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Pentagon Swears in Army Secretary Eric Fanning
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Pentagon Swears in Army Secretary Eric Fanning


Eric-Fanning
Eric Fanning

Eric Fanning took his official oath of office as the 22nd U.S. Army secretary during a ceremony held Wednesday at the Pentagon, the Army News Service reported Thursday.

Gary Sheftick writes Fanning will oversee management, training and equipping of military personnel across the Army.

He was nominated by President Obama for the service branch’s top civilian post Nov. 3 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate Tuesday.

“Over the past several years, I’ve seen firsthand why Eric Fanning is one of this administration’s most trusted and capable appointees and one of the Pentagon’s most dependable civilian leaders,” noted Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

“I look forward to working with him as he strengthens our Army, builds on its best traditions and prepares our ground forces to confront a new generation of challenges,” Carter added.

Fanning served as acting secretary of the Army from June 30, 2015 to January 2016.

Before that he was the chief of staff to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter as well as led the U.S. Air Force as acting secretary and undersecretary of the service branch.

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FAA Rolls Out Registered UAS Owner Location Database
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FAA Rolls Out Registered UAS Owner Location Database


droneThe Federal Aviation Administration has rolled out a database that contains information on the location of each registered owner of small unmanned aircraft systems in response to several Freedom of Information Act requests.

FAA said Wednesday the system only includes data on each UAS owner’s zip code, city and state and excludes the owners’ names and street addresses from disclosure in compliance with a FOIA exemption that seeks to safeguard data from possible infringement of personal privacy.

The agency cited as another reason for its decision to limit disclosure of location data to city, state and zip code is that most of the registered drone owners are minors and only use such drones for recreational purposes.

FAA received FOIA requests after it implemented a new registration system on Dec. 21, 2015, for small drones that weigh between 0.55 pounds and 55 pounds.

Owners that use drones for other operations apart from recreational use are also required to register as part of a section 333 exemption requirement, according to the agency.

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GAO: Agencies Need to Complete Savings Target Under OMB Data Center Consolidation Initiative
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GAO: Agencies Need to Complete Savings Target Under OMB Data Center Consolidation Initiative


GAOThe Government Accountability Office has recommended for agencies to complete cost savings goals under the Office of Management and Budget‘s data center consolidation initiative.

GAO said in a report published Wednesday agencies aim to reach $8.2 billion in savings and avoidances through fiscal year 2019 but 10 agencies have not yet fulfilled their savings targets.

The government watchdog added there are some discrepancies between agencies’ incremental development reports sent to GAO and similar information posted on OMB’s information technology dashboard.

The study showed 22 agencies reported that 64 percent of 469 active software development projects are scheduled to deliver functionality every six months through fiscal year 2016, but seven selected agencies reported different percentages to GAO and OMB’s IT dashboard.

The report further revealed some differences between GAO’s assessments and chief information officers’ risk ratings on federal agency investments that are posted on the IT dashboard.

GAO said of the 95 investments, its risk assessments matched the CIO ratings 22 times and showed more risk 60 times and less risk 13 times.

For the inconsistencies, GAO recommended for OMB and agencies to upgrade their use of incremental development as well as update the quality and frequency of CIO ratings.

 

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Anne Rung Cites OFPP’s Efforts to Implement Category Management
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Anne Rung Cites OFPP’s Efforts to Implement Category Management


Anne Rung
Anne Rung

Anne Rung, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, has outlined several measures that OFPP has undertaken to implement category management across the government.

Rung told Michael Keegan, host of The Business of Government Hour for the IBM Center for the Business of Government, in an interview published Thursday that OFPP has worked with the General Services Administration to map commonly purchased products and services worth more than $275 billion into 10 categories.

Such categories include information technology, professional services and transportation.

OFPP also has released a directive that requires agencies to utilize the three contracts used to acquire personal computers and other IT products in an effort to reduce duplication and reach $5.8 billion in savings in the IT area by the end of 2016, she said.

Rung, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016, noted that her office has pushed for the adoption of the “spend under management” approach through the implementation of metrics and data analytics as well as the appointment of CEOs to oversee each of the categories.

“By bringing common spend under management through the collection and analysis of prices paid and other key performance information, agencies are better positioned to get the same competitive prices and performance quality that their colleagues in other agencies are getting,” she added.

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James Clapper: Intell Key for National Security Decision Makers
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James Clapper: Intell Key for National Security Decision Makers


James Clapper
James Clapper

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said intelligence agencies gather data they believe can help the U.S. and its allies reach a shared understanding of various national security risks.

In his written remarks Thursday at the GEOINT Symposium, Clapper explained that intelligence gathering can provide insights to help national leaders better understand the risks involved and reduce uncertainty in decision making.

He also urged organizations to explore the opportunities that technology provides.

“We can look at that pace of technical innovation as a scary thing, something that could take away any advantage the U.S. intelligence community has now; or see it as something that will utterly revolutionize our lives for the better,” he added.

He noted National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo informed him that NGA and IC have worked to develop “Object Based Production” and “Structured Observation Management” frameworks meant to help agencies generate activity-based intelligence.

USPTO’s Bill Brantley Unveils Beta Version of Open Data Portal
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USPTO’s Bill Brantley Unveils Beta Version of Open Data Portal


USPTO Patent and Trademark OfficeThe U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has launched a beta version of its open data portal that  works to provide a platform to access patent data and drive collaboration between application developers.

Bill Brantley, USPTO Global Intellectual Property Academy training administrator, writes in a post published Wednesday on DigitalGov the portal features patent and trademark datasets, data visualizations and a community for developers and consumers of USPTO open data.

A section that contains an application programming interface library is currently under development, Brantley added.

He noted that the patent and trademark data — including submitted trademark applications, state jobs data and the increasing number of green technology patent filings — can provide insights on business activity and the state of innovation in the U.S.

Brantley said the combination of data from the patent and trademark datasets, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics can also guide approaches to boost innovation.

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Michelle Howard Nominated to Lead US Naval Forces in Europe, Africa
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Michelle Howard Nominated to Lead US Naval Forces in Europe, Africa


Adm. Michelle Howard
Michelle Howard

U.S. Navy Adm. Michelle Howard, vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon, has been nominated to serve as commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces Africa and the Allied Joint Forces Command in Italy.

The Defense Department said  Thursday Howard will also be reappointed to the rank of admiral.

Howard previously served onboard USS Mount Hood as chief engineer, USS Flint as first lieutenant and USS Tortuga as executive officer.

She has also supported operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Joint Endeavor.

Her command tours include stints with USS Rushmore, Amphibious Squadron Seven, Expeditionary Strike Group Two, Task Force 151’s multinational counter-piracy effort and Task Force 51’s expeditionary forces.

Howard also served as executive assistant to the Joint Staff director of operations and a deputy director at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

Navy Vice Adm. Bill Moran, chief of naval personnel, has been nominated to the vice chief of naval operations role at the Pentagon to succeed Howard if her nomination gets approval.

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ISC Study: Federal Cyber Officials Cite Lack of Breach Response Plans at Agencies
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ISC Study: Federal Cyber Officials Cite Lack of Breach Response Plans at Agencies


cyberForty percent of federal cybersecurity executives who responded to an ISC survey said their agencies still lack “effective” incident response plans nearly a year after the U.S. government suffered a large-scale breach of employee and contractor records.

ISC said Thursday findings in the nonprofit’s 2016 State of Cybersecurity from the Federal Cyber Executive Perspective report were based on online and personal interviews of 56 senior-level cyber executives from the federal civilian, defense, intelligence and contracting sectors.

The KPMG-sponsored survey found that 52 percent of respondents think a government-wide cyber sprint the Office of Management and Budget implemented last year in response to the massive Office of Personnel Management hack did not strengthen the overall security of agency information systems.

Fifty-nine percent of executives surveyed said their agencies have trouble understanding how a cyber attacker can potentially access their systems and 41 percent indicated their agencies are not aware of the location of their critical assets.

“Clear reporting lines and accountability are foundations for a good cybersecurity program and we hope this report sheds light on this issue,” said Tony Hubbard, principal of KPMG.

ISC also found that 21 percent of respondents could not identify a senior leader who have sole responsibility of cybersecurity functions within their agencies.

Forty-percent said they consider people as the greatest cybersecurity asset or liability to federal organizations.

House OKs $81.6B FY 2017 Package for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Support
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House OKs $81.6B FY 2017 Package for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Support


CongressThe House has voted 295-129 to approve an appropriations bill that would provide $81.6 billion in fiscal year 2017 funds to house, train, and equip military personnel.

A post on the House Appropriations website said Thursday the spending package includes a $63.3 billion advance from the fiscal 2016 appropriation bill that covers housing and services to military families and maintenance services for base infrastructure, plus veteran benefits programs support.

Of the $81.6 billion, $73.5 billion will be allotted to the Department of Veterans Affairs to address management-related issues and health care shortages.

The remaining $7.9 billion is for family housing and construction of hospitals and health facilities, as well as support for overseas investments.

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Navy Seeks Ship Maintenance IT Update for Cyber Defenses; Bruce Urbon Comments
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Navy Seeks Ship Maintenance IT Update for Cyber Defenses; Bruce Urbon Comments


cyberThe U.S. Navy plans to update information technology tools the service uses to maintain its fleet of ships as part of a larger effort to protect the vessels from cyber threats, Federal News Radio reported Thursday.

Jared Serbu writes the project seeks to procure new IT products meant to replace more than 100 legacy shipyard systems and applications.

The Navy wants a platform that handles repair schedules, spare parts security, financial management, workforce planning and other tasks throughout every phase of ship maintenance, according to the report.

Bruce Urbon, program manager for the Navy Maritime Maintenance Enterprise Solution-Technical Refresh program, told a conference that the applications “were developed over time in a very stovepiped fashion by various organizations, they were never designed to interoperate and it’s very hard to keep them cyber-secure,” the station reports.

“It’s a growing concern within the Navy that these systems are going to fail, and that’s going to have an impact on fleet readiness and getting ships ready to deploy,” Urbon said at the Naval IT conference hosted by AFCEA’s Northern Virginia chapter.

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