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NGA to Increase Opportunities for Neurodiverse Workforce; Dr. Stacey Dixon Quoted
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NGA to Increase Opportunities for Neurodiverse Workforce; Dr. Stacey Dixon Quoted

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) will strive to increase workforce opportunities for neurodiverse individuals, NextGov reported on Thursday. NGA launched its Neurodiverse Federal Workforce pilot program in Dec. 2020. Under the program, the agency will foster partnerships with MITRE and Melwood to provide jobs for people with disabilities. 

“NGA mission success is contingent on a world-class workforce with a wide diversity of opinions and expertise,” NGA deputy director and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient Dr. Stacey Dixon. “Neurodiverse talent can bring new perspectives to the NGA workforce and make important contributions to the mission.”

The program resulted from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and General Services Administration’s Government Effectiveness Advanced Research Center (GEAR), which aims to address the federal sector’s management and workforce challenges in innovative ways. 

“This work will be an invaluable building block for creating meaningful change across the federal workforce,” said Teresa Thomas, program lead for neurodiverse talent enablement for MITRE. “NGA has stepped forward to lead by example, collaborating on an internship program that will benefit interns on the spectrum and NGA.”

The Neurodiverse Federal Workforce pilot begins with a one-week training and interview workshop. Following the workshop, NGA will place interns in various geospatial and imagery analysis roles that support the agency’s mission. 

“This is a tremendous learning opportunity for NGA,” Dixon said. “It allows us to demonstrate that neurodiverse talent adds significant value to the geospatial-intelligence tradecraft and helps the agency better support its existing neurodiverse employees.”

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Aaron Weis Discusses U.S. Navy IT Modernization Priorities for 2021
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Aaron Weis Discusses U.S. Navy IT Modernization Priorities for 2021

Throughout the year, the U.S. Navy has expedited IT projects, including expanding bandwidth, building new sites for its virtual private networks and shifting to telework. Aaron Weis, U.S. Navy chief information officer and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, recently stated that the service branch should not revert to IT practices that the Navy used before COVID-19. 

“A lot of that process doesn’t add any value,” Weis said. “And … we have very fragmented [command and control] and accountability over our IT infrastructure, which, in normal times makes it very difficult for us to move the needle. COVID in the IT world is kind of the equivalent of wartime powers for IT. We just did it.”

Weis added that faster systems create potential cost savings, so IT leaders can continue the momentum they gained during the pandemic. Throughout COVID-19 the Navy worked to develop a cloud-enabled IT infrastructure, which will contribute to cost savings. 

“What that enables you to do is undergo a wholesale transformation for how you deliver a capability, and at the end of that transformation you will be able to retire huge swaths of legacy infrastructure,” Weis said. “And that legacy infrastructure are boat anchors we drag around, that cost us … a lot of money. They expose us from a cybersecurity and risk perspective.”

Moving into 2021, the Navy will work to support its infrastructure to increase endurance. The Navy will also work toward making data more accessible, which will enable better-informed decision-making for commanders.

“The requirement going forward and in the modern world is that we can securely move any information from anywhere to anywhere,” Weis said. “That’s a baseline requirement going forward. And that, while that’s very simple to say, that’s not how our infrastructure and our networks are organized today.”

The U.S. Navy has continually worked to decentralize, differentialize and digitize the service branch’s work as well as develop its talent in the field. As the Navy continues to evolve to meet the growing demands, challenges still remain. 

Aaron Weis Discusses U.S. Navy IT Modernization Priorities for 2021

GovConWire will host the Navy: IT Transformation Forum. The event will host notable industry and federal leaders that will discuss the initiatives, efficiencies and challenges the service branch faces. 

Featuring Aaron Weis, GovConWire’s Navy: IT Transformation Forum will address the influence of emerging technologies, upcoming budgets and funding, and cybersecurity initiatives that will enable the Navy to become more effective in warfare.

To register for the Navy: IT Transformation Forum, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit GovConWire’s Event Page.

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David Norquist to Serve as Acting Secretary of Defense for Biden Administration
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David Norquist to Serve as Acting Secretary of Defense for Biden Administration

David Norquist, current deputy secretary of defense and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, will serve as acting secretary of defense for the Biden administration, Defense News reported on Thursday. 

As acting secretary of defense, Norquist will lead the daily operations of the Department of Defense (DoD) while Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for defense secretary, awaits Congress confirmation. The Biden team announced its plans to nominate Austin in Dec. 2020. 

“We’re stepping onto a relay track, and when we’re part of a team, and somebody runs behind you and hands you the baton and then you get on the track and you run. But you know, at the end of the day you’re going to hand it to somebody else,” Norquist said. “And you need to hand it off in a way that is effective and coherent.”

Norquist has more than three decades of experience in federal financial management and national security. He was sworn in as the 34th deputy secretary of defense in July 2019.  Norquist was appointed as the under secretary of defense (Comptroller)/chief financial officer in June 2017. 

He served as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on all budgetary and financial matters, and supported the National Defense Strategy (NDS) through the development and execution of the department’s annual budget of more than $680 billion. 

Norquist also served as chief financial officer (CFO) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he was the first Senate-confirmed CFO for the Department. He also served as a partner at accounting firm Kearney and Co.

“What I want to do is to do for them what they did for me, which was to leave in place all the tools necessary in a sensible structure,” Norquist added. 

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BAE Systems to Lead Agreement to Support F-35 Fleet; Mark Perreault Quoted
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BAE Systems to Lead Agreement to Support F-35 Fleet; Mark Perreault Quoted

BAE Systems will lead a two year agreement to deliver enhanced maintenance and training services for the UK F-35 fleet, the company reported on Thursday. The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) entered into a contractual agreement with Lockheed Martin to support operations at RAF Marham. 

“The services and expertise being provided via the Lightning Air System National Availability Enterprise (LANCE) effort will be integral to the daily operations and readiness of the Lightning squadrons of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force,” said Mark Perreault, sustainment senior program manager, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. 

BAE Systems has been assigned as the on-site lead for industry to lead an expert team, enabling them to execute the potential $101 million, two-year agreement. BAE Systems will support maintenance, mission planning and training services for the UK’s F-35 Lightning fleet.  

The training and maintenance support will ensure UK F-35 jets are ready and available for their first operational deployment. “As part of Lightning Team UK, our priority is to ensure our support solution at RAF Marham remains world-class to enable the deployment of UK jets whenever and wherever they’re needed,” said Edward Sheldon, head of UK F-35 Sustainment & RAF Marham site lead, BAE Systems Air. 

The contract extends on the existing sustainment service at RAF Marham and will provide aircraft upgrades, maintenance, synthetic and maintainer training on-base. Additionally, the contract will provide the ability to customize specialist pilot equipment at one of the first Pilot Fit Facilities outside of the nation. 

“The industry team worked closely with the Lightning Delivery Team and the JPO to provide a contract which will support the Lightning Force operations and the increasing inventory of jets,” Perreault added. 

The UK F-35 jets are maintained by a partnership between Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce as part of Lightning Team UK. The team works with the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force to achieve a ‘whole force’ approach in support of the UK’s F-35 fleet.

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NASA Assigns New Administrative Roles to Four Executives
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NASA Assigns New Administrative Roles to Four Executives

NASA has made four new executive moves in its administrative team, including both current officials and newcomers to the space agency.

Mike Gold, who formerly led NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations on an acting basis, has been named the agency's associate administrator for space policy and partnerships, NASA said Wednesday in a notice posted by Space Ref.

Gold began his NASA tenure in 2019 as senior advisor for international and legal affairs, after serving as Maxar Technologies' vice president for civil space. In his new role, he will develop integrated policy to guide NASA's engagements with industry, international, domestic and other government entities.

Karla Smith Jackson, formerly a chief procurement executive with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), will join NASA on Jan. 31 as assistant administrator for procurement. She holds nearly three decades of procurement experience.

Karen Feldstein, deputy associate administrator for OIIR, will go on as NASA's associate administrator for international and interagency relations. She will lead the space agency's collaborative pursuits with international partners and other federal organizations.

Jeff Seaton, NASA's acting chief information officer, will assume the role on a full-time basis. He will oversee the performance of NASA's information systems in the areas of federal policy compliance, collaboration, cybersecurity, cost management and use optimization.

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Office of Personnel Management Unveils Online Guidance Documents Portal
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Office of Personnel Management Unveils Online Guidance Documents Portal

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has launched an online database that will help users access the agency's guidance documents. The website is accessible by the public and features searchable and indexed listings for the guidance documents, the Office of the Federal Register said Monday.

OPM launched the website in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) memorandum M-20-02 and Executive Order 13891. The directives require federal government agencies to roll out centralized and searchable online databases of their guidance documents.

Agencies are also directed to announce the availability of their guidance portals through the Federal Register website.

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FAA Unveils Grant Awardees for UAS Safety Research Effort
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FAA Unveils Grant Awardees for UAS Safety Research Effort

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has earmarked $5.8 million to fund the unmanned aircraft system research and training efforts of universities under the agency’s Air Transportation Center of Excellence (CoE) for UAS program.

FAA said Wednesday that the grants will support its Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) initiative which seeks to advance next-generation air travel and safely integrate drones into the National Airspace System.

The initial awardees of fiscal year 2021 ASSURE grants will perform research and development work on eight topic areas including air carrier operations, UAS cargo operations, high-bypass UAS engine ingestion, small UAS mid-air collision, sUAS navigation and detect-and-avoid technologies. 

Steve Dickson, administrator of FAA, said each grant is meant to explore subject areas that could support the integration of unmanned air carriers while driving economic and transportation benefits. FAA currently has 13 CoEs that work to promote research into a range of aviation issues.

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U.S.-Israel Homeland Security Partnership Selects Tech Projects for New Awards; William Bryan Quoted
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U.S.-Israel Homeland Security Partnership Selects Tech Projects for New Awards; William Bryan Quoted

An international partnership between the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (DHS S&T) Directorate and Israel has awarded a total amount of $1.5 million to homeland security projects that tackle 3D mapping, threat detection and other topics of interest.

The Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation issued awards to Liberty Defense Technologies, Levitection, Ception Technologies and Hivemapper under the Homeland Security or HLS program, DHS said Wednesday.

Georgia-based Liberty Defense Technologies will work with Israel's Levitection to develop a technology that uses artificial intelligence and electromagnetic imaging to surface concealed threats. Jerusalem-based Ception Technologies and California-based Hivemapper will partner to create a 3D mapping system for both air and ground environments.

“The BIRD HLS program gives us the opportunity to bring some of the best U.S. and Israeli technology companies together to address our broad homeland security needs,” said William Bryan, DHS' undersecretary for science and technology.

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USAF Secretary Barbara Barrett Prefers Redstone Arsenal as Space Command HQ Location
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USAF Secretary Barbara Barrett Prefers Redstone Arsenal as Space Command HQ Location

Barbara Barrett, secretary of the Air Force, wants to establish U.S. Space Command's headquarters at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, following a series of on-site and virtual assessments. The secretary selected the site based on an evaluation of mission factors, community support, costs and infrastructure capacity, USAF said Wednesday.

Redstone Arsenal has met all assessment criteria and additionally brings an existing facility that would provide headquarters support, as USAF builds the HQ's permanent facility.

Other alternative locations for the HQ include sites in Florida, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. The Department of the Air Force will analyze the environmental impacts of each option and plans to select the HQ's final location in the spring of 2023.

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NCSC’s William Evanina: U.S. Needs Supply Chain Security Program Based on Zero-Trust
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NCSC’s William Evanina: U.S. Needs Supply Chain Security Program Based on Zero-Trust

William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), has said the federal government must develop a supply-chain risk mitigation program based on the zero-trust concept, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Evanina told attendees at a Washington Post-hosted event that the risk mitigation initiative must be able to provide an understanding of technology providers as well as the origin of their offerings and how they fit in the information technology ecosystem. 

He added that software vulnerabilities will become more rampant as the transition to 5G continues to take place. The government needs to expand authorities to remove barriers for private-sector entities while driving collaborations between the FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and National Security Agency (NSA), according to Evanina.

“We have to have in the government, the ability to utilize private-sector talent capability and know-how to protect our nation and our entire society,” he noted.

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