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RAND, LLNL Host Joint Workshop on High-Performance Computing for Water Mgmt
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RAND, LLNL Host Joint Workshop on High-Performance Computing for Water Mgmt


supercomputerNon-profit research organization RAND Corporation and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have hosted a joint workshop that facilitated the analysis of water management strategies through high-performance computer simulations.

LLNL said Thursday workshop participants used supercomputer simulations to test water management portfolios such as conservation, groundwater and seawater desalination and water reuse against climate change scenarios and development patterns.

Fred Streitz, director of LLNL’s High Performance Computing Innovation Center, said the exercise worked to demonstrate how RAND’s analytics methods and LLNL’s supercomputing capacity can aid decision-making and policymaking on water management.

Ed Balkovich, RAND senior information scientist, noted that participants performed approximately 60,000 simulations within 45 minutes, which he said would have taken 14 days in 2012.

Workshop participants included entities that were involved in RAND’s 2012 study of the Colorado River Basin, LLNL said.

The workshop is part of the LLNL/RAND Partnership for Computational Policy Analysis that seeks to address public policy and national security challenges through the integration of computing technologies with analytics methods, the lab added.

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CNN: FBI, Security Agencies Investigate Cyber Intrusions on NY Times, Other News Organizations
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CNN: FBI, Security Agencies Investigate Cyber Intrusions on NY Times, Other News Organizations


cyber-hack-network-computerThe FBI and other security agencies have conducted investigations on intrusions detected in recent months that targeted reporters at the New York Times and other U.S. news organizations, CNN reported Wednesday.

Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz write the investigators think Russian intelligence led the cyber breaches as part of a broader series of hacks aimed at Democratic party organizations to gather intelligence through non-governmental organizations with windows into the U.S. political system.

“We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools … We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised,” said Eileen Murphy, the Times spokesperson.

The Democratic National Committee experienced a data breach in June that committee officials reported as attacks from state-sponsored Russian hackers to steal research data on then presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

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FAA to Launch Online Portal Where Small Drone Operators Can Request Waivers
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FAA to Launch Online Portal Where Small Drone Operators Can Request Waivers


Drone (1)The Federal Aviation Administration will launch an online portal that drone operators may use to request waivers of applicable regulations regarding the new small drone rule.

The FAA said Monday the rule formally known as Part 107 will allow operators to expand operations based on technology mitigations if they can make the safety case for a waiver of some provisions.

Drone users that apply for waivers may operate at night, beyond line of sight, above 400 feet and other specific types of operations.

The FAA added in a separate post that it encourages interested participants to apply as soon as possible because requests will be processed depending on the complexity and the volume of applications received by the administration.

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Rear Adm. Tom Druggan Named Commander of Naval Surface Warfare Center
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Rear Adm. Tom Druggan Named Commander of Naval Surface Warfare Center


Rear Adm Tom DrugganRear Adm. Tom Druggan, a surface warfare officer at the U.S. Navy, has been appointed as commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

He relieved Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, who has led NSWC since October 2014, during a change-of-command ceremony Thursday, the Navy said Friday.

Druggan previously commanded the Aegis ballistic missile defense destroyer ship USS O’Kane and served as program manager of Aegis combat systems in the service branch’s program executive office for integrated warfare systems.

He also managed the In-Service AEGIS Fleet Readiness and In-Service Aircraft Carrier Combat System Integration programs.

He was also assigned to the Defense Department as special assistant to the chief of naval operations and special assistant to the vice chief of naval operations as well as served as a staff member of the 2001 Navy Quadrennial Defense Review and founding member of the Navy operations group Deep Blue.

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Joe Dunford, Stuart Peach Ratify US-UK Bilateral Partnership
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Joe Dunford, Stuart Peach Ratify US-UK Bilateral Partnership


Joe_DunfordMarine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and British defense chief Stuart Peach sought to affirm the U.S.-U.K. bilateral partnership, DoD News reported Friday.

Dunford met with Peach at the Pentagon and stressed the role of U.K. in operations protecting Europe, and participation in joint military operations against the Islamic State militant organization.

Dunford also cited the role U.K. plays to help combat the IS group, the report says.

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Air Force Develops Open Architecture for ISR Ground System
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Air Force Develops Open Architecture for ISR Ground System


big dataA battle management team of the U.S. Air Force has developed an open architecture for the service branch’s Distributed Common Ground System that works to support the service branch’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance requirements.

The Air Force said Thursday the team collaborated with the Air Combat Command and the Air Force Research Laboratory to support the now-underway transition into the new architecture.

“In order to support Combined Forces Air Component commander intelligence needs, Air Force DCGS must be able to conduct time-dominant and decision-quality analysis to optimize ISR operations, produce timely assessments and enhance battlespace awareness and threat warnings,” said Lt. Col. Joshua Williams, DCGS branch materiel leader for the Air Force.

Williams added his team worked to develop an open and “agile” architecture that is designed to support a “plug-and-play” type of environment.

Team members created, implemented and institutionalized open hardware, software processes and specifications for the new architecture within 42 weeks to help reduce analyst evaluation and decision times by approximately 60 percent, the Air Force noted.

The service branch added the open architecture is designed to provide a single consolidation of operator workflow to address intelligence storage as well as target identification time and execution.

The program has completed its risk reduction phase in December 2015 and pilots are currently being deployed to integrate the new structure in three Air Force DCGS sites.

The service branch expects to complete the piloting phase in 2017 with a development and operational test and eventually accommodate non-Air Force DCGS systems.

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Working Group Issues Govt Greenhouse Gas Accounting Guidance
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Working Group Issues Govt Greenhouse Gas Accounting Guidance


financial reportingThe Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases has issued updated guidance designed to bolster the government’s methodology for how to account and track GHGs.

Howard Shelanski, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs administrator, and Jay Shambaugh, Council of Economic Advisers member, wrote in a blog post published Friday the IWG asked National Academies of Sciences to provide advice on how to update the former’s methodology to reflect the most current science.

The IWG has expanded the presentation of its social cost of carbon dioxide estimates through NAS-recommended discussion and will incorporate advise from the Academies’ into the social cost of carbon and release new estimates for methane and nitrous oxide.

“As we take steps to continue to keep these estimates informed by the most up-to-date science and economics, this Administration also recognizes that climate change is a global threat that requires international cooperation to combat effectively,” Shelanski noted.

The post added that the IWG will look to evaluate its estimation approach on the social cost of GHGs based on the longer-term guidance from the NAS’ final report.

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NIST Conducts Study on Occupant Evacuation Elevator for People with Mobility Impairments
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NIST Conducts Study on Occupant Evacuation Elevator for People with Mobility Impairments


NIST Conducts Study on Occupant Evacuation Elevator for People with Mobility ImpairmentsThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has published a report on the challenges faced by people with mobility impairments during emergency evacuations from multi-story buildings.

NIST said Friday it conducted the Perspectives of Occupants with Mobility Impairments on Fire Evacuation and Elevators study through face-to-face interviews with 51 persons that have mobility impairments to discuss means to leave a building during a fire evacuation.

A question on the study involved the use of an occupant evacuation elevator designed to transport people with mobility impairments out of a building without the assistance of others as an alternative to the stairs method.

“For too long, building evacuation plans have been put in place with measures that designers believe people with mobility impairments will need… Our study shows that you can’t do it properly without listening to what they actually do require,” said Erica Kuligowski, co-author on the report.

NIST noted the respondents generally agreed that evacuation strategies should provide people with mobility impairments a feeling of safety, independence, an opportunity to remain with a mobility aid, a means to quickly evacuate and communicate with security.

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Attorney General Names Richard Hartunian, Barbara McQuade to Top 2 Advisory Committee Posts
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Attorney General Names Richard Hartunian, Barbara McQuade to Top 2 Advisory Committee Posts


JusticeU.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed Richard Hartunian of the Northern District of New York and Barbara McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan as the respective chair and vice chair of the Attorney General’s advisory committee.

The Justice Department said Monday that Hartunian replaces former U.S. Attorney John Walsh for the District of Colorado as committee chair while McQuade succeeds Hartunian as vice chair.

“They are both seasoned prosecutors, exemplary law enforcement officers, and devoted public servants, and I look forward to benefitting from their long experience and wise counsel as we advance the department’s vital work in the months ahead,” said U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Hartunian became vice chair of the AGAC in January 2015 after he previously served as co-chair of the border and immigration subcommittee and as a member of the subcommittees focused on Native American issues, health care fraud and environmental crimes.

He was appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York in 2010 and prior to that he was assistant U.S. attorney since 1997 and as the district’s Narcotics Chief and Organized Crime Drug.

McQuade, who joined the AGAC in April 2013, previously was co-chair of the terrorism and national security subcommittee as well as served on subcommittees that tackle civil rights and border security matters.

She also worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, Michigan, and as deputy chief of the National Security Unit.

Established in 1973, AGAC provides advice to the Attorney General on policy, management and operational issues that affect the offices of the U.S. Attorneys.

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DoD IG: Navy Lacks Comprehensive Assessment Guidance for Renewable Energy Projects
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DoD IG: Navy Lacks Comprehensive Assessment Guidance for Renewable Energy Projects


solarpowerThe Defense Department inspector general has released a report that indicates the U.S. Navy needs a comprehensive guidance to evaluate cost performance of the service branch’s large‑scale renewable energy projects.

DoD IG said Thursday it found that Navy personnel failed to release adequate documentation to support the calculations they made in their assessments of three major renewable energy projects within the U.S. Pacific Command‘s area of responsibility, DoD IG said Thursday.

The audited projects are the Solar Multiple Award Contract in Hawaii, Guam Photovoltaic Renewable Energy and West Loch Photovoltaic Power in Hawaii.

The service branch’s current guidance does not have specific procedures for personnel to evaluate such projects, the report noted.

The IG recommended that the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment update  Navy guidance with comprehensive steps and assess the cost‑effectiveness of renewable energy projects based on those policies.

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