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Katie Arrington: DoD Should Transform Workforce Culture Around DevSecOps
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Katie Arrington: DoD Should Transform Workforce Culture Around DevSecOps

Katie Arrington, chief information security officer at the office of assistant secretary of defense for acquisition and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the Department of Defense (DoD) should step up efforts to change the workforce culture around DevSecOps, Nextgov reported Thursday.

“You think about long-term sustainability, if we don't start to really emphasize DevSecOps as we go forward and build on the good work that has been done, we'll never see the actual return on investment in the life cycle that we need,” Arrington said Wednesday during a webinar hosted by AFCEA International’s SIGNAL Magazine Wednesday.

She noted that DoD should educate its personnel about DevSecOps and cited how the department’s Adaptive Acquisition Framework could help advance DevSecOps adoption.

Katie Arrington: DoD Should Transform Workforce Culture Around DevSecOps

Katherine Arrington will be featured as the keynote speaker for the Fall 2020 CMMC Forum on Nov. 17th. Visit Potomac Officers Club to register for the Fall 2020 CMMC Forum to hear the meaning of “process maturity” and the concept of “evidence” of maturity.

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Lt. Col. Matthew Jamison: U.S. Must Address Rising Drone Threat Risks
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Lt. Col. Matthew Jamison: U.S. Must Address Rising Drone Threat Risks

Lt. Col. Matthew Jamison, chief of the Joint Small Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office's policy and integration branch, said the security landscape is changing due to increasing drone use in the commercial sector. Jamison discussed this matter at the Counter-small UAS symposium that virtually gathered government and industry executives on Oct. 8th. 

“Our enemies are leveraging small unmanned aerial systems in order to achieve their objectives, so our efforts to align current and future counter-drone technology are absolutely critical," said Jamison.

The event fostered discussions on new developments, matters and future pursuits in the area of counter-drone technology. These discussions included those that tackled the development of an integrated base defense system and other technologies related to counter-UAS.

The Department of Defense (DoD) plans to issue a counter-UAS strategy in November 2020. The upcoming strategy would apply an enterprise-focused, open-architecture approach to counter-UAS practices.

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Space Force Launches First Field Command; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting Assumes Leadership
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Space Force Launches First Field Command; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting Assumes Leadership

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) has created and activated its first field command that will be led by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, who received a nomination for the leadership post earlier this year. USSF said Wednesday that its Space Operations Command will function as one of the service branch's three field commands.

Gen. John Raymond, the chief of space operations and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the new field command will accelerate modernization needed for space warfare readiness, in support of U.S. Space Command.

The new field command combines components of the U.S. Air Force's now-defunct 14th Air Force and USAF Space Command units. USSF commemorated Space Operations Command's activation at a ceremony held Wednesday at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

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Christopher Krebs on CISA’s Election Security Website, Stakeholder Partnerships
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Christopher Krebs on CISA’s Election Security Website, Stakeholder Partnerships

Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, has said the agency is partnering with public and private sector entities to prevent election interference by adversaries. 

Krebs said in a statement posted Tuesday that CISA has recently partnered with the FBI to release public service announcements on cyber tactics that adversaries might use to disrupt election security. He added that CISA created a webpage that includes resources to help combat election-related disinformation.

“The election experience is designed to ensure that technology isn’t a single point of failure and there are measures in place to ensure you can vote and your vote is counted correctly,” Krebs said. “You should have confidence in the integrity of the process and don't overreact to claims that exaggerate the importance of insignificant events.”

Krebs recommends the public to identify trusted sources and discourage the spread of sensational and unverified information.

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Maria Roat on Federal CIO Council’s Data-Sharing Priorities
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Maria Roat on Federal CIO Council’s Data-Sharing Priorities

Maria Roat, deputy federal chief information officer and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, has said the Federal CIO Council seeks to make investments in identity and access management as well as data-sharing protocol updates.

Roat told attendees at a Nutanix event that the council seeks to improve data-sharing across systems that handle large volumes of critical information such as the Department of Health and Human Services’ HHS Protect, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

She noted that the group is also looking into microservices, reusable technology and authentication approaches. The federal government needs to focus on updating decision-making models to improve the delivery of mission data, Roat added.

“The pandemic highlighted just how fast we can push technology solutions and cut through those cumbersome and bureaucratic procedures,” she said. “The momentum needs to be sustained, and I challenge each of you to build on these successes and continue to drive innovation and break through those internal barriers.”

The Federal CIO Council started announcing potential areas for modernization in May 2020, according to the publication.

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NGA Stands up New Innovation Lab in Missouri; VADM Robert Sharp Quoted
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NGA Stands up New Innovation Lab in Missouri; VADM Robert Sharp Quoted

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has established a new laboratory to foster the collaborative development of geospatial technologies. Government, industry and academia would jointly develop geospatial-intelligence software at Moonshot Labs located within the T-REX innovation center in St. Louis, Missouri, NGA said Wednesday.

The agency partnered with T-REX, an innovation-focused nonprofit, to stand up Moonshot Labs and promote multisector collaboration within the St. Louis region. Software developers, data scientists and technologists will compose the laboratory's team.

“We will deliver trusted GEOINT with the speed, accuracy and precision required to hold at risk the strategic forces our adversaries use to project power and threaten the United States and our allies,” said Vice Adm. Robert Sharp, director of NGA and two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Moonshot's name references moon-mapping efforts performed by NGA's predecessors for the Apollo space mission.

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Army Eyes AI Concepts, December Release for Final OMFV Solicitation
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Army Eyes AI Concepts, December Release for Final OMFV Solicitation

The U.S. Army plans to release a final request for proposals for the service’s optionally manned fighting vehicle (OMFV) by the end of 2020 before selecting five awardees that will move forward in the program.

Brig. Gen. Richard Coffman, director of the Army Futures Command's (AFC) next-generation combat vehicle cross-functional team, told National Defense Magazine in an interview that he expects interested parties to prioritize AI-based sensor data collection concepts for the OMFV, the publication reported Wednesday.

Coffman noted that the Army is currently trying to avoid establishing concrete requirements for the vehicle, which is meant to replace the Army's Bradley platform.

“We believe that we will see from industry aided target recognition, that we will see open systems architecture,” he said. “Those items will inform the OMFV characteristics going forward in the second RFP."

The Army issued a draft RFP for OMFV design activities in July 2020 and plans to issue another solicitation for prototyping work in the third quarter of 2022. The service intends to downselect three companies before choosing the final contractor ahead of the vehicle's deployment in 2028.

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BAE Systems Wins $400M IDIQ Contract to Develop UAV Digital Design; Ehtisham Siddiqui Quoted
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BAE Systems Wins $400M IDIQ Contract to Develop UAV Digital Design; Ehtisham Siddiqui Quoted

BAE Systems has been awarded a potential $400 million, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to develop an air vehicle system for the Skyborg program. The company will compete to develop a digital design for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with integrated autonomous functions, BAE Systems reported on Thursday. 

“The need to generate combat power faster than our adversaries is critical to address near-peer threats,” said Ehtisham Siddiqui, vice president and general manager of Controls and Avionics Solutions at BAE Systems. “This award will accelerate the development and deployment of manned-unmanned teaming technologies to give the U.S. Air Force a decisive edge in the battlespace.”

Under the Skyborg program, BAE Systems will work to develop a low-cost autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle that will partner with manned aircraft to increase air combat power. 

Designed with BAE Systems’ autonomous systems, the UAVs will leverage autonomy to combat adversaries. The company’s systems will include sensors and payloads that communicate across a shared network with manned aircraft. 

The modular and common system approach will provide updates and integration to ensure the fleet leverages the best capabilities to defend against emerging threats. The shared network will support manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T). 

MUM-T will allow UAVs and manned aircraft to collaborate to complete missions more effectively. The network extends the reach of the fleet, while keeping the manned aircraft and personnel out of harm’s way. It will allow the UAVs to serve as the eyes and ears for pilots, collecting and sending data from the battlespace to a manned fighter.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is a leading systems integrator supporting militaries, governments, and U.S. intelligence community members across the globe. The company’s advanced technologies and services protect people and national security, and keep critical information and infrastructure secure across air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains.

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Pegasystems to Support StepChange Financial Services; Kieran Tarrant Quoted
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Pegasystems to Support StepChange Financial Services; Kieran Tarrant Quoted

Pegasystems has partnered with StepChange Debt Charity to provide an online product that will enable citizens in debt to apply for financial relief from the organization, Pegasystems reported on Thursday.

"We've worked with StepChange for some time now and anticipated that their services would be vitally important in the wake of the financial crisis that was sure to follow the pandemic," said Kieran Tarrant, VP, UK & Ireland, Pegasystems. 

StepChange has launched its COVID Payment Plan (CVPP), a new online service providing short-term assistance for those who qualify for up to a year, to assist with the current debt crisis due to COVID-19.

The platform has been built on Pega Customer Service by Pega’s partner, Aaseya. CVPP will assess candidate suitability through an online portal suite of questions. CVPP has also leveraged Pega Chat to support online conversations between applicants and StepChange experts. The service can scale up to ten thousand concurrent users per hour. 

“We needed to quickly stand up a solution to assess eligibility and get help to people as fast as possible. We see a specific need to bridge the gap between how life was pre-COVID-19 and the new and unprecedented world we're currently facing.  To do that, we needed proven technology to build an online platform that can be rapidly deployed to meet the new need,” said Phil Andrew, CEO, StepChange.

StepChange will manage and help candidates pay their bills. StepChange has integrated the Pega Customer Service application to support its Pulse customer support system, which has provided advice to customers via online and telephone inquiries. The CVPP product will leverage components from the existing Pulse solution to support the launch.

"Some of the most meaningful and rewarding work we do is when we can see how technology helps in very difficult human situations. We're very grateful that, along with our partner, Aaseya, we could rapidly deploy a solution that is so very needed right now," Tarrant added. 

About Pega

Pega is the leader in cloud software for customer engagement and operational excellence. The world's most recognized and successful brands rely on Pega's AI-powered software to optimize every customer interaction on any channel while ensuring their brand promises are kept. 

Pega's low-code application development platform allows enterprises to quickly build and evolve apps to meet their customer and employee needs and drive digital transformation on a global scale. For more than 35 years, Pega has enabled higher customer satisfaction, lower costs, and increased customer lifetime value.

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Google Cloud Wins Framework Agreement to Secure Cloud Platform; Mike Daniels Quoted
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Google Cloud Wins Framework Agreement to Secure Cloud Platform; Mike Daniels Quoted

Google Cloud announced it has received a Framework Agreement for Secure Cloud from the Canadian federal government to provide its cloud platform and collaboration technologies to federal agencies, the company reported on Thursday.

"Receiving a framework agreement for secure cloud services means we can now support programs that require high levels of data protection for government workloads," said Mike Daniels, vice president, Global Public Sector, Google Cloud. 

Google Cloud’s offerings will enable federal agencies to digitally transform to better support workloads. The company was assessed by the Canadian federal government against all relevant security, privacy and usability standards, under the framework security requirements. 

The recent agreement adds to Google Cloud’s support of the Canadian government. The framework will enable Google Cloud to further support a variety of federal departments, agencies and crown corporations. It will also allow governments to procure cloud services and help close the gap between government and consumer services.

"This new agreement reflects our continued investment and support for customers in the Canadian public sector, including the announcement of our second data center region in Toronto. It is another example of momentum we're seeing as government agencies move to the cloud," Daniels added. 

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud provides organizations with leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems.

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