The Department of Homeland Security has kicked off a challenge for the data science community to help optimize algorithms used by the Transportation Security Administration to check passenger body scans for potential threats, GCN reported Friday.

DHS teamed up with Google-owned company Kaggle on the Passenger Screening Algorithm Challenge, which seeks algorithms that can automatically identify concealed items as passengers walk through scanners, the report stated.

Participants will be given access to a set of images of volunteers that were collected using the High Definition-Advanced Imaging Technology screening system.

Challengers must predict the presence of threats under various objects, clothing and body types.

The challenge offers a total of $1.5 million in prizes to eight winners, including $500,000 for the first place winner.

The final submission deadline is on Dec. 15.

Four senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would direct the secretary of the Transportation Department to collaborate with NASA to establish within a year an implementation plan to help drone traffic management attain full operational capability.

The Safe DRONE Act of 2017 would also call for DOT secretary to advance the development of a trained unmanned aerial systems workforce through the establishment of a consortium of technical and community colleges that will train students for UAS-related career opportunities, Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Virginia) office said Thursday.

The measure would create an interagency working group that would be responsible for the creation of a federal policy designed to address spectrum and communications requirements to facilitate the integration of drones into the national airspace system.

Lawmakers also proposed a $14 million budget for UAS research and development efforts and extend congressional authorization of Federal Aviation Administration-designated drone test sites through fiscal 2024.

The legislation would ask Congress to authorize FAA to continue to implement registration requirement for small drones and support FAA policies that seek to facilitate use of UAS in search-and-rescue operations and other emergency response missions.

Warner proposed the bill with John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) and Dean Heller (R-Nevada).

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the U.S. Army establish metrics to determine if contracts awarded to companies meet cost, schedule and performance goals.

GAO said in a report published Thursday the military branch should also record rationales for all decision and develop measurable objectives to assess the effects of organizational changes on contracting operations.

The government watchdog agency found that the Army obligated more than $74 billion in contract funds during 2016 to procure aircraft, ground combat vehicles, radios, ammunition and missiles as well as logistics, administrative, healthcare and support services.

GAO also determined that Army leaders have not used consistent processes to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the service branch’s contracting operations.

The agency added that five major organizational changes that affect Army contracting operations occurred last year and the military branch has not yet assessed the effects of such changes.

The Professional Services Council has urged leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to mark up a bipartisan bill that would establish a source of funds for federal agencies’ information technology modernization efforts.

PSC said Wednesday it wrote a letter to committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Ranking Member Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) after White House senior adviser Jared Kushner publicly stated that the Trump administration actively supports the Modernizing Government Technology Act.

David Berteau, PSC president and CEO, said MGT Act will help agencies replace legacy IT systems; mitigate cybersecurity risks; and establish IT working capital funds that could accelerate the adoption of modern technologies across the federal government.

Berteau added the bill would establish a centralized Technology Modernization Fund administered by the General Services Administration and form a Technology Modernization Board to assess and make recommendations for agencies’ proposals.

President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal includes $228 million in seed money for the Technology Modernization Fund.

Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) introduced the upper chamber’s version of MGT Act in April while the House of Representatives approved its version of the bill through a voice vote held in May.