Jacobs has launched Jacobs' Virtual Event Space, a fully customized, online and interactive platform, to expand its public engagement solutions, the company reported on Tuesday. 

"Leveraging our global digital solutions capability, we are challenging what's possible today and reinventing a new way forward – providing more accessible, more inclusive, more resilient and lower carbon impact engagement," said Jacobs vice president and Global Digital Market director Dr. Raja Kadiyala. 

Jacobs' Virtual Event Space can be tailored to advance engagement for clients, partners and projects. Jacobs' Virtual Event Space will enable clients to provide stakeholders with an interactive virtual experience, accessible from any computer or mobile device, without the need for virtual reality headsets.

The company’s customized virtual event experience will enable public participation and engagement from any work environment, providing additional accessibility during the global crisis. Jacobs has integrated real time feedback and information gathering sessions for major infrastructure and community developments. 

Jacobs' Virtual Event Space will also provide event platforms to increase meeting safety and allow greater sustainability, while reducing cost. The solutions will offer flexible configuration, an interactive visitor experience, real-time feedback and can be integrated with clients' other digital and social media platforms.

"With the recent restrictions on the way we interact with people, Jacobs specialists have enabled a way for our clients to accelerate and redefine how they connect and consult with stakeholders and end users in the future," Kadiyala added. 

About Jacobs

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

With $13 billion in revenue and a talent force of more than 55,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of professional services including consulting, technical, scientific and project delivery for the government and private sector.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) come up with measurable and specific performance goals and strategies to manage spectrum demands associated with the deployment of 5G networks.

GAO said in a report published Monday that the FCC needs those performance goals to help determine the potential effects of 5G on the "digital divide" or disparity in people's access to telecommunications services.

The congressional watchdog convened experts from industry, consumer groups and academia to discuss the challenges to fielding 5G networks. These professionals mentioned the need of the commercial sector for access to additional mid-band spectrum to avoid 5G deployment delays.

According to the report, mid-band spectrum offers higher data capacity and is better than high-band spectrum when it comes to penetrating physical barriers over long distances. However, the spectrum is highly congested and includes federal agencies as users that may not immediately transfer to new spectrum bands.

GAO also cited FCC’s need for strategic planning to help manage 5G-related spectrum demands. “Without such strategic planning efforts, FCC will be unable to determine the effectiveness of its spectrum management efforts, particularly related to the congested mid-band spectrum that is critical to 5G deployment."

The Department of Commerce published in May the final rule for commercial remote sensing satellite platforms and officials at the department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the challenge now lies in the implementation of the new regulations, SpaceNews reported Monday.

“It becomes important for us to focus some attention on the implementation details,” said Gil Klinger, chair of NOAA's advisory committee on commercial remote sensing.

Tahara Dawkins, director of the commercial remote sensing regulatory affairs at NOAA, also cited the need to focus on implementation.

“It’s all about implementation,” said Dawkins. “We’re trying to get this right. We’re trying to be as transparent as possible as we move forward.”

The new rules are set to take effect on July 20 and adopt a three-tier approach to licensing commercial remote sensing systems.

Paul Thomas, project manager for the Blackjack effort at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), said the agency is moving forward with the program after evaluating commercial technologies and identifying potential risks, C4ISRnet reported Saturday.

Thomas told the publication in an interview that DARPA plans to establish a subconstellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit that will serve as part of the mesh network by 2021 or 2022. He noted that the agency is “tying up all the loose ends” of its phase one contract and studying its options after evaluating technical risks.

“As we identify those, we’ve actually been able to put together using commercial approaches the ability to bring new technology and get it integrated and into space in months or a year’s time instead of years,” said Thomas.

He added that DARPA is on track to launch the Mandrake 1 small satellite later this year ahead of Mandrake 2’s launch in coordination with the Space Development Agency. DARPA is scheduled to launch two more missions named Wildcard and Sagittarius-A early next year, according to Thomas.

In May 2020, the agency announced plans to launch Blackjack ahead of a rideshare mission next year. DARPA awarded satellite and payload construction contracts to Blue Canyon and SA Photonics for Blackjack earlier this month.

The U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) has established a team of technical experts that will work to forecast trends in areas such as biotechnology and space for potential warfare applications, Defense One reported Friday.

Team Ignite will utilize artificial intelligence and data analytics to assess current technology programs and breakthroughs to provide insight on the defense landscape in the 2040 to 2050 period.

The team of scientists is currently slated to produce a report detailing developments on the concept of maneuverability in the battlefield, according to Defense One.

“Any particular scientific discovery has to be matured, moved, iterated on, in order to actually deliver something that the Army wants and it is that pathway out that the discovery trees are trying to build,” said Jean Vettel, chief scientist for the Army's Futures and Concepts Center and a neuroscientist at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.

“The goal of the discovery tree is to provide a pathway from [science projects] to operational advantage," she noted.