Veronica Villalobos: OPM Eyes Rotational Program for Federal Reskilling Academy Graduates
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Veronica Villalobos: OPM Eyes Rotational Program for Federal Reskilling Academy Graduates


Jeff Brody
Veronica Villalobos

Veronica Villalobos, principal deputy associate director of employee services at the Office of Personnel Management, said OPM plans to launch a program to help federal employees who graduated from the government’s reskilling academy further build up their skills through interagency rotations, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

“So you can imagine the vision is they’ll have the three months of training and then they’ll have nine months of the rotations program where agencies can be exposed to their work, and we figure out how they can be a productive fit within the different CIO shops,” Villalobos said during a panel discussion Tuesday. “So there is still hope and we are going to figure out how to do this very agilely and be as quick as we can so that skills don’t go stale.”

The White House unveiled the federal reskilling academy in November 2018 to provide hands-on cybersecurity training to government employees. Participants of the academy’s first class completed their training and the Trump administration started accepting applicants in April for the second set of reskilling activities.

Report Examines Customer Experience With Eight Federal Services
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Report Examines Customer Experience With Eight Federal Services


Jeff Brody

Accenture Federal Services and the Partnership for Public Service have published a report with the intent to help the U.S. government meet customer expectations and address service delivery challenges.

The document contains a series of profiles detailing how people experience assistance from eight federal agencies that receive high volumes of direct contact with the public.

Agencies featured in the report are as follows:

  • Bureau of Consular Affairs
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Customs and Border Protection
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • Office of Federal Student Aid
  • Transportation Security Administration
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
  • Veterans Health Administration.

The nonprofit and the company urge Congress to require agencies that provide “high-impact” citizen services to establish customer experience standards encompassing quality, effectiveness and speed.

Agencies designate a senior executive to oversee customer experience across an organization, create a feedback-based key performance measure and use social media platforms to inform customers, gather input and answer questions from the public, according to the report.

The report also recommend that the Office of Management and Budget use data in efforts to help agencies manage programs and investments that could address pressing customer concerns.

AFS and the Partnership’s joint research effort builds on data released last month via the President’s Management Agenda and the OMB’s crossagency customer experience objective.

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Anil Cheriyan: GSA Adds AI to Centers of Excellence Program’s List of Modernization Areas
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Anil Cheriyan: GSA Adds AI to Centers of Excellence Program’s List of Modernization Areas


Jeff Brody
Anil Cheriyan

Anil Cheriyan, deputy commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, said the agency’s Centers of Excellence program has made artificial intelligence its sixth modernization focus area, Federal Times reported Tuesday.

“You name it and there’s a significant amount of opportunity in AI,” Cheriyan said Tuesday at GSA’s IT Modernization Showcase. “AI is really our next big thing.”

The other five focus areas are cloud adoption, data analytics, customer experience, infrastructure optimization and contact center. The move came weeks after GSA selected the Department of Defense’s Joint AI Center as the fifth partner agency for the CoE initiative.

GSA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Emily Murphy said the JAIC CoE program will work on AI platforms to support predictive maintenance, humanitarian aid and disaster response with plans to expand work in other areas such as logistics, cyber and health care.

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FAA Fully Implements New Air Traffic Surveillance System
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FAA Fully Implements New Air Traffic Surveillance System


Jeff Brody

The Federal Aviation Administration has completed implementation of a new air traffic surveillance system across 155 airports. FAA said Monday that it activated the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast system at Ohio-based Akron-Canton Airport and Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport for the last batch of implementation.

The ADS-B system works to boost the accuracy of tracking aircraft during air traffic control operations. FAA concluded the system’s implementation on schedule before Jan. 1 when aircraft are required to operate with ADS-B.

Pilots using the system receive location, weather, flight restriction and air traffic information on cockpit displays. The implementation covered airports, en route facilities and other air traffic control sites across the U.S.

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Army Pursues Virtual Testing for Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Tech
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Army Pursues Virtual Testing for Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Tech


Jeff Brody

The U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division has tested combat vehicle technologies in a virtual, simulated environment to help a cross-functional team further understand requirements. The service branch said Monday that its Ground Vehicle Systems Center is virtually prototyping technologies to reduce the need for in-field tests and save resources.

The five-day series of virtual trials would generate input for the Next Generation Combat Vehicle CFT’s effort to learn more about manned-unmanned teaming.

“This latest experiment will provide us with an understanding of which technologies are most critical for the robotic combat vehicle to be successful in an operational environment,” said Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, the CFT’s director.

The trials produced findings on formations, crew configuration, enabling technologies, vehicle features and networked functions. Tackled issues include signal degradation, mobility limits and task organization.

“RCVs were able to effectively designate targets and conduct target handoff with other RCVs which executed the target using Hellfire missiles,” said a soldier who took took part in the virtual exercise.

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Navy Chief Learning Officer John Kroger Sets Goal to Create Thinking Force
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Navy Chief Learning Officer John Kroger Sets Goal to Create Thinking Force


Jeff Brody
John Kroger

John Kroger, newly appointed chief learning officer at the Department of the Navy, seeks to establish a force of thinkers and has been working with officials to organize DON’s education system, USNI News reported Monday.

As CLO, he carries the task to organize the United States Naval Academy, the future Naval Community College, Marine Corps University and other academic institutions within DON.

“If we don’t outthink people, we can’t outfight them,” Kroger told USNI News.

Kroger said sailors and marines must be educated to keep up with the growing complexities of weapon technologies.

He also noted the use of distance learning to educate warfighters even during frontline service. Kroger said he seeks a system that allows sailors and marines to undergo sustained learning without having to withdraw from active duty.

Jon Hill: AI Key to Advancing Missile Defense Systems
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Jon Hill: AI Key to Advancing Missile Defense Systems


Jeff Brody
Jon Hill

Vice Adm. Jon Hill, director of the Missile Defense Agency, has said that artificial intelligence can help traditional ballistic missiles keep up with advanced systems, National Defense Magazine reported Monday.

Hill told attendees at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, D.C. that traditional missiles are being outperformed by advanced systems such as hypersonic weapons, precision-guided ballistic missiles and low-flying cruise missiles. He added that a key priority for developing advanced missile systems is the capacity for multidomain operations that involve global command-and-control and sensor systems.

The Department of Defense is working on establishing a layered network of next-generation technologies such as space sensors and advanced interceptors in efforts to improve missile defense.

“It’s an important part of the future,” he said. “With the kind of speeds that we’re dealing with today, that kind of reaction time that we have to have today, there’s no other answer other than to leverage artificial intelligence.”

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ViON’s Rebecca Singhavong Recognized as an Emerging Leader by the CFO Leadership Council; Tom Frana Quoted
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ViON’s Rebecca Singhavong Recognized as an Emerging Leader by the CFO Leadership Council; Tom Frana Quoted


Jeff Brody

Rebecca Singhavong, ViON Corporation’s vice president of Finance, has been named to the CFO Leadership Council’s prestigious 2019 Emerging Leaders list, ViON announced on Tuesday. The CFO Leadership Council selects the Emerging Leaders based on their professional accomplishments, demonstrated expertise and leadership/service in the community.

“Rebecca Singhavong has provided strong leadership and fiscal discipline to support ViON’s evolution over the last several years,” said Tom Frana, two-time Wash100 Awardee, chairman and chief executive officer of ViON Corporation.

The executives selected for this list are finance or accounting professionals who have the potential to become an elite chief financial officer. Nominees include first-time CFOs, as well as professionals on track to become a CFO, such as Vice President of Finance, Controller and others with similar responsibilities.

“As we have grown our portfolio of cloud, infrastructure and AI solutions delivered as-a-Service and expanded our partnerships with leading manufacturers, her financial strategies and internal processes have enabled us to better serve our customers across the federal, SLED and commercial markets,” Frana added.

Singhavong oversees ViON’s accounting operations, managing policies, internal controls and all financial related matters essential to the company’s continued growth. Prior to ViON, she worked in public accounting with clients to provide tax and consulting services to a diverse client base.

About ViON Corporation

ViON Corporation is a cloud service provider with over 38 years’ experience designing and delivering enterprise data center solutions for government agencies and commercial businesses. The company provides a large portfolio of IT as-a-Service, including infrastructure, multi-cloud and Artificial Intelligence solutions. Focused on supporting the customer’s IT modernization requirements, ViON’s Enterprise Cloud is changing cloud management for the market, providing a streamlined platform to audit and control technology in an evolving multi-cloud world.

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Wash100 Award Winner Michael Kratsios to Speak at COSM Technology Summit
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Wash100 Award Winner Michael Kratsios to Speak at COSM Technology Summit


Jeff Brody

Michael Kratsios, chief technology officer of the United States, deputy assistant to the President on Science and Technology Policy and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, has been confirmed to speak at the COSM Technology Summit on Oct. 23 – 25th. Click here to register for the summit. 

COSM is the premiere national technology summit focusing on the future of converging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, 5G, autonomous vehicles, biotech and cloud computing. The summit was brought together by the Discovery Institute and will be chaired by COSM Creator George Gilder. 

During the COSM Technology Summit, Kratsios and Gilder will examine issues related to U.S. leadership in the technology sector and the Administration’s approach to national technology policy.

COSM will feature many of the great minds of our day, including nationally recognized speakers such as Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, Steve Forbes; venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel; inventor, entrepreneur, and Director of Engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil; global investor and market guru Ken Fisher; entrepreneur, professor, and CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Oren Etzioni; Google Glass creator and Amazon Vice President, Babak Parviz; scientist, computer pioneer, and Professor Emeritus at CalTech, Carver Mead; and famed technology futurist author and economist, George Gilder.

COSM takes place at the Bellevue Westin Hotel on October 23 -25. Sessions across those days will explore how technology intersects with government regulation, international competitiveness, investing, freedom and the triumph of the human spirit through keynote speeches and Q&A, panel discussions, and informal interactions with national technology leaders and investors.

Click here to register for COSM Technology Summit to see what Michael Kratsios has to say.

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Boeing Invests $20M in Virgin Galactic to Broaden Commercial Space Access; Wash100 Award Winner Leanne Caret Quoted
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Boeing Invests $20M in Virgin Galactic to Broaden Commercial Space Access; Wash100 Award Winner Leanne Caret Quoted


Jeff Brody
Leanne Caret

Boeing announced on Tuesday that the company is investing $20 million into Virgin Galactic, a vertically integrated human spaceflight company to broaden commercial space access and transform global travel technologies.

Boeing’s investment will be in return for new shares in Virgin Galactic and is contingent on the closing of that transaction, which is expected to close in the last quarter of 2019.

“The unique expertise of our companies stretches from points all around the world to the deepest reaches of space. Together we will change how people travel on Earth, and among the stars, for generations to come,” said Leanne Caret, 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, president and CEO of Space & Security for Boeing Defense.

Virgin Galactic is a pioneer of commercial human space flight and is the first and only company to have put humans into space in a vehicle built for commercial service. The company has the manufacturing and development capabilities to design, build, test, and operate a fleet of advanced aerospace vehicles.

Boeing has unsurpassed experience transporting people to orbit and building and operating large structures in that challenging environment. Boeing serves as NASA’s prime contractor for the International Space Station (ISS) and is preparing the new, reusable, Starliner space capsule for launch to the ISS.

“Boeing’s strategic investment facilitates our efforts to drive the commercialization of space and broaden consumer access to safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible new forms of transportation,” said Brian Schettler, senior managing director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures. “Our work with Virgin Galactic, and others, will help unlock the future of space travel and high-speed mobility.”

About Boeing

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As the top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people worldwide and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.

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