Ernest Moniz: US Holds Talks on Clean Energy Collaborative Efforts With Canada, Mexico
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Ernest Moniz: US Holds Talks on Clean Energy Collaborative Efforts With Canada, Mexico


green earth, environmentEnergy Secretary Ernest Moniz met with energy ministers from Canada and Mexico at the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation Ministerial meetings in San Francisco to discuss the programs launched by the three countries to address climate change.

Moniz held the meetings with Jim Carr, Canada’s natural resources minister; and Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, Mexico’s energy secretary; to review the efforts of the three North American countries to meet clean energy objectives, the Energy Department said Friday.

These include investments in research and development programs related to clean energy over the next five years, implementation of the ISO 50001 standard by energy companies and launch of a study that aims to determine the operational impacts once solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy sources are integrated with electricity grids.

“Trilateral energy cooperation between the United States, Canada, and Mexico is crucial to advancing our energy security and growing low-carbon economies,” Moniz said.

“Today’s announcement by the North American energy ministers demonstrates our collective support for CEM7 and Mission Innovation as tools to implement our countries’ commitments made in Paris to combat climate change by developing and deploying clean energy technologies.”

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Reuters: House Committee to Investigate SWIFT, N.Y. Fed Cyber Heist
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Reuters: House Committee to Investigate SWIFT, N.Y. Fed Cyber Heist


CyberCrimeKeyboardThe House Science Committee will launch an inquiry into the cyber theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York via a global financial messaging network, Reuters reported Monday.

Krishna Das and Jonathan Spicer write the committee plans to examine the New York Fed’s handling of the fraudulent electronic financial transactions conducted through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication system in February.

The report said the N.Y. regional office of the U.S. central bank initially blocked 35 international wire transfer requests due to improper message formats, according to the report.

The branch rejected 30 of the requests that were resubmitted by cyber thieves using the SWIFT system and cleared five requests amounting to $101 million, but later declined a $20 million request due a spelling error, according to the report.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware) asked the N.Y. reserve bank for information about the cyber heist.

SWIFT said it aims to implement new cybersecurity program and urged banks to adopt measures to protect financial data they share with each other.

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Ashton Carter: US Committed to APAC Security Network
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Ashton Carter: US Committed to APAC Security Network


Ashton Carter
Ashton Carter

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has said the U.S. is fully committed to Asia-Pacific countries’ political, economic and military ties that work to build on the region’s security network, DoD News reported Saturday.

Karen Parrish writes Carter spoke at the 15th annual International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that was attended by regional and world leaders.

Carter said the U.S. is committed to Asia-Pacific’s security network because the region represents almost half of the world’s population and economy and could affect American security and wealth, Parrish quoted.

Carter noted China and India will join the U.S.-hosted Rim of the Pacific Exercise in the summer while Japan and South Korea are collaborating in new ways, DoD News said.

He added the security network supports humanitarian and disaster response missions; anti-terrorism efforts; and the security and access to global and regional commons such as vital waterways, Parrish wrote.

CBO: Annual Federal Spending on Hurricane-Related Relief, Recovery Efforts to Hit $24B by 2075
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CBO: Annual Federal Spending on Hurricane-Related Relief, Recovery Efforts to Hit $24B by 2075


budget analysis reviewA Congressional Budget Office report estimates annual costs linked to hurricane damage driven by climate change and development in coastal areas to climb from $28 billion under current conditions to approximately $39 billion by 2075.

CBO said in the report published Thursday that annual federal spending on disaster relief and recovery missions as a result of potential increases in hurricane damage would grow from $18 billion or 0.10 percent of the gross domestic product in 2016 to approximately $24 billion or 0.13 percent of GDP by 2075.

According to the report, the number of U.S. citizens who live in counties that are vulnerable to hurricane damage will likely hit 10 million over the next 59 years, up from 1.2 million under present conditions.

The agency noted that investments in structural changes that seek to lessen susceptibility to hurricanes, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and measures to allow private entities and agencies at both state and local government levels to shoulder hurricane damage costs might help reduce federal spending on disaster relief efforts.

CBO estimated hurricane damage based on the frequency of hurricanes, sea levels in various states, per capita income as well as the population in coastal areas.

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GAO Reviews Quality, Frequency of CIO Ratings on Federal IT Dashboard
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GAO Reviews Quality, Frequency of CIO Ratings on Federal IT Dashboard


ITphotoThe Government Accountability Office has urged agency chief information officers to frequently update their ratings for agency information technology investments on the web-based Federal IT Dashboard system.

GAO said Thursday it conducted a performance audit on 95 federal IT programs that were active from April 2015 to June 2016 at 17 agencies and compared CIO rating processes to guidance established by the Office of Management and Budget.

Auditors found 40 of CIO-issued ratings for assessed investments were not updated at the time of audit and that the rating processes of seven agencies did not factor active risks.

“GAO’s assessments generally showed more risk than the associated CIO ratings,” the agency noted.

“In particular, of the 95 investments assessed, GAO’s assessments matched the CIO ratings 22 times, showed more risk 60 times, and showed less risk 13 times.”

GAO added the agencies’ risk rating processes understate the level of risk, increasing the probability that key federal IT investments do not receive adequate oversight.

The government watchdog recommended that agency CIOs factor active risks into the ratings they post on dashboard.

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Navy Engineers Develop Divers Augmented Vision Display HUD System for Diving Helmets
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Navy Engineers Develop Divers Augmented Vision Display HUD System for Diving Helmets


U.S. NavyA team of U.S. Navy engineers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City has developed a new head-up display system designed to be embedded directly in diving helmets.

The Divers Augmented Vision Display HUD system works to provide high-resolution see-through visual display of necessary information, including diver’s location and dive site, text messages, diagrams, photographs and augmented reality videos, in real time, the Navy said Thursday.

DAVD works to support user safety and efficiency in diving missions such as ship husbandry, underwater construction and salvage operations through new situational awareness and location accuracy tools.

Dennis Gallagher, underwater systems development project engineer and DAVD project leader, said that DAVD HUD-outfitted diving helmets are similar to the one used in the “Iron Man” movie that can provide information conveniently to users.

The team has demonstrated the system to more than 20 divers in a number of government commands and are now in phase two of the development wherein components for helmet systems and full-face masks are being designed.

In-water simulation tests on the DAVD are lined up for October this year with phase three of the project scheduled to begin in 2017.

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OMB Issues Category Mgmt Policy for Agencies’ Software License Acquisition Efforts
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OMB Issues Category Mgmt Policy for Agencies’ Software License Acquisition Efforts


softwareThe Office of Management and Budget has implemented a policy that directs federal agencies to use a coordinated approach when they procure and manage commercial or commercial-off-the-shelf software.

U.S. Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung and Chief Information Officer Tony Scott wrote in a joint blog entry posted Thursday the policy is based on category management principles used in the private sector and seeks to help agencies centralize management of software licenses.

According to OMB’s memo on the new rule, the interagency Enterprise Software Category Team will oversee the creation  of  governmentwide software license agreements.

OMB manages the team with the General Services Administration and the Defense Department.

Under the policy, agencies must seek approval from ESCT to pursue software licensing agreements that will conflict or overlap with agreements mandated by the group.

OMB also requires that agencies develop plans on how they will implement ESCT’s upcoming mandated agreements.

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NGA Finalizes St. Louis Site as New West Headquarters Campus
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NGA Finalizes St. Louis Site as New West Headquarters Campus


NGA-logoRobert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, has signed a record of decision that finalizes a site in St. Louis as NGA’s next headquarters site for western region operations headquarters.

The agency said Thursday Next NGA West will be located at the corner of north Jefferson and Cass avenues and was chosen after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a final environmental impact statement in April that was followed by a one-month extended comment period.

“When determining where our next west headquarters would be located, I considered a number of factors, but most importantly, our mission,” said Cardillo.

He added the technological and professional environment that surrounds the future site of the west headquarters could support NGA’s mission to develop relevant geospatial intelligence technology for its clients.

NGA noted the selection process began in 2012 and involved planning studies and economic analysis that led the agency to decide on a new facility rather than a renovation of its current 3200 South 2nd Street and Arsenal Street site.

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FCC to Move Electronic Comment Filing System to Cloud-Based Platform
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FCC to Move Electronic Comment Filing System to Cloud-Based Platform


cloudThe Federal Communications Commission aims to transition to an updated Electronic Comment Filing System by late June to boost public engagement with the commission.

Alison Kutler, FCC consumer and governmental affairs bureau chief, and David Bray, FCC chief information officer, wrote in a blog post published Wednesday that the move supports the agency’s efforts to update its information technology systems.

Kutler and Bray said public comment and feedback from other stakeholders helped drive the modernization effort.

“[The] public expects to be able to easily submit comments in digital form and to have convenient access to all the other input received by the Commission, and the Commission needs a robust system capable of meeting the public’s expectations,” they said.

ECFS has evolved to provide a public interface for litigation on formal complaints, submission of rulemaking petitions and transfer-of-control applications and other filings, Kutler and Bray wrote.

FCC has used a beta version of the updated ECFS and engaged with stakeholders to receive input on how legacy systems can be altered to meet current requirements.

The new cloud-based ECFS design provides the same features as the previous model along with updated usability, reliability, process, efficiency and accessibility functions, the FCC officials added.

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Iron Mountain Survey: 52% of Federal Data Mgmt Professionals See Information Security as Most In-Demand Technical Skill
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Iron Mountain Survey: 52% of Federal Data Mgmt Professionals See Information Security as Most In-Demand Technical Skill


recordA survey from Iron Mountain says 46 percent of information management professionals in the federal government have cited management of all types of data as their top priority over the next three to five years.

Iron Mountain said Wednesday it commissioned market research firm Market Connections to poll 200 records and data management employees from civilian agencies, Defense Department and the Intelligence Community.

The study also found that 56 percent of the respondents said there would be a high demand for skills in access control and information security in the next three to five years, followed by analytics and data quality management.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said innovative thinking is the soft skill that would be in greatest demand for information management and 52 percent said information security as one of the technical skills that would be in demand the most.

Respondents also cited compliance, data valuation assessment and IT and physical records management integration as the top project management-related skills that would have an impact on records management in the next two years, according to the survey.

The survey also found that risk management, records and information management practices and electronic records retention are the top areas for improvement when it comes to data management skills.

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