Report: VA Inches Closer to Cerner EHR Devt Contract Award
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Report: VA Inches Closer to Cerner EHR Devt Contract Award


Report: VA Inches Closer to Cerner EHR Devt Contract AwardThe Department of Veterans Affairs expects to award Cerner a contract to build a new electronic health record system for VA as early as this month, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

VA Secretary David Shulkin told members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee at a hearing Wednesday that the department issued to Congress a 30-day notice of contract award for the new EHR platform.

His statement came months after he announced plans in June to issue a direct solicitation to Cerner to implement the same EHR system – MHS Genesis – that the Defense Department currently deploys.

VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour told the station in an email that the department will end 80 percent of its ongoing information technology development projects over the next 18 months as part of VA’s IT strategic plan.

A source said the agency’s move to reduce its current projects seeks to help fund the implementation of the new EHR system, the report added.

Cerner collaborates with Leidos and Accenture as part an industry team that won a potential 10-year, $4.3 billion contract in 2015 to help DoD integrate a commercial EHR platform across the Military Health System.

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DHS S&T Project Aims to Repurpose Analytic Tools for Border Security Operations
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DHS S&T Project Aims to Repurpose Analytic Tools for Border Security Operations


DHS S&T Project Aims to Repurpose Analytic Tools for Border Security OperationsThe Department of Homeland Security‘s science and technology directorate has launched a new project to repurpose, modify or integrate existing commercial and government analytic tools into border security platforms.

DHS said Friday it aims to produce automated software to increase the amount of available data for border situational awareness missions through the Adaptive Sensor Analytics Project.

The department intends for the automated software to operate 24/7 and filter large volumes of satellite imagery data to help border patrol agents identify potential criminal activity.

“By developing these capabilities… we will be ready to fully exploit the robust commercial satellite constellations when it is realized in the coming years,” said Jon McEntee, acting director of the S&T borders and maritime security division within the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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Rep. Will Hurd Seeks to Include Central IT Modernization Fund in FITARA Scorecard
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Rep. Will Hurd Seeks to Include Central IT Modernization Fund in FITARA Scorecard


Rep. Will Hurd Seeks to Include Central IT Modernization Fund in FITARA ScorecardRep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) looks to evaluate a proposed information technology modernization working capital fund through the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard used to evaluate the performance of government IT systems, MeriTalk reported Friday.

The planned central IT modernization fund is part of the Modernizing Government Technology Act, which has been included in the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

Hurd said he hopes Congress will pass the fiscal 2018 NDAA before the year ends with no changes to the language of MGT Act, the report noted.

MGT Act would authorize agencies to obtain $250 million in IT modernization funds from a central working capital fund, then repay the money using savings achieved through upgraded systems.

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DARPA Tests Cloud-Penetrating Radar Tech on Modified DC-3 Aircraft
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DARPA Tests Cloud-Penetrating Radar Tech on Modified DC-3 Aircraft


DARPA Tests Cloud-Penetrating Radar Tech on Modified DC-3 AircraftThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has tested an electro-optical and infrared sensor onboard a modified DC-3 aircraft to demonstrate its capacity to collect real-time video through the clouds.

DARPA said Thursday it aims to produce a cloud-penetrating extremely high frequency sensor that can be integrated with multiple aerial platforms as part of the Video Synthetic Aperture Radar program.

“The recent flight tests of the ViSAR sensor marked a major program milestone toward our goal, proving that we can take uninterrupted live video of targets on the ground even when flying through or above clouds,” said Bruce Wallace, program manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office.

“The EO/IR sensors on board the test aircraft went blank whenever clouds obscured the view, but the synthetic aperture radar tracked ground objects continuously throughout the flight.”

The next phase of the ViSAR program will look to merge the radar into an aircraft equipped with a complete battle management system and real-time target engagement capacity.

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Brian Burns: Coast Guard On Track to Meet DoD Deadline for Windows 10 Migration
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Brian Burns: Coast Guard On Track to Meet DoD Deadline for Windows 10 Migration


Brian Burns: Coast Guard On Track to Meet DoD Deadline for Windows 10 MigrationBrian Burns, acting chief information officer of the U.S. Coast Guard, has said the service branch is on track to meet the Defense Department’s March 2018 deadline to transition to Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, commander of the Coast Guard’s Cyber Command, said the Windows 10 migration provides the service a common secure baseline to defend its information technology networks against hostile threats.

Lunday noted that the military branch will transition to the implementation of the virtual desktop interface after it completes the Windows 10 migration phase.

“That will allow us to provide more robust security in terms of having virtualization and also the capability of having remote access,” Lunday said of VDI.

Burns told the station’s Ask the CIO about the Coast Guard’s intent to migrate to the cloud and the need to meet the requirements of DoD and the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate cloud adoption.

He said those requirements include the use of DoD’s information network, migration to the Pentagon’s Joint Information Environment and compliance with DHS’ data center consolidation initiative.

Burns said the service has begun to consolidate its data centers for its aviation and surface force logistics centers and has partnered with DHS to “provide a department-level financial management services capability.”

“That leads us into the next steps of going to the cloud,” he added.

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Report: Trump Mulls New Policy to Ease Foreign Arms Sale Restrictions
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Report: Trump Mulls New Policy to Ease Foreign Arms Sale Restrictions


Report: Trump Mulls New Policy to Ease Foreign Arms Sale RestrictionsPresident Donald Trump is set to issue an executive order or a presidential memorandum this fall that seeks to relax restrictions on foreign sales of U.S. weapons systems as part of the administration’s “arms transfer initiative,” Politico reported Friday.

Three officials with the Trump administration told Politico the National Security Council leads the initiative that aims to increase U.S. manufacturers’ competitiveness as the country’s allies ramp up procurement of missile defense systems, fighter jets, warships, ground vehicles and other military equipment.

The officials said the White House considers implementing changes to policies such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and Conventional Arms Transfer Policy and could release an executive order as early as October.

The departments of Defense, State and Commerce also participate in the arms transfer program through development of proposals for evaluation by the White House, the officials noted.

NSC issued a statement to Politico saying the administration has started a review of the country’s arms sales policies to pave the way for U.S. companies to compete.

“The Trump administration is pursuing a deliberate approach to our arms export policy, ensuring that such sales better align with our national security and foreign policy objectives as well as economic imperatives for American jobs,” NSC said in the statement.

News on the initiative came weeks after senior U.S. officials said the White House intends to transfer oversight of exports of nonmilitary firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department to increase small arms sales overseas and create jobs.

Senate Bill Seeks to Extend Federal Data Center Consolidation Program
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Senate Bill Seeks to Extend Federal Data Center Consolidation Program


Senate Bill Seeks to Extend Federal Data Center Consolidation ProgramA bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that proposes a two-year extension on Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act provisions related to agencies’ data center consolidation efforts, FCW reported Thursday.

Enacted in December 2014, FITARA mandates agencies to report their progress on initiatives to consolidate and modernize data centers, migrate to cloud computing platforms and expand use of shared services.

Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) proposed the extension.

The Government Accountability Office also recommended that Congress consider extending FITARA’s data center consolidation and modernization provisions to give agencies more time to address performance and cost-saving targets established by the Office of Management and Budget.

GAO issued the recommendation after it found that 22 out of 24 agencies mandated to participate in OMB’s Data Center Optimization Initiative face challenges in meeting optimization metrics for fiscal 2018.

Pentagon to Implement Changes to Tricare System in 2018 Under Interim Final Rule
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Pentagon to Implement Changes to Tricare System in 2018 Under Interim Final Rule


Pentagon to Implement Changes to Tricare System in 2018 Under Interim Final RuleThe Defense Department has introduced the interim final rule that will implement changes to the Tricare military health care program on Jan. 1, DoD News reported Thursday.

Navy Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency, said DHA will transition the Tricare program’s administration to calendar year from fiscal year and implement the Tricare Select health plan under the new rule.

Tricare Select is a preferred provider, self-managed health plan that seeks to replace Tricare Standard and Extra plans by January.

“The rule also sets up an automatic enrollment process, so on January 1 beneficiaries in Prime will automatically be enrolled in Prime or automatically be enrolled in Select if they are enrolled in Standard or Extra,” Bono said.

“We will also be broadening access for beneficiaries by setting out the requirements that at least 85 percent of our beneficiaries have access to network providers in TRICARE Select,” she added.

Bono noted that DHA will also set up an open season enrollment period each year to provide Tricare beneficiaries an opportunity to select their health plans on an annual basis.

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GAO: DoD Lacks Data to Manage Single Source of Supply Risks
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GAO: DoD Lacks Data to Manage Single Source of Supply Risks


GAO: DoD Lacks Data to Manage Single Source of Supply RisksThe Government Accountability Office has called on the Defense Department to provide complete information on risks associated with the procurement of certain materials from only one source of supply.

GAO said in a report published Thursday that DoD’s 2016 report on single sources of supply did not include two of four elements that the Senate mandated, as well as other information that could provide further understanding of potential risks.

The DoD report includes information on major defense acquisition programs and equipment delivered by each single source of supply, but leaves out implementation plans, timelines for risk mitigation measures and information on the possible impact of the loss of suppliers.

GAO noted that incomplete information on critical suppliers may cause a lack of awareness among Congress and DoD leaders on the potential risks and effects posed by the loss of single sources of supply for weapon systems.

Auditors interviewed DoD program officials who claimed they were not familiar with DoD’s 2016 report and did not have information on single-supplier parts that are deemed most critical.

Prime contractors are often tasked with the identification of single source of supply risks, leaving program offices with limited information in certain instances because DoD has yet to implement a mechanism to guarantee that program offices receive complete information from contractors, GAO revealed.

DOD has launched an initiative to provide information on the loss of suppliers and to address such risks, dubbed the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages program, but its implementation varies at program offices that GAO studied.

GAO recommended DoD to completely report information on risk mitigation plans and timeframes as well as potential effects of losses to decision makers.

The congressional watchdog also urged DoD share risk information with program offices; create a mechanism to ensure program offices obtain complete information from contractors; and issue a DoD-wide DMSMS implementation policy.

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GAO: Federal Agencies Need to Establish Measures to Track, Reduce Contract Closeout Backlog
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GAO: Federal Agencies Need to Establish Measures to Track, Reduce Contract Closeout Backlog


GAO: Federal Agencies Need to Establish Measures to Track, Reduce Contract Closeout BacklogThe Government Accountability Office has urged five federal agencies to develop measures to monitor elements in contract closeout procedures in order to manage and reduce the backlog of contracts that are due for closeout.

GAO made the recommendation after it found that the departments of Defense, State, Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services lack performance measures and knowledge on the type and number of contracts that should be closed within time frames, according to a report published Thursday.

The report also showed that the Defense Contract Audit Agency failed to meet its primary goal to eliminate its backlog of incurred cost audits by fiscal year 2016 and took an average of 885 days to begin and complete the audit of incurred cost proposals from contractors in FY 2016.

DCAA also took an average of 138 days in FY 2016 to conclude the audit process “due to limited availability of DCAA staff to begin audit work,” GAO noted.

The congressional watchdog also called on DCAA to develop performance measures and evaluate its efforts to reduce its incurred cost audit backlog.

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