Reps. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, have jointly initiated a task force that would assess the country’s efforts to innovate against modern threats. The newly activated Future of Defense Task Force will work to perform this task and review the nation’s defense assets, the House Armed Services Committee said Friday.

Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Jim Banks R-Ind., co-chair the new task force. Smith, HASC’s chairman, and Thornberry, a ranking member of the committee, used their authority to establish the task force that will tackle issues listed under multiple subcommittee responsibilities.

The task force’s members are the following representatives:

• Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.
• Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
• Michael Waltz, R-Fla.
• Paul Mitchell, R-Mich.
• Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn.
• Susan Davis, D-Calif.

A NASA-established review board has made recommendations on preventing inter-contamination between Earth and other planets within the solar system. The space agency said Friday that its Planetary Protection Independent Review Board produced 43 recommendations and 34 findings that are included in a recent NASA report.

The 12-member PPIRB aims to address new solar system missions, the Artemis manned exploration program and the rise in number of extraplanetary samples being delivered to Earth. Alan Stern, a planetary scientist, chairs the board. He has made contributions to NASA’s solar system exploration efforts including those involving Pluto.

“We want to be prepared in this new environment with thoughtful and practical policies that enable scientific discoveries and preserve the integrity of our planet and the places we’re visiting,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

The space agency intends to discuss PPIRB’s Board Reports recommendations with stakeholders and partners from across the globe.

Professional members of the Bipartisan Policy Center are recommending agencies to deploy a risk-based approach to performance improvement and allocate more resources for improving oversight through emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

Dan Blair, a fellow and senior counselor at BPC, and Sallyanne Harper, a member of the BPC Task Force and former Government Accountability Office official, wrote in a Government Executive piece published Friday that agencies can use AI to improve functions such as procurement operations, financial management and grant issuance.

Blair and Harper noted that public and private sector entities have already begun using robotic process automation to simplify their procedures. They also said that intelligent automation and cloud-based capabilities can help provide more reliable data for transparency and accountability.

“Having better data at hand helps ensure decision making is based on evidence, thus improving the way agencies conduct enterprise risk management and enhanced risk assessment,” they said. “Better risk assessment means dollars are spent more wisely and aimed at correcting important program deficiencies while improving performance. Better performance would allow the federal government to reclaim some of that lost public trust.”

House Science, Space and Technology Committee members voted Thursday to advance legislation to reauthorize the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy for a five-year period, Nextgov reported Friday.

The bill includes a $2.9 billion funding boost for ARPA-E and safeguards against duplicative research initiatives with other agencies or companies.

Democrat and Republican members of the panel reached a compromise agreement to authorize $497 million in fiscal year 2021 spending at the agency and increase the allocation to $750 million by FY 2024.

An initial funding bill introduced in July would have provided $550 million for FY 2021 and increased gradually to $1 billion in three years. A provision in the amended legislation calls for Government Accountability Office to audit the agency’s programs.

The Department of Defense on Wednesday released a new intellectual property strategy that would create a cadre to provide assistance to DoD agencies with regard to IP licensing and management, Federal News Network reported Friday.

“They will develop DoD guidance, training and assistance to the whole-of-government effort to address the protection of data rights, while we concurrently continue our defense against cybersecurity threats that target U.S. intellectual property,” Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said of the new IP cadre.

“The cadre will be small and our intent is to have members advise, assist and provide resources to DoD components on IP matters various stages of the lifecycle system,” she added.

The new IP strategy requires the incorporation of IP planning into strategies for acquisition and advances the development of customized IP strategies for each weapons platform based on unique characteristics. DoD plans to release a new strategy that aims to facilitate software acquisition and issue an updated draft of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification in November.