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GSA’s 18F Debuts Online Platform for Source Code Micro-Purchases
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GSA’s 18F Debuts Online Platform for Source Code Micro-Purchases

source codeThe General Services Administration‘s 18F unit has introduced an online micro-purchase platform for open-source code developers to bid on various projects at the digital services organization.

V. David Zvenyach and Alla Goldman Seiffert wrote in a post published Thursday that 18F will initially post a batch of reverse auction opportunities on the marketplace to buy new codes or features for the group’s Tock time-tracking software.

Vendors can submit bids that range between $1 and $3500, Zvenyach and Seiffert noted.

The 18F team implemented the platform after it conducted a federal acquisition experiment in efforts to determine whether the micro-purchase strategy can help attract small businesses and nonconventional contractors.

The experiment’s winner Brendan Sudol, a Simon Data software engineer, bid $1 to provide a source code designed to move data from GSA’s Schedule 70 contracting tool into the online Contract-Awarded Labor Category portal.

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GAO Evaluates TSA’s Efforts to Change Airport Screening System Acquisitions
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GAO Evaluates TSA’s Efforts to Change Airport Screening System Acquisitions


AirportRunwayA Government Accountability Office official has said that the Transportation Security Administration has initiated efforts to change the way it acquires passenger and baggage screening systems used at airports in order to comply with the TSA Reform Act.

Michele Mackin, director of acquisition and sourcing management at GAO, said in written testimony to the House Homeland Security transportation security subcommittee Thursday that approximately 15,000 airport security systems were fielded by TSA as of August 2015.

Mackin also cited TSA’s efforts to enhance its test and assessment procedures through the development of a strategy in which a third party would help the agency evaluate the maturity of screening systems.

Jill Vaughan, assistant administrator at TSA’s office of security capabilities, told panel members that TSA officials have shared test plans with vendors and launched efforts to seek industry proposals for new platforms through open notices, according to an FCW report.

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Michael Huerta: FAA-Registered Drones Reach 180K
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Michael Huerta: FAA-Registered Drones Reach 180K


Michael Huerta
Michael Huerta

The Federal Aviation Administration has recorded nearly 180,000 unmanned aerial systems that registered with the agency since it launched the registration system in December, FCW reported Wednesday.

Chase Gunter writes the FAA intends for the registration to help address issues around safety involving drones and passenger aircraft.

“Simply put, registration is all about safety,” Michael Huerta, FAA chief, told the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“It provides us with a key opportunity to educate the new generation of airspace users that, as soon as they start flying outside, they’re pilots,” he said.

The FAA charges $5 per system for the registration that is valid for three years, according to the report.

CBO: Annual US Deficit Fell to Lowest Point in 8 Years
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CBO: Annual US Deficit Fell to Lowest Point in 8 Years


budget analysis reviewThe Congressional Budget Office has published an infographic report that indicates the $439 billion U.S. budget shortfall the agency recorded for fiscal 2015 was the government’s smallest deficit since fiscal 2007.

CBO said Wednesday federal debt held by the public at the end of FY 2015 was 74 percent of gross domestic product, the highest annual debt-to-GDP ratio in 65 years.

The agency calculates public debt by adding annual deficits and surpluses and says federal credit programs, including financial aid to students, can also affect overall debt.

The government spent a total of $3.7 trillion on discretionary defense and nondefense programs as well as on mandatory benefits such as Medicare, Medicaid and social security, according to the report.

Revenues from corporate, payroll, individual and miscellaneous taxes amounted to $3.2 trillion during fiscal 2015, the report noted.

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DHS to Require Real ID Act-Compliant Driver’s Licenses From Air Travelers
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DHS to Require Real ID Act-Compliant Driver’s Licenses From Air Travelers


DHS - ExecutiveMosaicThe Department of Homeland Security will require travelers to present at airports driver’s licenses and identification cards that comply with the provisions of the Real ID Act this year, the New York Times reported Dec. 29.

Driver’s licenses and ID cards that comply with Real ID Act must have a machine-readable magnetic chip that carries the owner’s personal information such as name, photo, physical attributes, signature, date of birth, Social Security number and citizenship status, according to the Times.

GCN reports DHS announced in 2013 that it would implement the law in four phases with plans to enforce “Phase 4” in 2016.

Under Phase 4 of the enforcement plan, the department would require passengers with IDs from noncompliant states to present other forms of acceptable identification in order to be allowed to board federally regulated aircraft.

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Army, DISA Start to Implement Defense Email Mailbox Size Limits
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Army, DISA Start to Implement Defense Email Mailbox Size Limits

Computer-EngineeringThe U.S. Army and Defense Information Systems Agency have started to implement mailbox size limits for the Defense Enterprise Email system in an effort to address increased storage consumption across the service.

The Army said Wednesday the mailbox size limit works to control costs, facilitate system efficiency and shorten program startup times.

“Mailbox management at all user levels is critical to ensuring that Army storage requirements do not grow at unsustainable and unaffordable rates,” said John Howell, product director for enterprise content collaboration and messaging at the Army.

Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, Army chief information officer/G-6, noted that the service branch will annually review command mailbox limits to ensure they meet mission requirements.

The Army said it aims to reduce mailboxes that go over four gigabytes.

DISA announced its plan to cap mailbox sizes for the military in August.

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Reuters: US, S. Korea Discuss Possible Response to N. Korea Nuclear Test
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Reuters: US, S. Korea Discuss Possible Response to N. Korea Nuclear Test


Nuclear explosionPresident Barack Obama has spoken to South Korean President Park Geun-hye about options for responding to North Korea’s fourth rogue nuclear test, Reuters reported Thursday.

South Korea is considering deployment of U.S.-built strategic weapons after North Korea declared it has performed an underground test of a hydrogen bomb, according to the report by Ju-Min Park and Se Young Lee.

Park and Lee write it could take several days for experts to verify the nuclear device used.

Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, called for recommencement of six-party negotiations to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, the report noted.

U.N. National Security Council has said it will explore potential sanctions against North Korea, while House Republicans plan to discuss a stringent punishment to foreign companies that do business with the country.

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Daily Beast: CIA, DHS, NSA Probe Cyber Attack on Ukraine Power Grid
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Daily Beast: CIA, DHS, NSA Probe Cyber Attack on Ukraine Power Grid


power gridThe Department of Homeland Security, CIA and the National Security Agency have launched an investigation into a cyber attack that led to an hours-long blackout that affected approximately 700,000 households in Ukraine on Dec. 23, The Daily Beast reported Wednesday.

Shane Harris writes computer security professionals at the three U.S. agencies have begun to analyze samples of malicious software found in the networks of Ukraine-based power firm Prykarpattyaoblenergo and have started to investigate Russia’s potential involvement in the intrusion.

Some experts told The Daily Beast that BlackEnergy, a malware used in a cyber attack campaign that sought to compromise the U.S. power grid in 2014, was also discovered in the power company’s computer networks.

Computer security services provider iSIGHT Partners has initiated efforts to examine the devices used in the cyber attack on Ukraine’s power facilities, Harris reports.

Government experts and three security firms have started to gather technical data to further support their finding about the power outage’s connection to the network intrusion.

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WSJ: Obama to Name Joseph Votel for US Central Command Leadership Post
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WSJ: Obama to Name Joseph Votel for US Central Command Leadership Post


Joseph Votel
Joseph Votel

President Barack Obama is set to nominate Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, to oversee U.S. Central Command as part of an effort to combat extremist groups, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Gordon Lubold writes Votel will succeed Gen. Lloyd Austin and be responsible for U.S. operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan if confirmed by the Senate.

Gen. Tony Thomas, head of the Joint Special Operations Command, stands as a potential successor to Votel, according to the report.

Votel served as head of JSOC before taking his current role at SOCOM in 2014, the Journal reports.

Earlier in his career, he served as the director of the Army and Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Task Force and later as the deputy director of the Joint IED Defeat Organization.

Votel was also the deputy commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division/CJTF-82 for Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

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Adm. John Richardson Eyes Maritime Superiority With Navy Guidance; Rep. Randy Forbes Comments
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Adm. John Richardson Eyes Maritime Superiority With Navy Guidance; Rep. Randy Forbes Comments


John Richardson
John Richardson

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has released a new guidance that details approaches on how the U.S. Navy can sustain maritime superiority, USNI News reported Tuesday.

Richardson said the guidance titled “A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority” aims to address three global forces with potential implications for the service branch such as the maritime traffic, technological developments and adoption and changes related to the global information system.

The document outlines the four lines of effort the Navy must exercise, including the need to strengthen the naval power through the modernization of the strategic deterrent triad and advancement of information warfare.

Richardson cited specific tasks and objectives for other lines of effort such as the application of concepts and techniques to expedite learning, creation of partnerships, and implementation of the Sailor 2025 program in order to strengthen the service branch’s leaders and personnel.

Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. also reports for Breaking Defense that Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) commented on the mentions of Russia and China in the guidance.

“(Richardson’s) clarity on the challenge posed by Russia and China’s destabilizing behavior is welcome, as is the emphasis on wargaming and fleet exercises to refine new concepts that might successfully counter Moscow and Beijing’s growing assertiveness,” Forbes told Breaking Defense.

“By speaking honestly about the competitive nature of these relationships, Adm. Richardson is helping to provide much-needed clarity about U.S. intentions in the Asia-Pacific,” he added.

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