The Government Accountability Office assessed 24 major acquisition programs of the Department of Homeland Security and found that 19 of those were meeting their cost and schedule baseline goals as of September 2020.

GAO found that five DHS acquisition programs remained in breach of either schedule or cost goals or both as of September last year, including the National Cybersecurity Protection System and the Grants Management Modernization, according to a report published Tuesday.

The report also showed that some of the programs that were meeting the established goals are at risk of schedule delays or cost increases.

The congressional watchdog recommended that DHS ask the undersecretary for management to “ensure the requirements for establishing key acquisition documentation in the acquisition management instruction and Systems Engineering Life Cycle Instruction and Guidebook align.”

Congress should also determine what additional information on schedule, performance and cost risks for DHS acquisition programs it needs to inform oversight and establish reporting mechanisms for the department to supply that information, GAO recommended.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected seven local and state government entities to install new building technologies in Texas, Wisconsin, California, Kansas, Tennessee and Rhode Island. 

DOE said Wednesday that it competitively selected four local government bodies, two state energy agencies and a state judicial council to have these technologies installed and demonstrated under the department's State Energy Program.

The department seeks to improve the energy efficiency and flexibility of buildings through these technologies, such as artificial intelligence-aided sensors, building automation systems, gas absorption heat pumps and thermal energy storage systems.

“We are excited and ready to work with our public sector stakeholders to test out these innovative technologies for improving energy efficiency for homeowners, business owners and state and local governments,” said AnnaMaria Garcia, director of weatherization and intergovernmental programs at DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

DOE finances the projects via the Building Technologies Proving Ground – Public Sector Field Validation funding opportunity.

The Department of the Air Force gathered leaders from both its service branches to standardize joint all-domain command and control processes at this year's annual C2 Summit. The event ran from Jan. 12 to 13th at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, with the participation of U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force and joint senior leaders, USAF said Wednesday.

Attendees discussed a range of joint force-related topics such as USAF's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), a new technology designed to facilitate real-time information sharing and analysis across a joint force.

The event also featured discussions on C2 technology training, doctrine development, budgeting and USSF's integration into the JADC2 concept.

“The U.S. Space Force was a priority topic of discussion on the summit’s agenda in making sure that we're able to enhance integration of the space domain into joint warfighting,” said Col. Alan Docauer, chief of Air Combat Command's Directorate of Operations, C2, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operations.

The U.S. military envisions the JADC2 concept as an integrated network of battlefield sensors from all the service branches.