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Report: Camilo Sandoval Appointed VA Acting CIO
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Report: Camilo Sandoval Appointed VA Acting CIO


Report: Camilo Sandoval Appointed VA Acting CIOThe Department of Veterans Affairs has appointed Camilo Sandoval, former Trump campaign director of data operations, to serve as VA’s chief information officer on an acting basis, Politico reported Wednesday.

A VA spokesperson told Politico that Sandoval has been senior adviser to the department’s undersecretary for health since May of last year and has helped manage its electronic health record modernization efforts.

He also worked for the Treasury Department following the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and previously served in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer.

Sandoval replaces Scott Blackburn, who resigned as acting CIO of the VA after seven months on the job.

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Report: GSA Names Elizabeth Cain as Tech Modernization Fund Executive Director
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Report: GSA Names Elizabeth Cain as Tech Modernization Fund Executive Director


Report: GSA Names Elizabeth Cain as Tech Modernization Fund Executive DirectorElizabeth Cain, formerly a financial management analyst at the General Services Administration’s office of the chief financial officer, has been named executive director of the Technology Modernization Fund, Fedscoop reported Tuesday.

GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, announced the appointment Tuesday during a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee’s financial services and general government subpanel.

The TMF executive director will help oversee the technical, business and fiscal assessments of the proposals to ensure “the dollars spent come back with a return on investment, that they’re able to repay the fund and continue that cycle of reinvesting,” Murphy told the committee.

The appointment came a month after the Office of Management and Budget named seven members to the TMF board that will review project proposals from federal agencies seeking to get funds through TMF, which was created as part of the enactment of the Modernizing Government Technology Act.

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Report: OMB Requests Repurpose of $65M DOE Funds for NNSA Weapon Development
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Report: OMB Requests Repurpose of $65M DOE Funds for NNSA Weapon Development


Report: OMB Requests Repurpose of $65M DOE Funds for NNSA Weapon DevelopmentThe Office of Management and Budget has requested the repurpose of $65 million Energy Department funds for the National Nuclear Security Administration‘s low-yield warhead initiative, Defense News reported Tuesday.

NNSA announced plans to create the W76-2 warhead based on the W76-1 payload of the U.S. Navy‘s Trident missile and issued the Nuclear Posture Review in February that resulted in the non-inclusion of the program in the fiscal 2019 budget request, the publication said.

Total funds for the nuclear weapon program for fiscal year 2019 will amount to $87 million, with $22.6 million from the Defense Department and a part of the Future Years Defense Program budget, the publication detailed.

The FYDP budget is worth $48.5 million spread across the program lifetime, which will run through fiscal year 2023, Defense News noted.

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Report: Air Force-NRO Team to Build Space Situational Awareness Satellite
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Report: Air Force-NRO Team to Build Space Situational Awareness Satellite


Report: Air Force-NRO Team to Build Space Situational Awareness SatelliteThe U.S. Air Force has teamed up with the National Reconnaissance Office to build a new satellite designed to provide space situational awareness capability, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Gen. Jay Raymond, head of the Air Force Space Command and Joint Force Space Component commander at the Strategic Command, announced the partnership at the Space Symposium Tuesday.

The partnership came after the Air Force decided to call off further updates to the Joint Mission System initiative.

The report said the proposed Enterprise Space Battle Management Command & Control system is designed to support the intelligence community and collect data from a wide range of sensors.

Lt. Col. Christina Hoggatt, a spokeswoman for the service, told the publication ESBMC2 will serve as the command-and-control platform “for the larger space enterprise” designed to facilitate communications and data-sharing operations.

The Air Force posted a request for information in January 2017 and noted that the ESBMC2 program aims to help the Joint Functional Component Command for Space plan, coordinate and implement space operations against potential adversaries.

The service’s five requirements for the ESBMC2 system are threat identification and warning; spectrum common operating picture; battle management C2; modeling and simulation for course of action development; and dynamic tasking, according to the FedBizOpps notice.

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Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Aims to Provide Critical Infrastructure Cyber Support via ‘Security as a Service’ Program
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Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Aims to Provide Critical Infrastructure Cyber Support via ‘Security as a Service’ Program


Kirstjen Nielsen: DHS Aims to Provide Critical Infrastructure Cyber Support via ‘Security as a Service’ Program
Kirstjen Nielsen

Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said DHS might directly deliver cybersecurity services to energy companies, airports and other critical infrastructure operators under a new White House cyber strategy, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

Nielsen told reporters at the RSA Cybersecurity Conference in San Francisco that the cyber strategy will have five primary pillars and those include threat reduction, risk identification, vulnerability reduction, cyber outcomes and mitigation of consequences.

She noted that DHS would help facilitate threat data sharing and provide cybersecurity services that are tailored to the needs of each critical infrastructure sector under the proposed “security as a service” program.

Nielsen, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said the proposed program seeks to respond to the evolving cyber threat environment.

VA Acting CIO Blackburn Steps Down
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VA Acting CIO Blackburn Steps Down


VA Acting CIO Blackburn Steps DownScott Blackburn, acting chief information officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs, announced his resignation on Tuesday via Twitter.

“This is a bittersweet moment in my career. Today I officially resigned my position at @DeptVetAffairs. It has been the honor of my life. Too many people to thank. Will continue to advocate for #Veterans in other ways. Next stop – time off for a few months :),” Blackburn tweeted.

His resignation comes as the VA transitions to Cerner’s electronic health record system, leading to the sharing of EHR infrastructure and software with the Department of Defense.

In a posted letter, Blackburn offered praise for the agency, saying veteran trust in the VA has increased from 47 percent in 2015 to 69 percent today.

“From leading the MyVA transformation under Secretary McDonald to serving as interim deputy secretary and then acting CIO under Secretary Shulkin, everyone that knows me understands that I have given my heart and soul to VA, always ‘putting veterans first’ and living the ICARE values of Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence,” Blackburn wrote.

His departure comes weeks after VA Secretary David Shulkin was replaced with White House physician Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson. Blackburn joined the agency in 2014.

“I will remain both VA’s biggest cheerleader and critic from afar. I remain optimistic about the future – as I know that no matter what, VA will continue to be held up by the 360,000 plus dedicated public servants serving Veterans every day so many of which are Veterans themselves; and I know Veterans, Veterans advocates, Veterans Service Organizations, and lawmakers will keep VA leadership in check and accountable,” Blackburn pledged.

Blackburn has served as acting CIO since October 2017, following Rob Thomas’ retirement from the post. In his letter, Blackburn did not give a reason for leaving.

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Rep. Mac Thornberry’s DoD Reform Bill Seeks to Help Department Save at Least $25B
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Rep. Mac Thornberry’s DoD Reform Bill Seeks to Help Department Save at Least $25B


Rep. Mac Thornberry's DoD Reform Bill Seeks to Help Department Save at Least $25B
Mac Thornberry

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) has proposed a bill that aims to eliminate seven agencies within the Defense Department in an effort to achieve over $25 billion in savings, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

“All of the savings and efficiency have to stay within DoD to get more capability in the hands of the warfighter faster,” Thornberry said Tuesday.

DoD agencies that Thornberry’s proposal aims to shut down are:

  • Defense Human Resources Activity
  • Defense Information Systems Agency
  • Defense Technical Information Center
  • Defense Technology Security Administration
  • Office of Economic Adjustment
  • Test Resource Management Center
  • Washington Headquarters Service

The report said the bill proposes a 25 percent reduction in DoD’s “Fourth Estate” agencies by 2021.

The Fourth Estate is composed of 28 DoD agencies that employ approximately 600,000 contractors and 200,000 civilian employees and are not part of a service branch.

Defense News reported the proposed measure would direct the Pentagon’s chief management officer to have a plan in place by March 1, 2020 and implement the 25 percent cut by Jan. 1, 2021.

The bill would integrate DISA into the Cyber Command and exempt several intelligence and combat-support agencies from the proposed cuts, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Defense Health Agency and the National Security Agency.

Thornberry introduced the bill as a draft language for the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act slated for a full-committe markup in May.

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Betty Sapp: NGA, NRO Plan EnhancedView Contract Management Transition
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Betty Sapp: NGA, NRO Plan EnhancedView Contract Management Transition


Betty Sapp: NGA, NRO Plan EnhancedView Contract Management TransitionBetty Sapp, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, has said she expects NRO to assume responsibility over a commercial satellite imagery acquisition program currently assigned to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in September, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

She told the publication both agencies work to ensure a smooth transition of the EnhancedView contract management process.

“We see a real opportunity for synergy in operations, acquisition and delivery timelines,” said Sapp, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

NGA has used the contract to help government customers procure high-resolution satellite imagery products intended for national security and disaster response missions, among other applications.

Sapp added that NRO aims to build technology platforms for agency personnel to collect and exchange space-based intelligence data with other intelligence and military agencies.

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DOE Allocates $105M for Solar Energy R&D Efforts; Rick Perry Comments
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DOE Allocates $105M for Solar Energy R&D Efforts; Rick Perry Comments


DOE Allocates $105M for Solar Energy R&D Efforts; Rick Perry CommentsThe Energy Department has announced it will invest up to $105.5 million in 70 research-and-development efforts that aim to produce solar power technology platforms.

DOE said Tuesday it allocated $46 million for 14 projects that will focus on solar systems integration platforms and $24 million for 21 concentrating solar power R&D projects.

Twenty-eight recipients of up to $27 million will explore photovoltaic cells, modules, and systems, and four awardees of up to $8.5 million will pursue initiatives to help expand the solar industry workforce.

“Investing in all of our abundant energy sources, including solar technologies, will help drive down costs and ensure that the nation leads the world in energy production and innovation,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said.

DOE has also invested $25 million in R&D funds to strengthen cybersecurity of the energy sector.

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SecAF Heather Wilson: Space Defense an ‘Urgent’ National Priority
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SecAF Heather Wilson: Space Defense an ‘Urgent’ National Priority


SecAF Heather Wilson: Space Defense an 'Urgent' National Priority
Heather Wilson

Heather Wilson, secretary of the U.S. Air Force, has said the service branch is developing concepts and technologies designed to counter adversarial threats to U.S. military space assets and operations.

In a Fox News opinion piece published Monday, Wilson wrote that the government should continue working with its allies to increase collective self-defense in the space domain.

“We must continue to study how our enemies might exploit vulnerabilities and how we will defeat them, just as military planners did before World War II,” said Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

She noted the U.S. military plans to implement measures to accelerate satellite development and launch efforts, as well as create methods to counter potential threats such as satellite jamming and laser attacks.

According to Wilson, the Air Force manages 90 percent of the country’s space-based military assets and observes potential threats to national interests.

“There is much work to be done to ensure space continues to be open and accessible to the world and that our systems are secure from attack.”

“It is an urgent national priority.”

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