Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and John Thune, R-S.D., are reintroducing the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement Act focused on the rapid dissemination of emergency alerts on disasters and missile threats to the general public.

Schatz’s office said Thursday the legislation is aimed at ensuring that emergency alerts issued by federal, state, local and tribal governments are quickly transmitted through radio, television and mobile devices as well as new channels like online media and streaming sites.

In addition, the READI Act seeks to detect false alerts that don’t come from platforms and systems operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal Communications Commission. It also mandates state emergency communications committees to conduct periodic reviews on their emergency alert system strategy to ensure that these are up-to-date.

“Our bill fixes a number of important problems with the system responsible for delivering emergency alerts,” Schatz said. “In a real emergency, these alerts can save lives so we have to do everything we can to get it right.”

Derek Tournear has been named the Space Development Agency’s first permanent director after holding the role on an acting basis for four months.

He will lead the agency and its efforts to consolidate space development initiatives across the Department of Defense, monitor DoD’s future space architecture and accelerate deployment of space technology platforms to the military, the Pentagon said Monday.

“Our strategy is to unify efforts across the military services and government agencies to rapidly develop capabilities that are responsive to the threat, are cost-effective and increase our technological advantage,” said Michael Griffin, undersecretary for research and engineering at DoD and a 2019 Wash100 awardee.

“Derek will lead our effort to achieve those goals,” Griffin added.

Prior to the appointment, Tournear was assistant director for space in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. His public-sector career also included time as senior scientist for space activities and technologies in the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s Office of Smart Collection and program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

He previously worked as director of research and development at the space and intelligence solutions segment of Harris Corp.

Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has introduced proposed rules aimed at safeguarding U.S. communication networks from national security threats.

FCC said Monday the first of a two-part proposal is a draft order that would prohibit communications firms from using Universal Service Fund to buy services or equipment from ZTE, Huawei Technologies and other telecommunications companies that pose a risk to national security.

The other is a draft notice of proposed rulemaking that would direct certain telecom carriers that are USF recipients to remove from their networks existing services and equipment from designated firms. The proposed rule would also seek feedback on how to provide carriers with financial support to help them work with trusted suppliers.

“As the United States upgrades its networks to the next generation of wireless technologies—5G—we cannot ignore the risk that that the Chinese government will seek to exploit network vulnerabilities in order to engage in espionage, insert malware and viruses, and otherwise compromise our critical communications networks,” Pai said. “The FCC has a part to play in combatting this risk by ensuring that its $8.5 billion Universal Service Fund does not underwrite national security threats.”

The General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service has achieved approximately $2B in savings using an approach that involves elimination, optimization and automation, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Emily Murphy, administrator of GSA and a 2019 Wash100 awardee, told the publication in an interview how the use of granular data helped PBS modernize and generate savings.

“We are trying to take data in, look at problems, analyze those and see if we can do something first to eliminate the problem. Is it a process we need? If so, can we optimize the process, or can we automate it,” Murphy said during an interview at the 2019 ImagineNation ELC conference.

She added that PBS uses robotics process automation to perform bilateral modifications for over 8K leases in order to comply with a provision that bans the use of telecommunications equipment from Chinese telecom firms such as Huawei and ZTE.

“That means instead of leased contracting officers filling out forms and sending them out to everyone. We instead now have them press a button to send out the modified lease and then they can sign and ratify when it comes back,” Murphy said. “This is saving time and money.”

The General Services Administration has asked industry to provide information on capabilities that could help facilitate the delivery of human-centered design support and customer experience services to the federal government.

GSA said Monday industry feedback will inform a forthcoming market report, a federal procurement guide and other future acquisition actions.

The agency asks companies about their capabilities in various CX domains, including measurement, organization and culture, service design, customer research and governance.

The agency’s office of customer experience carried out an analysis of design best practices and CX to come up with the request for information.

Interested stakeholders have until Nov. 18 to respond to the RFI.