Stuart McGuigan, former chief information officer at the Department of State, stated that the department has become more agile today than when he arrived in 2018. Since joining the State Department, McGuigan has worked to streamline the Authorization to Operate (ATO) process to increase efficiency. 

“Cloud solves a lot of problems — access, availability. But the heart is an infrastructure play if you are just thinking about cloud. So what we have been pushing for is software-as-a-service,” McGuigan said. 

McGuigan noted that the State Department has driven software-as-a-service, leveraging low-code, no-code configuration capabilities to provide process support for users. Since they operate within a safe and secure platform, there is no overhead and delay, increasing speed to market by using SaaS cloud based capabilities.

He added that fundamental principles of agile, continuous feedback, deep engagement with the user and rapid iteration became the operating model for the State Department. “We didn’t spend a lot of time having philosophical debates on what agile is. We just did the work,” McGuigan said. 

“We will benefit from the innovations that could occur anywhere in the department and everyone would get access to the very best the department can do, or they can contribute something new and innovative and get rewarded for that,” McGuigan said.

He also urged the Department of State to build on the technology foundation the department has established, especially around collaboration and mobility, and to create more secure mobile platforms. McGuigan added that the incoming CIO should analyze critical success factors to reach policy goals, then leverage the basic capabilities to accelerate growth. 

“Analytical modeling and data analytics will be a big play. But more and more having the access to the same information and same tools across a variety of devices in a variety of environments where traditionally we have been hardwired,” McGuigan stated. 

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) conducted a demonstration of a program to highlight how digital twin technologies could help deliver weapons capabilities to warfighters in near real time.

AFRL’s munitions directorate integrated the Digital Twin Lab to improve the capabilities of Gray Wolf, a weapons system prototype designed to launch in a swarm to target hostile threats, during the virtual demonstration of the Team Eglin Weapons Digital Enterprise WeaponONE program, the service said Thursday.

The WeaponOne demonstration showed how data is gathered from weapons and transmitted back to digital twins via the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). The digital twins assessed potential software upgrades using computing systems powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning and sent back information to provide performance improvements to physical weapons.

“The Digital Twin Lab represents the ultimate expression of digital engineering, acting as a force multiplier, giving us tremendous flexibility and adaptability to our weapons systems,” said Col. Garry Haase, director of the munitions directorate at AFRL.

The W1 program features several capabilities, including a cloud-based tech stack, on-board flight software and DevSecOps pipeline for simulation development.

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.