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Navy Inspection Board Reports Degradation in Surface Ships
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Navy Inspection Board Reports Degradation in Surface Ships

The U.S. Navy found through inspections that its fleet of surface ships is experiencing degradation across multiple aspects, Defense News reported Wednesday.

The Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) discovered that ships are degrading in areas including electrical, damage-control, anti-submarine warfare and propulsion systems. The study covered a total of 21 assessment areas, with degradation found in 11 of them.

Inspectors looked at 24 ships so far this year, including a Freedom-class littoral combat ship and 16 destroyers. They also observed signs of degradation in the Aegis system, which facilitates a ship's weapon operation and missile defense.

INSURV also found that the Navy's submarines exhibited more signs of degradation in 2020 compared to the past five years. These findings were present in combat systems and auxiliary engineering systems of the underwater vessels.

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StateRAMP to Open Membership Registration for Cloud Security Vetting Initiative in April
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StateRAMP to Open Membership Registration for Cloud Security Vetting Initiative in April

Not-for-profit-organization StateRAMP will begin membership registrations for its program aimed at helping vendors and agencies comply with cloud security standards (CSP) next month, GCN reported Tuesday.

StateRAMP, which is based on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), operates in compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 800-53 controls to help ensure standardization among cloud service providers.

CSPs must undergo a readiness assessment to validate security controls and determine their potential to pass full FedRAMP assessments within a two to four-week period. StateRAMP has spent over 1,000 hours in outreach and awareness efforts on cloud security since its establishment in January.

The group’s outreach efforts include dialogue with 25 states and 44 out of over 800 cloud service providers that expressed interest in the organization’s cybersecurity vetting efforts.

Seventeen third-party assessment organizations for FedRAMP have announced their intent to concurrently serve as 3PAOs for StateRAMP.

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CISA’s Jay Gazlay: Gov’t Must Update Identity Management Standards for Cloud Operations
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CISA’s Jay Gazlay: Gov’t Must Update Identity Management Standards for Cloud Operations

Jay Gazlay, technical strategist at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has said the government must establish an updated guidance on identity management following the SolarWinds large-scale data breach, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Gazlay told a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) advisory board that the updated guidelines must consider cloud-based activities as more agencies opt to transition their digital environments.

He noted that initiatives like the NIST National Checklist Program should be more prevalent to enable rapid threat response during data breaches. Vendors must also be able to release machine-readable configuration guidance to inform risk decisions across disparate infrastructures, said Gazlay.

Devices in general must have in place basic configurations such as those offered by Microsoft for authentication and email traffic monitoring, according to Gazlay.

“Our takeaway from this at CISA's space is that identity is everything now, he added. “We can talk about our network defenses, we can talk about the importance of firewalls and network segmentation, but really identity has become the boundary, and we need to start readdressing our infrastructures in that manner," he said.

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Dr. Mark Esper Joins McCain Institute as John S. McCain Distinguished Fellow
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Dr. Mark Esper Joins McCain Institute as John S. McCain Distinguished Fellow

The McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University has named Dr. Mark Esper, former Secretary of Defense and three-time Wash100 Award recipient, as its inaugural John S. McCain Distinguished Fellow to lead a bipartisan team to assess, discuss and promote policy solutions to the challenges facing U.S. national security decision-makers in the Executive Branch and Congress.

“I’m very pleased to welcome Secretary Esper to the McCain Institute,” said McCain Institute Board of Trustees chair Cindy McCain. “Mark’s deep knowledge and expertise partnered with the convening power of the McCain Institute will produce valuable insights for policy makers on both sides of the aisle and throughout our government.”

With the McCain Institute, Esper will lead discussions focusing on four key principles, including modernizing armed forces, strengthening and expanding alliances and regional relationships, reinvigorating the nation’s soft power globally by supporting diplomatic and development assistance initiatives, and utilizing a whole-of-government approach alongside to counter China. 

During his tenure with the Department of Defense (DoD) Esper worked to overcome challenges posed by the rising economic, military and technological capabilities of the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Liberation Army.

From 2006 to 2007, Esper was the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Defense and International Affairs at Aerospace Industries Association. He was also the national policy director to Senator Fred Thompson for his 2008 presidential campaign, and was a Senate-appointed commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. 

Esper later served as the executive vice president for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center and as vice president for Europe and Eurasian Affairs from 2008 to 2010. Before being nominated as the Secretary of the Army in 2017, Esper was the vice president for Government Relations at Raytheon.

“Any effective approach to the rise of China will need to reflect American values, be bipartisan and have the weight of the entire U.S. government and our allies behind it,” said Esper. “These are hallmark characteristics of Senator McCain, and I look forward to tackling this important work at the McCain Institute.” 

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Jacobs Secures DSRL Contract to Lead Nuclear Waste Cleanup; Clive White Quoted
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Jacobs Secures DSRL Contract to Lead Nuclear Waste Cleanup; Clive White Quoted

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) has awarded Jacobs a six and a half year, $10.4 million contract to lead the integrated design management team for one of the world’s deepest nuclear clean-up operations, the company reported on Thursday. 

"By deploying our design engineering and program management capabilities alongside DSRL, we will weave together several complex and challenging projects to ensure safe and efficient delivery," said Jacobs Critical Mission Solutions International Senior Vice President Clive White.

Under the contract, the Jacobs’ led team will play a crucial role in coordinating the operation to clear and treat radioactive waste in a former fast-reactor research and development center at Dounreay, United Kingdom (U.K.).

Jacobs has also been tasked with leading design integration to enable construction activities at Dounreay to begin. The contract has required Jacobs to assist with building work projects, managing design and design support during all commissioning and construction. 

The project will work to safely and efficiently clear radioactive waste in Dounreay’s shaft and silo. The intermediate-level waste has been stored at Dounreay since the 1960s and requires modern techniques to store hazardous material more effectively. 

The shaft is 214.5 feet underground and is 15 feet wide in some places. The silo is essentially a large underground vault secured with a concrete roof. Berkshire Engineering, a local civil engineering firm, will assist with test and trial work.

Jacobs has previous experience dealing with the UK nuclear sector. In May 2020, the U.K.’s Government Nuclear Decommissioning Authority selected Jacobs to study radioactivity released from irradiated graphite sampled from reactor cores at the U.K.'s nuclear power stations.

"The shaft and silo contain legacy wastes that must be emptied and repackaged for long-term storage before the site can be closed. These contracts are one step closer to the clean-up of these historical waste stores," said DSRL's Program Delivery Director, David Hubbard.

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AECOM JV Finishes Wastewater Treatment Plant Build
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AECOM JV Finishes Wastewater Treatment Plant Build

AECOM-Graham Construction joint venture (JV) has completed the design-build work on the first wastewater treatment plant in Victoria, British Columbia, AECOM reported on Thursday. The McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant will deliver tertiary treatment for wastewater from the core area municipalities. 

“We’re honored to support the Capital Regional District in delivering this world-class wastewater treatment plant by bringing forward our industry leading resume of water and environmental solutions,” said Marc Devlin, AECOM’s regional chief executive, Canada. “AECOM is committed to leading environmental, social, and governance best practices and making a positive impact on the communities we serve.”

Work at the facility began in 2017 by Harbour Resource Partners, a joint venture between AECOM and Graham. The plant is the main component of a $590 million wastewater program undertaken by the Capital Regional District.

The design-build partnership leveraged AECOM’s wastewater design and environmental expertise and Graham’s well-established competence in this sector of construction in Canada. Despite logistical challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was successfully delivered on time, meeting federal and provincial regulations.

The JV delivered environmental work, including acquisition of all permits and approvals required for construction. The plant has incorporated elements that promote sustainability and energy efficiency, such as the construction of an operations and maintenance building.

In addition, an education and interpretive space is featured on the second floor of the building to engage the community with the plant’s water cycle, local natural environment, and the overall importance of stormwater management.

“The successful construction of the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant marks the completion of the most complex wastewater project ever built in Western Canada,” said Ian Dickinson, Graham’s executive vice president overseeing the project.

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USAF Space Command Releases RFI to Drive 5G Wireless Connectivity in Space
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USAF Space Command Releases RFI to Drive 5G Wireless Connectivity in Space

The U.S. Air Force’s Space Command has issued a request for information (RFI) for space 5G to improve data transportation for ground and space-based communications. With the space-based transport layers of the next-generation network, the military has the potential to expand its ability to move data, communicate and support enterprise networks with more bandwidth. 

The request has focused on how industry can create and use 5G networks in space operations. The Air Force’s RFI will help connect and network computing power to and from its operators in space. “Any aspect of 5G applied to any aspect of space systems is of potential interest,” the RFI states.

The RFI has included work on “massive MIMO” (multiple input multiple output networks) for spacecraft communications, radio access network (RAN) slicing, artificial intelligence (AI) that can prioritize data streams on networks to speed priority transportation and cybersecurity. 

“5G includes many applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML),” according to the RFI. But the Air Force wants to know: “Which 5G AI/ML tools and techniques would provide message stream recognition and content analysis to prioritize stream data rate by content type, potentially storing data in a Multi-tenant Edge Computing (MEC) node and sending it later?”

The RFI follows the Department of Defense’s release of $600 million in awards to support 5G testing and experimentation projects with 15 companies at five U.S. military installations, which was announced in Oct. 2020. 

Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington will work with AT&T, Booz Allen Hamilton, GBL System and Oceus Networks to deploy a 5G network to support experimentation of an augmented reality/virtual reality capability for use in operations, distributed training and mission planning.

Naval Base San Diego in California will come up with a 5G Smart Warehouse in partnership with AT&T, Deloitte, General Electric’s research arm, and Vectrus. The project will focus on transhipment between naval units and shore facilities to improve naval logistics operations.

Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Georgia will collaborate with Federated Wireless, GE Research, KPMG and Scientific Research Corp. to develop a 5G-based Smart Warehouse that will focus on vehicular maintenance and storage.

Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada will work with AT&T to create a testbed to assess 5G capabilities to improve distributed command and control.

Hill Air Force Base in Utah will work on a project focused on dynamic spectrum sharing with industry partners General Dynamics’ mission systems business, Nokia, Booz Allen, Key Bridge Wireless, Shared Spectrum and Ericsson.

“The Department of Defense is at the forefront of cutting edge 5G testing and experimentation, which will strengthen our Nation’s warfighting capabilities as well as U.S. economic competitiveness in this critical field,” said Michael Kratsios, acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and U.S. chief technology officer as well as a two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

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Robert Cardillo Joins USGIF Board of Directors to Serve as Chair
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Robert Cardillo Joins USGIF Board of Directors to Serve as Chair

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) has elected Robert Cardillo, president of The Cardillo Group and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, to serve as chair of the USGIF Board of Directors.

The Cardillo Group delivers strategic and operational expertise to drive awareness and enable improved decision-making. Before forming The Cardillo Group in May 2019, Cardillo also served as the sixth director of the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2014 to 2019.

During his time with the agency, Cardillo led future value proposition through partnerships with the commercial geospatial marketplace. During his more than three-decade tenure in public service, Cardillo served in leadership positions with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

“I had the distinct privilege of being involved in the idea of the USGIF before it was even formed. And I was proud to lock arms with USGIF from senior government positions to advance the profession to best address global security challenges. I am humbled by the opportunity to help lead USGIF into the future – a future rich with new partnerships and immense potential,” said Cardillo.

Earlier this year, Cardillo, as well as Deborah Lee James, was also appointed to Firefly Aerospace’s Board of Directors. “We are thrilled to have Debbie and Robert join the Firefly Board of Directors,” said Firefly CEO Tom Markusic.

“Their guidance will be critical as Firefly transitions from a rapid product development company to an integrated provider of launch, in-space, and lunar mission services for commercial, civil, and national security space customers,” Markusic added.

About USGIF

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community with government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF achieves its mission through various programs and events and by building the community, advancing the tradecraft, and accelerating innovation.

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Acting CBP CIO Sonny Bhagowalia Appointed to Full-Time Role
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Acting CBP CIO Sonny Bhagowalia Appointed to Full-Time Role

Sonny Bhagowalia, who recently served as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) acting chief information officer, has been appointed to take up the role on a full-time basis, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. The CBP official received the full-time CIO appointment in Feb. 2021.

He has more than three decades of professional experience, having held technical and leadership roles at Boeing, the FBI, the State of Hawaii, the General Services Administration and the departments of the Treasury and the Interior.

Bhagowalia held the CIO role at the Interior and Treasury departments, Hawaii’s state government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, making his new CBP job his fifth time as a government CIO. He was also CBP’s acting assistant commissioner for the agency’s information technology office.

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Gina Raimondo Takes Oath as Commerce Secretary
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Gina Raimondo Takes Oath as Commerce Secretary

Vice President Kamala Harris swore in Gina Raimondo, former governor of Rhode Island, as the 40th secretary of the Department of Commerce. Raimondo received the Senate's confirmation to become the commerce secretary with a vote of 84-15, the department said Wednesday.

In her new capacity, she will oversee several Commerce agencies that work towards economic growth, including the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, National Telecommunications and Information Administration and National Institute of Standards and Technology.

"The Commerce Department will work relentlessly to create good-paying jobs, level the playing field for our workers and businesses, and build an economy that does not leave any communities behind," said Raimondo.

Her experience in public service also includes a time as general treasurer for the government of Rhode Island. Raimondo also led the Democratic Governors’ Association as its chair in 2019.

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