//
GSA Introduces 10 New Presidential Innovation Fellows
Published on
GSA Introduces 10 New Presidential Innovation Fellows


GSA Introduces 10 New Presidential Innovation FellowsThe General Services Administration has announced the 10 technologists and entrepreneurs selected for the 2017-2018 class of Presidential Innovation Fellows.

GSA said Thursday the Presidential Innovation Fellows program seeks to recruit startup founders and innovators to perform tours of duty at government agencies for a year and work with civil servants to address technology challenges within the government.

The 2017 Presidential Innovation Fellows are:

  • Davey Gibian, a systems designer from Brooklyn, New York
  • Gil Alterovitz, a Harvard/MIT faculty member from Boston, Massachusetts
  • Alex Dalessio, a strategist and social entrepreneur from New York
  • Jeffrey Starr, a cybersecurity and quantitative risk management entrepreneur from Springfield, Virginia
  • Mike Rossetti, a political data analyst and government technology consultant from Branford, Connecticut
  • Nina Bianchi, a strategist, facilitator and founder from Detroit, Michigan
  • Sandeep Burugupalli, a healthcare entrepreneur and strategist from Houston, Texas
  • Stephen Matthew Wisniew, an entrepreneur and retired U.S. Army officer from San Diego, California
  • Stephen Winchell, an engineer and physicist from Washington, D.C.
  • Zach Goldfine, a startup founder and generalist from San Francisco, California

One of the nine Presidential Innovation Fellows under the 2016-2017 class is Clara Tsao, who oversees the Digital Line Effort as part of the Countering Violent Extremism interagency task force.

GSA said the program will launch the application for the summer 2018 group in February.

/
DoD, National Security Technology Accelerator Unveil Military Training & Readiness Partnership
Published on
DoD, National Security Technology Accelerator Unveil Military Training & Readiness Partnership


DoD, National Security Technology Accelerator Unveil Military Training & Readiness PartnershipThe Defense Department and National Security Technology Accelerator have introduced a new public-private partnership program for military training and readiness during the Interservice, Industry Training, Simulations and Education Conference that took place in Florida, United Press International reported Friday.

The Training and Readiness Accelerator program, a collaboration between the Army Contracting Command and a Virginia-based NSTA unit, aims to establish a means for the DoD to identify, test and implement technologies with defense and non-defense partners.

Brig. Gen. William Cole, program executive officer at the Army’s Program Executive Office of Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, told UPI the service branch looks to refine technologies that are critical to military readiness and training activities through the TREX program.

Shephard Media reported Tuesday NSTA secured a five-year contract from the Army Contracting Command in November to offer training and simulation acquisition assistance for the TREX program as part of efforts to help military procurement personnel discover technology platforms.

The program uses a “other transaction authority” in a push to accelerate the military’s research and development cycle, the report noted.

/
House Panel OKs Bill to Reauthorize FISA Section 702 Surveillance Authority
Published on
House Panel OKs Bill to Reauthorize FISA Section 702 Surveillance Authority


House Panel OKs Bill to Reauthorize FISA Section 702 Surveillance AuthorityThe House Intelligence Committee on Friday approved a bill that would reauthorize for four years a provision in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that permits the collection of intelligence data on foreigners who live outside the U.S., the Washington Examiner reported Friday.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-California), chairman of the House panel, introduced Wednesday the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 as the Section 702 surveillance provision approaches expiration on Dec. 31.

The Washington Post reported the measure would direct government agencies to secure a court order before they can access a National Security Agency-run database to view communications that came from or sent to U.S. citizens and were gathered through Section 702.

The report noted that lawmakers are expected to add the measure on the surveillance authority’s reauthorization to a budget package for fiscal 2018 that Congress needs to pass by Dec. 8 to avoid a government shutdown.

//
Mike Padden: Army’s New Office to Support IT Network Integration Programs
Published on
Mike Padden: Army’s New Office to Support IT Network Integration Programs


Mike Padden: Army's New Office to Support IT Network Integration ProgramsThe U.S. Army‘s program executive office for enterprise information systems created the position of assistant program executive officer to help oversee information technology network integration efforts across the service branch, C4ISRNET reported Saturday.

Mike Padden, formerly project manager for the Army’s Installation Information Infrastructure Communications and Capabilities program, has led the new office since late September as APEO for network integration.

Padden told C4ISRNET his office aims to help PEO-EIS and Army leadership increase the efficiency and effectiveness of military technology platforms as well as support Army priorities.

He also wants his team to provide assistance to the ongoing service-wide review of IT networks.

/
Sen. Mitch McConnell: Federal Agencies Won’t Shut Down Over DACA Issue
Published on
Sen. Mitch McConnell: Federal Agencies Won’t Shut Down Over DACA Issue


Sen. Mitch McConnell: Federal Agencies Won’t Shut Down Over DACA IssueSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said during a Sunday morning interview on ABC’s This Week show that he believes Congress will work to avoid a government shutdown at the end of this week, Bloomberg reported Monday.

McConnell’s statement came a day after the House unveiled a plan to pass another continuing resolution in a move to extend federal funding through Dec. 22 as the current stopgap measure approaches the Dec. 8 deadline.

He noted that he does not think the federal government would shut down over Congress’ failure to address the issue over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program since lawmakers have until March to come up with a plan to address DACA.

The two-week extension to federal funding to avert a shutdown also aims to provide lawmakers in both chambers time to reconcile their tax reform bills into a final measure.

Defense News also reported that some members of the House Armed Services Committee called on Defense Secretary James Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and other military leaders to ask Congress to avoid another CR by passing a budget measure for fiscal 2018 before the end of the year.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin), Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia) and Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Mississippi) made the call Friday during the hearing of the HASC readiness subcommittee.

Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, deputy chief of naval operations for operations; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Brian Beaudreault, deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations; and Cary Russell, director of the Government Accountability Office’s defense capabilities and management team; testified during the House subpanel hearing.

Navy Receives DoD CIO Award for Sailors’ Integrated Web Portal
Published on
Navy Receives DoD CIO Award for Sailors’ Integrated Web Portal


Navy Receives DoD CIO Award for Sailors' Integrated Web PortalThe U.S. Navy‘s Sea Warrior Program Office has accepted a Defense Department award for its work to consolidate online human resource, education and training portals designed for sailors into a single website.

The department honored the PMW 240 team with the DoD CIO award for the My Navy Portal during a ceremony held Thursday at the Pentagon, the Navy said Friday.

My Navy Portal is hosted on a commercial cloud platform and authorized to operate under information level 4 baseline.

The site is built to help sailors manage their careers throughout their military service.

Patrick Fitzgerald, PMW 240 program manager, said the implementation of the online platform represents a key milestone in the branch’s Cloud-First Strategy.

/
U.S. Marine Teams Establish Tactical Air Direction Center at Camp Pendleton
Published on
U.S. Marine Teams Establish Tactical Air Direction Center at Camp Pendleton


U.S. Marine Teams Establish Tactical Air Direction Center at Camp PendletonTeams from the U.S. Marine Corps have formed a tactical air direction center located at Camp Pendleton in California.

Established Oct. 28, the center was made to carry out majority of Marine tactical air command tasks; integrate air and ground systems; and serve as a location wherein maritime command centers and ships can access the Marine air command and control system, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

The TADC was inaugurated as part of Exercise Dawn Blitz 2017 which aims to prepare Expeditionary Strike Group 3 and 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade to engage in amphibious missions.

The USS Essex was used to integrate with the Global Command and Control System to improve connectivity in support of the center.

Aviation combat element commanders can use the TADC as a communications medium to conduct U.S. Navy and Marine joint operations with command and control assets.

During the Dawn Blitz exercise, the center was used as a communications medium between MTACS-38 Marines and the Essex’s ACE commander.

/
USO’s Jack Dyer Crouch Named Defense Policy Board Chair
Published on
USO’s Jack Dyer Crouch Named Defense Policy Board Chair


USO's Jack Dyer Crouch Named Defense Policy Board ChairJack Dyer Crouch, president and CEO of the United Services Organization, has been appointed as chairman of the Defense Policy Board.

Defense Secretary James Mattis also announced the addition of five new members to the board, the Defense Department said Thursday.

Crouch previously held roles of increasing responsibility at QinetiQ North America such as CEO, president of the technology solutions group and executive vice president for strategic development.

He also served as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor during the administration of George W. Bush.

The new members of the Defense Policy Board are:

  • David McCormick, co-president at Bridgewater Associates
  • Eric Cantor, vice chairman and managing director at Moelis & Company
  • James Talent, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
  • Kiron Skinner, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University
  • Wanda Austin, author of Making Space: Strategic Leadership for a Complex World

//
Report: NASA, Intl Space Agencies to Release Space Exploration Roadmap in 2018
Published on
Report: NASA, Intl Space Agencies to Release Space Exploration Roadmap in 2018


Report: NASA, Intl Space Agencies to Release Space Exploration Roadmap in 2018NASA is working with 14 international space agencies to publish a roadmap in January 2018 that would detail common space exploration goals, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

The voluntary organization, called the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, will release the new Global Exploration Roadmap to provide updated plans for missions such as extended presence in low Earth orbit; a cislunar habitat; and expeditions to the moon and Mars.

ISECG issued the last Global Exploration Roadmap in 2013 and posted a draft of the new roadmap to seek comments from government, industry and academia.

Kathy Laurini, NASA senior adviser for exploration and space operations, said at a Global Exploration Roadmap community workshop on Wednesday that NASA has been coordinating with international partners on how to use the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft for joint explorations.

Laurini, who chairs ISECG, added that ISECG members will use the updated roadmap to show the potential global contributions of space programs to policymakers and funding agencies.

The new roadmap outlines a three-phase plan that involves ongoing research and tests on the International Space Station as part of phase zero; explorations in the lunar vicinity during phase one; and missions to orbit Mars under phase two.

//
Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Norton Nominated to Lead DISA
Published on
Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Norton Nominated to Lead DISA


Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Norton Nominated to Lead DISA
Nancy Norton

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Norton, vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as director of DISA director and commander of Joint Forces Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network commander.

President Trump also endorsed the 30-year Navy veteran for promotion to the rank of vice admiral, the Defense Department said Thursday.

Norton supported information warfare operations as a member of the Naval Communications Area Master Station Easter Pacific in Hawaii and the Nevada-based Naval Telecommunications Center.

She previously served as cybersecurity director at the U.S. Pacific Command and Pacific Fleet, as well as commander of the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Bahrain.

She also held the position of flag communications officer aboard USS Enterprise and at U.S. 6th Fleet.

1 … 2,126 2,127 2,128 2,129 2,130 … 2,619