The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) has asked small and medium sized companies for feedback on how the government should work with the private sector to advance commercial AI innovation. A request for comments posted Wednesday on Federal Register says NSCAI will use the responses as it works on a final report slated for release in March 2021.

The commission wants the companies to share the challenges they face when doing business with the government and changes that could be made to reduce or address them. It is also seeking insights on how the government could better communicate national security challenges to industry and opportunities to demonstrate potential platforms.

NSCAI also requests input on obstacles to carrying out temporary talent exchanges and ways to address such challenges; how the government and industry can improve collaboration on product development to protect against bias in AI systems; and how the government can “incentivize responsible AI development through acquisition.”

Responses are due Oct. 23.

The commission issued an interim report in November 2019 to provide its initial evaluation of AI with regard to national security and recommend initial steps for the government to advance AI adoption.

Federal officials said they think lawmakers will someday incorporate the Technology Business Management (TBM) framework, a data-driven tool that could help show the impact of information technology investments on agencies’ missions, into future Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act scorecards, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

David Shive, chief information officer at the General Services Administration (GSA), noted about the parallelism between the FITARA scorecard and TBM.

“They’re all about increased transparency, whether it’s transparency in how an IT shop is delivering against the business mission of the agency it’s serving or it’s cost transparency, where you’re assessing the value of IT investments relative to the business value derived out of those investments,” he said Wednesday at an AFFIRM event.

Shive noted that the use of TBM could help boost employee satisfaction since the framework's data-driven nature allows personnel to see the impact of their work on the agency’s mission.

Chi Kang, deputy director for operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) cybersecurity division, has said that segmentation and software-defined, wide-area networking (SD-WAN) can support the implementation of zero-trust concepts.

Kang told Federal News Network in a prior interview that SD-WAN has the capacity to ensure visibility and control across disparate networks and multiple endpoints, the publication reported Tuesday.

He noted that NOAA has already taken steps to implement approaches such as virtual private networks (VPN) for day-to-day operations before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the prevalence of telework settings.

“Micro segmentation allows you to get a little bit more resolution in what you’re accessing,” said Kang. “Depending on your privilege management, or depending on where you’re coming from, or wanting you to access, you have a higher degree of resolution of what are the appropriate resources for you to access.”

The National Security Agency (NSA) has published a review of mechanisms to consider when applying multifactor authentication (MFA). The guidance, titled “Cybersecurity Information Sheet Selecting and Safely Using Multifactor Authentication Solutions,” tackles practices to identify and securely implement MFA applications, NSA said Tuesday.

MFA is the use of additional mediums, such as confirmation texts and one-time-passwords, to secure login credentials. This practice serves as an added layer of security for email accounts and other digital profiles.

Members of the defense industry and the Department of Defense may use the guidance to inform MFA-related decisions. NSA formed the guidance based on standards advised by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to use a commercial, wearable infection warning device for COVID-19 spread reduction, DoD News reported Tuesday. 

The device, named Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure (RATE), is designed to alert about the virus' presence in the wearer before he or she exhibits symptoms. RATE measures relevant biomarkers and produces data that undergoes processing in the cloud.

Researchers used RATE to find that infectious agents can result in subtle physiological changes within people prior to the surfacing of symptoms.

Ed Argenta, science and technology manager at DTRA, said the early detection of these changes significantly helps contain virus spreads. The Department of Defense plans to widely distribute RATE devices in weeks to come.