The U.S. Navy has established a new squadron to handle the CMV-22B Osprey , a tiltrotor aircraft that provides logistics support across the service branch. The new Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron or VRM-30 would use the new aircraft designed for increased range, larger cargo, quicker loading/unloading, boosted communications and higher survivability compared to the previous C-2A model, the Navy said Monday.

VRM-30 will undergo Osprey training with the U.S. Marine Corps as the squadron waits for its first CMV-22B unit scheduled to arrive in fiscal year 2020. The service branch expects to fully transition into the CMV-22B by fiscal year 2024. The new aircraft is a Navy-tailored variant of the Osprey vertical takeoff and landing tilt-rotor aircraft.

A joint venture between Boeing and Bell is producing 39 CMV-22B units for the service branch as part of a $4.2B contract modification with the Department of Defense.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology extended the deadline to submit written comments on a new framework to help the government better identify, assess, manage and communicate privacy risks.

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NIST is accepting public input on the RFI until Jan. 14, extending the original deadline of Dec. 31 to close the document, according to a notice on Federal Register posted Monday. “NIST is taking this action to provide additional time to submit comments because multiple interested parties have expressed difficulty in submitting comments by the original deadline and have asked for an extension,” the agency said.

The project aims to develop a Privacy Framework to help agencies and organizations protect personal information stored and used in their products and services.

“It is a challenge to design, operate or use technologies in ways that are mindful of diverse privacy needs in an increasingly connected and complex environment,” NIST said in the RFI.

The agency hopes the framework to provide “prioritized, flexible, risk-based, outcome-based, and a cost-effective approach” compatible with existing legal and regulatory regimes for widespread adoption.

House lawmakers announced plans to improve the use of artificial intelligence and increase the government’s cyber workforce through new bills in 2019 that would provide funding and set standards in the public and private sectors, Federal News Network reported Monday. Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., said they want to increase coordination between the government and industry to explore and expand investments in AI technologies.

“Artificial intelligence matters because it will impact every single industry,” Hurd said. “We need to make sure we are aligning research in the federal government and the private sector, to make sure we are aligning the standards for the workforce, and we are training the workforce of the future. We need to make sure we are working with our international partners on this.”

The Texas representative said he’s working on a cyber national guard bill to increase the number cyber experts in the future. Hurd also aims to push the Senate to increase its budget for the Technology Modernization Fund in 2019 after the House agreed to provide $150M in the coming year.

Meanwhile, Kelly also plans to introduce a separate bill to improve the security of connected devices by requiring basic cybersecurity standards on government-purchased Internet of Things devices.

Kelly and Hurd serve in the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on IT.

The U.S. Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity is prepared to inform stakeholders on its goals and efforts during an upcoming industry event. MCTSSA said Thursday it will host its event, titled Advanced Planning Briefing to Industry, on Feb. 6, 2019 in Cap Pendleton, Calif.

During the event, MCTSSA subject matter experts and leaders will brief participants on the service branch’s goals, challenges and potential contracting opportunities. The technical briefs will cover a variety of topics including cybersecurity testing, cloud computing, wireless technology and systems engineering.

Col. Robert Bailey, commanding officer at MCTSSA, said that partnerships with industry may help the marines address gaps in the command, control, communications and computers, as well as in amphibious vehicles.

The Department of Defense plans to increase funding over $278M for the operation, maintenance and modernization of a major radar system in Alaska that provides ballistic missile defense and supports space surveillance for national security. The investment comes as the DoD wants to update the Cobra Dane radar on Shemya Island to replace aging components that have been operating for the past 40 years, according to a new report the Government Accountability Office released Monday.

To help maintain and update the system, the Air Force is partnering with the Missile Defense Agency to share funding for its operation, maintenance and planned modernization projects for the Cobra Dane. The service branch plans to provide an additional $140M for the sustainment and maintenance of operational access to the radar’s site on Shemya Island. DoD also invested in new radar systems to reduce reliance on Cobra Dane.

The agency has provided funding to build and operate the Long Range Discrimination Radar in Alaska, the Space Fence in Oceania and a new Pacific Radar to help in ballistic missile defense and tracking of objects in space.

The Air Force Research Laboratory has begun development of a human-centered data analytics environment through use of squadron innovation funds. The analytical environment intends to manage and process large amounts of data, and address the speed lags of raw human analysis, AFRL said Monday. AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing received $250K in fiscal year 2018 from $64M distributed across the U.S. Air Force under a squadron innovation effort.

The wing uses the funds to finance the project that has two components. Ryan Kramer, explainable artificial intelligence lead at the 711 HPW’s airman systems directorate, said the first component would be a data architecture environment made to accommodate and combine multiple streams of data. He added that the second component would test the environment with specific applications including suicide risk prediction.

Todd Overman, a civilian executive officer who leads 711 HPW, said new analytical environment systems must meet security requirements to protect associated information.

“Our data includes a lot of personally identifiable information and protected health information, so we must ensure proper protections are in place for any new system,” he said.

The 711 HPW is working on autonomous modeling to identify the required appearance of the analytical environment’s overall architecture. “Data is growing exponentially in every organization and our ability to exploit it is largely growing linearly,” Kramer said. “Data is a strategic asset, and if you’re not taking advantage of your own data, you’re falling behind,” he added.