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AI Commission Talks Digital Academy, Reserve Corps at House Subcommittee Hearing; NCSAI Chairman Eric Schmidt Quoted
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AI Commission Talks Digital Academy, Reserve Corps at House Subcommittee Hearing; NCSAI Chairman Eric Schmidt Quoted

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) told a House subcommittee Thursday that bold measures are needed to enhance the government’s artificial intelligence workforce and one of NSCAI’s recommendations is the creation of a “digital academy,” FedScoop reported Thursday.

The digital academy would run as a fully accredited, independent entity with students performing civilian work in the government in exchange for free tuition.

The commission also suggested the creation of a digital reserve corps that would require participants to perform tech work within the government on an annual basis for at least 38 days.

Eric Schmidt, chairman of NCSAI and former CEO of Google, said the digital reserve corps would be the digital academy’s “watered down” version.

“We need a next generation of talent, and they need to be in the government,” Schmidt said in his opening statement during a hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on intelligence and emerging threats and capabilities.

AI Commission Talks Digital Academy, Reserve Corps at House Subcommittee Hearing; NCSAI Chairman Eric Schmidt Quoted

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Gen. Paul Nakasone on Influence Operations; VADM Robert Sharp Quoted
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Gen. Paul Nakasone on Influence Operations; VADM Robert Sharp Quoted

Gen. Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said information warfare in the form of influence operations will be the next major disrupter facing the intelligence community, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

“We’ve seen it now in our democratic processes. I think we’re going to see it in our diplomatic processes. We’re going to see it in warfare. We’re going to see it in sowing civil distrust in different countries,” Gen. Nakasone said of influence operations during the Intelligence and National Security Summit on Wednesday.

Nakasone, also commander of U.S. Cyber Command, discussed how technology enables threat actors to spread fake messages, sow doubt or question authority.

“I think influence operations just in general will be for us, one of the things that we’ll be dealing with not just every two or four years, but this is the competitive space that we’re going to be in as intelligence agencies and as our nation,” he added.

VADM Robert Sharp
VADM Robert Sharp

Vice Adm. Robert Sharp, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and fellow 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, concurred with Nakasone’s views and noted that the strategic environment is going through revolutionary and evolutionary changes.

“How do you have confidence in the ones and zeros that you’re using for making decisions based off of?” Sharp asked. “So that revolutionary side is really, I think, our challenge and our opportunity and our competition space. It’s going to define our investments and how we operate over the next decade,” Sharp explained.

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NASA’s Human Exploration Directorate Completes Reorganization; Kathy Lueders Quoted
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NASA’s Human Exploration Directorate Completes Reorganization; Kathy Lueders Quoted

Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of NASA’s human exploration and operations (HEO), said the HEO mission directorate has completed a reorganization and received approval from NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk with regard to the move, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

“It addressed some of the concerns that folks have had and is really getting us set up for our future missions going forward,” Lueders said of the reorganization during a Washington Space Business Roundtable webinar Wednesday.

A program status assessment conducted early this year cited some of those concerns, including issues with the oversight of the Artemis program’s systems engineering work.

The reorganization created a new systems engineering and integration division within the HEO mission directorate. Marshall Smith oversees the SE&I division.

Tom Whitmeyer serves as acting head of the directorate’s exploration systems development division, while Mark Kirasich leads the advanced exploration systems division.

Phil McAlister is responsible for the commercial spaceflight development division, which now includes the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space and low Earth orbit commercialization.

Benjamin Neumann manages the human spaceflight capabilities division, which covers human research programs and rocket propulsion testing efforts.

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AFWERX to Host Collaborative Space Industry Event
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AFWERX to Host Collaborative Space Industry Event

The U.S. Air Force's AFWERX innovation arm has opened registration for a two-day virtual event that aims to foster collaboration between government, military, academia, investors and stakeholders from the space industry.

Slated to run from Sept. 29 to 30, the EngageSpace event seeks to provide an avenue for the government to procure technologies that may address space-related concerns, USAF said Wednesday.

The event will also showcase submissions from 178 teams that participated in AFWERX's space-focused challenges. The Air Force noted some of the applicants will be provided funding opportunities to develop prototypes of their concepts.

"EngageSpace is exactly the type of event that we need to help bridge knowledge gaps, explore funding for small companies, and align industry and government interests to ensure that America maintains its technological and innovative edge in the space domain," said Maj. Ryan Pennington, deputy for space ventures at the Space and Missile Systems Center.

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Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach: Pacific Forces Need More Satellites
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Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach: Pacific Forces Need More Satellites

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, who commands Pacific Air Forces, said he wants more satellites to support the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of battles on Earth, Space News reported on Wednesday.

He told reporters Wednesday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam that satellites are needed in nearly every operation, and Indo-Pacific Command requires more of these systems than other commands due to a larger assigned coverage.

Wilsbach also noted that he has been discussing with Gen. John Raymond, the U.S. Space Force’s chief of space operations and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, regarding the need for military support systems in space.

The commander added that INDO-PACOM mentioned space-based ISR in a list of requirements sent to the Pentagon. Combatant commanders submit requirement lists on a yearly basis to help officials plan defense budgets.

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Lt. Gen. Mary O’Brien: USAF Implements New, Expanded Emphasis on Electronic Warfare
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Lt. Gen. Mary O’Brien: USAF Implements New, Expanded Emphasis on Electronic Warfare

Lt. Gen. Mary O’Brien, the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Cyber Effects Operations, said her team is including electronic warfare among priorities, C4ISRnet reported Wednesday.

She said at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference virtual event that USAF is reorganizing its spectrum management office as part of efforts to pursue priorities.

The office works to protect EW assets and facilitate the military's access to the electromagnetic spectrum, O’Brien noted. USAF's approach to EW will expand to electromagnetic spectrum operations and cover a wider coverage of functions.

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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Nathan Smington as FCC Member
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President Trump Eyes Nomination of Nathan Smington as FCC Member

President Trump plans to nominate Nathan Simington, senior adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), to serve as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

As part of his current role, Simington oversees supply chains, U.S. 5G security and the American Broadband Initiative, the White House said Tuesday.

He also represents NTIA at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) government advisory committee. Before NTIA, Simington served as senior counsel at Brightstar Corp. He also worked as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis and Mayer Brown.

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Novetta Recognized for National Security Efforts Under NCIS RISER Program; Bill Dorr, Kevin Heald Quoted
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Novetta Recognized for National Security Efforts Under NCIS RISER Program; Bill Dorr, Kevin Heald Quoted

Novetta has been recognized by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Technical Services Field Office Identity Activities Branch (TSFO-IA) for the company’s contributions to the RISER Program, which won “Best Technical Advancement” during the FedID awards.

“Throughout development, applied advancements in machine learning domains improved RISER’s operational efficiency,” said Bill Dorr,  senior director of Mission Platform Automation Group. “Our team is able to ideate, innovate, and engineer creative solutions when we have a partner, like the TSFO-IA team, who embraces new technologies.”

RISER is Government-off-the-Shelf (GOTS) software for rapid ingestion of biometric data from fingerprint cards. The software will convert the data into digital images to search against databases and watchlists for threats. TSFO-IA has advanced card scanning technology to efficiently make hundreds of thousands of previously archived biometric records available for automated biometric matching.

RISER has utilized neural networks to train algorithms that recognize the layout and image placement of biometric and biographic fields on fingerprint cards. The software has reduced the time and effort to process biometric records, increasing card processing time by 3,390 percent per hour and reduced delivery time from a year to a week.

The RISER program has advanced national security across federal agencies, including the Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to assist partner nations with their fingerprint collections.

Through RISER and collaboration with NCIS field offices, international law enforcement relationships are strengthened, criminal information is shared and valuable services are provided in support of this nation and its allies.

The TSFO-IA team included Novetta and multiple government organizations, including Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD A&S), CDM and DFSC. The Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) was the programmatic team lead and financial sponsor of the most recent RISER development project.

“RISER is a classic example of how Novetta partners with our customers to apply cutting edge technology to solve difficult mission challenges. I’m proud of what Bill and his team have accomplished,” said Kevin Heald, Novetta’s vice president of Information Explotation.

About Novetta

Novetta delivers scalable advanced analytic and technical solutions to address challenges of national and global significance. Novetta is headquartered in McLean, VA with over 1,300 employees across the U.S.

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Maxar Wins Contract From Intelsat to Build Satellite Network; Megan Fitzgerald Quoted
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Maxar Wins Contract From Intelsat to Build Satellite Network; Megan Fitzgerald Quoted

Maxar Technologies has been awarded a contract from Intelsat to build the Galaxy 37 geostationary communications satellite, the sixth Intelsat geostationary communications satellite. The satellite is scheduled for delivery in 2023.

“With a relationship dating back to the 1970s, Intelsat has procured 59 spacecraft from Maxar,” said Megan Fitzgerald, Maxar’s SVP of Space Programs Delivery. “We’re delighted to add Galaxy 37 to the five other spacecraft we’re currently building for Intelsat.”

Maxar’s contract adds to its support of Intelsat’s satellite network. Galaxy 37 will join four previously ordered satellites from Maxar to transition Intelsat’s existing media distribution and contribution services from the 3.7 to 4.0 gigahertz portion of the C-band, to the 4.0 to 4.2 gigahertz portion of the band, freeing up spectrum for 5G terrestrial wireless services.

Galaxy 37 will be based on Maxar’s 1300-class spacecraft platform, which will provide flexibility and power for customer missions. Intelsat has also contracted Maxar to manufacture its next-generation Intelsat 40e geostationary communications satellite.

“Maxar has been a trusted and reliable partner in delivering world-class spacecraft to Intelsat for many years,” said Mike DeMarco, Intelsat chief services officer. “We look forward to working with them on Galaxy 37, which will play an essential role in our U.S. C-band clearing strategy.”

About Maxar

Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. 

Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 4,000 team members in 20 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world. Maxar trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange as MAXR.

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HHS, DoD Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy
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HHS, DoD Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) have published strategic documents that represent how the Trump administration plans to provide COVID-19 vaccines.

The strategy directs the government to engage with local communities, quickly distribute vaccines, safely administer supply availability and track programmatic data for the distribution effort, HHS said Wednesday.

McKesson Corp., a health care company, will help the government distribute COVID-19 vaccines under a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“CDC is drawing on its years of planning and cooperation with state and local public health partners to ensure a safe, effective and life-saving COVID-19 vaccine is ready to be distributed following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval,” said CDC Director Robert Redfield.

The effort aims to produce over 100 million doses of the vaccine by January 2021.

The vaccine distribution strategy can be found here and a corresponding interim playbook here. A DoD-published infographic for the distribution can be found here.

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