The White House’s National Science and Technology Council released an update to the 2016 strategic plan for artificial intelligence research and development in support of the American AI Initiative that was launched through an executive order in February. The National AI R&D Strategic Plan: 2019 Update retains the first seven priorities in the 2016 plan and adds a new strategy to expand public-private partnerships to accelerate advances in AI.

“The eighth strategy is new and focuses on the increasing importance of effective partnerships between the federal government and academia, industry, other non-federal entities and international allies to generate technological breakthroughs in AI and to rapidly transition those breakthroughs into capabilities,” Michael Kratsios deputy assistant to the president for technology policy, wrote in the document.

The new strategic plan also includes updates to the 2016 priorities:

• Make long-term investments in AI research
• Develop effective methods for human-AI collaboration
• Understand and address the ethical, legal and societal implications of AI
• Ensure the safety and security of AI systems
• Develop shared public datasets and environments for AI training and testing
• Measure and evaluate AI technologies through standards and benchmarks
• Better understand the national AI R&D workforce needs

For the eighth strategic priority, the council identified some categories for engagement in public-private partnerships:

• Individual project-based collaborations
• Joint programs to advance pre-competitive, open, fundamental research
• Collaborations to field and build up research infrastructure
• Multi-sector partnerships and collaborations to improve workforce development and diversity in STEM professions

Some government and industry experts said strengthening partnerships with other countries is key to advancing quantum information science, Nextgov reported Thursday.

“What I can say is that by choosing to maintain a leadership role and to work with international collaborators and to cooperate across the world, we have the opportunity to realize that and it’s up to us to maintain that strength,” Jake Taylor, assistant director for quantum information science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said Wednesday.

Taylor said his team plans to participate in a workshop to find ways on how to expand collaboration with the European Union over the summer, and is working to integrate economic growth opportunities into quantum policies. Bob Wisnieff, chief technology officer of quantum computing at IBM Research, stressed the need to develop a new field of engineering as the U.S. makes advances in the quantum computing space.

President Trump signed a law in December to authorize $1.2 billion in funding for quantum computing research and development over the next five years. The National Quantum Initiative Act will support federally funded QIS research programs and efforts to build a quantum-smart workforce.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration plans to deploy updated baggage screening systems and credential authentication technologies to speed up security checks at airport checkpoints, FCW reported Thursday.

Latetia Henderson, assistant administrator of acquisition program management at TSA, said Thursday that the agency has been trying to field CATs since 2008. “It’s an old priority, but it is my No. 1 priority,” she said. Russell Roberts, chief information officer and assistant administrator for information technology at TSA, said his office’s top priority is to connect all operational systems.

“My first and most important priority is to stabilize the networks,” Roberts said. “We have to stabilize all of the systems that we use to support the agency’s counterterrorism mission.”

Agency leaders also mentioned during the industry day the importance of cybersecurity and partnerships with industry to come up with innovative systems.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory installed the wheels, legs and suspension to facilitate mobility of the Mars 2020 rover. The legs consist of titanium tubing and the six aluminum wheels offer cleats to provide traction as the rover traverses terrain on the red planet, space agency said Friday.

“With the suspension on, not only does it look like a rover, but we have almost all our big-ticket items for integration in our rearview mirror — if our rover had one,” said David Gruel, assembly, test and launch operations manager for Mars 2020.

The rover’s suspension system features multiple pivot points and is designed to resist 45-degree tilts and terrain obstacles. JPL will install a robotic arm, a sensing instrument and a rock sample collection tool on the rover in the coming weeks.

NASA will launch the Mars 2020 mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in July 2020, and expects the rover to reach the red planet’s Jezero Crater in February 2021.