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Ronald Vitiello Named Acting ICE Chief; Kirstjen Nielsen Comments
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Ronald Vitiello Named Acting ICE Chief; Kirstjen Nielsen Comments


Ronald Vitiello Named Acting ICE Chief; Kirstjen Nielsen Comments
Ronald Vitiello

Ronald Vitiello, acting deputy commissioner of the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, has been appointed by DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to succeed the retiring Tom Homan as acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Vitiello’s appointment took effect Saturday, June 30, and he will also serve as ICE’s deputy director, DHS said in a news release Saturday.

Vitiello is a three-decade law enforcement officer who started his career as a U.S. border patrol agent in 1985 in Laredo, Texas.

He took part in the development of the Laredo Sector Criminal Alien Program and helped manage the regional implementation of Operation Rio Grande in 1997.

Vitiello was instrumental in the establishment of CBP in 2003 and appointed deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in 2010 and then named chief of the agency in 2017.

“I am pleased that ICE will continue to be led by an experienced and well-respected career law enforcement officer who will be a strong advocate for the agency’s workforce,” Nielsen, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said in a statement.

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DISA Seeks to Accelerate Acquisition Process With ‘Other Transaction Authority’
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DISA Seeks to Accelerate Acquisition Process With ‘Other Transaction Authority’


DISA Seeks to Accelerate Acquisition Process With ‘Other Transaction Authority’The Defense Information Systems Agency has started adopting the “other transaction authority” as a contracting method to facilitate the acquisition process and speed up the delivery of new technology platforms designed to meet warfighters’ requirements.

“Many of the companies we’re dealing with are small start-ups,” Scott Stewart, technical director at DISA’s procurement services directorate, said in a statement published Friday.

Stewart noted that OTA works to provide flexibility to agencies and give small businesses “an added level of comfort” when transacting with the government compared with the Federal Acquisition Regulation process.

Congress has introduced two changes to promote the use of OTA methodology: expanding the description of a prototype and broadening the definition of potential recipients of OTA-based contract awards.

DISA said it is using OTA for several projects and intends to use the method to establish the structure for next-generation applications in the current command-and-control battlespace.

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Charles Rettig Eyes IT, Workforce Modernization as IRS Nominee
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Charles Rettig Eyes IT, Workforce Modernization as IRS Nominee


Charles Rettig Eyes IT, Workforce Modernization as IRS Nominee
Charles Rettig

Charles Rettig, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Internal Revenue Service, has told Senate Finance Committee members that he would prioritize the modernization of the agency’s information technology infrastructure if senators approve his nomination, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

Rettig, a tax attorney from California, said during the committee hearing Thursday he believes having an up-to-date IT system will help IRS secure taxpayer data and transform how it delivers services to taxpayers.

If confirmed for the commissioner position, he intends to push for critical pay authority to address IT workforce requirements, which is one of the goals stated in the agency’s latest five-year road map.

“I also believe that having a private-sector experience and bringing that inside is critical, so [there is] a deep understanding of the impact of each step that the Internal Revenue Service takes on American taxpayers,” Rettig added.

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Salesforce’s Keith Block: Federal Digital Transformation Efforts Should Aim for Better Citizen Services
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Salesforce’s Keith Block: Federal Digital Transformation Efforts Should Aim for Better Citizen Services


Salesforce’s Keith Block: Federal Digital Transformation Efforts Should Aim for Better Citizen Services
Keith Block

Keith Block, chief operating officer at Salesforce, told Diginomica in an interview posted Friday that digital transformation efforts in federal government should be built on the goal of delivering “higher levels of service to the citizens.”

Block noted about Salesforce’s discussions with the White House over digital transformation and work with the departments of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture to facilitate the delivery of services to veterans and farmers.

“I think the whole modernization of the government, it is ripe,” he noted.

“The value of data, there’s just so much opportunity there to do the right thing for the country, but more importantly the right thing for citizens,” he added.

Block also mentioned the status of the company’s U.S. public sector business and the need for Salesforce to invest in hardware, infrastructure, technology and certifications to support the business.

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Rep. Vicky Hartzler Discusses DoD Clearance Improvement Efforts With HASC
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Rep. Vicky Hartzler Discusses DoD Clearance Improvement Efforts With HASC


Rep. Vicky Hartzler Discusses DoD Clearance Improvement Efforts With HASC
Vicky Hartzler

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held an event to address concerns in the Defense Department‘s clearance process.

The subcommittee’s fourth official event discussed on ongoing efforts to streamline DoD’s process for granting security clearances to employees and contractors, the House Armed Services Committee said Friday.

The current clearance process has prolonged waiting periods and caused a backlog of over 700,000 cases in 2017.

As a result, Congress ordered the department to apply other programs and technologies to streamline and boost the accuracy of the clearance process.

Hartzler convened four recent subcommittee meetings she had with officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Defense Security Service, the National Background Investigations Bureau and the Government Accountability Office.

These meetings revolved around various reports and plans aiming to address issues on the process.

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DOT Proposes $184M Grant for Additional State Route 400 Express Lanes
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DOT Proposes $184M Grant for Additional State Route 400 Express Lanes


DOT Proposes $184M Grant for Additional State Route 400 Express LanesThe Department of Transportation, along with the Georgia DOT, have proposed a $184.1 million grant to add express lanes to State Route 400, used by Atlanta commuters.

The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant would provide for 17 miles of two-lane, bidirectional managed lanes from I-285, to McGinnis Ferry Road, to McFarland Parkway, the DOT said Friday.

GDOT expects the investment to reduce commute delay by more than 19,000 hours per day across SR 400 by 2030.

DOT Secretary Elaine Chao and GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry are overseeing the proposed effort.

The SR 400 effort supports GDOT’s Major Mobility Investment Program which aims to mitigate traffic congestion problems.

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DOE Allocates $100M 2018 Funds for 42 Research Centers; Rick Perry Comments
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DOE Allocates $100M 2018 Funds for 42 Research Centers; Rick Perry Comments


DOE Allocates $100M 2018 Funds for 42 Research Centers; Rick Perry CommentsThe Energy Department plans to provide potential four-year, $100 million funds for 42 research centers developing projects on solar and nuclear power, fuel and chemical production, conservation and storage, electronics and computation, earth subsurface control and carbon capture.

An average of $2 to 4 million will be awarded annually to the current Energy Frontier Research Centers from fiscal year 2018 funds, with the outyear budget to be determined through Congressional appropriations, the DOE said Friday.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the EFRC program will continue to develop critical energy technologies for American electricity security.

The present set of EFRCs includes 22 new centers, nine renewals and 11 that received two-year extensions for the completion of ongoing research projects.

The DOE’s Office of Science created the EFRC program in 2009 to promote research and development of energy-related fields.

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Rear Adm. William Wheeler Assigned as Cybercom J5 Director for Plans & Policy
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Rear Adm. William Wheeler Assigned as Cybercom J5 Director for Plans & Policy


Rear Adm. William Wheeler Assigned as Cybercom J5 Director for Plans & Policy
William Wheeler III

Rear Adm. William Wheeler III, commander of the U.S. Navy‘s patrol and reconnaissance group, will assume a new role as director of plans and policy, J5, at the U.S. Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Md.

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations announced Friday Wheeler’s new assignment.

Wheeler previously worked as deputy commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa in Djibouti and as executive assistant to the Joint Staff director as well as to the commander of the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa.

The career naval flight officer also served in various maritime patrol and reconnaissance tours.

His service awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal.

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DoD Establishes New Joint Center to Advance AI Tech
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DoD Establishes New Joint Center to Advance AI Tech

DoD Establishes New Joint Center to Advance AI TechThe Defense Department has formed a new center that will oversee artificial intelligence efforts across services and DoD amid efforts of China and Russia to dominate AI, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan wrote in a memo released Thursday the joint artificial intelligence center will report to Dana Deasy, DoD chief information officer, and develop a set of common AI standards, reusable technology, shared data and processes for the Pentagon.

Deasy should consult with other DoD entities, Joint Staff, services and combatant commands and come up with a report within a month on the preliminary list of “National Mission Objectives” in order for JAIC to begin work by Sept. 27, according to the memo.

DoD Establishes New Joint Center to Advance AI TechThe services and other agencies within the Pentagon will coordinate with the CIO each AI project that is worth more than $15 million annually and selected AI projects will immediately get fiscal 2018 funds to speed up their implementation under JAIC, which Shanahan said will ensure AI safety and military ethics.

The document states that the $15 million threshold will be assessed on an annual basis as “investments in AI mature” and that JAIC will also work with other agencies, industry, academic institutions and allies to advance the technology.

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Advisory Panel Calls for DoD to Improve Acquisition Through Portfolio Mgmt Structure Adoption
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Advisory Panel Calls for DoD to Improve Acquisition Through Portfolio Mgmt Structure Adoption


Advisory Panel Calls for DoD to Improve Acquisition Through Portfolio Mgmt Structure AdoptionAn advisory group that Congress created through the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act has issued a report that calls for the Defense Department to transition from a program-focused management structure to an “enterprise capability portfolio management” framework in order to improve the acquisition system, National Defense reported Thursday.

The Section 809 Panel said in the report published Thursday the adoption of a portfolio management structure would help build up warfighter capability, result in the alignment of requirements, budget processes and acquisition and facilitate cross-cutting data integration, analysis and decision-making.

“Realigning the acquisition system to place appropriate emphasis on sustainment would bring renewed focus on the overall state of readiness,” according to the volume 2 report.

The panel will provide additional recommendations related portfolio management structure, sustainment, requirements and portfolio execution in its volume 3 report that is scheduled for release in January 2019.

The report also recommends statutory changes to simplify the commercial source selection process; restructuring of the Cost Accounting Standards Board and cost accounting standards; elimination of regulatory and statutory distinctions between personal and nonpersonal services contracts; operationalization of the Dynamic Marketplace concept; and the need for the Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund to be supervised as a multiyear fund.

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