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GSA, Treasury Designated as Quality Service Mgmt Offices; Emily Murphy, Suzette Kent Quoted
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GSA, Treasury Designated as Quality Service Mgmt Offices; Emily Murphy, Suzette Kent Quoted

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has designated the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Treasury as quality service management offices (QSMO) as part of OMB’s efforts to advance shared services modernization. GSA said Monday that it will serve as the QSMO for civilian human resource transaction services with a focus on work schedules and compensation management.

“With our QSMO designation, the GSA NewPay Team and our partner agencies will be able to modernize the way the Federal Government processes payroll and time and attendance by aligning policy, processes, data standards, and technology,” said Emily Murphy, administrator of GSA and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner. “This gives us all the opportunity to further collaborate on new and innovative solutions to better serve federal employees.”

OMB designated Treasury as the QSMO for core financial management support.

"By designating GSA and Treasury as QSMO, the Federal Government is able to really leverage shared services across multiple mission critical services benefiting all agencies," said Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient. "Core Financial Management and Civilian HR Transaction are key services that are integral to the operations of every agency."

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NOAA Officials Set Sights on Commercial Remote Sensing Rule Implementation
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NOAA Officials Set Sights on Commercial Remote Sensing Rule Implementation

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.

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HUD Official John Gibbs Nominated to Lead Office of Personnel Management
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HUD Official John Gibbs Nominated to Lead Office of Personnel Management

John Gibbs, a senior adviser at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has received President Trump's nomination for the role of director of the Office of Personnel Management, Axios reported Sunday. Gibbs, if appointed, would succeed Dale Cabaniss who resigned from the OPM leadership post in March.

Cabaniss served as OPM's director from September 2019 to March this year. Gibbs, her potential successor, would lead OPM in efforts to address workforce issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael Rigas, the agency's deputy director, leads OPM on an acting basis.

Gibbs' career includes engineering work with Apple and technology advocacy efforts as a missionary in Japan.

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DARPA’s Paul Thomas on Fast-Tracking ‘Blackjack’ Space Network Initiative
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DARPA’s Paul Thomas on Fast-Tracking ‘Blackjack’ Space Network Initiative

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.

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Army Futures Command Creates Research Team to Predict Warfare Trends
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Army Futures Command Creates Research Team to Predict Warfare Trends

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.

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Austal USA Delivers LCS 24 to Navy
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Austal USA Delivers LCS 24 to Navy

Austal USA has handed over to the U.S. Navy an Independence-class littoral combat ship built to operate in near-shore environments.

The future USS Oakland (LCS 24) is the third Navy vessel to bear the name of its namesake city in California, the service branch said Friday.

Christened in 2019, Oakland is equipped with sensor systems and can hold various vehicles and modular weapons. The Navy is slated to commission the vessel in 2021.

The ship’s delivery marks the third LCS delivery to the Navy in 2020 brings the total number of the military service’s ship inventory to 300.

Austal USA is currently assembling USS Canberra (LCS 30), USS Mobile (LCS 26), USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) and USS Savannah (LCS 28).

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DOE Unveils $122M Funding Opportunity for Coal Research Centers
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DOE Unveils $122M Funding Opportunity for Coal Research Centers

The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to award $122 million in funds to support facilities that will utilize coal to produce carbon-based offerings. DOE said Friday that it seeks to create new approaches that will extract and handle critical minerals and rare earth elements from coal through the funding opportunity.

The facilities will work to study and maintain environmentally-sustainable beneficiation, mining, purification and processing methods. The centers will also support education efforts for professionals and workers in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

DOE encourages industry, academia, national laboratories, state and local governments to participate in the funding opportunity. The department will finance the facilities via the Carbon Ore, Rare Earths, and Critical Minerals program.

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Gregory Slavonic Named Acting Undersecretary of the U.S. Navy
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Gregory Slavonic Named Acting Undersecretary of the U.S. Navy

Gregory Slavonic, assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, has been appointed the military branch’s undersecretary on an acting basis. He will function as a chief operating officer, a chief management officer and an assistant under the secretary of the Navy, the service branch said Friday.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Greg Slavonic for a number of years and value his leadership abilities, foresight and friendship,” said Kenneth Braithwaite, secretary of the Navy.

Slavonic will also hold responsibility for the Department of the Navy’s intelligence operations. He has been responsible for the Navy’s manpower oversight for two years. The newly appointed acting undersecretary also took part in missions related to Vietnam and Iraq as an active-duty serviceman.

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House Members Present Bill to Create New Cyber Adviser in White House
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House Members Present Bill to Create New Cyber Adviser in White House

Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; Will Hurd, R-Texas and two-time Wash100 Award recipient; Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.; John Katko, R-N.Y.; and Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. have jointly introduced a bill that aims to establish a new cybersecurity executive role in the White House.

The National Cyber Director Act would direct the appointment of an executive who would inform the U.S. president on cyber-related matters, Langevin’s office said Thursday.

“After more than a decade studying this issue, I can say with great certainty: cybersecurity policy is complicated,” Langevin, commissioner of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, said.

The bill’s formulation builds on a report issued by the commission. The report recommends reform activities including the appointment of a new cybersecurity leader in the White House.

The cyber director would have more authority in cybersecurity budgeting and incident response than the previous cybersecurity coordinator position created during the Obama administration.

"The Coronavirus has elevated the importance of cyber infrastructure and demonstrated how incredibly disruptive a major cyber attack could be," said Gallagher.

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USSOCOM Seeks AI, IoT Concepts for Next-Gen Operational Environment
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USSOCOM Seeks AI, IoT Concepts for Next-Gen Operational Environment

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is prioritizing its efforts to deploy a hyper-enabled operator (HEO) technology to help warfighters utilize increased cognitive functionalities in the battlefield, National Defense Magazine reported Friday.

Col. Ryan Barnes, director of USSOCOM’s Joint Acquisition Task Force, said at a National Defense Industrial Association virtual event that the HEO concept will enable operators to leverage next-generation internet of things capabilities.

“We are looking to put those types of sensors and communication devices on an operator collecting information in the operational environment,” he added.

Gen. Richard Clarke, commander of USSOCOM, noted that the command intends to continue its efforts to integrate emerging concepts such as artificial intelligence and machine learning into its weapons systems.

Other projects that USSOCOM intends to pursue include an engagement platform for collaborating with industry called Engage SOF or eSOF, which is meant to handle operations under the command’s technology and industry liaison office.

USSOCOM officials also cited biotechnology, data management, precision strike, next-generation mobility and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as key areas of interest for future programs, according to the report.

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