Jamie Holcombe, chief information officer of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), said machine learning algorithms have helped patent examiners speed up the process of searching concepts and gather in one place all the relevant prior art they need, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

“The ability to search, especially the big datasets, gets me so excited,” Holcombe said Tuesday during an American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council event. “Because that means we can unleash that power to anybody who can get on a computer and access the net.”

He also discussed USPTO’s process for issuing an authority to operate if the agency intends to adopt a technology that lacks authorization but has the potential to advance modernization.

“We’re not exposing everything to it,” Holcombe said. “But I’m giving it enough time to grow to the point where it can comply with the minimum amount of bureaucracy that it has to comply with.”

Vertosoft announced Wednesday a partnership with Digital.ai to sell, market and distribute the Digital.ai platform to the U.S. government. Digital.ai will combine software orchestration and agile planning with application quality, security and AI/ML in an integrated platform that enables agencies to transform their digital initiatives and drive outcomes.

Vertosoft’s role in the partnership will be to provide government agencies with streamlined access to Digital.ai technology through their network of both federal, state and local government contract vehicles.

“Value stream management (VSM) should be the foundation of any organization’s digital transformation strategy. Digital.ai will help agencies make technology changes that have an enduring and meaningful impact on their mission,” added Chet Hayes, Vertosoft’s chief technology officer.

Digital.ai will assist government agencies in redefining how they create and deliver software in a deliberate manner. The company’s innovative analytics capabilities will provide agencies with a more detailed understanding of what is happening in their organizations. This technology will allow agencies to make better informed, data-driven choices that will help achieve their goals.

David Terry, vice president of Federal at Digital.ai, commented that “We are excited to be teaming with Vertosoft to increase our coverage within the public sector. We look forward to working with Vertosoft as a key force multiplier for us in the Federal space to provide our industry-leading value stream, analytic and orchestration solutions to the government.”

About Vertosoft

Vertosoft accelerates the adoption of innovative and emerging technology within the government. The company brings the flexibility, agility, and responsiveness of a small company with the experience of a large organization. Vertosoft focuses on emerging technology growth in government and it is uniquely positioned to reduce complexity and provide scalable, cloud-ready technology solutions that enable government agencies to deliver smarter, client-centric digital transformations.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has established and launched a new collaborative facility to support quantum science research focused on qubits. 

NSA said Tuesday that its Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS) stood up the LPS Qubit Collaboratory, where academia, industry and government entities can pursue collaborative qubit-focused research.

Qubits or quantum bits are the smallest units of quantum information. LQC will aim to develop quantum computing and other qubit-based applications, bolster a research-driven quantum workforce and foster partnerships that address complex problems in quantum information science.

Army Research Office (ARO) invites external organizations to propose projects that would be done in partnership with LQC. 

The broad agency announcement for this solicitation can be found here. To express interest in partnering with LQC, contact the laboratory at qubitcollaboratory.org.

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) is looking for public input on its plans to automate validation procedures for cryptographic modules. 

NCCoE intends to conduct first-party and independent testing of automated processes for the Cryptographic Module Validation Program, including the relay of data to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the latter said Monday.

The center seeks to identify the scope and requirements of the demonstration effort as well as the potential laboratory-use hardware and software needed for the program.

“Increased automation is necessary because a number of elements of the current validation processes are manual in nature, making third-party testing and government validation of cryptographic modules often incompatible with industry requirements,” according to NIST. 

Interested parties must submit feedback through May 12th.

GovConWire Events will host its Defense Cybersecurity Forum to explore the progress that NSA and other federal agencies have made to protect U.S. national security and enhance its capabilities in threat intelligence, vulnerability assessments and cyber defense to stay ahead of the nation’s adversaries in cyberspace. 

Morgan Adamski, chief of NSA’s Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, will serve as a keynote speaker. She will address the Cybersecurity Directorate’s mission, accomplishments in protecting U.S. assets, the role of commercial partnerships and the challenges still to come in cyber.

Check out GovConWire Events' Defense Cybersecurity Forum on May 12. Visit GovConWire.com to learn more and register for this can't miss event. 

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is working with the U.S. Marine Corps to improve the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft’s survivability and establish its assault-support elements in high-threat situations, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

Col. Matthew Kelly, head of the Department of Defense’s joint V-22 program, said at The Patuxent Partnership’s virtual conference in February that the V-22 program office recently concluded an internal study on the aircraft's potential medium-lift capacity through the mid-future.

Kelly noted that his office is also looking into implementing helmet-mounted visualization technologies for the MV-22 variant for missions in degraded environments.

According to Kelly, the V-22 production line will accommodate additional orders through fiscal 2023. The governments of Indonesia and Israel are also looking to procure V-22s, he added.

“We’re really proud of the work the pilots, aircrews and maintainers do, and we’re looking forward to another 30 to 40 years of flying the V-22,” said Kelly.

Charles Rettig, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said the agency needs a funding boost to bolster modernization efforts and keep up with growing responsibilities, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

Rettig said the agency has been experiencing resource cuts, which enlarge the amount of uncollected U.S. taxes.

This tax gap, according to Rettig, may eventually surpass $1 trillion due to the flourishing of cryptocurrency and foreign-source income. He said tax evasion methods serve as a critical threat now faced by IRS.

The IRS commissioner told Congress that consistent, multi-year funding may help the agency address this issue. The agency needs these funds to augment its information technology systems, which are critical to U.S. tax collection, he said.

Barbara McQuiston, acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the Department of Defense (DoD) must “innovate at speed and scale” to retain leadership in emerging technologies, DOD News reported Tuesday,

McQuiston told members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that the DOD must identify “flexible opportunities” with academic and industry entities including small businesses and historically black colleges and universities. 

According to McQuiston, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has been making progress in keeping pace with industry on technology development. 

The agency currently has 189 companies under contract, she said. Seventy-five percent of these contractors are small businesses while 32 percent are working with the government for the first time, she added.

Stefanie Tompkins, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), also noted that the agency has been collaborating with the private sector and academia in transition technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and precision weapons for over 60 years. 

"Presenting a credible deterrent to potential adversaries requires us to develop and field emerging technologies," said McQuiston. “We must reinvigorate our federal research capabilities, elevate science, promote technology and expand partnerships with our allies."

Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR), a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure, plans to release its first quarter 2021 financial results after the market closes on Monday, May 3, 2021.

Maxar President and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Jablonsky, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Biggs Porter, will host an earnings conference call the same day, reviewing the first quarter results, followed by a question-and-answer session. 

About Maxar

Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space.

Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 4,300 team members in over 20 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world. 

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), said he wants to find new approaches on how the Department of Defense (DOD) can improve the way it spends its funding, Stars and Stripes reported Tuesday.

“There are not enough incentives right now in the way we spend money at the Pentagon to save money and get the best value for what you’re doing. We need to change that,” Smith said Tuesday at a Ronald Reagan Institute-hosted event. “Whatever that number is, we need to get more out of that money being spent. That’s the big goal I have for this year.”

His remarks come as lawmakers debate over the amount of funding that should be earmarked for DOD. The White House proposed $715 billion in the fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding for DOD to help the department advance modernization efforts, enhance readiness and defend the country against nation-state threats.

Smith said the Pentagon should also transform the way it oversees programs of record by rewarding people who come up with creative platforms instead of “checking the boxes.”