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GSA’s 18F Hub Modifies Federal Pay System to Back Cyber Talent Recruitment Goals
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GSA’s 18F Hub Modifies Federal Pay System to Back Cyber Talent Recruitment Goals


PeopleThe General Services Administration‘s 18F unit has launched a new campaign to attract private-sector cybersecurity talent through a move that will offer potential hires with jobs at the top of the General Schedule pay scale, Nextgov reported Friday.

Mohana Ravindranath writes Eric Mill, 18F senior technology adviser, told Nextgov the unit’s digital consultancy group seeks to attract recruits with the information security positions and the freedom that might be expected in the private sector within the Office of Personnel Management‘s pay-setting and flexibility rules.

The report added that OPM has granted agencies with a direct-hire authority for information security jobs that provides government organizations with an option to hire any qualified candidate.

“The GS pay flexibilities may be used to help recruit and retain employees in any job in which an agency is experiencing staffing difficulties,” an OPM spokesperson told Nextgov.

GSA posted a job ad in June on the USAJOBS website that seeks information technology specialists that will perform information security implementation and related work across government and some private entities.

GSA will accept applications until Dec. 31, 2016.

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US Govt Seeks $13B in Clean Energy R&D Investments by FY 2021
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US Govt Seeks $13B in Clean Energy R&D Investments by FY 2021


clean-energyThe White House’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017 includes plans to double federal investments in clean energy research and development initiatives from $6.4 billion in FY 2016 to $12.8 billion in FY 2021.

The White House said Thursday it wants to provide $7.7 billion in discretionary funds for clean energy efforts across 12 agencies as part of the Mission Innovation global initiative to double governmental clean energy investment over five years.

Seventy-six percent or $5.9 billion of the FY 2017 Mission Innovation investment will support the Energy Department‘s clean energy research, development and demonstration activities.

The FY 2017 budget proposal includes $350 million in Mission Innovation discretionary funds for DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy; $512 million for the National Science Foundation; $348 million for NASA; $106 million for the Agriculture Department; and $10 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The budget would also provide $25 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development; $47 million for the Transportation Department; and $55 million for the Commerce Department to support the agencies’ respective clean energy programs.

Mission Innovation was launched at the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference and has gained commitments from 20 countries and the European Union.

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DoD Accelerator Program Aims to Spur Public-Private Natl Security Tech Collaboration
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DoD Accelerator Program Aims to Spur Public-Private Natl Security Tech Collaboration


DoD Accelerator Program Aims to Spur Public-Private Natl Security Tech CollaborationThe Defense Department has partnered with a network of U.S. research universities to establish an accelerator program that aims to promote civil-military technology collaboration to support national security efforts.

DoD said Friday the MD5 National Security Technology Accelerator was launched at a hackathon wherein technologists worked with military and civilian first responders to address humanitarian assistance and disaster relief challenges in urban environments.

“Our mission is to develop the people and human-centered networks necessary to compete and win in the rapidly changing technology and national security environments,” said MD5 Director Adam Jay Harrison.

The first MD5 hackathon challenged multiple teams of researchers, entrepreneurs, first responders and military personnel to create prototype systems that incorporate augmented reality, sensor fusion, crowdsourcing, data analytics and robotics technologies to address disaster relief mission challenges.

DoD partnered with the New York University, Columbia University, West Virginia University, University of Southern Mississippi, GE, One Defense, Bunker Labs and the Partnership for New York City to facilitate the hackathon.

MD5 is part of the manufacturing and industrial base policy division within the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The accelerator aims to assist the development of national security personnel who test and update legacy processes; as well as support the creation of human-centered networks and form ventures that can develop, commercialize or apply relevant technology, DoD noted.

MD5 plans to introduce its education, collaboration and acceleration initiatives in the coming months.

ONC Introduces Rule to Address Health IT Transparency, Accountability
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ONC Introduces Rule to Address Health IT Transparency, Accountability


electronic-health-record-EHRThe Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has introduced a new rule that seeks to address the reliability, transparency, accountability and safety of health information technology.

The agency said Friday the “ONC Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability” final rule aims to help the ONC Health IT Certification Program support technology development in the health IT market.

The rule establishes a regulatory framework for ONC to directly review certified health IT products; focuses on corrective action plans to address issues; and provides an appeals process for health IT developers with products under review, the department said.

ONC says the rule’s other goals include to help authorize and oversee accredited testing laboratories and address public releases of identifiable surveillance results for certified health IT.

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NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Researchers Launch ISS Communications Support Software
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NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Researchers Launch ISS Communications Support Software


International Space StationNASA researchers have tested and provided new software to the International Space Station in an effort to facilitate communications for scientists around the world that perform investigations inside the ISS.

The space agency said Friday Michelle Schneider, a system software developer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and a small group of software engineers built the collection of software tools called Telescience Resource Kit.

TReK works to package experiment data to help route information through the space station’s communications network and deliver data to researchers at Marshall and the science teams wherever located.

“We wrote the software so it could be used to support a variety of projects,” said Schneider.

“We created a suite of programs for scientists and engineers to securely monitor and control their payloads on their home computers.”

Schneider’s team uploaded the TReK Demonstration Payload software to the space station in an effort to change the way data will be stored and transmitted, NASA noted.

The space agency added that Schneider’s team will launch its first investigation that will tackle a Network Address Storage that provides scientists and engineers with a file-sharing platform and a Delay/Disruption Tolerant Network that supports communication over networks.

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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