The U.S. Air Force will establish a 10-man science and technology team to accommodate robotics and related technologies from Carnegie Mellon University’s Center of Excellence. The planned team will work with CMU’s faculty and utilize the university’s research and education components to meet its objectives, the Air Force said Wednesday. 

Heather Wilson, secretary at the U.S. Air Force and 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said the team will validate, develop and deploy technologies as well as provide opportunities to the service branch’s employees through academic research efforts. 

“Carnegie Mellon has been a partner with the Air Force for many years and this is the next step to deepen that partnership,” said Wilson.

The university teamed up with the military service in 2018 to create the Center of Excellence to support integration of intelligence platforms into human capacities.

Mark Esper, secretary of the U.S. Army and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, said the service is still assessing how its multi-domain task force operations will affect procurement procedures during a recent Brookings Institute event, FCW reported Wednesday. Esper noted changes to the task force’s structure are possible but there is no definite schedule for the release of the Army’s updated Multidomain Operations Plan Strategy.

“I need some time for our doctrine to play out and see what it looks like,” he added.

The Army secretary also noted that he is confident about the current status of the Futures Command, which previously saw concerns from Congress regarding bureaucratic obstacles.

A Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday found that the Transportation Security Administration lacks procedures for properly managing over 2.7 million miles of interstate pipelines for products such as oil and natural gas. GAO noted that TSA’s revised pipeline security guidelines didn’t include all practices under the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework and that the agency lacks documented procedures for updating such guidelines.

The government watchdog also found that TSA’s risk assessment methodology is outdated and the agency failed to track the status of GAO’s security review recommendations over the past five years. TSA officials noted that staffing limitations prevented the agency from facilitating reviews of its pipeline management system. According to the report, TSA lacks a strategic workforce plan for identifying pipeline security responsibilities. 

GAO is conducting reviews of TSA’s new security guidelines updated this month. The latter intends to complete a strategic workforce plan by July and address security review recommendations by November.

Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said he wants to use additional funding for fiscal year 2020 to provide more technical assistance to stakeholders to better protect critical infrastructures, FCW reported Wednesday. He said Congress should give the same level of focus on other infrastructures as it does on election security. 

“Outside of federal networks, I don’t think I have another critical infrastructure sector that Congress has invested specifically to that level,” Krebs told the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Innovation Subcommittee. 

CISA’s lead then called for extra budget to “significantly expand” the agency’s engagement with stakeholders in security of critical infrastructures.

“We have to do more to get out there and engage, but once we do, we have to be able to follow through,” he said.

The request comes after the agency issued a list of national critical functions detailing the services and activities of government partners that significantly contribute to national security and economy. The Department of Homeland Security intends to use the list to develop protection strategies and determine priority areas. 

NASA is planning to present its strategy for the 2024 moon landing mission to Congress in the coming weeks, Spaceflight Now reported Wednesday. NASA previously targeted a 2028 schedule to further develop a space complex in lunar orbit as well as a lunar lander. 

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s human exploration and operations mission directorate, told members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Space Studies Board that the agency intends to get funding approval to accelerate the moon landing effort from 2028 to 2024. 

“We recognize that we’re going to be challenged, and we’re going to have to be prepared to back off some of these requirements in order to achieve schedule,” Gerstenmaier noted. 

NASA contracted Boeing to help develop the Space Launch System, which will carry Orion crew capsules to deep space and potentially be used for the moon landing mission as part of the rocket’s third flight. Congress is slated to approve a budget for NASA by the start of fiscal year 2020 in October.

John Roth, former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, said current vacancies in the upper echelon of DHS affect the department’s ability to move forward, CNN reported Wednesday.

“This lack of settled leadership contributes to the significant morale problems that are endemic to DHS components,” Roth said Wednesday in his written testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee. “The nature and extent of senior leadership vacancies in the department is cause for concern as pervasive vacancies significantly hamper the department’s ability to carry out its all important mission,”

Gene Dodaro, comptroller general at the Government Accountability Office, also testified before the House panel on Wednesday. Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection and 2018 Wash100 Award winner, was tapped in April to serve as acting DHS secretary after Kirstjen Nielsen resigned from the post.

The Department of Homeland Security was named a Quality Services Management Office for cybersecurity as part of the Trump administration’s new centralized “shared services” policy, Nextgov reported Wednesday. The new designation enables DHS to develop standards to guide all civilian agencies’ cybersecurity decisions.

Previously, DHS launched a similar effort to unify security procedures and government cybersecurity tools through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program. According to Tarrazzia Martin, the Housing and Urban Development Department’s senior adviser for enterprise technology planning, many agencies suffered from the effort because “there was a lack of understanding by DHS of their cultures.”

“I think DHS has to consider that many of these agencies are infants in their understanding and take their time to make sure things actually happen as they’re supposed to and they don’t get left behind,” she added.

Mac Curtis, president and chief executive officer of Perspecta, will be honored during the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council’s Annual Good Scout Technology Award Luncheon on May 8th. You can find the registration page for the event here.

The event will be held at the Tysons Corner Marriott and will begin with a light reception at noon. An awards luncheon will follow at 12:30 pm. Phil Nolan, general partner of Blue Delta Capital Partners, will serve as the chair for the event.

The luncheon will celebrate Curtis’ commitment to advancing the technology sector while exemplifying the values of the Boy Scouts of America. Curtis joins a rich history of honorees who embody trustworthiness and loyalty in their professional and personal life.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the National Capital Area Council, the largest youth organization in the Washington D.C. area. The Boy Scouts of America is consistently recognized as one of the most admirable non-profit organizations in the world. The young men and women of America will greatly benefit from the support of the GovCon industry.

Don’t miss the Good Scout Technology Award Luncheon on May 8th. You can find the registration page for the event here. Even if you don’t plan to attend the luncheon, you can make a donation to the organization or take advantage of sponsorship opportunities for the event.