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DTRA Seeks Vendors for Cyberthreat Detection & Analysis Tech
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DTRA Seeks Vendors for Cyberthreat Detection & Analysis Tech

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency is seeking potential industry sources of a tool for detecting and analyzing cybersecurity threats.

According to a sources sought notice published Friday, DTRA will accept responses to the request for information until Oct. 21.

According to a draft performance work statement, the contractor will provide DTRA’s Nuclear Enterprise Support Directorate within its Mission Assurance Department with software and all related components of the Advanced Cyber Security Threat Detection and Analysis Platform.

The vendor will also manage and configure the platform, test and evaluate components, maintain a stockpile of all peripheral components, develop long-term storage capability and provide documentation and develop technical training.

The selected contractor will also provide specialized support and expertise to facilitate advanced cyber assessments in support of the larger mission assurance initiative.

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DOD Rule Seeks to Update Data Reporting for Major Weapons Systems
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The Department of Defense has proposed a rule to update cost and software data reporting requirements for contracts above certain thresholds awarded in support of acquisition or sustainment programs that are expected to exceed $100 million.

According to a notice published Thursday in the Federal Register, the proposed DOD rule was introduced as an amendment to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement.

The proposed policy intends to eliminate cost and software data reporting from post-award conference procedures.

According to DOD, the rule would provide the department access to cost and software data, enabling it to facilitate cost estimation and comparison across acquisition programs.

Comments on the proposed rule are due Dec. 9.

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Michael Berkholtz on GSA’s Emerging Tech Radar Program
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Michael Berkholtz, a senior manager for technology lifecycle services at the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, said GSA started the emerging technology radar program 18 months ago to help identify which technologies it needs to prepare for in the next three to five years, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

“This idea of a radar is something, I think, a couple of industries use. You can find consulting groups that use it as well as large commercial firms. We think of it in terms of technology and technology maturity, how do we define our own business space?” Berkholtz told FNN in an interview.

Through the program, the GSA official noted that the agency is assessing emerging technologies based on four criteria, including tech platforms that are getting into a government or private sector lab, the business value of a particular technology and how companies are experimenting with a specific technology.

Berkholtz said GSA, for instance, is looking at the efforts of national laboratories and those that are coming out of the Defense Innovation Unit.

He added that the agency is seeing a lot of interest in virtual reality, which is included in the emerging tech radar.

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Interior Department Names Jane Cys Zentmyer as OIG’s CTO
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Interior Department Names Jane Cys Zentmyer as OIG’s CTO

Jane Cys Zentmyer, the former director and chief enterprise architect at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, or OIG, has been appointed as the chief technology officer of the Department of the Interior’s OIG. Zentmyer announced her appointment in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

According to the Interior Department’s CTO recruitment notice earlier published in the website usajobs.gov, the position’s major duties include serving as a senior OIG adviser on organizational strategies for systems technology and infrastructure modernization. The role also calls for extending technical expertise to the assistant inspector general for management.

Before her six-year stint at HHS, Zentmyer worked in the private sector, which included serving as content strategist for digital services provider DMI and as senior communications specialist, web content strategist at information technology company NCI.

Her previous private sector experience also included writing for American Medical News, the American Hospital Association and the Illinois State Medical Society.

A B.S. Journalism graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Zentmyer holds a master of arts in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield. 

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CHIPS for America Advisory Board Gets New Leadership
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CHIPS for America Advisory Board Gets New Leadership

Scott DeBoer and Mark Papermaster have been respectively appointed chair and vice chair of CHIPS for America’s Industrial Advisory Committee.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Wednesday the new appointments come on the heels of the addition of five new members and the return of five others to a second term with the IAC.

Scott DeBoer, the executive vice president of technology and products at Micron Technology, was elevated from his previous vice chair role, where he oversaw the company’s global technology development and engineering efforts. He succeeds Mike Splinter who has served as chair since 2022.

DeBoer has been with Micron for almost 30 years having joined the company in 1995 as a process technology engineer. He also served in various leadership roles including vice president of process research and development. He also serves as site leader for Micron’s Boise area facilities.

Papermaster is the executive vice president and chief technology officer at Advanced Micro Devices, where he spearheaded the development of the Zen x86 CPU family, Infinity Architecture, and the re-design of AMD’s engineering processes.

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National Spectrum R&D Plan Now Publicly Available
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National Spectrum R&D Plan Now Publicly Available

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has released the National Spectrum Research and Development Plan.

The purpose of the document is to ensure that the U.S. maintains its leadership in spectrum R&D by providing shareholders a common reference, shaping private sector efforts and guiding decisions regarding spectrum-related research, the White House said Wednesday.

The document will also help ensure that the benefits of the radio frequency spectrum, deemed by the White House as an important resource, are enjoyed by everyone in the U.S.

The document proposes four categories for spectrum-related R&D: fundamental research, like agile front ends and antennas and spectrum utilization optimization; research accelerators, like public datasets and testbeds and testing frameworks; organizational improvements, like focused research to inform regulatory decisions; and current or likely operational spectrum use cases, like advanced spectrum management processes and regulatory options.

The National Spectrum Research and Development Plan was prepared by the Wireless Spectrum R&D Interagency Working Group within the Subcommittee on Networking & Information Technology Research & Development of the National Science and Technology Council.

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NIH Issues RFI for NIA CROMS Support
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NIH Issues RFI for NIA CROMS Support

The National Institutes of Health is seeking industry input for enhancing the operations of the National Institute on Aging, or NIA.

According to the updated notice published on Sam.gov Tuesday, the NIH is soliciting information for possible vendors to provide maintenance for the existing NIA Clinical Research Operations & Management System and develop new components.

Interested parties should consider the agency’s cloud migration and transition efforts in their responses.

The government intends to award a firm fixed price contract with a base period of one year and four option periods of one year each.

Responses to the RFI should be submitted by Oct. 15.

NIA is responsible for conducting and supporting research on aging as well as the health and well-being of older people. The CROMS system has boosted NIA’s research information capabilities by providing administrative and scientific information management, including real-time collection, tracking, reporting and management of its clinical research data and portfolio.

The NIA CROMS is currently supported by Digital Infuzion.

Register now to join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Healthcare Summit and catch industry luminaries, thought leaders and experts as they discuss the trends, innovations and critical issues surrounding the healthcare sector.

NIH Issues RFI for NIA CROMS Support
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AFRL to Begin In-Flight Testing of Multiorbit Satcom Hardware
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AFRL to Begin In-Flight Testing of Multiorbit Satcom Hardware

The Air Force Research Laboratory plans to perform in-flight testing of prototype antennas and radio receivers in late 2025 and early 2026 to evaluate their capability to provide multiorbit satellite connectivity, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

The devices, developed under the Global Lightning program, are designed to enable switching between different space architectures — a capability critical to addressing challenges brought by signal jamming technologies and implementing the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control network.

Brian Beal, principal aerospace engineer at AFRL’s Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office, said the antennas and radio receivers are built to connect to commercial and government-owned constellations, including SpaceX’s Starlink and the Transport Layer, which the Space Development Agency is developing.

While the equipment trials are focused on aircraft connectivity, the AFRL also works with the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Army to integrate the capability into ground vehicles, ships and stationary applications.

According to Beal, if the Global Lightning program returns positive results, different program offices are expected to adopt and field the satellite communications products.

Various companies, including L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, SES Space and Defense, RTX and Viasat, are involved in the satcom antenna and receiver development.

Beal said the in-flight tests will include ensuring the devices can keep reliable, stable connections to any constellation, determining whether aircraft maneuvers could impact connectivity and measuring the transition time when switching between constellations.

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House Lawmakers Want to Promote AI Research via Prize Challenges
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House Lawmakers Want to Promote AI Research via Prize Challenges

Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., have introduced the AI Grand Challenges Act, which would require the National Science Foundation to hold prize competitions for artificial intelligence innovations.

The legislation would incentivize AI development and encourage AI researchers and developers through prize competitions, Lieu said in a Wednesday statement.

“We must maintain American leadership in AI research, innovation and implementation while minimizing potential risks associated with the technology,” he noted.

Obernolte added that the Act would incentivize AI breakthroughs and advance the emerging technology’s potential capabilities to solve the most complex challenges that the United States faces.

The bill would direct NSF to conduct $1 million grand challenges that use AI to solve problems in several categories, including national security, cybersecurity, health, energy, environment, education, manufacturing, space and quantum computing.

Under the proposal, NSF is also mandated to collaborate with the White House and the National Institutes of Health, to oversee $10 million grand challenges for AI-enabled cancer breakthroughs.

The competitions will focus on detection, diagnostics, treatments and therapeutics for cancer and related comorbidities.

The House bill would be paired with companion Senate legislation filed by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., in May.

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Foreign Competition Ramping Up in Semiconductor Industry
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Foreign Competition Ramping Up in Semiconductor Industry

The United Arab Emirates has become an extremely contested zone for semiconductor chip manufacturing and innovation. The country itself wants to be known as a go-to producer of both chips and artificial intelligence technology and this has caught the attention of multiple nations, including the U.S. and China, the Wall Street Journal said late last month.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics are eyeing UAE as a destination to build new “megafactories,” which could directly compete with the homegrown factories the U.S. is pushing right now, depending on the organizations’ cooperativeness.

At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit, top Department of Defense officials will discuss how the U.S. is working to stay out in front of the global pack with its technology production and studies. You don’t want to miss this day — Jan. 23 — of networking, learning and GovCon collaboration. Save your spot at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit before tickets sell out!

Last week, President Biden ratified the Building Chips in America Act, designed to break down barriers that might delay or prevent the U.S. from constructing its own chip megafactories. Among other measures, the bill excludes such factories from having to undergo environmental reviews prompted by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

As top brass at TSMC and Samsung visit UAE and the Gulf region to scope out a home for their factories, they are also holding court with U.S. federal officials about China’s potential involvement and investments in the region. The U.S. is particularly concerned about China gaining access to “advanced AI-related chips” that TSMC and Samsung are in talks to pump out.

Foreign Competition Ramping Up in Semiconductor Industry
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