Heidi Grant, formerly deputy undersecretary of international affairs at the U.S. Air Force, has been appointed as director of the Defense Technology Security Administration, Defense News reported Thursday.

In her new role, Grant will make sure the Pentagon continues to safeguard sensitive U.S. military weapons, as well as help maintain the military’s position in technological advancements.

She will also be in charge of more than 190 policy analysts, engineers and licensing officers tasked to regulate the international transfers of defense products and services.

Grant will replace Michael Laychak, who served as acting director of DTSA after former director Beth McCormick made her departure.

During her tenure as head of the Air Force’s international affairs office, the Alexandria, Va. native oversaw over 470 cooperative agreements, 2.8K foreign military sales cases and more than 380 military exchange personnel across three programs.

Grant also served as director of resources at the U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Central Command, as well as assumed the role of budget analyst for the offices of the undersecretary of Defense for comptroller, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for financial management and comptroller.

The Department of Homeland Security‘s Science and Technology Directorate will begin testing Internet-of-Things flood sensors, which will be installed in five communities across the U.S. in an effort to generate reliable water level information.

S&T said Tuesday under the Flood Apex Program three small businesses were chosen to prototype, manufacture and deliver 100 flood sensors that are to be situated near flood-prone areas within these communities.

These devices will be located near flood sensors used by the U.S. Geological Survey, states or counties to gauge water quantity during storm upsurges.

The sensors have communications, imagery collection, triggered reporting and data transmissions, and energy harvesting and recharge capabilities, among others, according to S&T.

The installations will be finished by mid-November.

Christopher Smith, a regulatory research associate at the National Defense Industrial Association’s policy division, has said the private sector should take the initiative to lead the implementation of the National Cyber Strategy.

Smith wrote in a National Defense Magazine opinion piece posted Tuesday that companies will be outpaced by their competitors if they continue to wait for the federal government to set up the rules for the execution of cybersecurity initiatives.

“With cyber threats and regulation looming, the uncertain defense contracting environment offers businesses an opportunity to embrace innovation, to position themselves where demand will be tomorrow rather than standing pat where it is today,” he noted.

The NDIA associate added that defense firms should modify their business strategies and operations around cybersecurity as a priority.

Smith said that the National Cyber Strategy will provide new rules that will possibly affect operations in the defense industry.

A critic of the Trump Administration’s lavish spending on defense is expected to take over leadership of the House committee responsible for funding the U.S. armed forces, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Rep. Adam Smith, who currently serves as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, will likely become its next chairman following the Democrats’ retaking of the chamber during the 2018 midterm elections.

Smith, who is projected to win his reelection bid as representative of Washington’s 9th district, has said that the Defense Department’s $716B budget for fiscal year 2019 is too high and has advocated for the U.S. military to have a smaller role in the world.

Smith has also called out the White House for giving the DoD “a lot of free rein,” and vowed that, as HASC chairman, he would insist on greater Congressional oversight over U.S. military affairs.

The Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management has authorized 65 federal employees through its enterprise risk management credential certification program to analyze ERM processes, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

Internal Revenue Service Chief Risk Officer and AFERM President-ElectTom Brandt said in a Monday interview that the association’s ERM credential certification program standardizes the skills that employees in the government can obtain to become risk analysts.

He added that there will still be similarities in the risks that government organizations will handle in the workforce, human capital, information technology and cyber, among other things.

Cynthia Vitters, managing director of Deloitte’s federal government practice, said the new credential can help streamline the enlistment of individuals who can serve as risk analysts.

She added that there is still a lack of federal programs that focus on hiring risk analysts.

The Defense Department, NASA and the General Services Administration have introduced a rule that seeks to require agencies to include in solicitations for multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite–quantity contracts the ombudsman’s contact information.

The agencies proposed the regulation as an amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation in an effort to establish a “standardized way to provide the necessary information to contractors with a single contract clause for use by all agencies,” according to a Federal Register notice posted Thursday.

The rule would also inform contractors about the responsibilities of the agency ombudsman in multiple-award IDIQ contracts.

An agency ombudsman is tasked with assessing complaints from offerors concerning delivery and task orders placed through multiple-award contracts used to acquire commercial-off-the-shelf products, according to the notice.

Interested stakeholders have until Dec. 31 to submit their comments for consideration by the agencies as they work on the final rule.
 

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced the potential locations for a competition that seeks to launch small payloads on short notice.

The agency said Tuesday details of the launch sites for the DARPA Launch Challenge will be finalized, along with the necessary payloads and the orbit they will be placed in, a few weeks before the planned space flight missions.

The potential launch locations are:\n

• California Spaceport
• Cape Canaveral Spaceport
• Cecil Spaceport
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
• Mojave Air and Space Port
• Naval Outlying Field
• Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska
• Spaceport America

\nDARPA has also reviewed an initial wave of proposed launch strategies and shortlisted 18 teams that will possibly compete in the Launch Challenge.

The agency will no longer accept registrations for challenge participation by December and will announce the final contestants during the first quarter of 2019.

The participants are encouraged to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration before submitting their applications for a launch license to address potential regulatory concerns and reduce risks.

DARPA will award a $400K prize to contestants passing the qualification step and $2M for completing the first launch.

Three teams will be awarded the grand prizes of $8M, $9M and $10M for passing the second flight mission.