Bindu Nair, deputy director for basic research at the Defense Department, told Federal News Network in an interview published Thursday that DoD intends to speed up basic research’s impact on capabilities through the Defense Enterprise Science Initiative.

The Pentagon selected five university-industry teams in August for the DESI pilot program that seeks to address technological gaps and support other basic research initiatives within the department.

“We’ve known for a long time that basic research, which is unfettered, curiosity-driven research, is critically important to the economic engine that runs the country and certainly to the Defense Department,” Nair said.

She noted that Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, has highlighted the need to be more agile in order to rapidly deploy new technologies. 

“One of the ways that we think of doing this is to build this ecosystem that allows us, very quickly, to pull things from basic innovation up,” Nair said.

“There are a bunch of different programs we are using to do this, DESI being one of them.”
 

The Energy Department has issued a new policy framework regulating cooperation between the U.S. and China concerning the sharing of civilian nuclear technology.

The DOE said on Thursday that the new framework was developed due to concerns that China may be attempting to acquire nuclear technology from U.S. companies in such a manner that is, in the words of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, “outside of established processes of U.S.-China civil nuclear cooperation.”

The new framework focuses on the China General Nuclear Power Company and establishes a “presumption of denial” against requests from CGN, its subsidiaries or related organizations to export from the U.S. nuclear technology, equipment, components or other material.

“The presumption of denial will be in place until the U.S. Government is satisfied with CGN engagement on its indictment with the U.S. legal system,” the new policy framework said.

The CGN was indicted by the Justice Department in 2016 for its role in a conspiracy to acquire U.S. expertise to develop nuclear material outside the country without obtaining the requisite authorization from the Energy Department.

Brig. Gen. Richard Angle of Army Cyber Command has announced that the U.S. Army is working on a “holistic talent management strategy” to hire, train and retain a “world-class workforce,” Fedscoop reported Thursday.

Speaking at the recently-concluded 2018 Association of the United States Army conference, Angle cited the Cyber Direct Commissioning Program as an example of the service’s cyber recruitment efforts, noting that, just this May, two lieutenants were commissioned from the initiative.

The Cyber Direct Commissioning Program was launched in October 2017. Its aim is to draw cybersecurity professionals from industry or academia, who could then be commissioned as officers.

Angle noted the preoccupation with technology and the assumption that success hinges on developing new tools. He pointed out that having the right personnel is key.

“At the end of the day, it’s people that are going to make us successful,” Angle said.

The Defense Innovation Board looks to create a set of ethics guidelines and recommendations when it comes to artificial intelligence technology development and implementation, NextGov reported Thursday.

The DoD will seek assistance from the board – which is composed of defense industry experts and academics – to develop AI principles for effective and ethical military use, the report noted.

Joshua Marcuse, the advisory board’s executive director and adviser to the Defense Department‘s chief management officer, said initial work on the project began in July following orders from Defense Secretary James Mattis to set up a working guidance on the proper deployment and use of AI technologies.

“It is abundantly clear from the discussions thus far, the department’s experts on AI already have a deep appreciation, even a healthy skepticism for the limitations of AI, as well as its promise,” Marcuse said during the board’s quarterly public meeting on Wednesday.

The board plans to come up with a final set of recommendations to be presented for Mattis’ appraisal within nine months, according to the report.

 

Mike Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, has said that the Defense Department should create a new agency to oversee the country’s space programs, Space News reported Sunday.

The suggestion was given in response to a Sept. 10 memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan that asked both Griffin and U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to come up with separate proposals on the establishment of the Space Development Agency.

In his proposal, Griffin recommended the formation of a Washington, D.C.-based organization staffed with 112 personnel that Griffin would oversee. However, in the future, it would be headed by an assistant secretary of defense for space.

“To disrupt our adversaries’ calculus in the space domain and deter aggression, we must first disrupt our own space community’s risk-averse culture – by relearning how to build, deploy, operate and innovate rapidly, at low cost,” Griffin stated in his memo.

He said he would beef up SDA’s tasks in implementing the “DoD Space Vision,” a plan to update military space technologies.

“Resources needed to support development of DoD’s space vision will shift from legacy organizations to SDA as soon as practical,” Griffin added.

Wilson’s plan calls for the new space agency to operate under the existing Space Rabid Capabilities Office. She said it should be a part of “existing structures” to more quickly acquire capabilities, according to the article.

The Defense Department will conduct an audit of the U.S. aerospace and defense sector’s supply chains after DoD released a White House-commissioned study of the defense industrial base, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said U.S. intelligence agencies will take part in the review to assess the local defense supply chains’ readiness to support warfighters.

Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan on Friday presented to President Donald Trump the report that was prepared in accordance with an executive order signed in July that called for a cross-government review of U.S. producers’ capacity to support the defense industrial base.

The report identified challenges to the country’s industrial base and offered recommendations to address such risks.

Those challenges include budget uncertainty; decline of U.S. manufacturing capabilities; loss of critical skills in the domestic workforce; dependence on competitor countries; and procurement issues.

The White House said Friday it plans to implement several measures in response to the report’s recommendations such as the expansion of investments in the industrial base to support suppliers, collaborate with allies and advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics education as part of workforce development efforts.
 

The Department of Transportation has disclosed that it obligated over $65.5B to infrastructure modernization projects in 2018.

The department said Wednesday $1.6B of the investment came from fiscal year 2017 discretionary funds, while $63.9B originated from fiscal year 2018 multi-modal discretionary and formula transportation appropriations.

The major infrastructure projects launched in 2018 are:

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• Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development or BUILD
• Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or INFRA 
• Airport Improvement Program
• Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program
• Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grant Program
• Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant Program
• Competitive Highway Bridge Program 
• America’s Marine Highway Program

\nDOT solicited responses from Notices of Funding Opportunity that took up the majority of 2018 funding.