The National Institute of Standards and Technology has kicked off a national simulation-based robotics competition in an effort to help further the development of agile robots.

The Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition is a collaboration between NIST and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to draw input from organizations and individuals to design the challenges, NIST said Wednesday.

NIST will announce the challenges at the IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering on Aug. 21 through 24 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Craig Schlenoff, NIST’s cognition and collaboration systems group lead, said agility limitations can be overcome through failure identification, automated planning, fixtureless environment and plug-and-play robots.

“We want to make sure that the challenges in this competition are truly representative of those facing industry,” Schlenoff added.

NIST intends for the gains from ARIAC to establish standards for the measurement of robot agility and help manufacturers test the agility of robot systems.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin the initial deployment of facial comparison technology at John F. Kennedy International Airport to verify the identity of some travelers entering the U.S.

CBP said Tuesday the deployment will apply to returning U.S. ePassport holders and first-time Visa Waiver Program travelers.

“This biometric capability will aid our officers in identifying legitimate travelers while protecting them from fraud and identity theft with little to no delay to the entry process,” said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske.

He added that the technology works to support homeland security efforts.

CBP conducted a pilot test of facial comparison technology at Washington Dulles International Airport last year.

The agency said it aims to build on existing digital fingerprint-based screening procedures and explore new biometric technologies this year.

The U.S. Army intends to evaluate a new suite of tactical network operations tools designed to help soldiers manage voice, data and video communications in the battlefield.

An updated NetOps toolset is scheduled to undergo operational tests as part of a Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 3 follow-on demonstration this spring at the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation 16.2 event, the Army reported Tuesday.

NIE 16.2 will take place at Fort Bliss in Texas, and at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The Army updated NetOps in an effort to help military personnel to configure, monitor, troubleshoot and secure the WIN-T infrastructure.

The military branch has assessed NetOps upgrades during a recent functional qualification test on WIN-T Increment 3 at a contractor facility in Massachusetts and plans to conduct a risk reduction test at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland ahead of the NIE event.

WIN-T works as the backbone for the Army’s other networked communication systems and mission command applications and is built to support warfighters at command posts or in tactical vehicles.

Mark Forman, global head of Unisys‘ public sector business, wrote in a blog entry posted Tuesday he believes hybrid technology is an essential tool for agencies that aim to offer digital citizen services.

“Government organizations cannot ignore the new “digital” operational construct, and must define what this shift means for their operating model, programs, employees—and ultimately their citizenry,” Forman stated.

He cited a study that indicates a blend of analog and digital architectures will facilitate implementation of new business models at public sector agencies and other large organizations.

Forman has also observed many agencies experimenting with cloud computing, social, mobile and data analytics initiatives and some of them have rolled out a variety of mobile applications that he believes can make government services confusing to navigate.

“A more strategic approach is now needed as the next step to a more effective digital government model,” he added.

The U.S. Air Force’s first cyberspace weapon system has achieved full operational capability status to function as the first line of defense for all network traffic into the service’s information network.

The Air Force Intranet Control weapon system is designed to control all external and inter-base traffic that passes through the Air Force’s network gateways, the Air Force Space Command said Tuesday.

“As the first line of defense for our network, the 26th [Network Operations Squadron] team is responsible for more than one billion firewall, Web and email blocks per week from suspicious and adversarial sources,” said Col. Pamela Woolley, 26th cyberspace operations group commander.

The weapon system comprises gateway suites, SIPRNET nodes, service delivery points and integrated management suites.

It combines all Air Force network entry points into 16 access points centrally managed by the 26th NOS team.