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DARPA Names Cyber Grand Challenge Winners
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DARPA Names Cyber Grand Challenge Winners


cybersecurityThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced the teams that will receive approximately $4 million in total cash awards as the presumptive winners in its cyber defense tournament.

DARPA said Thursday the ForAllSecure research team will receive $2 million for the group’s Mayhem computer system that landed first place in the preliminary results of the Cyber Grand Challenge.

The department also named the TECHx team’s Xandra and Shellphish’s Mechanical Phish systems as second- and third-place winners with cash awards worth $1 million and $750,000, respectively.

Seven teams comprised of white-hat hackers, academics and private-sector experts competed in the challenge, where automated systems worked to detect and patch flawed code and discover opponents’ vulnerabilities.

DARPA said the Cyber Grand Challenge aims to support the development of autonomous systems that can detect, evaluate and patch software vulnerabilities to prevent hacking.

Winners will be awarded at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas before the start of the DEF CON hacker tournament, where Mayhem is set to become the first machine player in the all-human “capture the flag” competition, DARPA added.

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Livermore Lab Scientists Aim to Develop Protective Clothing Based on Carbon Nanotube Membrane
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Livermore Lab Scientists Aim to Develop Protective Clothing Based on Carbon Nanotube Membrane


research and development RDScientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a carbon nanotube-based membrane designed to protect uniformed personnel from chemical and biological agents on the battlefield.

A team of researchers led by Ngoc Bui evaluated the transport functionalities of carbon nanotube pores to design a breathable material, Livermore Lab said Wednesday.

“We demonstrated that these membranes provide rates of water vapor transport that surpass those of commercial breathable fabrics like GoreTex, even though the CNT pores are only a few nanometers wide,” said Bui, who is also lead author of the research paper published in the July 27 issue of the Advanced Materials journal.

Scientists performed filtration tests and found that the CNT-based material repelled dengue virus when tested on aqueous solutions.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency funds the Livermore Lab research project through the Dynamic Multifunctional Materials for a Second Skin program.

Tracee Whitfield, science and technology manager for DTRA’s Dynamic Multifunctional Material for a Second Skin program, said the initiative aims to turn novel materials into protective clothing against biological and chemical defense threats.

DTRA plans to demonstrate the “second skin” concept through swatch-level assessments in 2018, Whitfield added.

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Anne Rung, Tony Scott: OMB’s Category Mgmt Policy Seeks to Streamline Mobile Device Procurement
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Anne Rung, Tony Scott: OMB’s Category Mgmt Policy Seeks to Streamline Mobile Device Procurement


Anne Rung
Anne Rung

The Office of Management and Budget has issued a policy that aims to facilitate the procurement and management of mobile devices and related services by federal agencies through category management.

OMB’s Category Management Policy 16-3 seeks to reduce duplicate mobile contracts and help agencies manage their mobile service inventories, Federal Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung and Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott wrote in a memorandum published Thursday.

Tony Scott
Tony Scott

The policy will require agencies to build up their demand management practices and report pricing and usage data on mobile services to the Integrated Data Collection authority on a quarterly basis starting Nov. 30, wrote Rung and Scott, both inductees into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016.

The memo also calls for agencies to use a government-wide strategy on mobile services acquisition by Sept. 30, 2018 in an effort to consolidate their data requirements into a single contract per carrier and requires the mobile services category team to create a strategic plan by Oct. 31 for a government-wide procurement vehicle to be awarded before May 31, 2018.

The policy will also require agency CIOs to develop and submit transition plans for the adoption of a government-wide acquisition strategy to OMB by Nov. 30 and will designate the General Services Administration as agencies’ broker in the procurement of mobile platforms and services.

Scott and Rung also wrote in a White House blog published Thursday that the federal government has recorded more than $2.1 billion in savings since 2009 as a result of the implementation of category management practices and has begun to eliminate over 700 duplicative contracts for professional services.

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Gen. Joseph Lengyel Takes National Guard Bureau Leadership Role
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Gen. Joseph Lengyel Takes National Guard Bureau Leadership Role


Joseph Lengyel
Joseph Lengyel

Air National Guard Gen. Joseph Lengyel, former vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, has officially taken the role of bureau chief and succeeded retiring U.S. Army Gen. Frank Grass in a change-of-responsibility ceremony held at the Pentagon, DoD News reported Thursday.

Defense Department Secretary Ashton Carter also promoted Lengyel to the rank of general as part of the National Guard leadership appointment, Terri Moon Cronk writes.

“We know that General Lengyel will lead this force with certainty, clarity and the full confidence and trust of myself and the president,” Carter said.

“The post-9/11 environment has proven the Guard is an indispensable component of the Total Force, in day-to-day activities and large-scale operations, in planning and execution, and in conventional conflicts and novel threats,” he added.

Lengyel is a former chief of the office of military cooperation and defense attache for U.S. Central Command in Cairo, Egypt.

He started his military career as an F-16 instructor pilot and weapons officer and has since logged more than 3,000 flight hours as a command pilot for the F-16, T-37 and T-28 planes.

President Barack Obama nominated Lengyel for the National Guard Bureau chief position in April.

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Gen. John Paxton Retires as Marine Corps Assistant Commandant
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Gen. John Paxton Retires as Marine Corps Assistant Commandant


John Paxton
John Paxton

Marine Corps Gen. John Paxton Jr. has retired from his position as assistant commandant of the service branch after 42 years in military service.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Robert Neller, Marine Corps commandant, attended a ceremony Thursday at the Marine Barracks Washington to recognize Paxton’s accomplishments during his military career, the Marine Corps Times reported.

Jeff Schogol writes Carter cited Paxton’s role in the 2009 deployment of over 8,000 armored vehicles to uniformed personnel in Afghanistan within 16 months.

Paxton assumed the assistant commandant post in December 2012 after he served as chief of the Marine Corps Forces Command, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic and Marine Forces Europe.

He also held the roles of commanding general of the 1st Marine division and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, director of programs division, executive assistant to the Department of the Navy’s undersecretary and chief of the II Marine expeditionary force.

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SBA’s Chris James Adds Field Operations Associate Admin Role
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SBA’s Chris James Adds Field Operations Associate Admin Role


Chris James
Chris James

Chris James, associate administrator at the Small Business Administration‘s office of intergovernmental affairs, has been appointed to serve as associate administrator under the agency’s office of field operations in addition to his current role.

SBA said Thursday James oversees a number of programs at SBA such as Startup in a Day, which seeks to drive entrepreneurship, and the White House-led SupplierPay program designed to help support U.S. small businesses.

“I am honored to join the office of field operations and look forward to continuing to serve the President and the U.S. small business community,” said James.

He previously worked at SBA’s office of native American affairs and held management roles for the Treasury Department and Sequoyah Fund.

He is currently a member of various White House organizations working on native American affairs, rural programs, community solutions and insular affairs.

James holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and master’s degrees in entrepreneurship and project management from Western Carolina University.

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Barney Krucoff Named DC City Chief Data Officer
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Barney Krucoff Named DC City Chief Data Officer


Barney Krucoff
Barney Krucoff

Barney Krucoff, former geographic information officer in the state of Maryland’s information technology department, has been appointed as chief data officer for the Washington, D.C. city government.

He aims to increase the flow of information between the district’s agencies as well as help the local government establish rules intended to facilitate data sharing and people connections,  according to a DC.gov blog post published Wednesday.

The post stated his appointment is part D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s push to modernize and expand the district’s central data catalog to provide citizens, media, entrepreneurs and academic organizations access to public data such as traffic patterns and health statistics.

He initially joined the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer in 2004 as geographic information officer, then moved to Maryland to serve in a similar role from September 2011 to March 2016 before he returned to OCTO in June.

Krucoff previously served as a community planner at the National Capital Planning Commission, geographic information system manager at civil engineering firm Michael Baker Jr. Inc.

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Space News: NASA, China in Talks Over Earth Science Mission
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Space News: NASA, China in Talks Over Earth Science Mission


space-engineeringNASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have engaged in bilateral talks over a potential collaboration for a future Chinese Earth science mission, Space News reported Thursday.

Jeff Foust writes NASA’s Earth science division head Michael Freilich met with Chinese officials in July to discuss research coordination between the U.S. and China.

NASA spokesman Steve Cole told Space News the meeting aimed to negotiate scientific data exchange and to discuss China’s plans to launch a new carbon monitoring mission called TanSatt.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences currently is developing TanSat, a 1,102-pound satellite designed to measure carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere and scheduled for launch aboard a Long March 2D rocket in late 2016, Space News reports.

Foust writes NASA also plans to enter into cooperation with China in the aviation research area.

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OPM Issues Final Regulations on New Disabled Veteran Leave Category; Beth Cobert Comments
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OPM Issues Final Regulations on New Disabled Veteran Leave Category; Beth Cobert Comments


US office of personnel managementThe Office of Personnel Management has issued final regulations for the enforcement of a new disabled veteran leave category as part of an effort to extend the time for veterans to address medical issues.

OPM said Thursday federal employees hired Nov. 5, 2016 and beyond with a service-related disability rating of at least 30 percent will be able to avail of the disabled veteran leave established under the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015.

“This rule ensures the federal government supports our service members who have sacrificed their own health and well-being to serve our country,” said Beth Cobert, acting OPM director.

“We want these veterans to have sufficient leave during their first year of federal service in order to take care of any medical issues related to their service-connected disability,” added Cobert.

The disabled veteran leave will start on an employee’s first day of employment as a one-time benefit during a 12-month period.

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CNO John Richardson, South Korean Counterpart Discuss APAC Maritime Security Cooperation
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CNO John Richardson, South Korean Counterpart Discuss APAC Maritime Security Cooperation


John Richardson & Jung Ho-SubChief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and his South Korean counterpart Jung Ho-sub have agreed that increased cooperation and information sharing will support maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific region.

The U.S. Navy said Thursday Richardson and Ho-sub met at the Pentagon to discuss regional partnerships between the navies as part of the latter’s week-long visit to the U.S.

“I agree with the importance of our alliance, particularly navy-to-navy, to deal with the threat from the North, as well as the instability that may take place in the South China Sea,” said Jung.

Jung also met with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift and Naval Surface Forces Pacific Commander Vice Adm. Tom Rowden,.

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