The Office of Inspector General found that the Veterans Benefits Administration failed to update its system for processing housing stipends under the Forever GI Bill, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs report released Wednesday.

As of December 2018, the benefits department did not properly modify electronic platforms such as the Long-Term Solution software that was intended to improve housing payment procedures for service members, veterans and their families.

The report states that VBA faced challenges such as “unclear communication of implementation progress and inadequately defined expectations, roles, and responsibilities” regarding the contractors involved in the effort.

The VA noted defects in the software which failed testing on certain scenarios that were not accounted for during the development phase. To help the department improve operations, Mitre released a report in November containing recommendations on the management and technical aspects of the software.

The General Services Administration is looking to expand its centers of excellence program in three additional agencies in 2019 to support President Donald Trump’s management agenda, Fedscoop reported Wednesday.

Anil Cheriyan, leader of the agency’s Technology Transformation Service, said that GSA is currently discussing how to proceed with the program and may announce another participating agency next month.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have [another] three running by the end of this year,” he said at a National Academy of Public Administration event.

The three future centers would follow five existing sites with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other agencies.

“We’ve saved over $21M for USDA so far, and going forward we’re going to be able to save between $6.9M and $8.5M per year,” said Emily Murphy, GSA administrator.

The Government Accountability Office submitted plans to Congress outlining how a newly created advisory group will assist lawmakers with establishing technology-related regulations, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

Tim Persons, a chief scientist at GAO, said the Science and Technology Assessment and Analytics unit expects to have more than 60 federal auditors, engineers, data analysts, physicists, computer scientists and other relevant experts by the end of the year.  Persons will lead the new office with John Neumann, a former science and technology head at GAO.

The new office, which Persons said is both a merger and an expansion of existing science and technology activities, will collaborate with universities on bioengineering, quantum computing and policy questions like countering the opioid epidemic. Specific information regarding the group’s scope and size has not been released.

Patrick O’Brien, director of the Office of Economic Adjustment at the Pentagon, said the lack of stable funding for the U.S. military  affects communities surrounding military bases across the U.S.

He said during a speech at Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., that in 2013 local communities and states felt the full effects of the Budget Control Act of 2011, when the budget sequestration began, the agency said Tuesday.

O’Brien said temporary funding that forced the department to suspend some operations at installations also affected civilians who relied on defense dollars. Two examples include the recent closure of an Army tank plant in Ohio and the downsizing of an Air Force installation in North Dakota left the communities with fewer jobs.

To help state officials and residents retain a labor force and anticipate delayed defense funding, the Defense Spending by State report was issued providing information on DoD personnel data and contracting information. The document helps state and local officials support local economies, understand the supply chain and the local labor force, O’Brien said.

“If I’m a governor or a local official, I’d want to know where the spending is going, how to preserve that spending or diversify,” he said. “You’re talking about livelihoods and national security.”

O’Brien said emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, are among the areas offering communities with new job opportunities in the military.

Jeff White, principal deputy to the assistant secretary of the U.S. Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the service is keen to use other transaction authorities to accelerate the acquisition process but wants to exercise caution when using OTA agreements, National Defense reported Wednesday.

During the Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference in California, White said that he considers OTA a “highly effective business tool” for the service’s prototyping, research and production initiatives. He noted that the service should not rely on OTAs for every program, especially when it comes to single-source contracts for prototyping and production work that could affect industry competition.

“We like the authority. We want to use it. But … in the Army we are dead serious that we’re not going to abuse it. We’re going to make sure that nobody points at us and says, ‘You messed that up and we’re taking the authority away from you,’” he said at the National Defense Industrial Association-hosted event.

The National Security Agency and the University of Texas at San Antonio have partnered for their cybersecurity partnership for over 16 years. George Barnes, deputy director of NSA, said in a statement posted on Tuesday that the university has received the Center of Academic Excellence designation in the areas of cyber defense, research and operations. Additionally, NSA featured UTSA on the agency’s website, social media channels and on IntelligenceCareers to highlight the partnership.

“With over a dozen research projects to choose from, students are learning new ways in which to think, design and create to tackle real world challenges, in particular as related to cyber and national security,” said Bernard Arulanandam, interim vice president for research, economic development and knowledge enterprise at UTSA.

The agency entered into an agreement with the university to provide collegiate assistance to NSA and military employees to grow their careers. NSA also noted that it hopes to feature a different CAE-designated school every few months.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the federal government needs the private sector to detect and deter emerging cyber threats, The Hill reported Tuesday.

During the agency’s recent Science and Technology Directorate’s Cybersecurity and Innovation Showcase, Nielsen highlighted that the rates of threats and risks are outpacing the government’s ability to identify, assess and address them. Nielsen said the growing risks in cyberspace also increase the government’s need to partner with companies to prepare for future cyber attacks.

“We’re focused on today’s threats, we’re coming down on yesterday’s threats, but we want to make sure we can rise and stand and know what’s coming at us,” she said. “And that’s what we ask you to help us do.” 

Nielsen also noted the use of connected devices adds to DHS concerns that may put the government at a higher risk of interference. She said the number of such devices linked to the internet could reach 75 billion by 2025.

“So it’s not a matter of if an attack happens or when, but it’s how long can we withstand it and how can we innovate while we are under attack,” Nielsen said.