The U.S. Navy and the Department of Health and Human Services are adopting an agile approach to accelerate the procurement process and stay ahead of technology trends, Federal News Network reported Monday. James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said the service is asking private sector talent to work in the government for a few years as part of its agile acquisition efforts.

“So then, how do we create a much more fluid talent mechanism, where it’s OK for you to come into government for two years and learn, and then bounce back out, or vice versa, where we can create programs to leverage each other and break down some of the barriers,” Geurts noted. He said the service also launched a platform, NavalX, to connect innovators with Navy operations.

Oki Mek, chief technology officer at HHS, said the department is advancing agile acquisition through its blockchain platform HHS Accelerate designed to identify the lowest prices on commonly procured items by looking through acquisition data.

“That’s what we’re trying to do in terms of acquisition — really focusing on the TurboTax model, digitizing the data, building a good data taxonomy, analyzing the data, then sharing the data,” Mek said.

Acting Defense Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Mark Esper said the Department of Defense’s “priorities remain unchanged” and the National Defense Strategy will continue to serve as DoD’s guiding document, USNI News reported Monday. 

In a Monday memo to DoD personnel, the former U.S. Army secretary wrote that the strategy has three lines of effort and those are to establish a more lethal force, build up alliances and seek new partners and reform internal practices within the Pentagon. President Trump nominated Esper to serve as permanent defense secretary after Patrick Shanahan stepped down and withdrew his name from consideration for the top job at DoD. 

Previously, Esper served as vice president for government relations at Raytheon and senior staff member in the Senate.

The U.S. Navy has named a new towing, salvage and rescue ship after a native American indigenous group. The future USNS Cherokee Nation honors Cherokees who have contributed to the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Navy said Friday. 

“The Cherokee Nation is extremely honored that the U.S. Navy is recognizing our tribal nation and the generations of Cherokee men and women who have bravely and humbly sacrificed for our freedom today,” said Bill John Baker, principal chief of Cherokee Nation.

Gulf Island Shipyards will design and build the ship under a $64.8 million contract option for U.S. Military Sealift Command. The vessel is designated T-ATS 7 and is the second entry to the Navy’s fleet of towing, salvage and rescue ships. These ships will work to aid in Military Sealift Command’s salvage and submarine rescue operations.

The Department of Homeland Security has opened its new center building to serve as part of its headquarters at the St. Elizabeth’s campus in southeast Washington, D.C., Federal News Network reported Friday. The planned 1.3 million-square foot campus will house over 13,000 DHS employees once the latest phase of construction is completed. 

According to Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, the final plan for the campus seeks to achieve a 17,000 employee capacity to include personnel from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Office of the Secretary, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office.

DHS has requested for $224 million in the fiscal 2020 spending bill to cover the construction of CISA’s facility at the St. Elizabeth’s campus. The department expects construction work on the complex to conclude by 2026.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program released a new document made to guide commercial and government parties in understanding FedRAMP’s cloud service offerings. The document entitled “Marketplace Guidance” contains explanations on how to achieve designations across the program and how to manage changes in initial agency partners, FedRAMP said Thursday. 

This new guidance entry succeeds FedRAMP’s previous “Agency Authorization: Requirements for In Process Designation” document and supports the program’s effort to consolidate and simplify documents. FedRAMP has over 220 industry partners and more than 250,000 marketplace visits annually. The Marketplace Guidance document is accessible via this link.

The U.S. Navy has received the future USS Cincinnati (LCS 20) from Austal USA, which will be the 10th Independence variant to join the service’s fleet of littoral combat ships. The company delivered the ship to the Navy during a ceremony at the company’s facility in Mobile, Ala., Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday. The Navy completed acceptance trials of USS Cincinnati in early February. The service aims to commission the ship this fall in Gulfport, Miss. 

“I look forward to celebrating the commissioning of this great ship alongside the crew later this year,” said Capt. Mike Taylor, LCS program manager. “This ship will play an essential role in carrying out our nation’s maritime strategy.” 

Austal USA is developing five more Independence-variant ships. The company hopes to deliver the future USS Kansas City (LCS 22) this fall, while the future USS Oakland (LCS 24), Mobile (LCS 26), Savannah (LCS 28) and Canberra (LCS 30) are in early stages of construction. The Navy expects to acquire four additional LCS after accepting USS Canberra.