The Department of the Treasury is working on governmentwide standards for shared services and financial management platforms after it was designated as a quality services management office in June 2020, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

David Lebryk, fiscal assistant secretary of the Treasury, said one of the challenges the department needs to address as a QSMO is the integration of core financial management systems to facilitate data sharing.

“Today each agency is really pretty much on their own in this process and therefore, not surprisingly, there have been various outcomes,” Lebryk told the publication. “Some have been successful, and some have not been so successful implementing core financial systems or replacing core financial systems.”

The Treasury QSMO currently operates with six personnel and Lebryk said the fully staffed office will have about 12 employees.

“Hopefully by 2022 we’ll have a fully functional marketplace where agencies actually have the opportunity to select,” Lebryk added.

According to the report, Treasury is coordinating with the General Services Administration (GSA) to come up with a schedule of modern platforms to help agencies automate financial data sharing and access.

Air Force Security Forces Center (AFSFC) is using a new procurement model to purchase equipment and other items at accelerated rates. 

Air Force Installation Contracting Center developed the new model that employs subject matter experts to facilitate AFSFC's procurement of weapon accessories, non-lethal systems, protective gear and logistics detail equipment, the U.S. Air Force said Tuesday.

These contracting experts come from a security-focused unit within AFICC’s 771st Enterprise Sourcing Squadron.

“When we get a request for equipment and support, we need to get it turned around ASAP, so we’re always looking into new processes or solutions to do that better,” said Master Sgt. Clinton Duling, security forces unit type code manager at AFSFC’s Texas-based Desert Defender Ground Combat Readiness Training Center. 

AFICC works to help USAF installations obtain equipment and materials needed for operations. The contracting center's new model supports AFSFC's mission to secure USAF's operational landscape.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has published a report that highlights customization methods to protect networks from cyber actors who exploit firmware during attacks. 

NSA said Tuesday that its UEFI Secure Boot Customization Cybersecurity Technical Report contains recommendations on how to customize the Secure Boot feature of computers. Administrators may customize Secure Boot to boost defenses against malware and mitigate insider threats, according to NSA.

The agency advises system administrators working at the Department of Defense (DoD) and defense industry companies to address compatibility issues via Secure Boot customization, instead of disabling the feature.

Secure Boot is designed to support a computer's defense against malware threats.

NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) have established a joint coordinating group to identify potential planetary resources and opportunities in areas such as energy and propulsion, data management and high-performance computing.

Paul Dabbar, undersecretary of energy for science, told Nextgov in an interview that the DOE-NASA coordinating body comes as part of both entities’ efforts to systematize their respective science and energy resource programs, the publication reported Tuesday.

He noted that establishing the body could result in getting astronauts to Mars “in three and a half months” while ensuring readiness in terms of food, physiology and radiation safety.

Conner Prochaska, chief commercialization officer and director of the Office of Technology Transitions at at DOE, said the joint group will support stakeholder efforts to expand the emerging space economy.
 
“All of this plays a part in making sure that we can take care of that growing economy, as well and keep the U.S. in the forefront,” he noted.

The DOE-NASA group, which conducted its first meeting in July, is likely to meet each quarter of the year, according to Dabbar.