Ernest Moniz: DOE Plans $220M Investment to Refresh US Power Grid Infrastructure
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Ernest Moniz: DOE Plans $220M Investment to Refresh US Power Grid Infrastructure


Ernest Moniz
Ernest Moniz

The Energy Department plans to award as much as $220 million in research and development funds over three years to modernize the U.S. electric power distribution network through a public-private partnership.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Thursday unveiled a framework that calls for collaboration between department-backed national laboratories and government agencies, universities and companies in the Grid Modernization Initiative, DOE said Thursday.

“Modernizing the U.S. electrical grid is essential to reducing carbon emissions, creating safeguards against attacks on our infrastructure, and keeping the lights on,” Moniz noted.

DOE aims to integrate conventional power generation and renewable energy sources with electricity storage and smart building methods in a bid to address environmental and cybersecurity risks to the country’s grid infrastructure.

Proposed funds for the project are subject to the congressional appropriations process and will be issued through the Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium, which comprises 14 national labs and public and private sector organizations.

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OMB Details White House Investment Proposals in FY 2017 Budget
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OMB Details White House Investment Proposals in FY 2017 Budget


budget analysis reviewThe Office of Management and Budget has detailed some of President Barack Obama’s proposals for investments under the president’s fiscal year 2017 budget plan.

Jamal Brown, OMB press secretary, wrote in a blog article published Wednesday that the president’s FY 2017 budget aims to invest in new programs for economic opportunity and mobility.

Obama wants to pump $15 million into a mobility counseling pilot to help recipients of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s housing assistance stay in safe neighborhoods.

The budget also proposes to allocate $2 billion in emergency aid and service connection grants for an initiative to help families in crisis regain stability.

The president also seeks to invest $128 million in the Education Department’s Promise Neighborhoods program and $200 million in HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program to help improve educational and employment outcomes.

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DHS’ Phyllis Schneck: New Multilateral Export Control Policy Conflicts with US Cyber Efforts
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DHS’ Phyllis Schneck: New Multilateral Export Control Policy Conflicts with US Cyber Efforts


Phyllis Schneck
Phyllis Schneck

Some government and industry executives told a congressional hearing Tuesday they believe the U.S. government should review a multilateral arms control agreement’s policy that restricts cross-border sales of computer surveillance technology, FCW reported Wednesday.

Aisha Chowdhry writes the Wassenaar Arrangement was amended in 2013 to include intrusion software and Internet network monitoring products to a technology list for which signatory nations must apply export controls.

The Commerce Department proposed a rule last year to implement the amendment and encountered opposition from individuals and companies that submitted feedback on the department’s proposal.

Phyllis Schneck, the Department of Homeland Security‘s deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications, told House lawmakers Tuesday the policy could affect governmental efforts to address cyber threats.

Aliya Sternstein of Nextgov reported the multilateral exports policy requires companies to obtain a license before they can transmit technical data on intrusion platforms.

Schneck noted at the joint hearing of two House subcommittees that it could take weeks for technology firms to complete the licensing process, Sternstein reports.

Microsoft and Symantec executives have recommended that U.S. trade negotiators remand the restriction back to the 41-nation Wassenaar forum.

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Defense One: Air Force to Postpone A-10 Retirement, Retain Plane for Anti-Islamic State Campaign
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Defense One: Air Force to Postpone A-10 Retirement, Retain Plane for Anti-Islamic State Campaign

A-10 PCAS testThe U.S. Air Force has agreed to postpone its plan to retire the A-10 Warthog due to increased demand to use the attack planes against the Islamic State militant group, Defense One reported Wednesday.

Marcus Weisgerber writes the defense budget request for fiscal year 2017, which the Pentagon will submit to Congress in February, will cover the change of plans on the A-10.

The service branch still aims to eventually decommission the aging fleet to accommodate newer aircraft and capabilities, the report said.

“With growing global chaos and turmoil on the rise, we simply cannot afford to prematurely retire the best close-air support weapon in our arsenal without fielding a proper replacement,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Defense One.

In 2014, McCain led a group of lawmakers who have pledged support for the A-10 after the Air Force first revealed its plan to shelve the program.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has said the fleet’s retirement would free up money amid the budget uncertainty.

Andy Slavitt of CMS Advocates for Medicaid Infrastructure Investment
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Andy Slavitt of CMS Advocates for Medicaid Infrastructure Investment


Andy Slavitt
Andy Slavitt

Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has called for investments in the Medicaid information technology in an effort to help with customer service work.

Slavitt wrote in a blog article published Monday that he believes “investing in the future of Medicaid is one of the single biggest opportunities in the health care sector.”

He noted that CMS has helped states to update their Medicaid IT infrastructure through an annual investment that he says has reached more than $5 billion to fulfill the needs of providers and beneficiaries.

“CMS and states are prepared to invest in innovative solutions,” Slavitt wrote.

He said CMS will provide resources for the technology community to begin the work in addition to program funding.

CMS also launched a new website to help the technology community participate in the Medicaid IT market.

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FAS: DoD Implements Continuous Personnel Evaluation to Detect Insider Threats
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FAS: DoD Implements Continuous Personnel Evaluation to Detect Insider Threats


insider-threatMichael Vickers, then-defense undersecretary for intelligence at the Defense Department, said in an April 2015 report that DoD has initiated efforts to detect potential insider threats through pilots and concept demonstrations, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Steven Aftergood wrote Jan. 7 on the FAS blog that Vickers’ report to Congress said the Pentagon used such demonstrations to perform continuous evaluation on approximately 100,000 contractor, civilian and military staff.

FAS obtained the report from DoD through the Freedom of Information Act.

According to Aftergood, DoD reduced the number of security clearance holders by 800,000 from fiscal year 2013 through the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 as part of the department’s efforts to address insider threats.

A quarterly report on the insider threat program shows that government agencies have either postponed or missed certain program milestones as of the fourth quarter of FY 2015.

These include key milestones that fall under various work plans such as improvement of enterprise management of information technology systems and resources, development of insider threat initiatives and implementation of federal investigative standards.

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Robert Williams Nominated to Lead Continental US NORAD Region
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Robert Williams Nominated to Lead Continental US NORAD Region


Robert Williams
Robert Williams

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Williams, head of the Office of Military Cooperation, has been nominated to become the commander of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.

His nomination includes the role of commander for the First Air Force (Air Forces Northern) at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, the Defense Department announced Wednesday.

President Barack Obama also seeks to elevate Williams to the rank of lieutenant general if the nomination is approved.

Williams also currently serves as a U.S. senior defense official and defense attache for the U.S. Central Command at the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.

He began his military career as an instructor and evaluator pilot of the T-38 Talon jet trainer built by Northrop Grumman before he served as an F-16 fighter pilot, instructor pilot and evaluator pilot.

He also commanded the 169th Fighter Wing, 169th Operations Group at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina, Air National Guard Readiness Center and the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The Continental U.S. NORAD Region is a component of the North American Aerospace Defense Command that provides airspace surveillance and control for the continental U.S.

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Dawn: Congress Moves to Stall F-16 Fighter Jet Sale to Pakistan
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Dawn: Congress Moves to Stall F-16 Fighter Jet Sale to Pakistan


U.S. Air Force photo

Congress has used clarification notices to delay the Obama administration’s plan to sell eight new Lockheed Martin-built F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, Dawn reported Tuesday.

Anwar Iqbal writes the Senate also moved to stall the sale of the fighter jets to Pakistan through a legislative “hold” notice sent to the White House.

Lawmakers raised concerns about the purpose of such fighter jets that Pakistan intends to procure from the U.S., Iqbal reports.

“I don’t know how an F-16, with all of its hardware on there for combat, can be used for humanitarian aid,” Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) said at a congressional hearing.

“Those F-16s and the military equipment that we are providing Pakistan are being used against their own people, just like they did against the people over there in Bangladesh,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

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Penny Pritzker: Commerce Dept Works to Promote Open Internet, Democratize Agency Data
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Penny Pritzker: Commerce Dept Works to Promote Open Internet, Democratize Agency Data


Sec. Penny Pritzker
Sec. Penny Pritzker

The Commerce Department has prioritized efforts to ensure the Internet remains a free and open technology and to make agency data available to policymakers, companies and the general public, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker told McKinsey Global Institute in a recent interview.

Pritzker said to James Manyika, a director at the McKinsey Global institute, during the interview the department has formed an internal group to help address current digitization challenges in the U.S.

DOC’s Digital Economy Leadership Team aims to promote digital security and privacy, increase access of households to high-speed Internet and help the public and private sectors engage with Internet of Things technology and autonomous and unmanned platforms, according to Pritzker.

“What we’re trying to do is acknowledge the facts on the ground and recognize that digitization and globalization are happening and have been happening,” she told McKinsey’s Manyika.

“And how do we engage in a way that’s best for society as a whole? How do we engage in a way so that the private sector in the U.S. wins globally?”

She added the department has also wrapped up negotiations on Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which Pritzker said can help U.S. small and medium businesses enter into new markets.

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Stacey Dixon Joins IARPA as Deputy Director
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Stacey Dixon Joins IARPA as Deputy Director


IARPA_logo_EMStacey Dixon, former deputy director of the InnoVision organization at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency , has joined the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity as deputy director.

She will be responsible for IARPA’s multi-disciplinary research programs for national intelligence operations in collaboration with the agency’s director, IARPA said Wednesday.

Dixon was most recently responsible for research and development for geospatial intelligence at InnoVision after she served as NGA’s chief of congressional and intergovernmental affairs.

Dixon previously served as program monitor for HPSCI’s national intelligence science and technology activities and later as budget director.

She also led the science division for a satellite program at the CIA between 2003 and 2007.

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