Glenn Davidson, the Department of Commerce‘s former executive director of enterprise services, said the department is generating millions of dollars in savings as a result of shared services modernization, Federal News Network reported Monday.

The department has modernized the human resource and information technology components of its shared services for the last three years, transitioning from an outdated back-office approach. Shared services is an area where other agencies have a hard time coping in terms of modernization, the report noted. Davidson attributes the transition’s progress to his team’s long-term approach, business data collection efforts and cost management activities.

He led the commerce department’s shared services component for the last three years before transferring to the private sector as Deloitte Consulting‘s new human capital transformation executive.

The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum that seeks to build up the Department of Homeland Security’s High Value Asset program to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of federal agencies.

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said Monday the memo outlines actions across six areas such as the establishment of enterprise HVA governance, implementation of data-driven HVA prioritization and privacy protection.

To set up an enterprise HVA governance, agencies are advised to designate an agency-level team to facilitate the integration of HVA assessment, incident response and other activities into broader agency planning efforts for data system security and privacy management.

The document calls for agencies to establish HVA data sharing agreements with DHS, OMB and other agencies to advance cross-agency cooperation.

Agencies should adopt a DHS-developed methodology to prioritize their HVAs and related activities and submit feedback to the department to improve the use of the process.

OMB recommends that agencies implement systems security engineering concepts and ensure the privacy and security requirements for HVAs to increase the trustworthiness of such assets.

Federal agencies should provide DHS with HVA assessment results and integrate requirements into their future and existing service-level agreements and contracts that seek to ensure the implement of HVA reviews for federal data systems, according to the document.
 

The Federal Aviation Administration aims to discuss and release new regulations and spaceport categories by end of 2018 or early next year, to speed up approval for space launches and allow more facilities to accommodate space operations in the U.S., Politico reported Friday.

The FAA’s newly-established Spaceport Categorization Aviation Rulemaking Committee plans to submit a report by end of this year on the development of spaceport categories to clarify the use of ports across the country. Daniel Elwell, acting administrator of FAA, said the report will come amid the growing efforts of states and localities to increase commercial space operations.

“It’s hard to imagine that we’re at the place where airport and spaceport are used in the same sentence — but here we are,” he said. 

The FAA also hopes to issue new regulations in February to reduce licensing and safety paperwork for space launches. Elwell said the changes would put approximately 400 pages of multiple regulations into a single regulation, allowing companies to “spend far less time reviewing and more time launching.”

\n\n

“In short order, we’re getting rid of rules that have outlived their usefulness or are unnecessarily burdensome,” the FAA head said. 

The U.S. Army has transferred command authority for the first military organization to join Army Futures Command.

The service branch said Thursday the Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., will now operate under AFC as part of ongoing reorganization efforts to build the subordinate organizations of the new command. 

TRAC was established in 1986 as part of the Army Training and Doctrine Command and currently employs over 300 people. 

Lt. Col. Matt Jensen, operations analyst for TRAC, said the center conducts research and analysis of operations and future scenarios to guide Army and defense leaders in the decision-making process.

Gen. John Murray, commanding general of AFC, TRAC will now stand for “The Research and Analysis Center.”

The Army established AFC in August to lead the modernization efforts for the U.S. military.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has introduced a bill that would aim to refine the nation’s security clearance process.

The Modernizing the Trusted Workforce for the 21st Century Act would task the executive branch to immediately address backlog cases concerning background checks, Warner’s office said Thursday.

The legislation would also direct the executive branch to develop a plan to integrate the National Background Investigation Bureau into the Department of Defense.

The director of national intelligence would then assume codified duties as the security executive agent.

“The current process for granting security clearances to government personnel and contractors is in dire need of reform,” said Warner, who serves as vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.