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Johns Hopkins APL Lands $250M DISA Contract for Research, Engineering Support
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DISA logo. DISA awarded the Johns Hopkins APL an IDIQ contract for operations research and engineering support.

The Defense Information Systems Agency has awarded the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory a potential five-year, $250 million contract to provide operations research and engineering services to help enhance military capabilities.

DISA IDIQ Contract Scope

In addition to operations research services, DISA said Monday the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract awarded by the agency’s Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization-National Capital Region also covers advanced scenario modeling and systems assessment support.

Under the IDIQ contract, Johns Hopkins APL will provide all Department of Defense Fourth Estate Agencies and field activities and U.S. combatant commands with engineering support and other capabilities to help them validate concepts and deploy field-ready systems.

According to the release, the government also benefits from APL’s cyber resilience tools, real-time operational analytics, autonomous systems and decision optimization capabilities, which could help improve battlefield readiness.

The DISA Acquisitions Enterprise Licensing Agreement Program Management Office is the program manager for the IDIQ contract, which seeks to reduce acquisition timelines to rapidly respond to warfighter requirements.

In 2019, DISA awarded APL a $245 million contract for research, development and engineering services.

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Victoria Porto Named CISA Deputy Chief Financial Officer
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CISA Deputy CFO Victoria Porto. Victoria Porto has been appointed deputy chief financial officer at CISA.

Victoria Porto announced on LinkedIn Thursday that she has been named deputy chief financial officer at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Victoria Porto Named CISA Deputy Chief Financial Officer

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In this capacity, Porto will leverage her over 20 years of federal leadership experience to oversee financial management, bolster operational efficiency and ensure resource alignment to support CISA’s objective of safeguarding critical infrastructure. She is tasked with enhancing transparency and enabling data-driven planning across the agency’s divisions to support national security priorities.

Who Is Victoria Porto?

Porto is a seasoned Senior Executive Service leader with the Department of Homeland Security for most of her career. She most recently served as senior counselor to the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and acting chief of the civil rights equal employment opportunity office.

She was executive director for various offices, including readiness operations and programs. The executive served as chief of verification, deputy chief of the office of performance and quality, and branch chief of the immigrant investor program office.

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NASA, Army National Guard Partner to Develop Lunar Landing Training Course
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Lunar surface. NASA and the Army National Guard have partnered to develop a new lunar landing training course.

NASA has collaborated with the U.S. Army National Guard to develop a new flight training course to help train Artemis astronauts to land on the Moon’s South Pole.

High-Altitude Training for Artemis Astronauts

The agency said Monday the lunar lander simulated flight training course is being developed in the mountains of northern Colorado, particularly in the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, or HAATS, in Gypsum. The training course is expected to be completed in August.

The initiative aims to prepare Artemis astronauts for crewed flights and landing on the lunar South Pole, where the terrain features craters and sloped connecting ridges and the light conditions are harsh. 

During the week-long training course, astronauts will train alongside instructors from the National Guard. They will fly various aircraft, such as the LUH-72 Lakotas, CH-47 Chinooks and UH-60 Black Hawks to mountaintops and valleys. One astronaut pilots the aircraft while another charts the landing area. They will navigate increasingly complex landing zones and situations, in an effort to develop teamwork and refine communication skills.

According to NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, the agency is building its foundational training for Artemis Moon landings using motion-based simulation, in-flight lunar landing analog training and in-flight lunar simulation.

Wheelock, who helped coordinate the training program, said, “During training flights at HAATS, astronauts can experience the visual illusions, cross-cockpit communication and degraded visibility they may experience navigating to their landing zone near the lunar south pole. Flight training opportunities like this are vital to mission success and crew safety.”

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GSA Issues RFI for AI-Powered Procurement System
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GSA logo. GSA issued a request for information for an AI-powered procurement system.

The General Services Administration is seeking feedback from industry partners on a new, artificial intelligence-driven procurement system.

GSA said Monday the integrated acquisition ecosystem is intended to boost the efficiency and transparency of the federal acquisition process by leveraging AI to consolidate systems and provide data-driven insights.

The GSA initiative aims to modernize how government agencies and suppliers collaborate. The agency intends to determine how industry partners can utilize AI and automation to analyze existing structured and unstructured government data. 

The request for information seeks perspectives from companies focused on IT, data architecture and storage, AI and machine learning, data analytics, user experience design, and innovative services from small businesses or startups. Interested partners can submit their responses by Aug. 29.

FAS Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum on GSA’s AI-Driven Initiative

“President Trump, through his executive orders and AI Action Plan, is prioritizing the consolidation of federal procurement and acceleration of AI adoption across government. GSA plays a central role in both these efforts and will deliver a more effective, data-driven and unified acquisition lifecycle,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum.

“Leveraging AI to consolidate procurement processes and provide insightful recommendations is critical to this transformation. We welcome our industry partners’ expertise as we build an acquisition system that reduces waste, delivers better value for taxpayers and better results for government,” the 2025 Wash100 Award winner added.

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Scrap or Turn Technology Business Management Framework an Admin Priority, GAO Tells OMB
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GAO wants OMB to finally prioritize or scrap its TBM framework

The Government Accountability Office has called on the Office of Management and Budget to either designate the implementation of a framework designed to enhance the transparency of federal spending on IT as an administration priority or terminate the effort.

Although OMB introduced the Technology Business Management, or TBM, framework in 2017, GAO said most agencies do not have a plan to implement it.

GAO Investigation Findings

The congressional watchdog has previously discussed the framework in previous reports. In 2022, GAO noted that both OMB and the General Services Administration led government-wide implementation of the TBM, but progress was limited.

OMB’s 2017 plan required agencies to report IT spending in two layers: layer one with nine categories and layer two with 11 categories. Layer 1 includes facilities and power, hardware and software. Layer 2 categories include applications, data centers and networks.

GAO made seven recommendations in its 2022 report, including expanding the rest of the framework’s taxonomy. OMB only partially implemented one of the recommendations and did not implement five, including the expansion of taxonomy.

OMB also did not give agencies a reliable cost allocation methodology for implementing TBM. As a result, GAO found that 18 agencies had either only partially or not implemented a reliable cost allocation methodology.

In addition, the watchdog interviewed agency officials on TBM implementation benefits. While officials reported increased transparency, no cost savings were identified.

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Gen. Dagvin Anderson Takes Helm of US Africa Command
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Gen. Dagvin Anderson. The head of U.S. Africa Command officially took the helm from Gen. Michael Langley.

Air Force Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson on Friday officially assumed the role of commander of U.S. Africa Command during a change of command ceremony held at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany.

Anderson took the helm of Africom from Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, who led efforts to strengthen operational readiness and improve interoperability with African and allied forces when he took command in August 2022.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson Takes Helm of US Africa Command

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“I am not new to the challenges of Africa,” said Anderson, who was nominated to the position in June. “And I am incredibly familiar with the rising threats around the world that are vying for influence on the continent, seeking to destabilize and undo the world order that we enjoy [while undermining] the way of life that we all defend.”

Who Is Gen. Dagvin Anderson?

Anderson most recently served as director of Joint Force Development, J7, Joint Staff at the Pentagon. In this capacity, he helped oversee doctrine, training, concept development and experimentation, and three other joint force development functions.

His previous assignments include vice director for operations at the Joint Staff, commander of Special Operations Command-Africa and deputy director for operations of the Indo-Pacific Command.

He is a command pilot with over 3,400 flight hours with several aircraft, including KC-135R, MC-130E and U-28A.

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Jay Bhattacharya on NIH’s Unified Strategy
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Jay Bhattacharya. The NIH director announced a unified strategy that seeks to align its priorities with funding approaches.

Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said NIH is advancing a unified strategy that seeks to align funding approaches and priorities to address urgent health needs, support a biomedical research workforce and fund scientific research.

“A central pillar of this approach is balancing scientific opportunity with mission-critical objectives,” Bhattacharya said in a statement published Friday.

As part of the unified strategy, the NIH director said the agency is prioritizing artificial intelligence, real-world data platforms, alternative testing models and other next-generation tools.

Jay Bhattacharya on NIH's Unified Strategy

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Advancing AI Through NIH Strategic Plan

NIH will create an artificial intelligence strategic plan to improve transparency in AI models, establish replication standards for AI use in research and accelerate research and development of AI discoveries to support patients.

The AI strategic plan will consider high-impact use cases of AI, strategic architecture, best practices for validating AI in healthcare delivery and new opportunities to use AI to support agency operations.

Real-World Data Platform

NIH is creating a secure national infrastructure to integrate data from real-world sources while respecting individual privacy rights.

The agency’s real-world data platform will provide investigators with advanced computational analysis resources across chronic diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders and other research areas.

Alternative Testing Models

NIH is forming the Office of Research Innovation, Validation and Application within the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives to advance the use of human biology-based new approach methodologies to improve investigations and complement animal models.

The new office will serve as a hub for interagency collaboration; coordinate with NIH centers and institutes to explore ways to reduce dependence on animal testing; and broaden funding opportunities and infrastructure for non-animal approaches.

Enhance Oversight of Funded Foreign Research & Other NIH Priorities

Bhattacharya said NIH will improve oversight of funded research initiatives abroad to help rebuild public trust.

“We will expand support for replication studies and strengthen our capacity to advance groundbreaking science,” he noted. “At the same time, NIH remains dedicated to fostering open, competitive, and accountable science and supporting investigators as they pursue innovative, and sometimes controversial, questions grounded in rigorous methodology.”

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Navy Shifts Toward Fully Unmanned Surface Fleet
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U.S. Navy logo. The military service is shifting away from optionally manned vessels to fully unmanned craft.

The U.S. Navy is moving away from the optionally manned vessel concept as it refines its vision for unmanned platforms that will operate alongside traditional surface ships, USNI News reported Friday. Officials said the service now prefers designs that keep sailors entirely off board.

Speaking at an event at the U.S. Naval Institute, Capt. Matt Lewis, program manager for unmanned maritime systems, said the change stems from the complexity and cost that come with designing ships to accommodate crews. He noted that the Navy’s recent presolicitation for a Modular Attack Surface Craft, or MASC, encourages proposals that remove the need for manned operations. 

“The solicitation that went out for industry… it was open, and we are eager to get proposals as we review them, to look at the proposals that don’t have people on board,” Lewis shared.

Navy Shifts Toward Fully Unmanned Surface Fleet

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Capt. Garrett Miller, who leads the San Diego-based Surface Development Group One and oversees the Navy’s experimental unmanned fleet, was more direct about the shift. “We definitely want unmanned. Period,” Miller said.

According to the presolicitation notice, the Navy is seeking a vessel that would carry up to two 40-foot shipping containers and cruise at a sailing speed of 25 knots for up to 2,500 nautical miles in sea state four.

Alongside new hardware developments, the Navy is building a career path for unmanned surface warfare officers and training enlisted robotics specialists at Carnegie Mellon University. Rear Adm. Derek Trinque, director of surface warfare, said “the idea is they’re going to be able to operate and maintain robotic and autonomous systems for the fleet.”

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Treasury Department Seeks Comments on Combating Illicit Digital Asset Activities
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Treasury seal. The Treasury Department is seeking comments on combating illicit activities related to digital assets.

The Department of the Treasury has issued a notice seeking industry input on the potential advanced approaches or strategies for detecting and mitigating illicit finance risks related to digital assets.

Treasury Leveraging Advanced Tech

According to the request for comment posted on the Federal Register Monday, the department is seeking insights on how financial institutions can leverage artificial intelligence, application program interfaces, digital identity verification and blockchain monitoring in identifying money laundering and other illegal activities involving digital assets.

GENIUS Act

The notice was issued in accordance with the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS Act. It aligns with Executive Order 14178, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” which promotes the responsible development and utilization of digital assets, blockchain and related technologies.

Under the GENIUS Act, the Secretary of the Treasury is tasked with seeking public comments, while the department will conduct research based on the results of the solicitation. It will then provide a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives. The Treasury will also issue new guidance based on its research findings.

Comments will be accepted until October 17.

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NASA Seeks Proposals for 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge
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HERC 2026 handbook. NASA is seeking proposals for the 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

NASA has officially opened the application for the 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

The agency said Friday it is soliciting proposals from student teams to design, build and test rovers for exploring the Moon and Mars. Teams from middle school, high school and university interested in participating in the challenge have until September 15 to submit their proposals. An in-person event will be held from April 9 to 11 in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center near NASA Marshall.

Mimicking Real-World Moon & Mars Exploration

The 2026 edition of the challenge reflects future Artemis missions to the Moon. It calls for teams to develop rovers that can perform mission tasks while navigating a half-mile course simulating the Moon and Mars terrain. The rover should be capable of collecting and testing soil, water and air samples from various locations on the simulated terrain, including asteroid debris, craters, boulders, erosion ruts and an ancient streambed.

The 32nd annual competition will feature a human-powered division, in which students will act like astronauts and manually collect the sample using a custom-built tool. For the remote-controlled division, the teams will utilize pressurized rovers to collect and store the samples onboard. Guidelines for both divisions are available in the HERC 2026 handbook.

Remarks From NASA Program Specialist

“NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge creates opportunities for students to develop the skills they need to be successful STEM professionals,” said Vemitra Alexander, 2026 HERC activity lead.

“This challenge will help students see themselves in the mission and give them the hands-on experience needed to advance technology and become the workforce of tomorrow,” she added. 

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