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Cybersecurity/Government Technology/News
Nicolas Chaillan on Pentagon’s Platform One
by Jane Edwards
Published on July 27, 2020
Nicolas Chaillan on Pentagon’s Platform One

Nicolas Chaillan, chief software officer of the U.S. Air Force, shared his insights on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Platform One and how the team supports DoD’s Enterprise DevSecOps initiative, Nextgov reported Friday. He told the publication how Platform One can help establish a DevSecOps environment on a cloud.

“These bigger teams often need specific tools, they need access to a classified cloud environment, so Platform One can instantiate a DevSecOps environment on demand and customize it to their needs, get the licenses they need, get the talent support they need,” Chaillan said.

“Instead of a program spending something like twelve and a half million and a year to build that by themselves, we can do it in a few weeks for much cheaper and benefit from the continuous [authority to operate] at the same time.”

Chaillan cited Platform One’s use of open-source technologies like Kubernetes and containers to avoid vendor lock-in and how it works to address cyber vulnerabilities.

“We have real-time access to all the bounty and hackathons and have essential teams that can update these lego blocks which are then spread across DOD, across teams, so that if there’s a zero day or a new exploit in one of the containers, we can patch across DOD within a few hours,” Chaillan said.

“We can push the containers across all classification levels so in effect that gives us the ability to fix and address issues in a matter of four hours maximum. We can really react to these kinds of events with a central team instead of having 20, 50 or 100 teams do the same thing.”

Government Technology/News
Hon. Ellen Lord: Trusted Capital Marketplace Helps Safeguard Defense Supply Chain From Adversarial Capital
by Jane Edwards
Published on July 27, 2020
Hon. Ellen Lord: Trusted Capital Marketplace Helps Safeguard Defense Supply Chain From Adversarial Capital

Hon. Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, wrote in a National Defense article published Sunday about the Trusted Capital Marketplace and how the public-private partnership helps bolster the defense supply chain and protects it from adversarial capital.

The Trusted Capital Marketplace “creates an ecosystem that fosters deal flow between companies building technologies critical to the defense sector and trusted capital providers seeking to expand their national security investment portfolio,” Lord wrote.

She also mentioned Trusted Capital’s partnerships with academia and service branches to help tech companies and small businesses pitch their tech platforms through venture days.

Lord said the Trusted Capital team will host with AFWERX and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center a dual-use innovation event in August to help companies under the Small Business Innovation Research Program’s initial phase transition to Phase II.

She also noted that the Trusted Capital team and the office of industrial policy within DoD’s acquisition and sustainment office plan to launch a Global Trusted Capital Marketplace to facilitate the participation of U.S. and allied capital partners and companies.

Cybersecurity/Government Technology/News
CISA, NSA Release Security Advisory on Operational Technology; Anne Neuberger Quoted
by Nichols Martin
Published on July 24, 2020
CISA, NSA Release Security Advisory on Operational Technology; Anne Neuberger Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) partnered with the National Security Agency (NSA) to jointly issue a guidance document on the protection of critical infrastructure and control systems associated with operational technology.

The joint advisory includes information on observed tactics and techniques employed by cyber actors and potential impacts on operational technology systems, CISA, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said Thursday.

“Operational technology assets are pervasive and underpin many essential national security functions, as well as the Defense Industrial Base,” said Anne Neuberger, director of NSA's Cybersecurity Directorate and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. 

The government released the advisory to help operational technology users evaluate their cybersecurity against threats.

“We encourage all stakeholders to apply our joint recommendations with DHS CISA," Neuberger added.

News/Press Releases
U.S. Navy Completes Certification of Sixth USS Ford Weapons Elevator
by Matthew Nelson
Published on July 24, 2020
U.S. Navy Completes Certification of Sixth USS Ford Weapons Elevator

The U.S. Navy certified the USS Gerald R. Ford's sixth advanced weapons elevator on Wednesday. Lower Stage Weapons Elevator 1 is built to ferry ordnance from USS Ford's aft magazine complex to the flight deck through the vessel's forward weapons handling and transfer area, the service branch said Thursday.

USS Ford personnel is slated to determine operational procedures, train crewmembers and test the AWE in an at-sea environment following the certification.

“Ship’s force is testing the elevators in real-world environments as they train for full operational capability,” said Capt. Brian Metcalf, program manager for USS Ford.

The Navy noted the certification of USS Ford's remaining five AWEs are on-schedule as the vessel is set to undergo full-ship shock tests in fiscal year 2021. USS Ford's AWEs have recorded over 10,300 operational cycles.

Government Technology/GSA/News
GSA Conducts Tests for User Verification Tech, Website Redirects
by Matthew Nelson
Published on July 24, 2020
GSA Conducts Tests for User Verification Tech, Website Redirects

The General Services Administration is currently testing a Google-designed verification tool meant to determine if comments were submitted by real users.

GSA said Wednesday that the agency it aims to manage software-generated comments and support the integrity of the rulemaking process through the reCAPTCHA tool. The agency will also automatically redirect users to a beta version of the new Regulations .gov website at specific times to highlight the site and obtain design feedback.

GSA noted the tests will not affect the current Regulations .gov website's back-end processes. The tests are part of GSA's efforts to preview new capabilities and future eRulemaking systems.

Government Technology/News/Press Releases
DOE Releases Quantum Internet R&D Strategy; Dan Brouillette Quoted
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on July 24, 2020
DOE Releases Quantum Internet R&D Strategy; Dan Brouillette Quoted

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a report on its research and development strategy to ensure compliance with the Trump administration's 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act.

DOE said Thursday the report collates the ideas of national laboratories, industry partners and academic entities on establishing a national quantum internet capability.

The department and its partners convened in New York early this year to develop the quantum strategy and address potential barriers to engineering designs, technical capacities and near-term goals.

Ongoing efforts to achieve program objectives include the Argonne National Laboratory’s 52-mile “quantum loop” project across Chicago envisioned to become one of the longest U.S.-based quantum networks. Argonne’s network loop will be integrated with the DOE Fermilab in Lemont as part of a testbed that spans 80 miles.

“The [DOE] is proud to play an instrumental role in the development of the national quantum internet,” said Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. “By constructing this new and emerging technology, the United States continues with its commitment to maintain and expand our quantum capabilities.”

According to DOE, the 17 national labs will “serve as the backbone” of U.S. quantum internet research and secure network communications to support commercial, scientific and national security applications.

Government Technology/News
FCC Commences 5G Spectrum Auction; Ajit Pai Quoted
by Nichols Martin
Published on July 24, 2020
FCC Commences 5G Spectrum Auction; Ajit Pai Quoted

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched the first license auction for the new 5G spectrum, in a move to have the band populated by wireless networks as quickly as possible.

The auction, titled Auction 105, offers opportunities to obtain priority access licenses for 10-megahertz channels in the 5G 3.55-3.65 gigahertz band, FCC said Thursday.

“5G is critical to America’s global economic and technological leadership, and the start of the 3.5 GHz auction today is a key milestone in our work advancing this national priority,” said Ajit Pai, FCC chairman.

FCC will offer seven PALs per county-based license area, making 22.6K licenses in total available across the country. The auction supports FCC’s 5G FAST Plan, an effort to offer more spectrum in the market, update old standards and create new infrastructure policy.

The commission will also adjust the C-band spectrum for 5G use through December 2023.

5G Summit Banner

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.

DoD/Government Technology/News
DoD’s Mike White on Accelerating Hypersonics Dev’t Efforts
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on July 24, 2020
DoD’s Mike White on Accelerating Hypersonics Dev’t Efforts

Mike White, assistant director for hypersonics at the office of the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the Department of Defense (DoD) is fast-tracking its current approach to hypersonics development, DoD News reported Thursday.

White told attendees at a prior industry summit that the four-phase approach comes as part of the Pentagon’s efforts to keep up with the progress of adversaries like China and Russia.

He noted that the Pentagon is collaborating with NASA, the Space Development Agency (SDA) and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to accelerate the initial phase which includes demonstrations, weapons prototyping, test and evaluation activities.

The second increment involves technology transitions while the last phase entails fielding of prototype technologies to warfighters. White said he expects Phase 4, which will be funded through fiscal 2022 allocations, to require large-scale procurement of hypersonic weapons and the delivery of prototypes to inform future production efforts.

His comments come after the DoD created a Joint Hypersonic Transition Office aimed at leveraging academic consortia to support science and technology initiatives focused on weapons development.

Cybersecurity/DoD/News/Press Releases
Katie Arrington: DoD Projects 7.5K CMMC-Certified Companies by 2021
by Brenda Marie Rivers
Published on July 24, 2020
Katie Arrington: DoD Projects 7.5K CMMC-Certified Companies by 2021

Katie Arrington, a 2020 Wash100 Award winner and chief information security officer for defense acquisition, said she expects the Pentagon’s new cybersecurity vetting program to certify 7,500 companies by 2021, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

Arrington told attendees at a Celerium-hosted webinar that the Department of Defense (DoD) plans to release requests for proposals that include Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) version 1 requirements following the implementation of amendments in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

She noted that she anticipates these solicitations to be released in September or October 2020.

“I think that five years from now, it's part of a national standard, it's part of how we do business,” added Arington.

The CMMC program requires potential contractors to undergo cybersecurity assessments by DoD-certified independent auditors. The program’s framework is comprised of five levels, with Level 5 having the strictest requirements.

Government Technology/News/Wash100
Reps. Will Hurd, Robin Kelly Unveil First of Four AI Stretegic Documents
by Nichols Martin
Published on July 24, 2020
Reps. Will Hurd, Robin Kelly Unveil First of Four AI Stretegic Documents

Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas as well as a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., have put out a white paper discussing the future relevance of artificial intelligence in the country's workforce and education.

Hurd and Kelly worked with the Bipartisan Policy Center to develop the "AI and the Workforce" report, the first of four white papers in a series of AI-focused strategic documents, Hurd's office said Thursday.

“AI is the future of the world’s economy, and we want to ensure that every American worker has the opportunity to thrive in an AI-driven economy," said Hurd.

The report tackles how the U.S. may incorporate AI curricula into the country's education system in support of workforce needs in the emerging field. The government will release the other three white papers in weeks to come.

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