The Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency agreed to help modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs’ supply chain management. VA said Monday that it will gain access to DLA’s network of suppliers across the U.S. under the new partnership. The effort would centralize VA’s ordering system to reduce risk, abuse, waste and fraud in the procurement of medical items.

“The adoption of a single health care logistics system by VA and DoD highlights the commitment of both organizations to improve military and veteran health care by increasing the access and quality of care they receive,” said Robert Wilkie, secretary of veterans affairs and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient. 

Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley Jr., director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the U.S. is facing a “competitive and dangerous period” that now involves the space domain, the University of Alabama in Huntsville said Monday.

Lt. Gen. Ashley, a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, told attendees at UAH’s Distinguished Lecture Series that the U.S. must be wary of the technological advances of its two primary adversaries, Russia and China. He noted that China is a “learning superpower” that takes the lead in hypersonics, space assets and cyber and nuclear warfafe.

“They see outer space as a critical area of competition,” said Ashley. “They have made huge investments. They had more space-oriented operations in 2018 than any other country. They continue to make huge investments in hypersonics. They believe supremacy in space is the key to any future conflict,” he said.

Russia is also making progress in artificial intelligence and weapons jamming technologies. Previously, the country launched efforts to develop its own GPS system and a railgun. Ashley was appointed to his current role in 2017 after serving as the U.S. Army’s deputy chief of staff.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a plan outlining a set of measures federal agencies to support the development of standards for artificial intelligence in compliance with an executive order signed in February. 

“This plan provides a path to ensure the federal government supports AI standards that are flexible and inclusive – and suited for a world of rapidly changing technologies and applications,” Walter Copan, NIST director and undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology, said in a statement published Monday.

The document calls for federal agencies to strengthen AI standards-related knowledge, coordination and leadership as well as advance focused research on the trustworthiness of AI platforms, expand public-private partnerships to advance the use of AI standards and engage with international organizations to advance AI standards for U.S. national security and economic needs.

NIST issued a draft plan in July and received comments from over 40 government, industry and academic organizations. The agency also conducted a workshop in May to seek public comments on the plan.

The Government Accountability Office found that the National Nuclear Security Administration was unable to leverage its “enhanced procurement authority” to exclude suppliers of nuclear weapons and components that may pose risks to supply chain security.

GAO stated in its report that the Department of Energy component has not used the authority it received in 2013 to prohibit procurement of items related to the development and maintenance of nuclear weapons as well as associated components and information technology systems. According to NNSA officials, the agency was unable to use the authority due to lengthy approval procedures and concerns that it is best applied on a case-by-case basis.

“By formally communicating the agency’s concerns about, and suggested changes to, the enhanced procurement authority in a timely manner, NNSA would provide Congress with the relevant information for considering how to make the authority more useful to DOE and NNSA for managing supply chain risks,” the watchdog noted.

NNSA is slated to submit a draft report including recommendations on delegating a lower-level approval authority to speed up procedures and allowing the enhanced procurement authority to cover multiple contracts with a single supplier.