The State Department plans to elevate cybersecurity within the agency through the integration of the cyber coordinator post and cyber office into the bureau of business and economic affairs as part of a reorganization plan, MeriTalk reported Wednesday.

“My expectation is that part of the redesign we will have to elevate, to a Senate-confirmed level, the role, and we’ll have to figure out what the title is and where it figures in the bureaucracy,” Deputy State Secretary John Sullivan said Tuesday during his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“But our commitment is to elevate and provide the appropriate resources for leadership on this essential issue.”

Sullivan said the proposed restructuring also covers the retention of cyber talent and modernization of the department’s information technology systems in an effort to reduce costs and cyber risks as well as facilitate the decision-making process.

Federal News Radio also reported the State Department also intends to establish a framework for global service delivery, maximize the accountability of foreign assistance and optimize human resources as part of the reorganization plan that seeks to generate $5 billion to $10 billion in savings.

“We need to streamline the policy creation process and optimize and realign our global footprint,” Sullivan said.

“That means taking inputs from the field, turning them into evidence-based recommendations and executing them as quickly as possible,” he added.

Officials from the agency appeared before the House panel to seek congressional help to implement the reorganization, which is based on a survey of the department’s workforce and insights of teams composed of approximately 300 professionals.

NASA and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos have signed a joint statement during the 68th International Astronautical Congress to collaborate on the formulation of a deep space gateway concept.

The joint statement represents a common human exploration vision between the two agencies and gateway concept studies under the partnership will help decision making efforts on future collaborations, NASA said Wednesday.

“While the deep space gateway is still in concept formulation, NASA is pleased to see growing international interest in moving into cislunar space as the next step for advancing human space exploration,” said Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s acting administrator at NASA Headquarters.

The space agency noted that it aims to expand human presence within the solar system using new deep space exploration transportation systems such as the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft.

NASA also works with space station partners to determine common exploration objectives and potential space missions such as the gateway concept which can be launched in the 2020s.

The Cloud Center of Excellence seeks federal and industry input on four working documents about cloud acquisition, funding challenges and security matters, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

CCoE’s working documents include a cloud dictionary which covers terms from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

The documents also include contract language considerations for the Defense Department and civilian agencies as well as a Cloud Adoption Survival, Tips, Lessons Learned and Experiences guidance document which aims to help acquisition professionals evaluate available cloud systems.

David Bray, outgoing chief information officer of the Federal Communications Commission, said that he and other members of the CCoE anticipate a shift towards a cloud-first vision for government.

The solicitation comes at a time when the Senate passed the Modernizing Government Technology act in the Defense Authorization bill.

The MGT Act will establish a working capital fund for each agency based on savings generated from the consolidation of data centers and the migration to cloud environments.

Simon Birmingham, Australian minister of education, has announced that Australia’s government will create a new agency to oversee the country’s space programs and partnerships, Space News reported Sunday.

“This agency will be the anchor for our domestic coordination and the front door for our international engagement with so many of you across the world’s space industries,” Birminghan said in his opening remarks to the 68th International Astronautical Congress.

Birmingham told audience there is also an ongoing review of Australia’s space industry capacities.

“A national space agency will ensure we have a strategic long-term plan that supports the development and application of space technologies and grows our domestic space industry,” said Michaelia Cash, Australia’s acting minister of industry, innovation and science.

The report said South Australia also plans to establish a space development fund that would invest up to $800,000 annually in startup companies as well as scholarship and training programs in the region.