Maj. Dan Riley: New Air Force Test Group to Focus on Autonomous Flight Systems
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Maj. Dan Riley: New Air Force Test Group to Focus on Autonomous Flight Systems


Air Force logoThe U.S. Air Force activated a new group within the 412th Test Wing in July to help the military branch develop testing methods for autonomous systems and small unmanned aircraft.

The Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force aims to establish test plans and policies as well as explore potential testing areas around Edwards AF Base in California, the Air Force said Thursday.

The group also seeks to collaborate with commercial partners, NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Civil Engineering and Security Forces centers to identify flight test capabilities for emerging technology.

“The CTF will create test capabilities that do not currently exist and help eliminate strategic surprise to the 412th Test Wing,” said Maj. Dan Riley, director of the Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force.

CTF plans to conduct its first official test on a quadcopter equipped with a transmitter by the end of November.

Commerce Department, USC Marshall Center Form Supply Chain Digitization Partnership
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Commerce Department, USC Marshall Center Form Supply Chain Digitization Partnership


CyberStockThe Commerce Department and the USC Marshall Center for Global Supply Chain Management have formed a partnership to help ports across the U.S. move their supply chains onto digital platform.

The partnership will focus on the digitalization of the supply chains in the U.S. and the adoption of the  Internet of Things systems, the Commerce Department said Friday.

“We hope to encourage ports around the country to increase efficiency by adopting new technologies that will provide more information on the flow of goods to port users and stakeholders,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Commerce and the USC Marshall Center signed the agreement at the University Park campus and both entities plan to hold the Port Community IT Systems Exhibition and Technology Challenge at USC from Nov. 18-Nov. 20 as the first event related to the initiative.

That event aims to help officials from ports communities and supply chain owner organizations explore how digital technology aids in port operations.

A technology challenge will be one of the event’s main items with $15,000 in prizes available for new applications meant to share information through Port Community IT systems.

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SEC Names Melissa Hodgman Enforcement Division Associate Director
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SEC Names Melissa Hodgman Enforcement Division Associate Director


Securities and Exchange CommissionMelissa Hodgman, formerly assistant director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s market abuse unit, has been appointed as associate director at SEC’s enforcement division.

She succeeds Stephen Cohen, who departed the agency in June, SEC said Friday.

Hodgman started working in the enforcement division in 2008 as a staff attorney before she joined the market abuse unit in 2010.

“Melissa has supervised and investigated a broad range of noteworthy and first-of-their-kind cases across the spectrum of the securities industry and involving misconduct located around the world,” said Andrew Ceresney, director of SEC’s enforcement division.

She has led the division’s cross-border working group and served as the enforcement representative on the Chair’s Attorney Honors Program.

Hodgman is also a member of the enforcement division’s hiring committee at its Washington D.C. headquarters.

She was an associate at law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy before she moved to the commission.

DOE: Loan Guarantee Program Funded 45 Additional Solar Photovoltaic Projects
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DOE: Loan Guarantee Program Funded 45 Additional Solar Photovoltaic Projects


solarpowerThe Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has said the White House’s support for solar photovoltaic projects helped to extend private financing to an additional 45 utility-scale solar PV projects.

The LPO’s update to a 2015 report indicates the DOE-provided loans were used to expand the first five utility-scale solar PV projects larger than 100 megawatts in the U.S. by a ten-fold increase, DOE said Friday.

“When the Obama administration began, there were zero large-scale solar PV projects in the United States,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

“Our Loan Programs Office committed funding for the first five, and today we can say 45 more have been built with private financing, opening a clean energy market that did not exist before,” added Moniz.

DOE also held a dedication ceremony for the 150-megawatt Mesquite Solar 3 PV solar project in Maricopa County, Arizona, intended to supply power to fourteen Navy installations in southern California.

Vice Adm. Raquel Bono: New MHS EHR System Key to Interoperability Between Soldiers, Health Providers
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Vice Adm. Raquel Bono: New MHS EHR System Key to Interoperability Between Soldiers, Health Providers


Raquel Bono
Raquel Bono

Navy Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency, has said the implementation of a new electronic health records system could help facilitate interoperability between mobile service personnel and healthcare providers.

DHA said Friday Bono said during her keynote speech at an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association event that the Military Health System will begin to launch the MHS Genesis EHR system in February in the Pacific Northwest with a plan to fully roll out the system within six years.

“We had a wonderful exchange in building the requirements for this with industry,” Bono said of the EHR platform at AFCEA Bethesda, Maryland chapter’s Health IT Day 2016.

“It really alerted us to some of the solutions that were out there we were looking for, recognizing that we have some unique challenges with our globally distributed patient population and also our providers and military treatment facilities,” she added.

MHS has delayed the launch of the MHS Genesis system from December to February due to technical and compatibility issues identified during early tests.

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CIA’s John Brennan: Forums Can Help Encourage Public-Private Cyber Cooperation
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CIA’s John Brennan: Forums Can Help Encourage Public-Private Cyber Cooperation


John Brennan
John Brennan

CIA Director John Brennan has said he believes public meetings such as the Cyber Georgia conference can help professionals to work together to recognize and address cybersecurity challenges in the U.S., The Augusta Chronicle reported Monday.

Bianca Cain Johnson writes the Cyber Georgia event was co-hosted by Augusta University and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in an effort to encourage government, academic and industry leaders to brainstorm on security strategies.

“I think this community represents the marriage of the private and public sector,” Brennan told reporters.

He said during his keynote at the forum the U.S. faces an “unprecedented” range of  digital threats and that federal agencies experienced more than 640,000 cyber incidents during fiscal 2014, according to the report.

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Raj Shah: Defense Innovation Unit Experimental Eyes New Warfighting Tech, Industry Partnerships
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Raj Shah: Defense Innovation Unit Experimental Eyes New Warfighting Tech, Industry Partnerships


Raj Shah
Raj Shah

Raj Shah, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental managing partner, has said DIUx wants to work with partners that can provide new technologies to the warfighters in support of the group’s mission to connect with technology companies, DoD News reported Thursday.

Lisa Ferdinando writes DIUx has awarded 12 agreements worth $36 million total for products and services that include drone technologies, wireless communications and cyber defense as well as a simulation sandbox for real-world event modeling functions.

Shah noted that DIUx has also opened an office in Boston to compliment the organization’s Silicon Valley hub and established a presence in Austin, Texas to identify new technologies within the geographical ecosystems and with companies in those regions.

“We look at certain types of software, automation, artificial intelligence… we need to get these types of capabilities to our men and women as fast and as safely as we can,” Shah said.

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GAO: DoD’s February Status Report Lacks Info on Military, Civilian, Contractor Workforces
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GAO: DoD’s February Status Report Lacks Info on Military, Civilian, Contractor Workforces


DoD logo resizeThe Government Accountability Office has found the Defense Department‘s February 2016 report did not include all required information on military, civilian and contracted services workforces to demonstrate cost savings.

GAO said Wednesday DoD did not meet section 955 of the National Defense Authorization Act that requires the department to report costs of civilian and contracted services workforces from fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

Auditors said DoD’s report did not have a summary of cost savings achieved in the previous fiscal year through military and civilian workforce reductions as well as a summary of contracted services reductions.

The department interpreted section 955 as requiring a report on civilian savings achieved when comparing costs from fiscal years 2012 to 2017 and not each year in between, officials told GAO.

Officials added DoD did not provide accurate number of full-time equivalents for contracted services to include in the report.

Auditors found that DoD has not developed and implemented a plan to reduce civilian and contracted services workforces and the department failed to show how its reductions are consistent with workforce management laws in the report as required by section 995.

In December 2015, GAO recommended for DoD to include costs savings for civilian personnel in its reports and provide a description of efficiencies plan to achieve savings.

Navy, California Forge Renewable Energy Partnership; Dennis McGinn Comments
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Navy, California Forge Renewable Energy Partnership; Dennis McGinn Comments


transmission tower against the sun during sunsetThe Department of the Navy and California’s state energy commission have launched a new renewable energy partnership that aims to help Navy and Marine Corps installations develop alternative energy resources.

California Energy Commission Chair Robert Weisenmiller and Navy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Installations and Environment Dennis McGinn signed a memorandum of understanding to implement recommendations the Governor’s Military Council proposed in 2015, the Navy said Thursday.

McGinn said the partnership aims to help maintain energy and water security of Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout California and help the state achieve its energy and environmental goals.

McGinn announced the Navy and Marine Corps’ plans to deploy 205 leased electric vehicles at California installations after the MOU’s signature.

McGinn also unveiled the Renewable Energy Program Office’s plan to develop solar energy and also solar energy with battery storage projects at three Navy installations in the state.

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NSF to Add New Natural Hazards Research Network Components
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NSF to Add New Natural Hazards Research Network Components


WindstormThe National Science Foundation plans to invest $19 million to add three components into a network of research facilities dedicated to wind, water and earthquake hazards.

NSF said Wednesday the five-year investment will cover the establishment of a network coordination office; a computational modeling and simulation center; and a post-disaster, rapid response research facility for the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure.

Grace Wang, acting NSF assistant director for engineering, said the planned investment in NHERI will support knowledge on fundamental design that can aid preparedness amid natural hazards such as storm surge, strong winds or seismic activity.

Purdue University will lead work for the network coordination office; the University of California-Berkeley will develop the computational modeling and simulation center; and the University of Washington will establish RAPID, NSF noted.

NSF issued awards in 2015 to build NHERI’s cyber infrastructure and seven experimental facilities.

The foundation works with the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program in efforts to share knowledge and tools and create resilient designs to protect lives and property.

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