The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to launch initial capabilities of its electronic health record system in July at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., Federal News Network reported Thursday.

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie told the House Veterans Affairs Committee Thursday the department may field new EHR capabilities sooner than the July target, but would delay the rollout if his expectations are not met.

VA originally scheduled the initial EHR launch on March 28 but Wilkie said he chose to postpone the rollout because the platform was not fully completed.

“When I reviewed it, the two portions of the program that were not ready for our clinicians were programs that were incredibly important, particularly to the [Pacific North]west, were travel and community care,” said Wilkie, a 2019 Wash100 Award winner. “Those programs weren’t ready.”

Richard Stone, executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, joined Wilkie during the House panel hearing to talk about the EHR initiative.

VA requested $4.9B for the EHR modernization project in its fiscal 2021 budget proposal, reflecting a $1.1B rise from the prior year’s requested budget for the program.

Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, and Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operationsand fellow 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday on Defense News that the U.S. military should ensure continued superiority by developing a battle network designed to link weapons and warfighters operating from various domains.

The proposed Joint All-Domain Command and Control “network would leverage data, artificial intelligence and machine learning so that we know the location and movement of both friendly and enemy forces at all times,” wrote 2020 Wash100 awardees Goldfein and Raymond. “U.S. forces operating on land, sea, air, and in space and cyberspace — the major ‘domains’ of modern warfare — will be able to share information continuously and call on each other when needed.”

The generals said the service branch is working with other partners from other service branches and industry to develop and test the components of the JADC2 network. They cited an operational demonstration conducted in December in support of the initiative.

Raymond and Goldfein indicated that the Department of Defense would need the help of the private sector and Congress to further advance the JADC2 program.

The Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center has appointed Alka Patel, a member of JAIC’s strategic engagement and policy team since January, to lead the implementation of its new ethical principles for the use of AI in combat, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of JAIC and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, indicated that the center already hired an individual to lead the work but did not name the official.

“[Patel] is coordinating these efforts for the JAIC,” Lt. Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesperson for the center, told the publication. “She [is] a deep thinker who possesses a strong and proven ethical foundation in her approach to fielding AI solutions.” 

Patel previously worked as a research intern at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute and served as commissioner of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. She is former executive director of Carnegie Mellon University’s risk and regulatory services innovation center and previous managing director and senior counsel at the Bank of New York Mellon.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a request for proposals to seek input from universities in developing the capabilities of DHS personnel.

DHS said Wednesday it aims to create a master's degree program that will work to help students implement security technologies that are under the research and development phase to operational capacity.

Based on the department's Security Technology Transition effort,  the program will enable employees to explore federal acquisition policies, study technology adoption gaps and observe the research and development process. DHS also envisions the students to manage and mitigate potential issues in carrying technological updates as part of the course.

“S&T’s investment in this MBA program will build a cross-DHS collaborative workforce with the capability and skill set needed to develop, acquire, implement, and manage the transition process of operationally relevant technologies,” said William Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology at DHS.

Interested schools may employ and aggregate existing courses to build an MBA program that will house a management curriculum with real-world case studies and security technology subjects.

Phase I proposals are due March 5, while Phase II submissions will be accepted until March 26.

The 152nd Airlift Wing within Air National Guard has established a "spark cell" innovation program that aims to foster creative innovation across force members.

The Silver State Spark cell would allow airmen to explore and plan innovation projects for a maximum of five days during technician and training periods, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.

The program also allows airmen to propose their formed project plans to respective commanders and apply for a chance of implementation.

"A Spark Cell gives Airmen of all ranks the opportunity to think creatively toward new and innovative solutions to the challenges they face in the daily conduct of flying, fighting and winning our nation's wars," said Col. Jacob Hammons, 152nd Airlift Wing commander, who initiated planning for the spark cell's creation.

Maj. Greg Green, who facilitates the wing's spark cell, gathered insight during an AFWERX-supported spark cell training event that took place in Las Vegas from Feb. 19 to 21.

 "There's no doubt a demand for improving the way we do business," Green said, also noting that airmen are already submitting ideas.

The Census Bureau is launching a pilot effort to deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify operational data that employees may have missed, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.

Zachary Whitman, chief data officer of the bureau, said at an AFCEA event that employees previously reported difficulties when processing survey data that are handled through siloed programs.

“How do you get people to translate into information they might not know about but would be very valuable to them?” said Whitman. “That’s where a lot of our AI is coming into play, not only with our search services, but also with our user engagement.”

The bureau is also implementing AI algorithms to segregate customer feedback and identify positive and negative input.

NASA plans to use a space-based instrument to sustain data gathering on the radiation balance in Earth’s atmosphere.

Libera, the new selected instrument, would generate data on absorptions, emissions, reflections and atmospheric entries of solar radiation that serves as a factor of Earth's climate, the space agency said Thursday.

The instrument gathers wavelength range data that scientists can use to study different instances of climate change.

NASA is pursuing Libera to address the 2017 National Academies’ Earth Science Decadal Survey that identified science priorities based on community expertise.

The instrument will launch with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Joint Polar Satellite System-3 satellite in late 2027.

“This highly innovative instrument introduces a number of new technologies such as advanced detectors that will improve the data we collect while maintaining continuity of these important radiation budget measurements,” said Sandra Cauffman, who leads NASA's Earth science division on an acting basis.

NASA will publicly release Libera's data after commissioning.