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Deputy DOD Secretary Nominee Kathleen Hicks on Plans for JAIC’s AI Implementation Efforts
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Deputy DOD Secretary Nominee Kathleen Hicks on Plans for JAIC’s AI Implementation Efforts

Kathleen Hicks, President Biden's nominee for deputy secretary of the Department of Defense (DOD), outlined her plans for the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) during her confirmation hearing this week, C4ISRnet reported Tuesday. JAIC will fall under Hicks’ oversight if she receives Senate confirmation for the deputy secretary role.

Hicks, who currently serves as senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in a written response that she seeks to drive JAIC’s efforts to roll out AI concepts across the DOD in the coming years.

The national security veteran noted that she will work to promote collaboration between Congress and DOD’s military and civilian leadership in addition to fostering partnerships with nontraditional contractors.

She also seeks to establish visibility in AI programs and build on efforts under the Pentagon’s innovation hubs such as the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), according to the report. JAIC will serve as Hicks’ “tool for guiding the transformation of the department” in terms of AI integration for business, support and warfighting applications, she added.

Hicks holds memberships at the Aerospace Corp.’s board of trustees and the U.S. Naval institute’s board of directors.

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Gen. David Berger Wants Marines to Trust, Use AI Tech for Quicker Performance
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Gen. David Berger Wants Marines to Trust, Use AI Tech for Quicker Performance

Gen. David Berger, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, said he wants the service branch to streamline and accelerate logistics and warfare via artificial intelligence.

Berger, at the National Defense Industrial Association’s expeditionary warfare conference, said he envisions a self-updating system that uses AI to track adversaries, determine optimal logistics routes and deploy unmanned vehicles to deliver supplies, USNI News reported Tuesday. The commandant said marines need to build their trust in AI for his envisioned system to materialize.

“We have programs right now, capabilities right now that allow for fully automatic processing of sensor-to-shooter targeting, but we don’t trust the data," he said.

Berger referenced a study that found that individuals who trained with an AI system have more confidence in the technology, compared those who were just given the system. The general said he'd want industry to help USMC train with and trust AI technology.

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ViON Promotes Rob Davies to COO, David Kushner to SVP of Sales; Tom Frana Quoted
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ViON Promotes Rob Davies to COO, David Kushner to SVP of Sales; Tom Frana Quoted

ViON Corporation has promoted Rob Davies to chief operations officer and David Kushner to senior vice president of Sales, the company reported on Wednesday.

“Rob’s ability to lead a large team is incredibly strong,” said Tom Frana, chairman and CEO of ViON. “His federal government experience and industry knowledge has enabled us to better position ViON to take advantage of the increased market demand for on-premise as-a-Service Private Cloud. 

As COO, Davies will be responsible for ViON’s Cloud and Infrastructure as-a-Services offerings, as well as Professional Services, Managed Services and Support Services. With more than two decades of experience, Davies has a broad range of expertise in supporting federal and commercial business in information technology.  

Prior to ViON, Davies served as vice president of U.S. Public Sector Services for Computer Associates (CA) Technologies, where he integrated all facets of the two businesses to include facility clearances, financial systems, contractual processes, sales processes, commissioning, rate structures, marketing and proposals. 

He was previously chief executive officer and president with Base Technologies. During his tenure, Davies structured, negotiated and completed acquisition of BaseTech by CA Technologies in April 2011. He also doubled Base Technologies revenue in five years to $44 million, increased annual profits by an average of 40 percent and grew the employee base to 220. 

Kushner joined ViON more than a decade ago. Since then, he has held several key positions, culminating in his promotion as SVP of Sales. With the company, Kushner has expanded ViON partnerships and revenues over the past three years. 

In addition, he has helped ViON complete major as-a-Service program acquisitions supporting over $1 billion in contract ceiling. Kushner has also led a complete overhaul of the company’s business development and capture organization to better align with customer markets.

Before joining ViON, he spent ten years with EMC Corporation’s Intelligence Group, where he managed the OEM Business Development Team.

“Rob and Dave have had a tremendously positive impact on us here at ViON, and both represent the next generation of C-suite executives,” said Frana. “Rob has effectively been serving in the role for the past few months, and we promoted Dave to encourage us to think more strategically about program business and growth.”

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American Heart Association, Kaiser Permanente Collaborate to Increase Health Awareness
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American Heart Association, Kaiser Permanente Collaborate to Increase Health Awareness

Kaiser Permanente has collaborated with the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Greater Washington Region division to further the organizations’ shared goal of helping members live longer, healthier lives free of heart disease and stroke, AHA reported on Jan. 27, 2020.

“It is through powerful commitments like this that we can drive sustainable change across our region,” said Soula Antoniou, executive director of AHA. “Over the next three years Kaiser Permanente will help us to engage the Greater Washington community in new and profound ways that lead to improved physical health and mental well-being.”

Kaiser Permanente has joined as a three-year Healthy for Good sponsor in the Greater Washington region, and serves as the founding member of the DC Go Red for Women campaign. Under the collaboration, Kaiser Permanente and AHA will launch a series of digital conversations to educate on critical health priorities.

Ruth Williams-Brinkley, regional president of Kaiser Permanente, will lead the 2021 efforts for DC Go Red, and will chair the 2022 Greater Washington Region Heart Walk. The DC Go Red for Women campaign extends the legacy of longstanding women-focused events to support women and promote the work of the American Heart Association.

As regional president of Kaiser Permanente in the Mid-Atlantic States, Ruth Williams-Brinkley supervises care delivery and health plan operations.  “I am honored to lead the inaugural DC Go Red For Women campaign and to have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the heart health of people in the communities we serve,” said Williams-Brinkley.

“This mission is near and dear to my heart, as it is an extension of the important work being done at Kaiser Permanente to eliminate health care disparities and expand access to care for all in our community,” Williams-Brinkley added.

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NCI Partners with Radford to Advance Mutually Beneficial Initiatives; Chuck Hicks Quoted
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NCI Partners with Radford to Advance Mutually Beneficial Initiatives; Chuck Hicks Quoted

NCI Information Systems and Radford University have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance the goals and initiatives of both parties through joint academic, education and project-execution activities. Radford University president Brian Hemphill, Ph.D., and NCI EVP, COO and CFO Chuck Hicks signed the agreement on Jan. 5.

“This academic-industry alliance is going to present NCI with a student population that will have requisites in a curriculum that ties in well with our initiatives related to developing and expanding our artificial intelligence capabilities and other cutting-edge solutions,” Hicks said.

Under the MOU, Radford University and NCI will collaborate for research, emerging technology assessment, NCI contract support, workforce development, talent pipeline development and student and faculty exchanges.

In addition, the agreement will provide research collaboration opportunities between NCI and Radford University’s Artis College of Science and Technology, as well as emerging technology assessments, NCI contract support and Radford student and faculty engagement.

NCI has a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and government defense contracts. Radford students have the opportunity to work on real-world challenges and develop solutions through collaboration with their faculty members, as well as NCI leaders.

The partnership will also offer students with paid internships with NCI, as well as cooperative education opportunities with the University’s Center for Career Talent Development. NCI staff will have opportunities for competency-based workforce development through Radford’s Vinod Chachra IMPACT Lab.

“Radford University is truly excited to have this unique opportunity to thoughtfully engage with NCI through this exciting initiative. It will be a significant step for our institution, and we will be a great partner with NCI for many years to come,” Hemphill said.

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Ankura Names Ted Theisen Senior Managing Director, Cyber Practice
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Ankura Names Ted Theisen Senior Managing Director, Cyber Practice

Ankura has appointed Ted Theisen as a senior managing director of the company’s Cyber Practice, Ankura reported on Tuesday. He brings more than two decades of experience to Ankura, across both the private and public sectors. Throughout his career, Theisen has worked to design and modernize information security programs and systems.

“Ted’s experience leading highly technical and complex cyber investigations, which required multinational and multidiscipline collaboration, will be of tremendous value to our clients,” said Jessica Block, Data & Technology Business group leader. “We are happy to have Ted back at Ankura. His character and professionalism fit so well with our firm and he will certainly bolster our rapidly growing Cyber Practice.”

With the appointment Theisen will rejoin Ankura, initially serving with the company from 2017 to 2018. Since then, he has spent the last two and a half years as the general manager of Shape Matrix, one of Ankura’s clients. “When I joined Ankura in 2017, I said the company was a game-changer in the business advisory industry,” Theisen said.

Before that, Theisen served as managing director of UnitedLex Corporation, where he enabled clients to identify and mitigate risks associated with insider or outside information security threats.

Theisen also served for three and a half years with Kroll, where he most recently was the director of Cyber Investigations. In the role, he provided investigative expertise, analytical assistance and digital forensic support to ensure client success. Theisen also utilized broad experience in information technology and investigations to solve complex and critical client issues.

Earlier in his career, Theisen was a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he focused on cyber-related matters. He also served as the branch chief of Cyber Integrity, where he provided information risk management, information assurance and eDiscovery leadership to the White House.

“The cyber-risk landscape has grown more complex, but Ankura has continued to innovate to combat the growing risks,” said Theisen. “I’m thrilled to be back at Ankura, and I look forward to broadening the global reach of our cyber threat intelligence and incident response capabilities to best serve our clients.”

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Lloyd Austin Signs Memo for Zero-Based Review of DOD Advisory Committees
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Lloyd Austin Signs Memo for Zero-Based Review of DOD Advisory Committees

Gen. Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary and 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, has signed a memo to conduct a zero-based review of the Department of Defense (DoD) advisory committees, including any advisory committee that is not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), DoD reported on Wednesday.

“Our stewardship responsibilities require that we continually assess to ensure each advisory committee provides appropriate value today and in the future, as times and requirements change,” Lloyd wrote. This review will focus our advisory committee efforts to align with our most pressing strategic priorities and the National Defense Strategy.”

The review will be led by the interim director of Administration and Management (DA&M), in consultation with the acting general counsel of the DoD (GC DOD). The final recommendations will be made to the secretary of Defense on each committee by June 1, 2021.

“Each DoD Sponsor will conduct an in-depth business case of every sponsored advisory committee, supported by fact-based evidence for continued utilization of the advisory committee,” the memo noted. To begin this effort, Austin has directed the immediate suspension of all advisory committee operations until the review is completed.

Each sponsor’s business case should include potential functional realignments to form a single cross-functional advisory panel and assess the committee’s function and mission in relation to the National Defense Strategy and the Pentagon’s strategic priorities, among others. Each business case should be backed by “fact-based evidence” for continued use of the committee.

Members that serve advisory panels where the approving authority is the secretary of Defense or “where statute authorizes another DOD civilian officer or employee, or Active Duty member of the Armed Services to act as the DOD approving authority” should finish their service no later than Feb. 16.

“This process shall ensure that advisory committee and subcommittee member appointments comply with all applicable federal statutes and regulations, to include DoD policies and procedures,” the memo stated.

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Report: White House Eyes Eric Hysen for DHS CIO Role
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Report: White House Eyes Eric Hysen for DHS CIO Role

The White House is expected to name Eric Hysen, former executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s digital service, as chief information officer at DHS in the coming weeks, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

A spokesperson for DHS said Hysen rejoined DHS as a senior adviser within the office of the CIO. He will succeed Karen Evans, who stepped down from her role as DHS CIO on Jan. 20. Hysen served on the Biden-Harris transition team and was a senior fellow for policy design and implementation at the National Conference on Citizenship prior to his return to DHS.

Prior to joining the DHS to oversee the digital service office in 2015, Hysen served as a founding member and product manager within the U.S. Digital Service at the White House. He spent five years at Google as product and program lead for civic engagement.

Hysen is expected to oversee data center consolidation, cloud and other information technology modernization efforts at DHS, which has an IT budget of $7.3 billion in fiscal year 2021.

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MDA to Accelerate Hypersonic Missile Defense Under Glide Phase Interceptor Initiative
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MDA to Accelerate Hypersonic Missile Defense Under Glide Phase Interceptor Initiative

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to launch a new Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) initiative to advance the hypersonic missile defense program. MDA decided that it will no longer release a final request for proposals to develop prototypes for a regional glide phase weapons system following a review of requirements, according to a notice published Tuesday.

MDA said it plans a phased approach to GPI development to “deliver increasing regional capabilities” to warfighters and will issue an announcement by the second quarter of fiscal year 2021 to kick off the GPI initiative’s first phase.

“A GPI Document Library will be established to provide both classified and unclassified data to interested offerors,” the notice reads.

In August 2020, Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of MDA, announced that the agency decided to delay the defensive hypersonic missile design effort to focus on near-term options.

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Report: Suspected Chinese Hackers Targeted U.S. Payroll Agency Via Separate Bug in SolarWinds Orion Code
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Report: Suspected Chinese Hackers Targeted U.S. Payroll Agency Via Separate Bug in SolarWinds Orion Code

A group of suspected Chinese hackers used a vulnerability in SolarWinds software to breach U.S. government networks and a payroll agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Finance Center (NFC) – was one of the government organizations affected by the cyber attack, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Sources said the operation of suspected hackers from China was different from the one carried out by threat actors allegedly linked to Russia because it exploited a different flaw in SolarWinds Orion code to compromise and penetrate deeply into government networks.

The NFC oversees the payroll of several federal agencies, including the FBI and the departments of the Treasury, State and Homeland Security, according to former officials. A spokesman for USDA said the department has informed all customers, including organizations and individuals, whose information has been affected by the SolarWinds Orion compromise.

SolarWinds said it was aware of one customer that was targeted by the second group of threat actors but had “not found anything conclusive” to identify who was behind the attack. The company noted that the hackers failed to access its own systems and that it had issued an update to address the software flaw in December.

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