The U.S. Navy is set to commission its 16th Virginia-class fast attack submarine during a ceremony on Saturday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s naval port.

Diane Donald, wife of retired Adm. Kirkland Donald, will order the activation of the future USS Indiana, or SSN 789, during the ceremony. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. will serve as principal speaker, the Navy said Thursday.

The submarine is equipped with new payload technologies as the sixth Block III unit within the Virginia class.

Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Newport News Shipbuilding Division began the SSN 789’s construction in 2012 and delivered the vessel to the Navy in June this year.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has urged the military service to promote competition among vendors and accelerate the process for buying platforms, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

“If we are able to encourage more companies to participate in competition for procurement that helps to not only drive innovation to get the best out of American industry, but also drives competitive pricing,” Wilson told the National Press Club during a speech Wednesday.

She added the Air Force seeks to increase innovation through the use of “other transaction” agreements and partnership with OTA consortia.

The branch formed a consortium early this year in a push to engage commercial space companies in the Defense Department‘s prototyping projects.

“Prototyping we think in many circumstances is actually a much better way to do procurement because you understand the limitations and the realm of the possible from the beginning,” added Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

Military officials have said the Defense Department is facing challenges concerning mission objectives for cybersecurity due to cyber workforce shortages, MeriTalk reported Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Dennis Crall told Senate Armed Services’ cybersecurity and personnel subcommittee members that compensation packages in the private sector are often higher than what the military can offer cybersecurity talent, the report said.

He also noted that the DoD’s tedious security clearance process hinders cyber recruitment efforts.

Essye Miller, DoD’s acting principal deputy chief information officer, said the department’s cyber force lost around 4,000 positions over the last year or so.

The military witnesses also discussed how the Pentagon will continue to push for investments in the Army‘s cyber programs, like expansion of U.S. Cyber Command authorities, according to the report.

Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., have introduced a bill aiming to reauthorize the role of the federal chief information officer, and establish a clearer structure for information technology reporting in the administration.

The Federal CIO Authorization Act of 2018 would rename the Office of E-Government to the Office of the Federal CIO, Hurd’s office said Wednesday.

The bipartisan bill would also assign the federal CIO as a presidential appointee who would report to the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Additionally, the president would appoint a federal chief information security officer directly reporting to the federal CIO.

Lastly, the bill would task the federal CIO to submit a federal government-wide IT consolidation proposal to the Congress.

Hurd, who chairs the House IT Subcommittee, said that the bill demonstrates the federal CIO’s role in coordinating IT policy across the government.

The Federal Communications Commission has issued new directives that aim to reduce regulatory restrictions on the establishment of infrastructure necessary for the deployment and adoption of 5G networks in the U.S.

The FCC’s new issuance clarifies the standard that the agency will use when determining whether a state or local law effectively prohibits the provision of telecommunications services, thereby violating Sections 253 and 332 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The issuance also specifies the standard for the agency to determine, first, whether state or local fees imposed on the installation of Small Wireless Facilities run afoul of the same Act; and, second, whether non-fee provisions, such as those concerning aesthetic considerations, produce the same effect.

The new directives also impose time limits on local governments when reviewing applications for the setting up of Small Wireless Facilities.

A failure to act within the time limit, however, does not automatically result in an application being approved.

“Rather, missing the deadline also constitutes a presumptive prohibition,” the FCC said, adding, “We would thus expect any locality that misses the deadline to issue any necessary permits or authorizations without further delay.”