A subcommittee within the National Science and Technology Council urges agencies to help sustain the country’s spot as the world’s frontrunner in quantum information science. NSTC’s Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science seeks agency input regarding eight different questions on the scientific area as the council works to develop a QIS strategic overview, the National Science Foundation said Thursday in a Federal Register notice.

SCQIS aims to identify: actions to implement QIS policy, scientific challenges that require focus, actions to establish an innovation ecosystem, ways to sustain a QIS workforce and required infrastructure for research and development. The subcommittee also seeks to determine: stakeholder partnerships to foster QIS R&D, methods to capture international QIS expertise and approaches to grant U.S. researchers access to international QIS technologies.

The effort supports the National Quantum Initiative Act that aims to boost the country’s QIS activities. Interested parties may submit responses through July 29.

The U.S. Army is working on an initiative to gather industry and academia to help the service understand emerging technologies that could support troops in the future, National Defense Magazine reported Friday. The Army announced the plans during a recent conference for its Mad Scientist initiative at the University of Texas-Austin. 

Lee Grubbs, director of Army Mad Scientist, said the initiative seeks to utilize the commercial industry. Experts attending the Mad Scientist conference discussed technologies to deter enemy detection systems, improved communications for drones, integrating AI into military systems, GPS interference and hypersonic vehicles.

“The explosion in biology is not something that’s happening in a DoD lab,” he said. “It’s originating in commercial labs looking for where there might be profit — artificial intelligence, autonomy, robotics. Mad Scientist [isn’t] just conferences,” Grubbs said. “It is a full-time exploration of the operational environment from today to the future.”

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General provided several recommendations to help the agency optimize its cybersecurity capabilities. OIG said in an audit report DHS has to carry out initiatives and employ additional staff to protect the U.S. election framework.

The office advised DHS to update its patch management procedure and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s remediation functions to address intelligence system concerns. Additionally, OIG released a management alert in response to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s noncompliant release of personally identifiable information from 2.3 million hurricane and wildfire survivors.

According to the report, FEMA will evaluate the privacy incident and establish a process to secure the survivors’ information. DHS has also committed to meet the recommendations provided by OIG.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology conducted a workshop Thursday to determine the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence as it works to develop technical standards for AI in accordance with an executive order issued in February, Federal News Network reported Friday. NIST Director Walter Copan said establishing AI technical standards seeks to reduce agencies’ threat vulnerabilities and establish public confidence in AI-based platforms.

“AI is already transforming so many aspects of our lives and it has the potential to do so much more,” Copan said. “We’re living in an environment where there’s concern, and so the standardization process, as well as the development of the appropriate tools, is an important initiative. We need to work together to ensure that we make the most of this technology while ensuring safety, privacy and security.”

NIST issued a request for information on its proposed AI standards plan on May 1 and moved to extend the deadline for public feedback to June 10.

The Defense Intelligence Agency took part in a two-week exercise of joint, integrated activity between operations, intelligence and technology. The U.S. Navy-led 2019 Joint Innovation Battle Lab exercise took place at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story from April 29th through May 10th, DIA said Thursday.

DIA’s Office of Advanced Technologies Intelligence worked with operators to field technologies for the JIBL exercise. The agency served as leader of the exercise’s technology segment. The annual event is intended to boost collaborative technological work between the military, the intelligence community, federal law enforcement groups, industry and academia.

 “One of the exercise goals is to integrate with our interagency partners to increase speed, accuracy and lethality,” said Matt Avery, technology line of effort director for JIBL. “As technology experts, DIA must identify innovative technologies to meet intelligence and operational requirements for warfighters,” he added.

The U.S. Navy plans to bring new high-power laser weapons and a non-lethal laser dazzler to the field later in 2019 to conduct operational testing aboard ships. The project is part of the Navy Laser Family of Systems, USNI News reported Thursday. NLFoS include the Solid State Laser-Technology Maturation system, the High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, and the Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy.

“We’re not fielding these in large numbers, but we’re fielding them – and it’s an important step, I think, because we get a lot of operational feedback that we would never get otherwise,” Frank Peterkin, the Navy’s senior technologist for directed energy, told USNI News. He added the testing will focus on operating, employing and maintaining the laser weapons at sea.

SSL-TM will be installed on the San Antonio class amphibious ship and USS Portland (LPD-27), while ODIN would go to an Arleigh Burke destroyer. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin is working on the HELIOS system.