The National Security Agency prepares to launch the annual Codebreaker Challenge to attract students to consider taking cybersecurity careers in the federal government, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

This year’s event aims to gather over 330 schools and 2,600 students. The 2019 Codebreaker Challenge may focus on challenges facing mobile security. In particular, the threats to Android operating systems, according to Eric Bryant, a technical director in the crypto analysis organization at NSA. 

The agency unveiled the challenge in 2013 to increase partnerships between the government and academia. The event hopes to introduce students to technology and develop reverse-engineering or low-level code analysis skills to address cyber challenges. 

“We are doing the high touch and personal approach to educate and attract students,” said Kathy Hutson, senior strategist for industry and academic engagement at NSA. “Through the Codebreaker Challenges, we are using a non-traditional approach, which also teaches good fundamental skills for NSA as well as the nation.” 

Army Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Mark Esper said the service is making changes to its personnel system to keep up with adversaries amid the “war for talent,” National Defense Magazine reported Thursday. The service wants to implement a new approach to organize, train and retain forces. 

“We must make the best use of all of our talent if we are to stay ahead of our very capable adversaries,” he said at the Women In Defense annual conference in Arlington, Va. “The current system — as effective as it has been in the past — simply will not allow us to optimize the potential of our workforce going forward.”

The Army intends to prioritize the skills, knowledge, behavior and preferences of future workforce to better attract and retain talent. The current personnel system lacks focus on talent and personal preferences of people, the secretary said. 

“Oftentimes, only rank and military specialty are all that are used in most cases to determine a person’s next to assignment,” Esper said. “Such rudimentary management of our people is no longer sufficient for today’s generation.” 

The proposed changes to the Army’s personnel management include increased transparency, expanded opportunities for officers, noncommissioned officers and civilians, career flexibility, reduced frequency of change of stations and new parental leave and on-base child care policies. 

The House Armed Services Committee voted to create a “Space Corps” to serve as a new military branch under the Department of the Air Force, Defense News reported Thursday.

Space Corps will have a civilian secretary, its own acquisition procedures and a commandant to serve as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition, the provision mandates the defense secretary to submit a report on the service branch’s organizational requirements by 2021.

“It is not a $13 billion expenditure, a gold-plated plan like had been proposed to us by the secretary of the Air Force. It is instead a reorganization so that space professionals can be properly recognized for their skill and ability and promoted,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

The House and Senate haven’t reconciled language differences between their respective versions of the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill before it passes Congress.

Government sector leaders pointed to artificial intelligence and machine learning as crucial factors for modernizing government operations during Amazon Web Services’ Public Sector Summit in Washington, D.C., Fedscoop reported Thursday. Zacharie Hall, a computer scientist for the U.S. Special Operations Command, said AI and machine learning help the agency rapidly process data obtained from the battlefield. 

“It’s really allowed the analysts to focus on things that are cognitively challenging,” he added.

Rob Brown, chief technology officer for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, noted that such emerging technologies drove the agency’s efforts to become a “person centric” and digital-first organization. He added that small, hypothesis-driven experiments would help spur AI-based modernization initiatives.

NASA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Jim Bridenstine said that the agency would seek $20 billion to $30 billion over the next five years to support the mission for humans to return to the moon, CNN reported Friday. Congress hasn’t approved a final budget estimate from the agency for the lunar project. 

“We’re negotiating within the administration,” he told the publication. “Once we come to a determination within the administration we will of course take that over to the Hill and make sure that our members of Congress are interested and willing to support that effort.”

The mission, called Artemis, aims to bring two astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024 and establish a “sustainable” presence, where humans can conduct a series of manned missions on the moon. Critics expressed concern that NASA may not secure the estimated funding due to congressional opposition.

Some officials said that the agency could end up taking funds from other programs, such as Earth science and climate studies, to support Artemis. However, Bridenstine noted NASA will not “cannibalize” its programs to fund the moon mission. He also expressed confidence that the agency would get bipartisan support and secure enough funding. 

The U.S. Navy is slated to christen the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul constructed by Lockheeed Martin in a ceremony at the company’s Marinette, Wis.-facility on June 23. Navy Deputy Undersecretary Jodi Greene will perform the christening as the vessel’s sponsor, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Designated as LCS 21, the Freedom-class USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is built to repel asymmetyric threats and carry out open-ocean and near-shore environment missions. It is the 11th Freedom-class littoral combat ship and is the second platform to assume the name of Minnesota’s twin cities.

“The dedication and skilled work of our industry partners have ensured this ship will represent the great city of Minneapolis-Saint Paul and serve our Navy and Marine Corps team for decades to come,” said Richard Spencer, secretary at the Navy and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient.