Three agencies within the Department of Commerce have commenced a contest on disaster response and public safety technologies. The First Responder Network Authority said Thursday it joined the Economic Development Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to launch the Accelerate R2 Network Challenge.

Stakeholders from across the U.S. would use their technologies to address disaster response challenges under the $1 million program. EDA and NIST provide $750K and $250K, respectively, to finance grants under the program. The effort seeks technologies that address the innovation areas of disaster response and resiliency.

“NIST conducts extensive research focusing on both disaster response and resiliency, so we are very excited about the potential for the R2 Network to support America’s strong innovation base and decrease the time for these technologies to transition from lab to market,” said Walter Copan, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and NIST director.

Those interested to participate may refer to the grants.gov website for information on eligibility, submission deadlines, matching-fund requirements and other funding-related policies.

Patrick Bevill, chief information security officer at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, highlighted his agency’s efforts to address cyber issues despite being one of the smaller federal entities, but Bevill has leveraged a team of network and server experts to understand cyber incidents that he’s seen throughout his federal career, he said in a statement posted Friday.

Bevill also used his experience as an IT incident responder, server administrator and forensic analyst to address the situation. The agency gathered information on the cyber incident and Bevill coordinated collaborative work with the Department of Homeland Security.

“This story highlights that while no Federal agency has unlimited cybersecurity resources, small agencies often have to make creative use of scarce resources to support some very big missions,” Bevill said.

According to him, smaller agencies must focus on policy compliance, security control implementation, technology provider management and communication with other federal entities to combat cyber challenges.

Raytheon announced on Monday that the company has completed the first power generation flight test of the Next Generation Jammer Mid-Band.

Raytheon conducted the three flight tests onboard a Calspan commercial jet to assess the jammer’s prime power generation system, known as the ram air turbine generator, at Niagara Falls Airport in New York. The generator scoops air from the airstream, turns a turbine and creates electricity that enables NGJ-MB to jam enemy radars and communications.

“This is the first time the pod generated its own power outside of a lab,” said Ernest Winston, senior manager for Electronic Warfare Systems. “Future tests will verify the power is sufficient to enable NGJ-MB to significantly enhance range, attack multiple targets simultaneously and perform advanced jamming.”

The U.S. Navy will use the test data to inform the airworthiness authorization decision to fly NGJ-MB on the EA-18G Growler in the spring of 2020.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries.

The newly established cybersecurity directorate within the National Security Agency intends to come up with security standards with regard to the Pentagon’s use of emerging technologies for national security and weapons systems, FedScoop reported Friday.

Anne Neuberger, director of NSA’s cybersecurity directorate, said her office is prioritizing the development of such standards amid the adoption of cloud, 5G, internet of things and other technologies that will have an impact on the way organizations run and ensure security.

“We picked the technologies we think are the game-changers in terms of use and in terms of a need to address, and we’re working with our key customers — whether with DOD, national security systems, or with [the Department of Homeland Security], critical infrastructure — to say ‘How do you want to use those?’ And then let’s build secure use cases,” Neuberger said Thursday at CyberTalks.

“Let’s understand what the technology needs to change to make it useable from a security perspective and work from there,” she added.

Federal Chief Information Officer Suzette Kent has said the White House wants agencies to leverage data sets that can support artificial intelligence research and development, financial management and geospatial initiatives, Federal News Network reported Friday.

Kent, 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, noted those areas will be the initial focus of the Federal Data Strategy implementation plan scheduled for release in November. She told the publication in an interview the Trump administration is also working to address ethics, data identification security and customer interaction matters as part of the governmentwide strategy.

“By starting with this set of data, we’re building the muscles, the strength, the infrastructure, as we prepare for moving into some of the same practices with more sensitive data,” she added.

The strategy, which the Office of Management and Budget unveiled in June, outlines 40 goals meant to guide agencies in harnessing data in governance, staffing and infrastructure functions.

The U.S. Army replicated a 5.7-magnitude earthquake to assess and demonstrate the Program Executive Office’s crisis-response technologies at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. The service branch said Wednesday that it fielded search-and-rescue systems to free roleplaying victims from simulated debris and collapsed buildings.

Platforms tested during the exercise include a mapping apparatus, an infrared camera drone and a heartbeat and respiration tracker. The demonstration sought to validate the devices’ capacity in evaluating chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazard-filled environments.

“We want our people — our No. 1 priority — to have the capability to assess hazardous environments without exposure to the hazards,” said  Gregg Thompson, deputy to the commanding general at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Homeland Defense/Civil Support Office.