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Air Force to Hold Virtual IT Conference
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Air Force to Hold Virtual IT Conference

The U.S. Air Force is slated to hold a virtual event in an effort to build strategies and approaches that may address digital technology gaps.

The four-day Air Force Information Technology and Cyberpower conference will tackle various topics such as cyber operations, artificial intelligence and multi-domain effects, the service branch said Tuesday.

Arthur Hatcher, acting deputy chief information officer at the Air Force, said the conference will feature panels, breakout sessions and keynote speeches.

USAF seeks to gather various information technology professionals from industry, academia and the government in the event.

The virtual conference will run from August 24 through 27.

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HHS Public Health Service to Form Ready Reserve Corps
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HHS Public Health Service to Form Ready Reserve Corps

The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) will soon establish a group of reserve personnel to support efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ready Reserve Corps would support clinical and health care activities for COVID-19 response efforts across the globe, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Tuesday.

"Creating a Ready Reserve for the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps will improve our capability to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and future public health emergencies," said Alex Azar, HHS secretary.

The corps will consist of trained personnel who are deployable on short notice as needs arise. Interested individuals who wish to become part of the corps may send applications starting this fall. The corps' first batch of officers will undergo commissioning in spring next year.

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U.S. Navy Deploys AWS-Based Resource Planning System to Manage $70B in Transactions
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U.S. Navy Deploys AWS-Based Resource Planning System to Manage $70B in Transactions

The U.S. Navy has concluded the migration of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to an Amazon Web Services (AWS) environment and is processing transactions worth over $70 billion in the cloud infrastructure, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

The cloud migration effort serves as the Navy’s largest one to date and saw terabytes of data across various ledger systems in legacy on-premises infrastructure transition toward the AWS GovCloud environment.

The migration comes as part of the Navy’s plans to use a single ledger system to modernize financial transactions for over 70,000 users around the world, according to the report.

Edward Quick, program manager for the Navy’s enterprise business solutions program, said during an AWS virtual event that the migration helped the Navy make “timely and informed decisions” around financial operations, maintenance logs and advanced analytics activities.

“Putting Navy ERP in the cloud also adds a layer of protection to the data—with only one cloud-based depository of data to protect instead of a myriad of computing hardware,” he noted.

According to Quick, the Navy deployed an AWS-built edge storage tool called Snowball and SAP’s maintenance technology to speed up the migration process.

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DoD’s Mark Lewis: Risk-Taking Key to Successful Hypersonic Efforts
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DoD’s Mark Lewis: Risk-Taking Key to Successful Hypersonic Efforts

Mark Lewis, director of defense research and engineering for modernization at the Department of Defense (DoD), has said the department needs to modify its operational mindset to meet its hypersonic program goals, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Lewis said at a Hudson Institute-hosted discussion that the DoD needs to accept more risks in developing and testing new technologies such as hypersonic missiles and boost/glide systems. According to Lewis, programs with more consecutive testing activities will enable the DoD to prevent the loss of knowledge and talent.

"We need to be less risk-averse. And that doesn't mean we seek to maximize risk. But it also means we're not afraid to take risks, or we're not afraid to fail, as long as they're what I term noble failures," he added. "We learn as we're doing. We're not constantly relearning how to do what we used to know how to do."

Lewis noted that he expects the DoD to deliver hypersonic systems at scale by the mid-2020’s.

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Joel Montalbano Takes Over as NASA ISS Program Manager; Kathy Lueders Quoted
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Joel Montalbano Takes Over as NASA ISS Program Manager; Kathy Lueders Quoted

Joel Montalbano, former deputy program manager of NASA’s International Space Station program, has begun his new tenure as the effort’s primary manager. He succeeds Kirk Shireman who retired Thursday after a five-year tenure as leader of the NASA ISS program, the space agency said Wednesday.

Montalbano has helped Shireman perform daily management work and coordinate with mission partners since 2018. The newly appointed ISS program manager also supported ISS’s efforts to prepare for the upcoming Artemis missions and other exploration programs.

His work has also allowed the space station to function as a national laboratory for scientific research and educational efforts. Montalbano joined NASA in 1998 and went on to hold a variety of roles such as flight director and lead of the agency’s Human Space Flight Program in Russia.

“Joel has the experience and leadership we need to guide the station program during this exciting and dynamic time of human spaceflight,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA.

NASA originally announced Montalbano’s appointment as acting ISS manager in June 2020.

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DHS Earmarks $385M in Addtl FY20 Preparedness Grant Funding; Chad Wolf Quoted
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DHS Earmarks $385M in Addtl FY20 Preparedness Grant Funding; Chad Wolf Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has allocated $385 million in additional funding for seven grant programs to support the public and private sector's preparedness efforts in fiscal year 2020.

DHS said Tuesday the new funding adds to the $1.3 billion in noncompetitive grant allocations announced earlier this year, bringing the FY20 total to $1.8 billion.

The programs will focus on key priority areas such as cybersecurity, emerging threats, soft targets and crowded places and intelligence and information sharing.

Among the grant allocations are $1 billion for antiterrorism efforts in urban areas, $355.1 million for emergency management programs, $100 million for port security initiatives and $90 million for nonprofit security programs.

“The [DHS] and [Federal Emergency Management Agency] have led the way in modernizing our preparedness capabilities throughout our nation,” said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of homeland security. “Through initiatives like these, we are equipping our state and local partners to protect their communities and keep their residents safe. Never has this been more critical than in today’s environment.”

DHS has invested $54 billion in preparedness grant allocations to public and private sector partners since 2002.

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Unisys Achieves AWS Managed Service Provider, Well-Architected Partner; Anupriya Ramraj Quoted
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Unisys Achieves AWS Managed Service Provider, Well-Architected Partner; Anupriya Ramraj Quoted

Unisys has maintained its membership in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner Program for the third year in a row and has been recognized as a member in the AWS Well-Architected Partner Program for its cloud offerings, the company reported on Wednesday. 

"These designations combined are testimony to our proven CloudForte technology and services and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-led operations," said Anupriya Ramraj, vice president of Cloud Services for Unisys. 

Unisys earned both designations after AWS reviewed the capabilities of CloudForte, Unisys' secure solution for digital transformation and hybrid cloud management and application development. Unisys has also achieved the AWS Government Competency designation for deep experience working with AWS government customers.

CloudForte has leveraged AWS capabilities to deliver business outcomes securely. Unisys has provided highly skilled, full stack cloud architects and engineers to help assess, design, build, migrate, operate and optimize AWS and hybrid cloud services. 

The AWS MSP Program was created to help customers identify validated APN Consulting Partners skilled at cloud infrastructure and application migration and to deliver value to customers by offering proactive monitoring, automation and management of their own customers' environments.

"Our team is dedicated to helping clients harness the power of hybrid cloud and achieve business outcomes by leveraging the agility, breadth of services and pace of innovation that AWS provides," Ramraj added. 

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing.

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Atlas Research Receives ISO 9001:2015 Quality Standard; Mark Chichester Quoted
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Atlas Research Receives ISO 9001:2015 Quality Standard; Mark Chichester Quoted

Atlas Research has announced on Wednesday that the company has been certified as meeting the requirements of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 quality standard.

“The quality of our services is a true differentiator that our clients have come to expect,” said Atlas Research president Mark Chichester. “This certification speaks to both our commitment and ability to deliver quality services that consistently meet client and regulatory requirements.”  

The ISO 9001:2015 quality standard will require Atlas to meet and maintain a set of rigorous requirements, including the implementation of a firm-wide quality model. The certification validates Atlas’ commitment to results-focused delivery, quality control and continuous improvement.

ISO 9001 is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify. The current version of ISO 9001 was released in September 2015.

The certification has required a QMS, including documented information, planning and determining process interactions, responsibilities of management, management of resources, including human resources and an organization’s work environment and product realization, including the steps from design to delivery. 

About Atlas Research

Atlas Research provides mission-driven services to the federal government to help overcome its most pressing challenges in health care. Our work positively impacts vulnerable populations, tests innovative interventions to support critical patient groups, energizes communities to help address societal problems, provides essential training programs around emerging needs, and promotes interagency collaborations and public-private partnerships to improve care delivery and health system performance.

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BWXT Wins Contract to Expand TRISO Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing; Rex Geveden, Joel Duling, Quoted
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BWXT Wins Contract to Expand TRISO Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing; Rex Geveden, Joel Duling, Quoted

BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) announced on Wednesday that its Nuclear Operations Group  subsidiary has been awarded a 20-month, $26 million contract  contract by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to expand and upgrade its TRIstructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) nuclear fuel manufacturing line.

“In October 2019, we announced plans to restart and expand our TRISO fuel production line because of strong market signals. The award that we’re announcing today is another step in that direction,” said Joel Duling, BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. president. “Since that time, we have made significant technical progress on our ongoing restart activities, including releasing the solution preparation, kernel forming, and sintering furnace systems for production use.”

The award will expand BWXT’s TRISO capacity for the manufacture of TRISO fuel compacts as well as upgrade existing systems for delivering production-scale quantities of TRISO fuel. BWXT will work to enable the fabrication and delivery of the fuel in support of future missions for both the Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA. 

This project is an effort jointly funded by the DoD’s Operational Energy Capabilities Improvement Fund (OECIF) Office and NASA, with overall program management provided by the Strategic Capabilities Office.

“This contract award is another in a string of recent announcements at BWXT related to our unique ability to manufacture TRISO fuel at scale for both government and commercial customers,” said Rex Geveden, BWXT’s president and chief executive officer. “We plan to continue to leverage our capabilities for growth given the outlook we see for this and other specialty nuclear fuel types.”

About BWXT

At BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT), we are People Strong, Innovation Driven. Headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., BWXT provides safe and effective nuclear solutions for national security, clean energy, environmental remediation, nuclear medicine and space exploration. With approximately 6,600 employees, BWXT has 12 major operating sites in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, BWXT joint ventures provide management and operations at more than a dozen U.S. Department of Energy and NASA facilities.

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Jeff Heggemeier: Air Force SHiELD Laser Weapon Tech Demo Pushed Back to 2023
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Jeff Heggemeier: Air Force SHiELD Laser Weapon Tech Demo Pushed Back to 2023

Jeff Heggemeier of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) said technical challenges and COVID-19 pandemic-related complications has led the service to move the initial test of the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator system aboard a fighter aircraft from 2021 to 2023, Defense News reported Tuesday.

“This is a really complex technology to try to integrate into that flight environment, and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do with this program, is demonstrate that laser technology is mature enough to be able to integrate onto that airborne platform,” Heggemeier, SHiELD program manager at AFRL, told the publication in a June 10th interview. “But even things like COVID, and COVID shutting down the economy. That has impacts.”

Heggemeier said the Air Force should continue development work on the SHiELD program in order for it to assess the usefulness and maturity of capabilities. SHiELD is composed of laser being developed by Lockheed Martin, the pod encasing the weapons platform from Boeing and the beam control system from Northrop Grumman.

Heggemeier said the pod is under construction phase and the service plans to begin integration of the laser and beam control system in 2021.

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