An SRI International-led consortium established to advance quantum science studies in the U.S. recently held its second meeting and selected its potential leaders, FCW reported Monday.

Carl Williams, deputy director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory, unveiled at the meeting that 34 companies have expressed interest in joining the Quantum Economic Development Consortium to seek support for their quantum computing research.

He noted that most of the interested parties are major corporations while the rest are emerging companies.

Williams added that the private sector has started investing in quantum technology despite the forecast that the technology will fully emerge in 20 to 30 years.

Christopher Boyer, chairman of NIST’s Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, also said that quantum science is beginning to show its potential in driving efforts in security, cryptography and artificial intelligence, among other things.

NIST stood up QEDC in October in partnership with SRI International to support research and development efforts in quantum science from the public and private sectors and academic institutions.

Brig. Gen. DeAnna Burt, U.S. Air Force Space Command director of operations and communications, recently announced that the Undergraduate Space Training program is being expanded from 77 days to 111 days, Federal News Network reported.

Airmen undergoing UST will also be trained to visually identify threats in space, in the same way that F-16 fighter pilots are expected to be able to recognize airborne threats, Burt said during an Air Force Association event on Nov. 2.

Because of this new skill requirement, incoming trainees will have to be given top security clearance for certain parts of the program, Burt noted.

At present, airmen undergoing UST only need a secret-level clearance.

The changes to the UST will be implemented in October 2019.

The U.S. Air Force has announced the third iteration of a program aiming to identify vulnerabilities within the military’s cyber space.

The Hack the Air Force 3.0 bug bounty program invites computer experts from 191 countries to examine USAF websites for weaknesses through Nov. 22, the branch said Monday.

This year’s edition of the program will focus on applications recently transitioned into a USAF-operated cloud platform.

Participants will receive at least $5K for every critical vulnerability detected and possible increases depending on overall impact to the system.

The program builds on the Defense Department‘s Hack the Pentagon effort that the Defense Digital Service administered in 2016.

Carlen Capenos, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency‘s Office of Small Business Programs, said the agency is promoting different measures to foster good working relationships with the small business community, C4ISRNet reported Tuesday.

In an interview with with C4ISRNet’s Brandon Knapp, Capenos said the agency has formulated its systems engineering, technology and innovation requirements to cater to small businesses and encourage them to work for the Defense Department.

To help smaller firms adhere to the DoD’s federal contracting standards, DISA conducts monthly seminars and gives primers on how to reach the qualifications that the department is looking for, Capenos said.

She noted that when it comes to spurring new technologies, small firms readily deliver; however, when it comes to addressing cybersecurity issues, some small businesses still find it challenging due to expense considerations.

“The challenge really is for DISA to keep up with small business. We need to learn how to be more flexible and less stagnant on how we approach small business, how we get them under contract, how we utilize [Other Transaction Authorities], and those are things we are working on,” Capenos said.

 

Dana Deasy, chief information officer at the Defense Department, has said he believes cloud provides DoD components with capabilities to update Pentagon’s technology systems and manage data assets “in an enterprise manner,” MeriTalk reported Monday.

“DoD is committed to maintaining a multivendor, multicloud environment,” he said Monday at a Defense Information Systems Agency-hosted conference.

“We will have a combination of general purpose clouds, and fit-for-purpose clouds.”

He noted that the Defense Enterprise Office Solutions contract exemplifies a fit-for-purpose cloud and cited the Pentagon’s decision to use the General Services Administration’s IT Schedule 70 for procurement.

“By using the flexibility of the GSA contract vehicle, it will allow the DoD to transition to the cloud with less schedule risk, and at a lower cost,” he said at the Forecast to Industry event in Linthicum, Md.

C4ISRNET reported that Deasy said he expects the new joint artificial intelligence center to help secure military networks and carry out cyber operations in partnership with U.S. Cyber Command and DISA.

Deasy, who oversees JAIC, said the center will focus on cross-service platforms.

“I believe AI will be a partner, no doubt, first and foremost, from a lethality standpoint,” he added.