The Defense Information Systems Agency is looking for ways to have Silicon Valley startup businesses engage in DISA’s procurement processes despite their short venture capital investment cycles, Fedscoop reported Friday.

John Hickey, DISA chief information officer, told a media roundtable the agency seeks to harness the potential of startups but the requirement for these companies to show profit over short periods of time is a challenge, Billy Mitchell writes.

Other senior officials also told the roundtable that industry partners could serve as sponsors and be a key tool to employ the help of startups, Fedscoop said.

The U.S. Army‘s Picatinny Arsenal and NASA have shared practices through the four-month special assignment of Ben Schumeg, a quality assurance engineer of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal.

The service branch said Thursday Schumeg worked to benchmark ARDEC processes with NASA’s and compare best practices during his assignment in efforts to enhance productivity and efficiency between the two organizations.

“While our mission ‘spaces’ may be different — space exploration and International Space Station versus ARDEC, which traditionally does armaments and weapons systems — the way we get to the solution is pretty similar,” said Schumeg.

“We want to create something that’s reliable, that works when it’s supposed to or doesn’t work when it’s not supposed to.”

Schumeg also conducted process review and software quality assurance work on visiting vehicles that supply cargo to the International Space Station, the Army said.

He also took part in the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program that aims to employ the help of industry to transport astronauts to ISS rather than use the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which costs approximately $90 million per head, the Army reported.

An agreement is underway between NASA and ARDEC to let Schumeg continue his part-time software assurance duties with NASA after his special assignment ends and he goes back to Picatinny.

Schumeg performs armament systems software qualifications work at Picatinny Arsenal, the service branch noted.

Christine Wormuth, undersecretary for policy at the Defense Department, will leave her current position in June after more than seven years of service under the current administration.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a statement released Friday that Wormuth will be replaced by Brian McKeon, principal deputy defense undersecretary for policy, on an interim basis.

David Shear, assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs, will take over as principal deputy defense undersecretary for policy.

“[Wormuth] has devoted herself to enhancing America’s national security,” Carter said.

The Senate confirmed Wormuth to her current role in June 2014.

Prior to her current position, she served as deputy defense undersecretary for strategy, plans and force development.

Her other government roles include senior director for defense policy and strategy on the National Security Staff and principal deputy assistant defense secretary for homeland defense and Americas’ security affairs under the office of the defense undersecretary for policy.

Wormuth also served at the Center for Strategic and International Studies as a senior fellow in the international security program and at the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq as a staff director.

She also worked as a principal at defense consulting firm DFI Government Services.

Lori Robinson, an Air Force general who has been nominated to lead both the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, addressed national security challenges at her nomination hearing Thursday, DoD News reported Thursday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes Robinson told the Senate Armed Services Committee that she will aim to increase the commands’ partnerships with allied nations and vigilance against homeland threats if her appointment is approved.

“Our country faces many challenging threats from within and abroad, ranging from threats such as home-grown violent extremist, cyberattacks [and] trafficking of drugs and other illicit products by transnational criminal organizations,” she explained to committee members.

She currently serves as commander of Pacific Air Forces and air component commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.

President Barack Obama nominated her as the next leader of USNorthcom and NORAD last month.

Robinson, if confirmed, will succeed Navy Adm. William Gortney and will be the first woman to lead a unified combatant command in the U.S. military’s history.