to Continue With Changes

Denis McDonough, who leads the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as secretary, said VA will continue to roll out its new commercial electronic health record (EHR) with some changes, Nextgov reported Friday.

VA's Cerner-made EHR system will resume deployment following the 12-week strategic review on the platform's implementation program.

The EHR system underwent the strategic review after the Biden administration commenced activity. McDonough said he expects the review to produce changes across the EHR implementation program.

The system first went live in October 2020 at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, under the leadership of then-VA secretary Robert Wilkie, before the pause caused by the strategic review. 

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Spacecom Marks 100th Commercial Space Data Sharing Agreement; Gen. James Dickinson Quoted
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Spacecom Marks 100th Commercial Space Data Sharing Agreement; Gen. James Dickinson Quoted

U.S. Space Command and the Libre Space Foundation (LSF) have agreed to share information and services for global spaceflight operations safety initiatives, marking the 100th Commercial Space Situational Awareness Data Sharing Agreement signed by the unified combatant command.

LSF, a nonprofit promoting the development of open-source space systems, is now part of the program that already includes 26 countries, two intergovernmental organizations and three satellite-operating academic institutions, Spacecom said Thursday.

The command provides SSA participants information collected from the Combined Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for use in rocket launches, planning of satellite maneuvers and other on-orbit activities.

“As more countries, companies and organizations field space capabilities and benefit from the use of space systems, it is in our collective interest to act responsibly, promote transparency and enhance the long-term sustainability, stability, safety and security of space,” said Gen. James Dickinson, commander of Spacecom.

The Spacecom-LSF partnership comes as the command sees increased competition and congestion in the space domain.

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FAA Issues $845M in Airport Improvement Grants; DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg Quoted
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FAA Issues $845M in Airport Improvement Grants; DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg Quoted

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has unveiled the fourth round of fiscal year 2021 grants amounting to $845 million for infrastructure projects under the agency's Airport Improvement Program. 

FAA said Thursday that the funds will support efforts to bolster airport safety, capacity and jobs, address environmental impacts caused by airports and increase accessibility for remote communities and people with disabilities.

Among the grantees, Tucson International in Tucson, Arizona, secured the highest share of funding at $22.4 million for runway reconfiguration to reduce potential unwanted incursions. Monroe's regional airport in Louisiana also received $8.8 million for repair and upgrade work on its drainage system.

The agency awarded $7.9 million for the rehabilitation of passenger holding and baggage handling areas in the terminal building of Southwest Regional Airport in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

"We want our airports to be better than ever–accessible to all, delivering maximum benefit to their communities and helping, directly and indirectly, to create jobs for millions of Americans," said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The projects are not subject to a local match requirement due to an American Rescue Plan Act allocation of nearly $100 million, according to the agency.

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