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Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan: JAIC Needs Own Procurement Authority to Speed Up Contracting Process
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Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan: JAIC Needs Own Procurement Authority to Speed Up Contracting Process
Jack Shanahan
Jack Shanahan

Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said he believes JAIC needs to have its own acquisition authorities within the next two years to expedite the process of awarding contracts and delivering AI tools across the military, FedScoop reported Thursday.

Shanahan said Thursday during an AFCEA virtual event that having procurement authorities would allow JAIC to provide a level playing field for nontraditional tech contractors and small businesses when it comes to securing contracts. “Everybody is an equal player,” he added.

He hinted that JAIC will soon issue more requests for information as the center works to ramp up its collaboration with industry on various AI initiatives. JAIC currently awards contracts through agencies that have their own acquisition authorities, including the Defense Innovation Unit and the General Services Administration.

A spokesperson told the publication that Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, supports Shanahan’s call. “As the focal point for AI and despite the young age of the JAIC, Chairman Smith supports the need for JAIC to have the appropriate authorities to ensure they are able to acquire technologies rapidly, without the stunting layers of bureaucracy,” the spokesperson said.

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Trump Administration to Withdraw From ‘Open Skies’ Accord
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Trump Administration to Withdraw From ‘Open Skies’ Accord
The White House
The White House

The White House has initiated a move to withdraw from a 1992 treaty designed to reduce the risk of war between Western countries and Russia by allowing countries to perform reconnaissance flights over each other’s territories to reassure that an attack is not being prepared, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Senior U.S. officials were slated Thursday to issue a notice to allied countries that it would withdraw from the Open Skies treaty in six months.

“Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty. So until they adhere, we will pull out,” President Trump told reporters Thursday. “But there’s a very good chance we’ll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together.”

There are more than 30 state parties to the Open Skies accord, which took effect in 2002. The decision came a year after the Trump administration moved to leave the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

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James Geurts: Attendance Increasing for Navy, Supply Chain Personnel
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James Geurts: Attendance Increasing for Navy, Supply Chain Personnel
James Geurts
James Geurts

James Geurts, the U.S. Navy’s acquisition chief and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said he is “seeing many more” suppliers continue operations following closures resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

Geurts, who serves as assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters at a teleconference that over 200 suppliers stopped operations over the past six to eight weeks. The Navy has been monitoring over 10K firms in the defense industrial base amid the health crisis, he noted.

“As we've gone through the crisis, we have not had to shut down any of our shipyards — both private or public — and as I look at the case count, we are having [a] relatively flat number of cases and more folks coming back than getting infected,” he said.

According to Geurts, attendance for Navy personnel is also “creeping back up” after a 50 percent drop.

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Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Unveils New Directorates; Shaun Morris Quoted
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Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Unveils New Directorates; Shaun Morris Quoted
Shaun Morris
Shaun Morris

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center has reorganized its intercontinental ballistic missile systems directorate in a bid to deliver nuclear capacities to warfighters.

AFNWC divided the ICBM directorate into the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent systems directorate and the Minuteman III systems directorate, the U.S. Strategic Command said Tuesday. GBSD Directorate Systems Program Manager Jason Bartolomei has been appointed to lead the group.

“This restructuring is a natural progression of the Air Force’s increasing focus on the modernization of the ICBM, the third leg of our strategic nuclear triad,” said Maj. Gen. Shaun Morris, commander at AFNWC and program executive officer for strategic systems at the U.S. Air Force.

Morris added the reorganization will enable the center to consolidate functional requirements to an operating location at Hills Air Force Base in Utah. AFNWC employs over 1,300 personnel in 18 various locations and has been established to align all elements of nuclear materiel management.

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DLA Uses Automated Data to Inform PPE Supplies Amid COVID-19
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DLA Uses Automated Data to Inform PPE Supplies Amid COVID-19
DLA Uses Automated Data to Inform PPE Supplies Amid COVID-19

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is automating data to determine the overall supply and demand of personal protective equipment needed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal entities. DLA said Wednesday that it reports PPE supply data on a daily basis for use with the DoD-made Advana digital analytics platform amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Open reporting on orders, shipments, back orders and expected delivery dates lets leaders know whether there’s enough material on hand to meet requirements for the next 30 to 60 days,” Sean Ahrens, chief of DLA's Metrics Integration Branch.

He also said that decision-makers may use the reports to inform order adjustments. This approach began in April and has now grown combatant commands, all service branches, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) track supplies.

“For example, DOD has some availability of N95 respirators, and we were able to issue 20 million to HHS and FEMA to support the national effort,” Dalphonse added.

DLA plans to use this same data approach for possible disasters in the future.

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NASA Introduces Roman Space Telescope
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NASA Introduces Roman Space Telescope
NASA Introduces Roman Space Telescope

NASA has unveiled a space observatory that will work to address questions in infrared astrophysics, exoplanets and dark energy.

Formerly known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Grace Roman Space Telescope features a wide-field tool and a coronagraph that will allow spectroscopy and high-contrast imaging of individual exoplanets, the agency said Wednesday.

NASA is slated to conduct hardware development and a series of tests for the telescope following the completion of programmatic and technical reviews in February. A team will develop engineering models and test units in efforts to validate the observatory's capacity to operate under austere conditions.

The agency named the telescope after Nancy Grace Roman, a former chief of astronomy and relativity in the Office of Space Science.

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GSA Launches Beta Website for Federal Rulemaking Info
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GSA Launches Beta Website for Federal Rulemaking Info
GSA Launches Beta Website for Federal Rulemaking Info

The General Services Administration (GSA) is working to update its web-based repository of information on government-issued documents and federal regulations as part of an initiative under the agency’s eRulemaking program.

GSA said Wednesday that the modernization of Regulations.gov is aimed at improving the website’s comment interface and search features ahead of the existing site’s decommissioning in September.

Users will be redirected to the website’s beta version starting this week ahead of subsequent redirects scheduled over the next few months. The beta site will also include features for public feedback to help inform further development, according to GSA.

The agency noted that the changes will not impact Regulations.gov’s backend processes and that it will “continue to support the public and agency users as usual.”

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DOE Taps University of Texas – San Antonio to Oversee Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium
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DOE Taps University of Texas – San Antonio to Oversee Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium
DOE Taps University of Texas – San Antonio to Oversee Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium

The Department of Energy has selected the University of Texas-San Antonio to manage and operate a consortium that would focus on cybersecurity in the manufacturing industry.

The Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute or CyManII will support cybersecurity research and development to better protect supply chain networks and automation systems, DOE said Wednesday.

The public-private consortium will tackle early-stage projects and workforce development efforts to boost the country's manufacturing energy efficiency via cybersecurity.

“Through the CyManII, DOE will leverage the capabilities of the Idaho, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories across the applied energy, science and national security mission space to develop innovative cybersecurity technologies and strategies to minimize risk and accelerate energy efficiency across manufacturing supply chains," said Mark Menezes, undersecretary of energy.

CyManII will consist of DOE laboratories and participants from industry and academia in the U.S.

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GAO: IRS Should Address Ongoing Issues in Agency Info Systems
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GAO: IRS Should Address Ongoing Issues in Agency Info Systems

GAO: IRS Should Address Ongoing Issues in Agency Info Systems

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reported “new and continuing deficiencies” in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) information technology systems that could affect the agency’s sensitive programs and information.

GAO said in a report released last week that there are 11 new deficiencies in IRS’s information system security controls that support financial and tax-related operations. Such deficiencies include issues in configuration management, duty segregation and information security management. According to the watchdog, IRS resolved 13 out of 127 recommendations detailed in prior reports as of September 2019.

“Until these new and continuing control deficiencies, which collectively represent a significant deficiency, are fully addressed, IRS financial reporting and taxpayer data will remain unnecessarily vulnerable to unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure,” GAO said.

The agency analyzed IRS financial statements from fiscal years 2018 to 2019 as part of the audit.

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Scott McIntyre Reclaims First Place in Wash100 Popular Vote Before June 1st Deadline; Juliane Gallina, Gina Haspel Keep Pace
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Scott McIntyre Reclaims First Place in Wash100 Popular Vote Before June 1st Deadline; Juliane Gallina, Gina Haspel Keep Pace
Scott McIntyre
Scott McIntyre

Ten days left! The 2020 Wash100 Popular Vote draws to a close on June 1st, which leaves you with only ten days to vote as tensions for first place in the rankings. Click here to cast your vote and determine who emerges as the most significant executive of consequnece to the government contracting (GovCon) sector for 2020. 

Guidehouse CEO Scott McIntyre has reclaimed first place after a fierce competition with Gina Haspel, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). There have been four lead changes between McIntyre and Haspel for first place over the last week. With the race for first place reaching a boiling point, Juliane Gallina, chief information officer (CIO) of the CIA, has thrown her hat into the top of the rankings and has risen to second place in the rankings after sitting in fifth last week.

Gallina’s headway has bumped Haspel to third place for the time being. This is Gallina’s first Wash100 Award and her first chance to win gold in the 2020 Wash100 Popular Vote. She also held first place for mere minutes before McIntyre siezed the spot earlier today. The next ten days are going to be pivotal for these industry leaders and the other 97 Wash100 Award winners in 2020 could all have a chance to win with your vote. 

This year’s sixth annual Wash100 Awards has been the most contested in history, with a record breaking 14,000 votes cast and counting! The fight for first place has escalated to a fever pitch and your votes could be the difference between first and second place. You just have click here to vote before June 1st. 

About Wash100 

The Wash100 award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision. 

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

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