The U.S. Army's Network Cross-Functional Team might adopt satellite communications services as part of a new set of network tools in fiscal year 2023, C4ISRnet reported Thursday. The team, in charge of network modernization, exchanged ideas with industry entities to identify what services can be included in the network capability set for 2023.

The discussions, held Wednesday, considered satellite-as-a-service as one of the Army's network priorities. These capability sets are released every two years, with an upcoming one for fiscal year 2021 that will begin soon. 

The capability set for fiscal 2021 focuses on technologies that address network issues, and the one for 2023 will aim to bolster the Army tactical network's performance.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a new program that aims to reduce the size, weight and power requirements of military technologies through quantum science. The Science of Atomic Vapors for New Technologies (SAVaNT) program would address an equipment-related issue that hinders the transition of quantum research into practical applications, DARPA said Tuesday.

SAVaNT will seek to bolster room-temperature atomic vapors to address complexities that hinder the full leverage of quantum applications.

The use of warm atomic vapors eliminates the need for complex laboratory equipment required in the standard quantum cooling process, DARPA said. The program's challenge is to address the effects of temperature changes on the duration of quantum effects.

“The SAVaNT program will explore a new suite of technologies based on room-temperature atomic vapors to address important gaps for military-relevant applications,” said Tatjana Curcic, program manager of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

DARPA will virtually host a proposer's day event for the program on Sept. 3.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has released a report detailing ethical principles that federal agencies must consider when leveraging citizen data for decision-making purposes.

Nextgov reported Thursday that the draft Data Ethics Framework report includes recommendations from a 14-member interagency team responsible for developing an ethics blueprint for the federal government.

The report also includes input from entities such as the Chief Data Officer (CDO) Council,  Federal Privacy Council (FPC) and Interagency Committee on Standards Policy (ICSP).

According to the framework, agencies must “uphold applicable statutes, regulations, professional practices and ethical standards” when handling citizen data while ensuring adherence to transparency, accountability, confidentiality and privacy requirements.

“Instead of looking at issues from a single perspective, ethical decision making is best achieved by taking a holistic approach and widening the context to weigh the greater implications of data use,” the report states.

The framework will serve as a “living resource” that will be continually updated by ICSP and CDO. GSA intends to release the complete version of the report by the end of the year.

Angela Bailey, chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has said the department is nearing 100 percent in telework operations and working on initiatives focused on employee wellness.

Bailey told Federal News Network in an interview aired Thursday that her office has launched virtual leadership development initiatives and mindfulness training to support quarantined staff and improve employee skillsets.

She added that her office worked to communicate with employees on a weekly basis to gain feedback on potential policy reforms that DHS could implement moving forward. “We know exactly what their needs are. And we’re addressing those needs on the fly,” noted Bailey.

Speaking on how DHS might cope following the COVID-19 pandemic, Bailey told Federal News Network that she predicts a “hybrid situation” that builds on the department’s experience in prior modernization efforts.

“First of all, as an agency, and we’ve said this from day one, DHS never stopped working. And we’re not alone as a federal agency, right? There’s many federal agencies, but we’re very proud of the fact that not only are we getting the job done, we’re in some cases getting it done even better than we did before,” she said.

CyberCore launched the WindRose Supply Chain Threat Assessment Center to provide the federal and commercial sectors insight into customers and contractors in 2019. As security threats increase, federal government contractors’ accountability for security breaches continues to grow. 

WindRose has leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to assess business and product risk of the Supply Chain Network. WindRose has scaled global Information Technology (IT) supply chain threats and vulnerabilities by providing a comprehensive analysis, covering all threat vectors. 

CyberCore’s WindRose follows a cyber and supply chain focused analysis framework, consisting of over 50,000 Non-Cooperative Data Sources, where 150 Threat Factors are assessed across 15 Key Supply Chain Elements which are analyzed within 5 Critical Threat Vectors.

With the center’s capabilities, WindRose recently investigated a corporation that provided PKI consulting as well as user interface design for cryptographic applications. The organization did not do business with the federal government directly; however, their partners had a history of supporting the DoD. 

Investigation of individuals associated with the organization indicated that most of the development team resided in Russia and Ukraine. The owner had direct ties to Russian oligarchs via family, and the threat of compromise was reported as critical. 

“It is imperative organizations thoroughly vet their suppliers, subcontractors, and partners to ensure that they are meeting the strict government compliance requirements. This is significant as prime contractors become ever more liable for their partners’ bad behavior,” said Neal Frick, CyberCore’s VP of Mission Services. 

About CyberCore Technologies 

Excellence. Driven. CyberCore Technologies is the leading provider of Secure Supply Chain Management and Cyber Solutions focused on protecting our customer’s environment from external and internal threats using our certified ISO 28000:2007 Supply Chain Risk Management and ISO 20243:2015 Mitigating Maliciously Tainted and Counterfeit Products processes.  CyberCore provides full Lifecycle IT and Mission Engineering Services.  

Go Deep.  Get Answers. Expert supply chain assessment services using machine learning/artificial intelligence techniques to provide analysis in five areas:  cyber-attack surface; nefarious associations and nation state influence; regulatory, sanctions and law; hardware and software risk; and financial risk. 

Problems, We Solve Them. Whether we’re serving our government or corporate clients—working in cyber security, data analysis, IT support, or software development—we have a team that is motivated, professional, and uncompromising. Together, there’s no innovation we can’t imagine, and no mission need we can’t support.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has named five DoD locations to participate in the Phase III trial evaluating the vaccine candidate under development by AstraZeneca for Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the department’s goal to deliver safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 by 2021. 

“The Department of Defense continues to play a key role in the development of a potential COVID-19 vaccine,” said Hon. Tom McCaffery, assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs (OASD(HA)). “Now that vaccines have passed the first phases of testing for safety, dosing and response, we are ready to move into the next phase where volunteers are needed to join large clinical studies.”

The DoD has selected Naval Medical Center San Diego; Joint Base San Antonio Brooke Army Medical Center; Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center (San Antonio); Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Bethesda, MD); and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital (Fort Belvoir, VA). 

To ensure that the vaccines work to protect those at greatest risk, participation by people from communities that are hardest hit is critical. The study will investigate people who are at an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. 

The DoD has identified people of increased risk, including those working in an essential job; living in densely populated residential environments; living or working in congregated living facilities; and members of a communities that has been hardest hit by this pandemic.

OWS is a government, interagency initiative that is focused on delivering 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 and is part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for the COVID-19 virus.

The DoD Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) has worked in coordination with the OASD(HA) and the Defense Health Agency (DHA) to support OWS.

VMware has launched the company’s 5G Telco Cloud Platform, a cloud solution featuring a field proven, carrier-grade and high-performance cloud native infrastructure with intelligent automation, the company reported on Sept. 1. 

“With support for cloud native technologies in the Telco Cloud Platform, CSPs can now boost their innovation speed to deliver new applications and services, reduce operational complexities, and realize substantial total cost of ownership savings, further accelerating the rollout of their 5G networks,” said Shekar Ayyar, EVP and general manager, Telco and Edge Cloud Business Unit, VMware. 

The VMWare platform will include Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, an embedded Kubernetes distribution, that will allow Communication Service Providers (CSPs) to reliably build, manage and run containerized workloads across private, telco, edge and public clouds.

VMWare’s solution will integrate innovative 5G services, powered by a modernized cloud that delivers web-scale speed and agility while maintaining carrier-grade performance, resiliency and quality. The company’s innovative multi-cloud platform will also accelerate the rollout of 5G networks and modernize operational models through multi-layer automation with seamless integration. 

The Telco Cloud Platform will deploy innovative applications and services to market faster in the highly competitive 5G communications landscape and provide a cloud-first network architecture to accelerate 5G and edge innovation while delivering service agility, operational consistency and integrated lifecycle management automation from infrastructure up to network services. 

The 5G ready Telco Cloud Platform is tailored for CSPs to easily embrace cloud native technology and deliver applications and services across multi-cloud infrastructure. Telco Cloud Infrastructure will feature a consistent, unified platform to deliver operations for both Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) and Cloud Native Network Functions (CNFs) across telco networks. 

The VMware solution will also optimize the delivery of network services with telco centric enhancements to support distributed cloud deployments and provide scalability and performance. 

“In a 5G world, complexity from dynamic network functions and configurable services requires automated collection, analysis, and control of operations data to establish customer insight and service management boundaries,” said Karl Whitelock, VP Communications Service Provider Operations and Monetization, at IDC Research. 

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Oct. 27, 2020 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

Hon. Ellen Lord, undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Department of Defense (DoD) and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, will be featured as the keynote speaker. Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for the 5G Summit on October 27th.

About VMware

VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to customers globally, aided by an extensive ecosystem of partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough innovations to its global impact. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a report to provide updates on DHS’ efforts to address vulnerabilities posed by electromagnetic pulses and improve the resilience of the country’s electrical grid and other critical infrastructure against an EMP attack.

The EMP Program Status Report details how DHS promotes resilience through collaboration with other federal agencies and the private sector, risk assessments, data analysis and evaluation, testing and pilot programs and vulnerability assessments, CISA said Thursday.

“EMP attacks are part of the emerging threats against our nation and demand a response,” said Ken Cuccinelli, senior official and acting deputy secretary at DHS. “That is why DHS is taking these contingencies very seriously, working diligently to mitigate our risks and equipping our state and local partners with the resources they need to do the same. We’ve made significant progress and look forward to the work ahead.”

DHS issued the status report in accordance with an executive order President Trump signed in March 2019 directing federal agencies to address the need to protect the country against EMP threats.