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USAF Gen. David Goldfein Eyes International Air Chiefs Conference to Advance Joint Space Warfighting
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USAF Gen. David Goldfein Eyes International Air Chiefs Conference to Advance Joint Space Warfighting


USAF Gen. David Goldfein Eyes International Air Chiefs Conference to Advance Joint Space Warfighting
David Goldfein

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein has said he plans to propose to his foreign counterparts an international air chiefs conference that would focus on joint space warfighting operations, Defense News reported Thursday.

The proposed conference would be linked to the annual Space Symposium in Colorado.

Goldfein told the publication in a Tuesday interview that the growth in the commercial space sector suggests that military leaders should determine whether they have shared space-based objectives and know how to transition that interest to defense contractors that plan to perform innovative work in space.

“There’s huge opportunity ahead for us as we look to leverage where industry is going with this lower-cost access to space because you have more access to economical launch and you’ve got payloads that are coming down in size,” he added.

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Trump Picks James Morhard as NASA Deputy Administrator; Jim Bridenstine Comments
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Trump Picks James Morhard as NASA Deputy Administrator; Jim Bridenstine Comments


Trump Picks James Morhard as NASA Deputy Administrator; Jim Bridenstine Comments
James Morhard

President Donald Trump has chosen James Morhard, deputy sergeant-at-arms for the Senate, to serve as deputy administrator at NASA.

Morhard served as Senate Appropriations Committee staff director and previously managed the panel’s subcommittees on Commerce, Justice and Science; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, the White House said Thursday.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement released Friday that Morhard’s legislative work covered National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs and public-private partnerships for military housing initiatives.

Morhard started his career in the U.S. Navy’s Office of the Comptroller.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Francis University, an M.B.A. from George Washington University and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University.

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White House Proposes Legislation to Address Federal Civilian IT Supply Chain Risks
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White House Proposes Legislation to Address Federal Civilian IT Supply Chain Risks


White House Proposes Legislation to Address Federal Civilian IT Supply Chain RisksThe White House on Tuesday submitted to Congress a draft bill that would provide civilian agencies the same congressional authorities granted to the Defense Department in 2011 to oversee their information technology procurements and address supply chain risks, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

The proposed Federal IT Supply Chain Risk Management Improvement Act of 2018 would set up a federal IT acquisition security council that would advance the development of standards and practices that can be used by agencies to create strategies to mitigate supply chain risks with regard to the procurement of IT and communications systems and services.

The council would be composed of the Office of Management and Budget, General Services Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, DoD and the Department of Homeland Security and would come up with criteria for supply chain risk data sharing with private and public sector stakeholders.

The bill would also establish a critical IT supply chain risk evaluation board that would oversee measures with regard to the exclusion of vendors from procurement actions and information systems that are deemed a risk to agencies.

The report said the House Homeland Security Committee has begun work on a similar measure that would provide DHS and other agencies with similar supply chain risk management authorities given to DoD and the intelligence community.

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FCC Seeks to Run $100M Telehealth Pilot Program; Brendan Carr Comments
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FCC Seeks to Run $100M Telehealth Pilot Program; Brendan Carr Comments


FCC Seeks to Run $100M Telehealth Pilot Program; Brendan Carr CommentsSen. Roger Wicker and Commissioner Brendan Carr have announced that the Federal Communications Commission intends to run a $100 million pilot program that aims to provide telehealth services for low-income U.S. citizens.

The Connected Care Pilot Program will focus on providing healthcare for veterans and Americans residing in rural areas, FCC said Wednesday.

The commission will gather at an August Open Meeting to discuss the program’s budget, along with support for connected care deployments and assistance to projects aiming to measure healthcare costs.

“Given the significant cost savings and improved patient outcomes associated with connected care, we should align public policy in support of this movement in telehealth,” Carr said.

Recent telehealth efforts in the U.S. have generated savings in chronic disease management, which takes up 85 percent of the country’s direct healthcare spending.

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GAO: NASA Should Standardize Loss of Crew Risk Computation
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GAO: NASA Should Standardize Loss of Crew Risk Computation


GAO: NASA Should Standardize Loss of Crew Risk ComputationThe Government Accountability Office has recommended that NASA enforce a standard method for establishing the likelihood of astronauts being permanently injured or killed while on board a spacecraft.

NASA’s administrator should instruct pertinent agency heads “to collectively determine and document… how the agency will determine its risk tolerance level with respect to loss of crew,” the GAO said in the July 2018 Congressional report on its audit of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Meeting the acceptable risk level for the loss of crew is a critical requirement of NASA’s safety certification process for space vehicles under development.

However, the GAO discovered during its audit that offices within the space agency compute for the metric differently, incorporating risk factors in a non-uniform way, thus arriving at differing values.

The GAO report also noted that the agency does not have a system in place to record lessons that would be learned from using the loss of crew metric as part of the safety threshold.

The report said that the absence of such a system deprives future programs of the opportunity “to benefit from the knowledge gained from this multibillion dollar investment.”

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Report: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp Seeks Independent Agency for Federal Inspectors General
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Report: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp Seeks Independent Agency for Federal Inspectors General


Report: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp Seeks Independent Agency for Federal Inspectors General
Heidi Heitkamp

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., has proposed the establishment of a single agency for the federal government’s inspectors general, Federal News Radio reported.

Heitkamp said an independent IG agency would give investigative officials more freedom to perform agency audits and should function as an extension of the Government Accountability Office and Congress.

Her proposal comes as U.S. lawmakers review the White House’s government overhaul plans and reflects their frustration over a lack of permanent IGs at agencies.

The Project on Government Oversight has found that 13 of the 73 federal agencies do not have a confirmed IG, with more than 10 of said agencies lacking a permanent watchdog for over a year.

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NGA Seeks Geospatial Image Colorization Algorithm
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NGA Seeks Geospatial Image Colorization Algorithm


NGA Seeks Geospatial Image Colorization AlgorithmThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has announced a $15,000 prize competition meant to produce an algorithm for automatic image colorization.

The agency said Wednesday the contest posted on challenge.gov is intended to generate an algorithm that facilitates a 10-hour autonomous implementation of color in 10-gigapixel panchromatic images.

Christy Monaco, NGA director for the office of ventures and innovation, said the agency continuously seeks new technologies to augment GEOINT delivery and processes for the identification and acquisition of the required systems.

Linn Wisner, owner of the Rapid Image Colorization challenge, said panchromatic grayscale sensors provide black and white and high-quality Earth images compared with colored pictures from technologies such as multispectral sensors.

Color will aid in the assessment of image data, Wisner added.

Submissions for the challenge will be accepted until Sept. 9 and the transfer of participants’ intellectual property or license of algorithms is not required.

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GSA Debuts GIS-Powered Map of Federal Real Property Holdings; Emily Murphy Comments
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GSA Debuts GIS-Powered Map of Federal Real Property Holdings; Emily Murphy Comments


GSA Debuts GIS-Powered Map of Federal Real Property Holdings; Emily Murphy Comments
Emily Murphy

The General Services Administration has introduced an interactive tool for the general public to access geographical information about buildings the federal government has owned or managed since the beginning of fiscal year 2017.

GSA said Wednesday the tool is powered by a geographic information system and contains  data from the Federal Real Property Profile Management System.

The map includes search and filter functions intended to help users find government facilities by agency and determine if the property is utilized, underutilized or not utilized.

GSA Debuts GIS-Powered Map of Federal Real Property Holdings; Emily Murphy CommentsGSA Administrator Emily Murphy, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said the agency released the tool in an effort to simplify the federal property search process for industry stakeholders and the general public.

“Enhancing the quality and usability of the federal government’s real property data will boost transparency, help better utilize government assets and make it easier to identify properties for disposal,” Murphy added.

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Report: GSA Expands Bug Bounty Program to Government Website Log-In Platform
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Report: GSA Expands Bug Bounty Program to Government Website Log-In Platform


Report: GSA Expands Bug Bounty Program to Government Website Log-In PlatformThe General Services Administration has widened the coverage of its $150 to $5,000 bug bounty program to include the login.gov platform, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

GSA’s Technology Transformation Service tapped HackerOne in May 2017 for a security risk reporting platform and to help organize an incentives program for independent vulnerabilities research patterned after the Defense Department‘s Hack the Pentagon and Hack the Army initiatives.

The U.S. Digital Service and GSA’s 18F organization co-developed the account management and authentication platform that currently supports a USDS internal system, the Customs and Border Protection‘s careers website, Outlying Area Reporting Stations and Trusted Traveler Program apps and the USAJobs portal for government employment, the publication said.

TTS also plans to add the 18F website, analytics.usa.gov and vote.gov to the bug bounty program, FedScoop noted.

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House, Senate Conferees to Discuss F-35, JSTARS in Fiscal 2019 NDAA Reconciliation
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House, Senate Conferees to Discuss F-35, JSTARS in Fiscal 2019 NDAA Reconciliation


House, Senate Conferees to Discuss F-35, JSTARS in Fiscal 2019 NDAA ReconciliationHouse and Senate conference members are expected to address F-35 fighter jet procurements, troop levels and proposed budget cuts to “fourth estate” or support agencies within the Defense Department as they begin to reconcile the two versions of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Conferees on Wednesday started closed-door negotiations on the fiscal 2019 NDAA a day after the Senate passed a measure that reaffirms support for NATO and expands the authority of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to investigate foreign deals.

The Washington Examiner reported that conference members will need to reach a compromise on the U.S. Air Force’s plan to drop the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization program, establishment of a “space force” as a new service branch and penalties imposed on Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told the publication he expects conferees to come up with a reconciled $716 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2019 by the end of July.

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