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OMB Issues Policy on Use of Govt-Wide BPAs for Identity Protection Services
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OMB Issues Policy on Use of Govt-Wide BPAs for Identity Protection Services


cyber-hack-network-computerThe Office of Management and Budget has released a policy that requires federal agencies to use the General Services Administration’s blanket purchase agreements to acquire data breach response, credit monitoring and identity protection services.

U.S. Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung wrote in a memorandum published Friday the category management policy directs GSA to collaborate with an interagency team to review and update the contract requirements and terms of IPS BPAs on a periodic basis.

The policy requires agencies that plan to exercise an option in the existing contract or seek to use a different contract vehicle to acquire IPS to analyze the terms and conditions, performance period, pricing, fees and savings under the existing or new contract in comparison to the IPS BPAs.

Agencies should submit the analysis to GSA and OMB and seek approval from the senior agency official for privacy if they decide to exercise an option in the existing contract or proceed with a new vehicle.

Rung, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016, noted that federal agencies should also submit a draft analysis to OMB and the category manager for professional services if the contract vehicle’s estimated value is above the simplified acquisition threshold.

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Marine Corps F-35 Pair to Fly at Farnborough Airshow
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Marine Corps F-35 Pair to Fly at Farnborough Airshow


F-35A pair of U.S. Marine Corps F-35 fighter jets will perform at the week-long Farnborough International Airshow and conduct practice runs for the Royal International Air Tattoo, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Valerie Insinna writes two F-35B units have completed validation flights with the U.K. government on Tuesday where the fighter jets flew from RAF Fairford to Farnborough and back within 20 minutes.

The U.S. Air Force‘s F-35As — that will fly only at RIAT — have also conducted its own flight validation operations at Langley Air Force Base, the report added.

Defense News added a set of F-22 and P-51 Warbird units will join the heritage flight alongside the F-35As during the event.

NASA OKs Extension for 9 Ongoing Space Exploration Missions; Jim Green Comments
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NASA OKs Extension for 9 Ongoing Space Exploration Missions; Jim Green Comments


spaceNASA has approved the extension for nine existing space discovery missions to continue for two years, Universe Today reported Monday.

Ken Kremer writes NASA granted permission for the New Horizons probe, launched on July 14, 2015, to explore further the Kuiper Belt and for the Dawn mission at Ceres to carry forward permanently.

The New Horizons spacecraft is set to make a close encounter with the celestial object 2014 MU69 in the Kuiper Belt and NASA expects the spacecraft to rendezvous with the ancient rock in January 2019, according to the report.

“We’re excited to continue onward into the dark depths of the outer solar system to a science target that wasn’t even discovered when the spacecraft launched,” said Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA headquarters in Washington, was quoted as saying.

The report said the Dawn asteroid orbiter, launched in September 2007, also concluded the spacecraft’s primary mission at Ceres on June 30 and NASA expects the mission to continue until late 2016.

NASA also granted extensions to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, the Opportunity and Curiosity Mars rovers, the Mars Odyssey orbiter, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Express mission in support of the European Space Agency, Kremer noted.

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Obama Urges Congress to Move Forward With Zika Budget Request in Two Weeks
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Obama Urges Congress to Move Forward With Zika Budget Request in Two Weeks


CongressPresident Barack Obama has said Congress needs to allocate funds for Zika prevention efforts within the next two weeks to support the development of vaccines and mosquito abatement tools and aid state emergency response efforts.

Obama said Friday Congress should not adjourn until it moves forward with the $1.9 billion budget request which will fund vaccine development research and tests.

The president noted Puerto Rico is experiencing challenges with its public health infrastructure while cases of Zika virus continues to increase.

He added the U.S. needs resources to provide basic health services to minimize the impact of Zika in Puerto Rico.

Obama further noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted guidelines on traveling to Zika-infected places for pregnant women or women of child-bearing age and their partners.

CBO: DoD’s Operations & Maintenance Spending Rose 47% From 2000 to 2012
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CBO: DoD’s Operations & Maintenance Spending Rose 47% From 2000 to 2012


BudgetA new Congressional Budget Office report says the Defense Department’s operation and maintenance funds for DoD-wide programs and agencies rose 7 percent from 1980 through 2000 and 5 percent between 2001 and 2015.

CBO said in a report released Friday that DoD saw a 47-percent increase in O&M spending from 2000 through 2012, driven by the Defense Health Program and combat forces-related activities.

Derek Trunkey, an analyst at CBO’s national security division, presented the report at the Western Economic Association International’s 91st annual conference in Portland, Oregon.

CBO classified the Pentagon’s O&M funding data into four categories that include purchased goods and services, activities supported and sources of products and services.

According to the report, activities in support of combat units accounted for 12 percent of $198 billion in total base budget O&M spending in 2012.

Maintenance, technical, transportation, medical and research services represented approximately $91 billion or nearly 50 percent of the total base budget O&M purchases in 2012, CBO said.

The report also noted that 66 percent, or $72.2 billion, of the total external revenues related to working capital funds in 2012 came from base budget and overseas contingency operations O&M funds.

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Terry Halvorsen Signs Updated DoD Guidance for IT Services Management
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Terry Halvorsen Signs Updated DoD Guidance for IT Services Management


Terry Halvorsen
Terry Halvorsen

Terry Halvorsen, chief information officer at the Defense Department, has signed updated guidance for the management of information technology services across DoD, FCW reported Friday.

Halvorsen said the third version of the DoD Enterprise Service Management Framework guidance focuses on IT performance and risk management, Sean Lyngaas writes.

The report said the Pentagon has incorporated into DESMF III new models designed to help defense agencies evaluate the processes used to deliver IT services and measure the quality of such services.

Halvorsen said DoD included such models in response to the request of David Cotton, DoD deputy CIO for information enterprise.

Halvorsen, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016, signed the revised guidance six months after he released a directive in December that requires defense agencies to use DESMF as a framework to assess their IT performance, Lyngaas wrote.

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Breaking Defense: Army Rapid Capabilities Office Mulls Offers for Electronic Warfare Gear
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Breaking Defense: Army Rapid Capabilities Office Mulls Offers for Electronic Warfare Gear


electronic warfareThe U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities Office continues to review proposals from contractors for potential $50 million-to-$100 million contracts to acquire electronic warfare gear, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Sydney Freedberg writes Army Secretary Eric Fanning works to lead the service branch’s efforts to address its acquisition system through a system similar to the U.S. Air Force‘s Rapid Capabilities Office.

The report added the proposals cover sensors for radar and radio signal detection, signal jammers and options to mount the systems on ground vehicles, soldiers’ backpacks and drones.

Army Research, Development, Testing & Engineering funds also increased to $118 million in 2017 along with $50 million invested to help accelerate procurement, the report added.

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GAO Urges Census Bureau to Revamp Life-Cycle Cost Estimate Process
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GAO Urges Census Bureau to Revamp Life-Cycle Cost Estimate Process


budget analysis reviewThe Government Accountability Office has asked the U.S. Census Bureau to change the bureau’s life-cycle cost estimating process in order to meet GAO’s recommended characteristics for what a cost estimate entails.

GAO said Thursday the bureau’s 2015 cost estimate for the 2020 Census did not contain the characteristics of what auditors referred to as a “high-quality estimate” and was unreliable as a result.

“Best practices state a risk and uncertainty analysis should be performed to determine the level of risk associated with the cost estimate,” GAO noted.

GAO found that the bureau narrowed the estimated costs analysis down to only the fiscal years 2018 through 2020 and that the narrow analysis covered nearly 37 percent, or $4.6 billion, of the $12.5 billion total estimated life-cycle cost.

For future fiscal years, auditors said the Bureau’s models totaled less than half of the total estimated cost of the census during future fiscal years after 2020.

Government watchdog agency GAO attributed the low overall assessment for the Census Bureau to the lack of a well-documented estimate.

“Improving cost estimation practices will increase the reliability of the Bureau’s cost estimate, which will in turn help improve decision-making, budget formulation, progress measurement, course correction when warranted, and accountability for results,” GAO noted.

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NGA to Provide Geospatial Response Support Services to Flooded West Virginia
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NGA to Provide Geospatial Response Support Services to Flooded West Virginia


NGA-logoThe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will provide geospatial and damage assessment services to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for first responders to use in areas affected by floods across West Virginia.

NGA said Friday that it will supply geospatial data with highlights on severely-flooded areas to help first responders navigate waters and support faster response times to affected residents.

NGA will work with FEMA to deliver location and damage-specific information to local authorities such as county emergency officials, law enforcement officers and the Rhode Island national guard through the use of visualization and web services.

Brian Cameron, NGA disaster analysis and domestic support branch team lead and FEMA liaison, said that NGA’s damage assessment services aim to help first responders quickly determine personnel and resources within a specific affected area.

“We’re coordinating daily with FEMA and regional emergency officials to adjust commercial satellite collection over affected areas,” Cameron said.

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IARPA Seeks to Produce Satellite Imagery-Based 3D Maps Through Algorithm Development Challenge
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IARPA Seeks to Produce Satellite Imagery-Based 3D Maps Through Algorithm Development Challenge


mapThe Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has launched a challenge that aims to encourage participants to develop algorithms that can generate three-dimensional point clouds from satellite images.

IARPA will award $100,000 in total cash prizes to winning algorithm developers as part of the Multi-View Stereo 3D Mapping Challenge, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a news release published Friday.

ODNI said the contest also seeks to encourage participants to leverage photogrammetry, remote sensing and computer vision techniques to produce 3D mapping from satellite imagery.

IARPA will administer the challenge through two contests, Explorer and Master, and provide participants with DigitalGlobe’s satellite images and KML bounding box to develop algorithms for the challenge datasets.

IARPA will kick off the Explorer contest on July 11, followed by the Master contest in September and announcement of winners in October.

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