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NGA Releases RFI for Foundation GEOINT System Support Services
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NGA Releases RFI for Foundation GEOINT System Support Services

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has issued a request for information from potential contractors regarding the Foundation Geospatial-Intelligence system.

According to the notice posted on SAM.gov Tuesday, the Mapping, Charting and Geodesy Integrated Program Office, or MC&G IPO, intends to acquire support services needed to sustain the Foundation GEOINT system.

The RFI is seeking input on possible Foundation GEOINT sustainment, support, software and integration, or FS3i, services. The services will potentially cover support for the current FG system baseline as well as future integrated capabilities or enhancements.

Interested contractors may send their responses to the RFI until 11:00 a.m. Eastern on Oct. 18.

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CDAO Unveils Plans for Advana Recompete at Industry Day
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CDAO Unveils Plans for Advana Recompete at Industry Day

The Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office hosted an industry day Wednesday to discuss its plans for a recompete contract as part of efforts to scale Advana — DOD’s big data platform for advanced analytics — and work with additional vendors, particularly small businesses and nontraditional contractors.

DOD said Wednesday CDAO expects the recompete to integrate new industry tools into the Advana ecosystem, drive interoperability and bolster vendor competition.

Advana provides DOD users with data derived from the department’s over 400 business systems to facilitate data-driven decision-making.

“The Advana Industry Day is an unprecedented opportunity for industry to get involved in the largest acquisition of digital and AI enabling capabilities in the history of the Department of Defense. This acquisition will support development and scaling of cutting-edge software and AI capabilities from the boardroom to the battlefield,” said CDAO Radha Plumb.

Breaking Defense reported the Advana recompete will be a 10-year, $15 billion multivendor contract.

“One thing we want people to take away is you don’t have to do everything,” Bonnie Evangelista, the deputy CDAO for acquisition, told reporters Wednesday. “You don’t have to do every part of the tech stack … if you do a single piece and you do it really well, you can have a contract.”

“We are planning for on-ramping and off-ramping [vendors] over the ten years, because technology change,” Evangelista added.

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HHS Selects Universities to Improve Data Quality for AI Tools
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HHS Selects Universities to Improve Data Quality for AI Tools

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded contracts worth $2 million to two universities under the Leading Edge Acceleration Projects in Health Information Technology program, which aims to create methods and tools to improve care delivery, advance research capabilities and address emerging challenges related to interoperable health IT.

The LEAP in Health IT awardees, namely the trustees of Columbia University in New York and Oregon Health and Science University, will develop innovative ways to evaluate and improve the quality of healthcare data used by artificial intelligence tools in healthcare and accelerate the adoption of health IT in behavioral health settings, respectively, the HHS said Tuesday.

Under the contract, the trustees of Columbia University will test and validate different computational methods within a healthcare process modeling, or HPM, framework applied to AI-based use cases, generate and validate a set of applicable knowledge graphs related to HPMs, and build an open source pipeline to share and reuse the HPM-informed scalable computational processes combined with knowledge graphs, among other objectives.

OHSU’s work will focus on adapting an open-source SMART on Fast Health Interoperability Resources application based on the HL7 Multiple Chronic Condition care plan effort for three behavioral health use cases and testing the application in behavioral health clinics with challenges in exchanging health information.

HHS Selects Universities to Improve Data Quality for AI Tools

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Healthcare Summit on Dec. 11 and hear about the rise of artificial intelligence in health care, among other critical issues. Register here.

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AFLCMC’s Cloud One Boosts DAF Cloud Migration Efforts
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AFLCMC’s Cloud One Boosts DAF Cloud Migration Efforts

Cloud One, a cloud computing platform launched by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, has allowed the Department of the Air Force to make significant developments to its cloud computing capabilities.

The Air Force Material Command said Thursday the multi-cloud, multi-vendor system enables Department of Defense mission application owners to access fast, secure and reliable cloud computing technologies and other offerings.

The cloud service, which meets defense security requirements and zero-trust compliance, offers secure computing environments, standardized platforms, application migration and data management capabilities.

Cloud One also provides the following features:

  • Data transport services
  • Secure cloud computing architecture
  • Compute and store monitoring
  • Global content delivery service
  • Mobile connect
  • Inheritable risk management framework controls for operational authority
  • Platform operations and sustainment

Cloud One works on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Applications migrating to Cloud One are analyzed to determine which cloud service provider is suitable for their needs. 

According to Lt. Col. Beau Brantley, Cloud One lead engineer, 100% of applications managed to migrate to the cloud due to the guardrails that protect them from possible threats.

“We do more than host,” said Brantley. “We also facilitate migrations to ensure applications are set up in the cloud. Cloud One was established for affordability and security, that saves rework by only setting up the platform once.”

Cloud One currently migrates an average of 25 to 30 applications each year. According to Joseph Thorp, Cloud One program manager, there are plans to double that figure and possibly increase to around 150 new systems annually “as the U.S. Air Force optimizes for Great Power Competition.”

In June 2021, former Air Force Chief Information Officer Lauren Knausenberger mandated the use of Cloud One. Current DAF CIO Venice Goodwine, a 2024 Wash100 Award winner, prioritized this effort paving the way for Cloud One to lead cloud migration efforts.

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2024 Microelectronics Commons Projects to Receive $269M in Total Funding
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2024 Microelectronics Commons Projects to Receive $269M in Total Funding

Multiple projects under the CHIPS and Science Act-financed Microelectronics Commons program are set to receive a total of $269 million in funding, according to the Department of Defense.

The ME Commons program is a research and development initiative that seeks to advance U.S. microelectronics technology by accelerating domestic microelectronics hardware prototyping and workforce development, the DOD said Tuesday.

The program was established in 2023 and encompasses eight regional hubs that will receive $2 billion in total funding from fiscal years 2023 through 2027. Just under $240 million was awarded last year to establish those hubs.

For 2024, the funding awards will cover 33 projects spread across six technical areas, namely quantum, secure edge computing, 5G/6G, electromagnetic warfare, commercial leap-ahead technologies and artificial intelligence. A Cross-Hub Enablement Solution award is also being funded.

Commenting on the awards, Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, a past Wash100 Award winner, said, “These CHIPS and Science Act investments through the Microelectronics Commons will advance innovation for components that enable the most sophisticated defense systems, strengthening our national security.”

Dr. Dev Shenoy, who serves as principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and executive director of the Microelectronics Commons, said, “These awards will also upskill America’s workforce, thus helping keep America both secure and prosperous.”

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House Bill Aims to Improve Federal Acquisition Council’s Ability to Protect Supply Chain
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House Bill Aims to Improve Federal Acquisition Council’s Ability to Protect Supply Chain

Four House lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that seeks to enhance the ability of the Federal Acquisition Security Council, or FASC, to safeguard the federal supply chain from entities controlled or owned by a foreign adversary.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee said Tuesday the FASC Improvement Act of 2024 would move the council into the Executive Office of the President to strengthen its governing structure and authorize it to issue binding removal and exclusion orders when asked to do so by Congress.

Such orders would exclude or remove nefarious entities from the federal procurement system.

The bipartisan measure would expand FASC’s scope to include acquisition security, direct the council to proactively assess certain covered articles for risks and reallocate appropriations to set up a FASC program office within the Office of the National Cyber Director.

The legislation seeks to integrate best practices from national security exemptions, second-order prohibitions, case-by-case waiver processes and other governmentwide procurement prohibitions that have been made into law.

“This bipartisan bill provides the Federal Acquisition Security Council with the teeth and resources it needs to protect the federal supply chain from technology companies and products owned or controlled by a foreign adversary. We look forward to moving this bill through the Oversight Committee this week to ensure protections for the federal supply chain and agency information systems,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House panel.

Comer proposed the bill with Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.

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Gen. Charles Brown Jr. Pushes ‘Integrated Approach’ to Face Logistic Challenges
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Gen. Charles Brown Jr. Pushes ‘Integrated Approach’ to Face Logistic Challenges

Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believes that the military must establish a global joint defense ecosystem to be successful in a congested logistics environment.

The 2024 Wash100 awardee expounded on his thoughts alongside logistics leaders, military logisticians and industry partners from other nations at the Worldwide Logistics Symposium held at the Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters, the Department of Defense reported Tuesday.

During his keynote address, Gen. Brown said, “We want to fight with an unfair advantage.”

“We have to act like there is a crisis without the crisis … to make the changes needed now,” Gen. Brown added.

Gen. Brown cited the need for collaboration from all allies and partner domains in today’s warfighting environment, especially globally.

“We must take an integrated approach. Efforts cannot be siloed; we need to communicate and work with each other and share effective solutions,” Gen. Brown emphasized.

“We must bring our allies and partners to the table and ensure the military services are converging as we prepare our operational plans to better balance our capability with our capacity and build consistent demands with the defense industrial base,” he stated.

Steven Morani, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, echoed the importance of joint operational planning to organize contested logistics.

“Wars are won through logistics,” Morani said. “Those who are resilient the longest, win the war, nothing one nation can do alone.”

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CDAO Seeking Solutions to Test Gen AI for Defense Use Cases
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CDAO Seeking Solutions to Test Gen AI for Defense Use Cases

The Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office is soliciting solutions to test and evaluate generative artificial intelligence for military applications.

The requirement seeks innovative capabilities to address the novel test and evaluation, risk management and assurance challenges of gen AI and foundation model systems, according to a CDAO solicitation posted Tuesday on Tradewinds.

The solution is envisioned to support the CDAO Assessment & Assurance Division’s mission to test AI and machine learning applications across the DOD.

According to the solicitation notice, the desired capabilities should align with the DOD standards for assessing gen AI effectiveness, robustness and risks in defense use cases.

The solution should also advance the creation of a comprehensive framework for evaluation, risk management and assurance of Gen AI applications.

Notably, the government said that solutions lacking basic research and focused mostly on addressing cybersecurity issues are unlikely to address the solicitation’s requirements.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit papers outlining their expertise in gen AI testing and their ability to deliver the required solutions. Proposals with the highest potential to solve DOD problems will be shortlisted for the next phase of solicitation assessment.

Proposals will be accepted until Oct. 9.

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Space Force Holds 1st Sealed Contract Bidding at Vandenberg Base
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Space Force Holds 1st Sealed Contract Bidding at Vandenberg Base

Vandenberg Space Force Base has adopted sealed bidding in the recent contract solicitation for its Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements, or SABER, program with the bids’ opening conducted live and streamed online.   

The California base’s approach on the SABER indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract, a first in the U.S. Space Force, aims to promote visibility and transparency, Alyson Kolding, 30th Contracting Squadron contracting officer, said in a base statement Monday.

“We also learned how to incorporate electronic processes into a regulation which has not been updated to consider the new digital landscape.,” noted Jeffrey Grelck, 30th Contracting Squadron contracting officer.

The focus of SABER, one of Vandenberg’s two major construction programs that require expeditious efforts, is on simpler building projects, Kolding added.

The SABER IDIQ contract awards, worth about $60 million, are for construction projects around Vandenberg over the next five years and supports the base’s aspiration to become a “Spaceport of the Future.”  

In August 2023, the U.S. Air Force previewed its SABER contract solicitation approach in a five-year, $200 million contract designed to address engineering requirements at Eglin Air Force Base and associated facilities in Florida.

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CISA, FBI Issue Alert on Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerabilities
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CISA, FBI Issue Alert on Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerabilities

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI have released a Secure by Design Alert concerning cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, or XSS.

CISA said Tuesday that XSS can be prevented and ought not to be present in software products, yet they continue to appear, providing threat actors with exploit opportunities.

According to the alert, XSS can be brought about by the failure of a software maker to properly escape, validate or sanitize inputs, making it possible for threat actors to inject malicious scripts into web applications.

The alert calls on leaders at technology manufacturers to instruct personnel to conduct a review of such deficiencies and develop a strategic plan to prevent them moving forward.

The alert also recommends that technology manufacturers review the principles of secure by design software as outlined in a previous guidance.

CISA, FBI Issue Alert on Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerabilities

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