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GSA Names Payman Sadegh as New CDO; Bob De Luca Quoted
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GSA Names Payman Sadegh as New CDO; Bob De Luca Quoted

Payman Sadegh has been appointed as chief data officer (CDO) with the General Services Administration (GSA), FedScoop reported on Friday. Sadegh will succeed Kris Rowley, the first appointed CDO, who left the agency for the private sector March 31 after serving a seven year tenure. In the interim, deputy chief information officer, Beth Killoran, served as acting CDO.

Sadegh joined GSA‘s IT leadership team in Oct. 2020 with more than two decades of experience. He will bring expert knowledge of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as predictive analytics and marketing analytics. 

Sadegh has extensive experience and track record of delivering value through advanced analytics in several industries, including Financial Services, Healthcare, Internet, Retail, CPG, Telecom, Automotive, Aerospace and Education. 

Most recently, Sadegh served as co-founder and CEO of patient engagement startup ChainSquared. Sadegh previously served as chief data scientist with Visual IQ, where he helped build new data science algorithms and solutions, including one of the first marketing attribution platforms.

He also worked to automate Visual IQ's marketing mix and develop innovative attribution methodologies for delivery of high dimensional predictive and optimization models and output at scale, and partnered with clients to ensure value delivery through use of the company’s marketing optimization platform.

Prior to his tenure with Visual IQ, Sadegh served as program manager with Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin Company. With the company, he advanced technology programs in aircraft health and usage data mining and analytics, and led development of algorithms for predictive modeling of aircraft maintenance based on clustering of maneuver patterns.

In Oct. 2020, Sadegh joined GSA’s Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) 2021 class of fellows. He joined technology and industry leaders that will work to develop innovative solutions to national issues. The fellows will partner with 22 federal agencies to increase resilience.

“Innovation thrives in partnerships, and with this new cohort, Presidential Innovation Fellows is uniting the best talent between the federal government and the private sector to drive the next generation of modern, human-centered solutions for the public,” said acting FAS deputy commissioner and Technology Transformation Services director Bob De Luca.

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Telos Corporation Launches Initial Public Offering
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Telos Corporation Launches Initial Public Offering

Telos Corporation has launched its initial public offering of 12,352,942 primary shares of its common stock, the company reported last week. The underwriters will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,852,941 shares of common stock from the company. 

Riley Securities, BMO Capital Markets and Needham & Company are acting as joint bookrunners for the proposed offering. Colliers Securities, D.A. Davidson & Co., Northland Capital Markets, Wedbush Securities and MKM Partners will serve as co-managers for the offering.

Telos intends to list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market, under the ticker symbol “TLS.” The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. 

A registration statement relating to the proposed sale of these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. 

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

About Telos Corporation

Telos Corporation empowers and protects the world’s most security-conscious organizations with solutions for continuous security assurance of individuals, systems, and information. Telos’ offerings include cybersecurity solutions for IT risk management and information security; cloud security solutions to protect cloud-based assets and enable continuous compliance with industry and government security standards; and enterprise security solutions to ensure that personnel can work and collaborate securely and productively. The company serves military, intelligence and civilian agencies of the federal government, allied nations and commercial organizations around the world.

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GAO: DIA Needs Robust Stakeholder Engagement Plan for Intell Repository Modernization Program
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GAO: DIA Needs Robust Stakeholder Engagement Plan for Intell Repository Modernization Program

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to establish a strategy for coordinating with the intelligence community and other stakeholders on the development of its new data-management system.

GAO said Thursday that DIA is yet to provide a plan for ongoing stakeholder coordination in line with the development of the Machine-assisted Analytic Rapid-repository System (MARS), which is meant to automate procedures handled by DIA’s military intelligence database.

According to GAO, DIA and its stakeholders have identified operational, technical and policy risks related to the MARS effort. The agency has also conducted workshops and town halls to identify initial program requirements and disseminate updates, according to GAO’s report.

However, the watchdog noted that DIA’s initial test and stakeholder engagement plan “lacks key details" on the implementation of leading system development practices as well as GAO’s assessment standards for Agile procedures.

“Without a comprehensive plan to guide stakeholder engagement, MARS capabilities could fall short of stakeholder expectations, and DIA could face greater challenges in mitigating risks to MARS,” the report states.

GAO has also recommended the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Department of Defense (DoD) secretary to oversee DIA’s development of a comprehensive plan for MARS stakeholder engagement.

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DOE Funds 17 Dev’t Projects for Ultra-High Temperature Materials
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DOE Funds 17 Dev’t Projects for Ultra-High Temperature Materials

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $16 million in funds to 17 projects in support of the development of ultra-high temperature materials for gas turbines.

DOE said Wednesday that it seeks to build materials that will operate at 1800 ºC with coatings and coolings or at 1300 ºC in a stand-alone material test environment as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s Ultrahigh Temperature Impervious Materials Advancing Turbine Efficiency program.

Selected teams under the first phase of the initiative will demonstrate proofs of concept and will undergo a technical review to validate their eligibility for Phase 2. They will also devise manufacturing methods to help turbine blades operate within extreme operating environments.

West Virginia University, one of the teams, was allocated $700K to build ultra-high temperature refractory complex concentrated alloys-based composites while Pennsylvania State University, another awardee, was given $1.2M to create an integrated computational and experimental framework.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies' research center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, QuesTek Innovations, General Electric's research arm, University of Maryland, National Energy Technology Laboratory, University of Virginia, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Utah are the other Phase 1 developers.

DOE plans to award $14 million in additional funds for Phase 2 awardees.

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Former Deloitte Exec Raj Iyer Joins Army as CIO
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Former Deloitte Exec Raj Iyer Joins Army as CIO

Raj Iyer, formerly a managing director in the government and public services practice at Deloitte Consulting, has been named as the U.S. Army's first civilian chief information officer, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

Iyer assumes his new position after the separation of the Army CIO/G-6 organization into two functions as part of efforts to address multidomain operational requirements across the information technology and cyber domains.

As the CIO, he will be responsible for implementing the service branch's programs and policies related to IT architecture, cybersecurity, cloud and enterprise data management. While at Deloitte, he worked with clients to help them devise innovation-driven business transformation strategies. 

He joined the company in 2015 as senior manager of technology strategy for the defense and national security business sector. He previously worked for Imagecom, Automation and Robotics Research Institute and FlightSafety International.

His public sector career includes time as senior technology adviser to the Department of Health and Human Services, director of information services design and development group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and acting deputy CIO and chief technology officer at the Army Materiel Command.

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DHS to Deploy Updated CDM Dashboard to Other Agencies Through FY 2021; Betsy Kulick Quoted
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DHS to Deploy Updated CDM Dashboard to Other Agencies Through FY 2021; Betsy Kulick Quoted

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an upgraded dashboard for the Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation (CDM) program is now up and running at four small agencies and that DHS plans to roll out the platform to other agencies by the end of fiscal year 2021, FCW reported Thursday.

Betsy Kulick, CDM deputy program manager at DHS, said Thursday at an FCW event a “medium-sized agency” will start using the updated CDM dashboard by the end of November 2020.

“Over the rest of the fiscal year we anticipate moving all the rest of the [Chief Financial Officers] Act Agencies onto the elastic platform and ultimately slowly decommissioning” the legacy system, Kulic added.

The new CDM dashboard features a new tool – Elasticsearch – from search company Elastic and works to provide DHS greater visibility into federal networks and seeks to standardize cyber threat monitoring for agencies.

“What we found there is it is achieving our objectives of being able to scale better, being higher performing, better visualization, better analytics than what were originally available in our first dashboard,” Kevin Cox, CDM program manager at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said of the upgraded dashboard.

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Bill Lietzau: DCSA Adds More Mission Areas to Advance Security Clearance Transformation
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Bill Lietzau: DCSA Adds More Mission Areas to Advance Security Clearance Transformation

Bill Lietzau, director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), said DCSA hired at least 100 additional employees and added more mission areas at the start of fiscal year 2021 as part of its security clearance transformation efforts, Federal News Network reported Thursday. 

He said DCSA, which was formed through the merger of the Defense Security Service and the National Background Investigations Bureau, acquired more than 12 information technology systems from other agencies and Department of Defense (DoD) components. 

Those IT systems include the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) legacy platform for processing security clearances and the National Background Investigation Services system. 

Lietzau said his office has worked on new requirements for the NBIS project with plans to integrate the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative and the continuous evaluation and vetting program. 

“We’re putting it all together in a way that best protects our security,” Lietzau said at a meeting of the National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee. “We are in a timeline where we have completed most of the transfers. There’s a few more things that are happening a year from. We’re in transition, and then we’re in the thick of transformational efforts right now as an organization."

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Karen Evans: DHS Begins Search for New Chief Data Officer
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Karen Evans: DHS Begins Search for New Chief Data Officer

Karen Evans, chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said DHS is looking to hire a new chief data officer to support planning and evaluation work, Nextgov reported Thursday. 

She said the new CDO office will have a council composed of chief information officers and chief technology officers and that the CDO will collaborate with the chief financial officer and CXOs in support of the management directorate. 

“The chief financial officer also has the performance piece, and the planning and evaluation piece under the data act,” Evans said Thursday during a conference. “And so this office will have that key relationship and that key partnership about building that out, not only within our CXO community but also within our components.” 

Evans said she believes the new CDO will likely play a key role in the department’s Cyber Talent Management System and a pilot project that seeks to facilitate COVID-19 vaccine distribution using artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

“What we're really looking at is how we can do contact tracing for our employees, as well as mapping that up with public health information as it relates to vaccination distribution,” she said, “because what we really need to have is a dashboard, that's going to be able to utilize this data for our senior leadership to be able to do some predictive modeling."

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US-EU Aviation Safety Agreement Updated to Expand Scope of Cooperative Efforts
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US-EU Aviation Safety Agreement Updated to Expand Scope of Cooperative Efforts

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has expanded its areas of collaboration with the European Commission (EU) under an updated US-EU safety agreement that reflects new annexes regarding flight simulator equipment and pilot licensing.

Both parties moved to implement cooperative efforts they initially agreed upon in late 2017 through the signing of four decisions to the agreement during the 14th Bilateral Oversight Board meeting, FAA said Thursday.

FAA and EC decided to facilitate the conversion of private pilot licenses and aircraft and instrument ratings between the US and European aviation regulators, as well as to conduct recurrent simulation technology assessments on each other's behalf.

Under the agreement, European authorities will reduce the design change fees they charge to U.S. aerospace manufacturing firms and allow certified technicians to maintain civil aeronautical systems.

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Air Force to Name Preferred Spacecom HQ Location in Early 2021
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Air Force to Name Preferred Spacecom HQ Location in Early 2021

The Department of the Air Force has unveiled the six finalists for the location of U.S. Space Command headquarters, with the winning site to be announced early next year.

Department personnel will assess the downselected facilities through a site visit and a virtual tour based on criteria that include infrastructure capacity, community support, mission and cost factors, the U.S. Air Force said Thursday.

The six candidate Spacom HQ locations are as follows:

  • Kirtland AF Base in New Mexico
  • Offutt AFB in Nebraska
  • Patrick AFB in Florida
  • Peterson AFB in Colorado
  • Port San Antonio in Texas
  • Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama

 

Peterson AFB will be the unified combatant command's interim HQ until the department finalizes a preferred location. Spacecom aims to deter conflict, address aggression, exercise space combat power and protect U.S. vital interests.

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