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Civilian/News
Pentagon Vet David DeVries Named OPM CIO; Beth Cobert Comments
by Scott Nicholas
Published on August 10, 2016
Pentagon Vet David DeVries Named OPM CIO; Beth Cobert Comments


David De Vries
David DeVries

David DeVries, principal deputy chief information officer of the Defense Department, is set to join the Office of Personnel Management in the coming weeks as CIO.

The 35-year DoD veteran will provide strategic leadership to help strengthen OPM’s cyber posture through partnership with other agencies as part of the White House’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, OPM said Tuesday.

“David has decades worth of the technical and management experience necessary to hit the ground running as we continue our technology transformation efforts, and work with our partners at DoD to stand up the National Background Investigations Bureau,” said Beth Cobert, OPM acting director.

As OPM CIO, he will oversee efforts to deploy a two-factor authentication system, implement a continuous monitoring program, recruit a cybersecurity adviser position and establish a centralized information technology  security workforce at the agency.

He will also help the agency modify its network to grant remote access exclusively for government-owned computers, deploy new cybersecurity tools and a data loss prevention system and expand social engineering awareness training programs, OPM noted.

DoD/News
DoD IG Conducts Research on Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency Program Deployment Strategy
by Scott Nicholas
Published on August 10, 2016
DoD IG Conducts Research on Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency Program Deployment Strategy


market-researchThe Defense Department‘s inspector general has conducted a study on the Joint Improvised‑Threat Defeat Agency‘s management of rapid deployment of strategies on the battlefield.

An IG audit report published Tuesday says JIDA has not finalized 8 out of 95 counter-improvised explosive device systems valued at $112.5 million due to a lack of collected data available for analysis.

Lack of data resulted from failure to assess JIDA‐furnished equipment adequacy for demonstration upon initial delivery in addition to the termination of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command’s in‑theater team’s collection and reporting on counter‑IED capacity and limitations, the report noted.

The report also covered a review of six non‑statistically selected programs worth $446.8 million the IG says JIDA did not properly document to justify transfers and assignments of program management function.

DoD’s IG has recommended JIDA establish controls for a complete an assessment of operational effectiveness and post completed assessments from counter-IED system sponsors as well as control procedures for a complete supporting documentation.

The IG has requested JIDA and Joint Staff directors provide additional comments on the report by September 9.

News
GSA Releases FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Report Template for Cloud Providers, 3rd-Party Auditors
by Mary-Louise Hoffman
Published on August 10, 2016
GSA Releases FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Report Template for Cloud Providers, 3rd-Party Auditors


cloudThe General Services Administration has created a pre-audit template for cloud service providers and third-party assessment organizations to demonstrate a CSP’s readiness to go through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program certification process.

FedRAMP Director Matt Goodrich wrote in a blog entry posted Tuesday that GSA released the FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Report template as part of efforts to accelerate the approval process for commercial cloud offerings that are geared toward government agencies.

“The RAR focuses on key capabilities rather than documentation, enabling 3PAOs to assess a CSP’s system in a shorter amount of time and giving the government a clearer understanding of a provider’s technical capabilities up-front in the assessment process,” Goodrich noted.

He added CSPs who have been deemed “FedRAMP Ready” through their readiness assessment reports are likely to obtain certification from the program’s joint authorization board or a federal agency.

The RAR template is the result of a public vetting period that GSA launched in March 2016 to gather feedback from industry, according to Goodrich.

“The template also provides an area to collect information that receives more subjective analysis, and guidance for the 3PAO is now part of the template itself.”

DoD/News
Gen. David Perkins Asks Military, Industry to ‘Describe’ the Future
by Jay Clemens
Published on August 10, 2016
Gen. David Perkins Asks Military, Industry to ‘Describe’ the Future


Military-vehicleGen. David Perkins, commander of the U.S. Army‘s Training and Doctrine Command, has called on the military, industry and academic leaders to “describe” the future instead of predicting it, Army News Service reported Tuesday.

Perkins told attendees at the Mad Scientist Conference at Georgetown University that to describe the future means to gain a complete understanding of the environment, Gary Sheftick reports.

Co-sponsored by the chief of staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group, TRADOC and the Georgetown University Center for Security Studies, the Mad Scientists initiative aims to illustrate the strategic security environment in 2050, according to the report.

TRADOC leaders see advanced protection for combat vehicles as among the systems they believe will be critical in 2050, the report says.

“The problem we’re seeing now is, with the proliferation of [anti-tank guided missiles], chemical-energy munitions, shaped charges, etc., like that — is that the cost curve as well as the physics is working against us,” Perkins told the conference.

“Better think of a different way to protect,” he said.

Perkins also emphasized the value of innovation as a way to turn critical thinking into results and added that collaboration is one of the factors that describe an innovative organization, the report says.

DoD/News
Army Turbine Engine Modernization Program to Enter Technology Maturation, Risk Reduction Phase
by Ramona Adams
Published on August 9, 2016
Army Turbine Engine Modernization Program to Enter Technology Maturation, Risk Reduction Phase


Army Turbine Engine Modernization Program to Enter Technology Maturation, Risk Reduction PhaseThe U.S. Army has completed the material solution analysis phase of a program that aims to develop a turboshaft engine in an effort modernize the service branch’s fleet of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.

The Army said Monday the Improved Turbine Engine Program is set to enter the technology maturation and risk reduction phase in line with the Defense Department‘s acquisition framework.

ITEP goals are supported by the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine program, which works to validate technologies and mitigate transition risks to achieve a 3,000-horsepower engine for future Army rotorcraft platforms.

The Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center’s aviation development directorate led AATE efforts which involves separate contracts with General Electric and the Advanced Turbine Engine Company, according to Anastasia Kozup, AATE agreements technical agent.

AATE first launched in 2014 with full engine system demonstrations which involves performance, durability, and sand tests.

The program’s goal is to develop an engine that could provide 50 percent more power with the same weight as the current T700 engine as well as feature inlet particle separation technologies, erosion resistant coatings and ruggedized blades.

AATE also aims to address fuel efficiency as well as the range, payload and hot and high operational capacity of Apache, Black Hawk and other rotorcraft fleets.

News
Office of Naval Research Holds 19th Underwater Robotics System Contest; Kelly Cooper Comments
by Jay Clemens
Published on August 9, 2016
Office of Naval Research Holds 19th Underwater Robotics System Contest; Kelly Cooper Comments


Virginia-class-submarineThe Office of Naval Research and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Foundation have sponsored the 19th international underwater robotics system competition in San Diego.

The annual International RoboSub Competition held July 25-30 saw 46 teams design and operate submarines through an obstacle course, ONR said Friday.

“To be successful, each team had to use their creative engineering skills to construct vehicles to navigate the course and its realistic missions – all autonomously,” said Kelly Cooper, a program officer in ONR’s sea warfare and weapons, ship systems and engineering research division.

Participants in the contest navigated a PVC obstacle pipe, dropped markers to weigh anchor in a preset area, launched mock torpedoes, pulled a surface ship underwater and then searched, grabbed and released an object that emitted a sonar signal.

California Institute of Technology earned the top prize of $6,000, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay won second place and Cornell University landed the third spot.

Cooper said the contest sought to help the student participants use their knowledge in RoboSub to build new unmanned systems for warfighters.

Government Technology/News
DISA to Open Illinois Facility for Cyber Monitoring Operations; Col. Paul Craft, Dana Rowe Comment
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 9, 2016
DISA to Open Illinois Facility for Cyber Monitoring Operations; Col. Paul Craft, Dana Rowe Comment


cyberThe Defense Information Systems Agency has established a 164,000-square-foot facility at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois designed to help DISA monitor the country’s cyber infrastructure and coordinate emergency response efforts.

DISA’s Global Operations Command will unveil on Aug. 11 the $100 million building that includes a 20,000-square-foot cyber operations center and will house over 950 military, contractor and civilian employees, the Air Force said Thursday.

The report said the Air Force and Marine Corps have started to transfer their cyber protection teams to the complex.

Col. Paul Craft, chief of DISA’s Global Operations Command, said the command will use the facility to carry out cyber and defense integration efforts and has begun to integrate Army and Air Force Reserve units into the new building.

Dana Rowe, DISA Global deputy commander, noted that Craft has proposed to set up a communications university construct as well as bring the Communications Electronic Command to the complex.

DISA has also teamed up with Saint Louis University and Washington University’s Technology Learning Center to facilitate collaboration on cybersecurity through the new facility, Rowe added.

Government Technology/News
FBI Unveils Billboard Campaign for Internet Crime Complaint Center in Awareness Push
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 9, 2016
FBI Unveils Billboard Campaign for Internet Crime Complaint Center in Awareness Push


cyber-hack-network-computerThe FBI has launched a digital billboard campaign to raise public awareness of the bureau’s internet crime complaint center and its role as a platform to report online fraud and other cyber crimes to the agency.

The bureau’s IC3 works to notify consumers about cyber crimes through public service announcements and provides law enforcement officials access to the FBI’s complaint database through the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal, the FBI said Friday.

The FBI noted it deployed digital billboards at several FBI field offices in cities such as San Diego, New York City New Orleans to inform the public about IC3.

Such field offices have cyber task forces that take part in IC3’s Operation Wellspring program that aims to help state and local law enforcement authorities build up their cyber investigative functions, according to the FBI.

IC3 staff develop intelligence packages that seek to pinpoint criminal groups and identify trends in criminal activities through the Operation Wellspring initiative.

Government Technology/News
Tony Scott: White House Unveils Policy to Advance Custom-Developed Source Code Reuse Across Agencies
by Jane Edwards
Published on August 9, 2016
Tony Scott: White House Unveils Policy to Advance Custom-Developed Source Code Reuse Across Agencies


Tony Scott
Tony Scott

The White House has released a policy that aims to facilitate exchange and reuse of custom-built source code across federal agencies.

Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott wrote in a blog post published Monday the Federal Source Code Policy was introduced in order to reduce the acquisition of duplicative software code and promote collaboration among government agencies.

The policy also intends to launch a pilot program that would require agencies to release over 20 percent of custom-developed source code as open source software for a three-year period and gather additional information on custom software for use in the evaluation of the pilot’s performance.

Scott, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016, also cited open source code-based platforms launched by federal agencies such as the White House’s petition platform We the People and General Service Administration’s Data.gov.

The White House will unveil the Code.gov website in the next few months in an effort to leverage the federal government’s open source software, he added.

Government Technology/News
NASA Dynamic Range Camera Project Attempts to Record SLS Booster Test Video Data
by Scott Nicholas
Published on August 9, 2016
NASA Dynamic Range Camera Project Attempts to Record SLS Booster Test Video Data


SLSNASA has tested a high-speed, high dynamic range camera that attempted to record propulsion video data during a Space Launch System full-scale booster test.

The space agency said Friday the High Dynamic Range Stereo X project’s goal was to design a camera that could record and combine multiple slow motion video exposure into a high dynamic range video that exposes all areas of the image to address rocket motor test filming issues.

“I was able to clearly see the exhaust plume, nozzle and the nozzle fabric go through its gimbaling patterns, which is an expected condition, but usually unobservable in slow motion or normal playback rates,” said Howard Conyers, NASA Stennis Space Center structural dynamist.

NASA added HiDyRS-X will continue through tests at Stennis and a second prototype will be built through the use of data collected from previous experimentation to get added dynamic range capacity as well as alignment and multiple exposure settings.

The space agency’s Early Career Initiative introduced the HiDyRS-X project in support of efforts to give young engineers the opportunity to lead projects and develop hardware.

Innovative Imaging and Research helped the space agency complete an initial proof of concept and preliminary design review as well as tested the system on small rocket nozzle plumes, NASA noted.

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