Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, noted at a recently held Air Force Association event that the service has a four-step plan to streamline the acquisition process, USAF said Thursday.

Roper said the Air Force plans to jumpstart acquisition by leveraging programs such as Section 804 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 to procure capabilities faster. After that, Roper said the military branch must expand its industry network and move at a pace that matches that of startups.

The third step calls for the Air Force to establish an idea pipeline that will enable industry to suggest new ideas that can succeed old models. The fourth and final step occurs as the service increases innovative processes for sustainability by using commercial technology such as additive manufacturing and predictive maintenance to reduce procurement costs.

The Air Force will hold a pitch day on March 6 and 7 for small businesses and startups seeking to secure same-day contracts for their concepts and ideas.

Visit the Wash100 website to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the website, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.

Heather Wilson, secretary of the U.S. Air Force and a 2019 Wash100 Award winner, said modernization, growth and streamlining of acquisition processes will be top priorities across the service so new tools and capabilities can be supplied to airmen faster.

Wilson wants to expand the force from 312 squadrons to 386 to meet the requirements of near-peer competition as outlined in initiatives in the National Defense Strategy, the Air Force said Thursday.

“Our Air Force is too small for what the nation is asking of us,” Wilson said at the recent Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium.

She noted that  Russia and China have been increasing their respective military power which may soon threaten U.S. airpower. The Air Force is working on a approach to attract more vendors to do business with the service branch. Wilson announced that the Pentagon budgeted $40M to identify the companies, evaluate their products and approve contracts.

Visit the Wash100 website to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the website, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.

Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said at a Senate hearing on the fiscal 2020 defense budget that the nation needs nuclear triad modernization, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Hyten told senators there should be a focus on updating the triad’s communications system and producing a network of ground and space-based sensors and radars that detect missile launches. He noted that nuclear modernization doesn’t mean creating a new class of missiles and each component of the triad is crucial for nuclear deterrence. 

According to Hyten, the recent Nuclear Posture Review validates the nation’s need for an updated nuclear triad. He added that Russia, which began a nuclear triad modernization initiative in 2006, is around 80 percent finished while China is slated to establish their own triad threat. 

A few lawmakers have launched an effort to revive the congressional office of technology assessment and some congressional staffers believe that such an institution, if reinstated, should operate in a nonpartisan manner and with adequate funding to be effective, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

The OTA, which had a budget of $25M and approximately 140 employees when it ceased operations in 1995, used to educate and advise lawmakers on technology issues ahead of congressional hearings.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), a sponsor of the last measure to bring back the OTA, organized a discussion with a group of former Hill staffers and advocates to talk about the factors needed to set up a viable tech advisory office in Congress.

“There’s the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which is part of the executive branch. It makes sense to have an OTA—an office to analyze science and technology policy—for the legislative branch,” said Daniel Schuman, policy director at Demand Progress and a former attorney at the Congressional Research Service.

“Having something that is independent; that is capable of doing this work; that is bipartisan—or better yet, nonpartisan; that has buy-in from the political parties and the factions within the political parties is something that makes the most sense,” Schuman added.

Robert Cook-Deegan, a professor at Arizona State University and former OTA staffer in the 1980s, said the office should be established with sufficient funds.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology released its revised guidelines on federal email security in an effort to provide agencies with updates on cyber security.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology issued the updated SP 800-177 guidance in February to help agencies enhance email security. The agency said enterprise email administrators, information security specialists and network managers can apply the guidelines to federal information technology systems and small or medium sized organizations.

The document helps agencies reduce the risk of email being used as an attack vector and to avoid the risk of content leaks to unauthorized parties. Other changes in the publication include use of third-party email scanning services, third-party email malware scanners and cloud-based email.

“These recommendations cover both the email sender and receiver,” NIST said.