The U.S. Census Bureau is testing systems to ensure the office can handle the expected volume of responses its web site will get for the 2020 population count, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

Michael Thieme, assistant director for systems and contracts for decennial census programs, said at the recently held Census Scientific Advisory Committee meeting that the bureau completed the first phase of system performance and scalability testing.

The agency is working on unit testing, which aims to study the amount of users that can access self-response forms online and end-to-end scalability assessments. Thieme noted that the agency will seek to complete a fourth phase that evaluates how systems handle a high workload.

Kevin Smith, chief information officer for the Census Bureau, said the agency conducted cloud component testing and will proceed to testing cloud architecture deployment.

The federal government plans to construct a new FBI field office at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency campus in St. Louis, according to a St. Louis Business Journal report Thursday.

The planned 40.4K-square foot facility is intended to accommodate information technology equipment and FBI cyber mission servers and unify all field offices across St. Louis. The agency plans to build a visitor screening area, a vehicle repair center, an office building, a 20-spot parking area and a garage facility for 385 vehicles.

“The next step in the process is to develop a concept design to determine feasibility,” said Rebecca Wu, spokeswoman at the FBI. “To that, all parties are committed to working toward a plan that will work best for all.”

The construction project has a value of $128.9M, and the General Services Administration requested $8.9M for the development of concept designs.

The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is seeking network, data and access management capabilities to support its new approach to continuous diagnostics and mitigation, Government CIO Media reported Thursday.

Kevin Cox, CDM program manager at CISA, noted during the 2019 RSA Federal Summit in Washington, D.C., said the agency wants to provide the necessary capabilities for protecting  systems and data as technological threats continue to evolve. Officials want to ensure that agency systems are integrated with diagnostic tools and sensors to have standardized and searchable data.

CISA is planning to award a contract in May for the development of a “federal dashboard” focused on CDM integration. The agency is also considering partnerships with industry on mobile data protection efforts.

“It’s not just security value. It’s operational value. It’s awareness value. We really want to expand what the agencies will be able to do there,” Cox said.

Margaret Weichert, deputy director of management for the Office of Management and Budget, said at the FedScoop IT Modernization Summit that agency leaders will have direct-hire authority for information technology talent soon, FedScoop reported Thuirsday.

Weichert noted the regulation, which will enable IT managers to approach agency heads for direct-hire authority when there is a shortage of critical IT staff, will be published as a final rule on the Federal Register during the next few days.

She is also serving as acting director of the Office of Personnel Management and said progress is being made on the OMB GEAR Center, which covers test-and-learn skill building activities.

“There will be a lot more coming in terms of changing this very antiquated set of policies we have around people,” Weichert  said.

Lt. Gen. John Thompson, the U.S. Air Force’s Space And Missile Systems Center commander, said the military branch is releasing a final launch services solicitation within the next two weeks, Space News reported Wednesday.

Thompson noted in a testimony to the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces that competition for the National Security Space Launch program must push through according to schedule despite industry concerns. The service received recommendations to extend deadlines for space firms to further develop their platforms.

Air Force officials intended to issue a final request for proposals for the LSP effort in March 29. The service delayed the RFP release to April ahead of an expected award date in spring 2020, according to Thompson. Launches scheduled for 2022 will potentially get funding from the Air Force’s budgets for fiscal years 2020 through 2024.

The Government Accountability Office recommended the Department of Defense implement practices to address cost and schedule challenges facing the department when procuring space technology platforms. GAO said Wednesday that it found that space leadership changes, potential satellite threats, funding issues and workforce gaps could affect the department’s acquisition of weather satellites and missile warning, communications and navigation systems. 

The report also noted that while space systems assist government and military operations, their deployment may cost billions of dollars. GAO cited the launch of a satellite communications system was delayed by three years and the mission cost jumped more than 117 percent. 

The agency’s recommends are based on DoD space program reports created over the last decade and findings on the status of defense procurement efforts.