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Judy Baltensperger, Kevin Cox Share Plans for CISA’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program
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Judy Baltensperger, Kevin Cox Share Plans for CISA’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) plans to provide in 2021 an updated Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program that could help reduce reporting requirements for agencies while helping them improve security, Nextgov reported Friday.

“We want the data to be as complete and accurate, and as timely as possible, so that we can reduce the data calls for [binding operational directives] and [emergency directives], reduce the CyberScope reporting, and get them to trust the data in the dashboard when they're making those risk-based decisions,” Judy Baltensperger, CDM program manager at CISA, said Thursday during an event.

She said most of the pilot agencies have moved their infrastructure to the cloud and that data quality certification will likely be carried out by the summer of 2021.

“What we want to do through the pilots that we've had engaging with the different CSPs, the cloud service providers is make sure that we have a full understanding of the data they have available, look at, for example, how the data that they have available aligns with the CDM requirements,” said Kevin Cox, CDM program manager. “And then make sure that that is available to the agencies, that they have that real-time and near real-time understanding of the protections they have in the cloud."

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AFRL Team Up with Academia for Collaborative STEM Initiative
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AFRL Team Up with Academia for Collaborative STEM Initiative

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has partnered with Wright State University, Ohio State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to launch a six-year, $40 million project that seeks to support students from the minority sector.

AFRL intends to foster partnerships with engineers and scientists from the academia to address research gaps in space, air and cyberspace technologies through Collaboration Program II, USAF said Thursday.

Students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will receive guidance from research mentors and are eligible to work at AFRL via summer internship programs.

Morley Stone, senior vice president of research at OSU, said the initiative will provide minority organizations an opportunity to work on AFRL research projects.

Topics of interest under the program include manufacturing technology, spectrum warfare, radio frequency and electro-optical sensing, structural and functional materials.

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DISA Helps Army Configure iPads for Emergency Operations; Rick Walsh Quoted
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DISA Helps Army Configure iPads for Emergency Operations; Rick Walsh Quoted

The U.S. Army will soon implement the use of computer-aided iPad devices in emergency vehicles at Fort Bliss, through a partnership with the Defense Information Systems Agency.

The military installation's emergency services department will deploy 45 of these devices across firefighting and police vehicles to support incident tracking, DISA said Thursday.

The iPads are equipped with Department of Defense (DoD) Mobility Unclassified Capability (DMUC) that offers multiple digital features such as DoD email, mobile apps management and network access.

The DMUC program team planned the implementation and established the needed administrator services. System trainers at Fort Bliss underwent a course from Nov. 12 to 13 on how to use the DMUC-equipped devices.

“My goal is to continue this kind of partnering and extend DISA services to a great number of users across the Army," said Rick Walsh, program manager of Army Mobile.

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Kendra Sharp Named Head of NSF Intl Science, Engineering Office
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Kendra Sharp Named Head of NSF Intl Science, Engineering Office

Kendra Sharp, a faculty member at Oregon State University, has been appointed head of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).

Sharp will help OISE provide access on global research efforts to principal investigators to address various needs under her new role, NSF said Wednesday.

She will also deliver training opportunities in science diplomacy to faculty members and students and foster partnerships with government agencies, international universities and consortia.

Prior to her appointment, Sharp served as a professor of humanitarian engineering from 2015 through 2020. She also taught and studied applications of technology in humanitarian engineering, design for international development and sustainable water and energy platforms.

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DISA Eyes Quantum-Resistant Computing Efforts in FY 21
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DISA Eyes Quantum-Resistant Computing Efforts in FY 21

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is looking to employ encryption concepts that could help protect defense systems against quantum threats, C4ISRnet reported Thursday.

Stephen Wallace, a systems innovation scientist at DISA’s emerging technology directorate, said at a conference call after a recent DISA-hosted event that encryption techniques resistant to quantum-based attacks are still emerging and will be a key focus area for the agency in fiscal year 2021.

DISA plans to collaborate with the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on quantum-resistant encryption efforts and could release solicitations to support the initiative.

“Frankly, our adversaries likely won’t advertise the fact that they’ve achieved a quantum computer," said Wallace. "We have to have crypto algorithms in place prior to that to allow us to continue in a safe position.”

Previously, DISA announced plans to roll out a Cloud Based Internet Isolation tool to help secure browsing functions for remote employees.

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NASA to Launch Smallsat Missions Totaling $140M for Solar Probe Initiative
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NASA to Launch Smallsat Missions Totaling $140M for Solar Probe Initiative

NASA is slated to launch two small-satellite missions valued at $140 million combined as part of the agency’s Heliophysics Solar Terrestrial Probes initiative in 2025.

The rideshare missions will launch along with NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe and are meant to support research into the Earth’s exosphere as well as propulsion technologies driven by solar radiation, the agency said Friday.

The first mission, known as Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere (GLIDE), is valued at $75 million and will focus on tracking hydrogen-emitted ultraviolet light in the region between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space.

Solar Cruiser, the second probe, is a technology demonstration effort worth $65 million that is aimed at evaluating the capacity of solar photons to support spacecraft built to forecast solar storms.

NASA also allocated funding for the /Spectral Imaging of Heliospheric Lyman Alpha (SIHLA) mission of opportunity which will involve mapping the sky to study the boundary between the heliosphere and heliopause.

SIHLA will receive a final decision on STP rideshare participation at a later date.

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Gen. Mark Milley: DoD Must Prioritize Economic Recovery From Pandemic
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Gen. Mark Milley: DoD Must Prioritize Economic Recovery From Pandemic

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. must address and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic's economic effects before focusing on military power competition, DoD News reported. 

Milley, a four-time Wash100 Award winner, said the country needs to have a strong economy, infrastructure and education that complement the military to build a powerful nation.

“You have to look at it as a whole, of which the military is one piece of the whole,” he said. The chairman noted that the Pentagon must also consider further budgeting the money spent on overseas operations to support the country's economic recovery.

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NGA’s Stacey Dixon on Accelerating Workforce Innovation
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NGA’s Stacey Dixon on Accelerating Workforce Innovation

Stacey Dixon, deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, has said that the agency’s internship program is an example of its efforts to encourage workforce innovation, DoD News reported Thursday.

Dixon said at this year’s virtual Aspen Cyber Summit that NGA is looking to encourage students to pursue agency careers while diversifying the government workforce. 

Speaking on the need for innovation, Dixon said potential employees must work through bureaucracy issues and figure out “how to interact and collaborate within the government to get your ideas to move forward."

She added that NGA is encouraging its personnel to leverage commercially- and publicly-available information to move missions forward.

"We've been astounded at the types of products and analysis we've been able to do that has either been standalone products or products that we could bring in and enhance with classified information," noted Dixon.

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IT Modernization CoE Bill Signed Into Law; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted
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IT Modernization CoE Bill Signed Into Law; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted

President Trump has signed into law a bill that aims to help the U.S. government implement the latest advancements in information technology. Portman introduced the bill alongside Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.

The IT Modernization Centers of Excellence Program Act tasks the General Services Administration's (GSA) Centers of Excellence (CoE) to make efforts that bolster the federal government's overall IT expertise, the office of Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Thursday. 

“As technology continues to change and advance, it’s important that the federal government understands the significant impacts it will have on our country, economy and society,” Portman said.

He said the bill will help the government obtain the expertise and tools needed to plan through these technology impacts across years to come. The new law follows and builds on the Artificial Intelligence in Government Act that formally directs the establishment of an AI CoE.

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SAIC Reports Q3 FY 2021 Financial Results; Nazzic Keene Quoted
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SAIC Reports Q3 FY 2021 Financial Results; Nazzic Keene Quoted

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has announced results for the third quarter ended October 30, 2020, the company reported on Friday. SAIC has estimated that the third quarter program impact from the COVID-19 pandemic to be approximately $60 million of revenue and $9 million of adjusted EBITDA. 

The impacts were driven by reduced volume in SAIC’s supply chain business, lower FAA training service revenues,and uncertain profit recovery on ready-state labor. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SAIC has operated as an essential business, continuing to operate in a resilient market and business model.

“SAIC’s third quarter results reflect strong financial performance and momentum with the second straight quarter of highest book-to-bill and backlog in our seven-year history," said SAIC CEO and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, Nazzic Keene.

SAIC’s revenues for the quarter increased $188 million, compared to the prior year quarter due to the acquisition of Unisys Federal, revenue on new contracts primarily supporting the U.S. Air Force and increased volume on existing programs.

The company’s operating income as a percentage of revenues of 6.1 percent, increased from 5.8 percent in the comparable prior year period due to the acquisition of Unisys Federal, lower acquisition and integration costs and lower indirect costs. 

SAIC’s net income attributable to common stockholders for the quarter increased $5 million as compared to the same period in the prior year primarily due to increased operating income, partially offset by higher interest expense. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues for the quarter increased to 9.0 percent of revenues from 8.3 percent of revenues in the prior year quarter driven by the acquisition of Unisys Federal and lower indirect costs. 

Diluted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.02 compared to $0.94 in the prior year quarter. Adjusted diluted earnings per share(1) for the quarter was $1.62 compared to $1.39 in the prior year quarter. The weighted-average diluted shares outstanding during the quarter increased to 58.7 million from 58.3 million during the prior year quarter.

"We have also taken strategic, organizational, and leadership steps recently that are foundational to the long-term success of SAIC. We are making great progress in the execution of our strategy and are moving forward,” Keene added. 

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