CNAS Forms Task Force to Advise Gov’t on US Sanctions Practices
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CNAS Forms Task Force to Advise Gov’t on US Sanctions Practices


CNAS Forms Task Force to Advise Gov't on US Sanctions PracticesThe Center for a New American Security has formed a new task force focused on providing ideas that work to help the administration and Congress develop and implement sanctions against entities that violate U.S. policies.

CNAS said Tuesday the Future of U.S. Sanctions Task Force within its energy, economics and security program will conduct closed-door meetings over the next 18 months and publish commentaries and reports on U.S. sanctions issues.

Paula Dobriansky of Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Adam Szubin of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies will co-chair the group.

Elizabeth Rosenberg and Peter Harrell of CNAS’ Energy, Economics and Security Program will serve as task force coordinators, the think tank added.

The task force also includes foreign policy experts and business leaders from organizations such as Airbus, Atlantic Council, Ernst & Young, Financial Integrity Network, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, General Electric and Tufts University.

The creation of the task forces comes amid news of additional sanctions against Russia for its reported interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, involvement in Syria’s civil war and annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, and also against Iran for ballistic missile activities not covered under the current international nuclear agreement.

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GAO: Army Should Develop Metrics for Contracting Activity Evaluation
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GAO: Army Should Develop Metrics for Contracting Activity Evaluation


GAO: Army Should Develop Metrics for Contracting Activity EvaluationThe 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.

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PSC Urges Senate Committee to Approve Modernizing Government Technology Act
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PSC Urges Senate Committee to Approve Modernizing Government Technology Act


PSC Urges Senate Committee to Approve Modernizing Government Technology ActThe 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.

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NASA Awards University of Oklahoma $161M Contract for Atmospheric Carbon Cycle Observatory Devt
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NASA Awards University of Oklahoma $161M Contract for Atmospheric Carbon Cycle Observatory Devt


NASA Awards University of Oklahoma $161M Contract for Atmospheric Carbon Cycle Observatory DevtNASA has awarded the University of Oklahoma in Norman a potential $161 million contract to develop a geostationary instrument that will work to measure vegetation health and carbon-related greenhouse gases from space.

The agency said Friday it selected the university’s proposed Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory out of 15 submissions received for the agency’s second Earth Venture Mission opportunity that seeks to support small orbital research through the Earth System Science Pathfinder program.

GeoCarb will work to track vegetation stress across the Americas and study the exchange processes and natural sources that affect methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The instrument will fly aboard a commercial communications satellite as a payload to gather data from a geosynchronous Earth orbit.

Work under the cost-reimbursement contract is scheduled to begin in July and run through June 20, 2026.

NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia oversees the ESSP initiative for the space agency’s science mission directorate.

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GSA Publishes Cloud Transformation Guidance for Data Center Community
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GSA Publishes Cloud Transformation Guidance for Data Center Community


GSA Publishes Cloud Transformation Guidance for Data Center CommunityThe General Services Administration‘s Data Center Optimization Initiative Program Management Office has released a report to share lessons learned on cloud transformation efforts for the data center community.

Dan Pomeroy, director of the DCOI PMO, said in a post published June 14 that the whitepaper tackles findings and guidance on four cloud computing adoption topics including business drivers, migration considerations, organizational readiness and organizational impact.

DCOI PMO offers guidance on the federal tools and resources that can help agencies transition to the cloud and utilize cloud computing capacities not available in current information technology service offerings, noted Pomeroy.

Pomeroy added that the DCOI PMO also offers research assistance to help agencies mitigate cloud challenges.

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Online Trust Alliance Audit: 60% of Federal Sites Get Failing Scores in Privacy, Security
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Online Trust Alliance Audit: 60% of Federal Sites Get Failing Scores in Privacy, Security


Online Trust Alliance Audit: 60% of Federal Sites Get Failing Scores in Privacy, SecurityA new audit report by Online Trust Alliance has found that 60 percent of federal websites failed in terms of privacy, security and consumer protection practices, GCN reported Wednesday.

OTA assessed approximately 1,000 websites for the 2017 Online Trust Audit & Honor Roll report and found that the number of government sites that made the “honor roll” dropped to 39 percent this year from 46 percent in 2016.

Government sites that landed spots in the list of 50 highest scoring websites include those from the Education Department, Federal Communications Commission, Census Bureau and HealthCare.gov.

The annual report also showed that 46 percent of federal sites use DKIM and SPF as tools for email authentication and the percentage of websites that implement Domain Name System Security Extensions climbed to 93 percent, up from 88 percent in 2016.

At least 70 percent of government sites adopt Internet Protocol version 6, according to the audit.

The audit also noted that 76 percent of consumer services websites received the honor roll status, while only 27 percent of banking sites made the list.

The OTA report also evaluated websites from internet retailers, email and internet service providers as well as news and media.

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Rep. Mac Thornberry: HASC’s FY 2018 NDAA Contains Acquisition Reform, Missile Defense Provisions
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Rep. Mac Thornberry: HASC’s FY 2018 NDAA Contains Acquisition Reform, Missile Defense Provisions


Rep. Mac Thornberry: HASC’s FY 2018 NDAA Contains Acquisition Reform, Missile Defense Provisions
Mac Thornberry

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has said his panel’s $640 billion defense spending bill for fiscal 2018 includes proposed changes to the Defense Department’s acquisition system, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

Thornberry told reporters Thursday that the draft fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act contains changes to the e-commerce section’s wording.

“The goal is to have multiple online marketplaces,” he said.

“We changed the wording of the language to better reflect the desire and expectation that it will be more than one.”

Thornberry noted that his panel also collaborated with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and General Services Administration over the governmentwide procurement system.

“We’ve talked a lot with GSA, who’s very interested in helping manage these online marketing places for the benefit of the entire government,” he added.

He also noted that the measure proposed to boost spending on missile defense, munitions and cybersecurity efforts.

Other provisions that Thornberry mentioned include the proposed 2.4 percent increase in service personnel’s pay and funding support for the European Deterrence Initiative, the report added.

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GAO Requests $618M Budget for Fiscal 2018
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GAO Requests $618M Budget for Fiscal 2018


GAO Requests $618M Budget for Fiscal 2018The Government Accountability Office has asked Congress for $618.2 million to fund operations at the federal watchdog agency in fiscal 2018.

GAO said Wednesday the funds would help the agency maintain a staffing level of 3,100 full-time employees to address the agency’s need for increased attention in areas such as improper government payments, tax gap and the impact of rapid science and technology development on policy.

The agency added it plans to offset spending with $27.5 million in reimbursements from rental income and program and financial audits, which will lead to a net budget request of $590.7 million.

GAO’s efforts in FY 2016 resulted to approximately $63 billion in financial benefits to the federal government as well as more than 2,071 recommendations that led to 1,234 program and operational updates across the government, the report noted.

The agency also published 697 reports and responded to requests from 95 percent of Congress’ standing full committees in FY 2016.

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James Mattis: US, China Declare North Korea’s Nuclear Missile Program a Threat to APAC Security
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James Mattis: US, China Declare North Korea’s Nuclear Missile Program a Threat to APAC Security


James Mattis: US, China Declare North Korea’s Nuclear Missile Program a Threat to APAC Security
James Mattis

Defense Secretary James Mattis has said both U.S. and Chinese officials attested that North Korea’s nuclear missile efforts pose a security threat in the Asia-Pacific region, DoD News reported Wednesday.

“We also affirmed our strong commitment to cooperate, including through the U.N. to realize our shared goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said after the first U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue.

Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Yang Jiechi, China’s state councilor, and Gen. Fang Fenghui, chief of the Chinese joint staff department, for the dialogue held Wednesday at the State Department in Washington, D.C.

Mattis cited that the dialogue also touched upon the resolution of maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

“We discussed ways to decrease tension and reduce risk in the South China Sea,” he said.

“As we maintain open dialogue on this topic, the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.”

U.S. and Chinese officials also discussed the defense cooperation between the two countries and China’s assistance to Iraq to help counter the Islamic State militant organization, the report added.

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FAA’s New Committee to Establish Standards for UAV Tracking
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FAA’s New Committee to Establish Standards for UAV Tracking


FAA's New Committee to Establish Standards for UAV TrackingThe Federal Aviation Administration will establish a new aviation rule-making committee tasked to develop standards on how to identify and track unmanned aerial vehicles.

FAA said Wednesday that panel will consist of stakeholders from the aviation community, unmanned aircraft industry, industry member organization, researchers and standards groups.

The committee will help the agency identify, categorize and recommend emerging technologies for remote UAS tracking and identification.

It will also evaluate the affordability and feasibility of available technologies and how such systems can help meet requirements of air traffic control and law enforcement organizations.

FAA added the group will also provide recommendations to support efforts toward beyond visual line of sight drone flights.

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