NASA has teamed up with the National Science Foundation in an effort to develop an instrument that can detect exoplanets by measuring the “wobbling” of stars caused by the gravitational pull of a nearby planet.

The NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research program aims to utilize the future NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy instrument to be built by a Pennsylvania State University research group , the space agency said Wednesday.

Suvrath Mahadevan will lead the research group, which will work to build NEID through 2019, NASA added.

Paul Hertz, NASA astrophysics division director, said NEID along with the WIYN telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory could support the search for new planets and lead to other future discoveries.

NASA said the instrument could also follow-up on ongoing planet-hunting missions such as the Kepler/K2 and complement the James Webb Space Telescope and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope for other potential discoveries.

The exoplanet exploration program office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the NEID project.

A Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program office plans to add a “readiness capabilities assessment” to the FedRAMP process in an effort to help vendors demonstrate their cloud technology and service offerings early on.

The revamped process will require cloud service providers who seek a FedRAMP Ready status to complete a system evaluation with a third-party assessment organization rather than going through documentation reviews by the FedRAMP’s program management office, according to an announcement published Monday.

The program aims to help “CSPs and agencies to achieve FedRAMP authorizations faster without negatively impacting risk and quality of security packages.”

The FedRAMP PMO has also started to gather industry comments on draft versions of the FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Report Template and the FedRAMP Readiness Assessment Guidance.

CSPs and 3PAOs can submit their input for those documents through April 29.

Government delegates from the U.S. and Germany held a two-day meeting to discuss their decade-long cooperation on efforts to meet their strategic objectives in the field of cybersecurity.

Officials from both countries agreed to continue their efforts to promote Internet freedom and enhance coordination of cyber incidents at the fourth annual U.S.-Germany Cyber Bilateral Meeting that kicked off March 22 in Washington, the State Department said Thursday.

Both delegations said they will continue to collaborate to protect human rights on the Web, promote multi-stakeholder framework to Internet governance and safeguard critical infrastructure from potential cyber threats.

The two countries have also agreed to facilitate information sharing on cyber issues, implement the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe’s “confidence-building measures” in an effort to reduce cyber risks and help other countries establish their capacity in cyber space through the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise.

Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues at the State Department, and Ambassador Thomas Fitschen, director for international cyber policy at Germany’s federal foreign office, told delegates that the 2017 Cyber Bilateral Meeting will be held in Berlin, Germany.

Gina Loften, vice president and chief innovation officer of IBM‘s federal business, has said she believes agile methodology can help agencies create information technology applications to deliver citizen services.

Loften wrote in a guest piece published Tuesday on Federal Times the agile development model has been used in the private sector and works to enable organizations to make platforms based on end-user needs.

“Because design thinking puts the user first, it could result in better outcomes, which would enhance the ultimate mission of various federal agencies,” she added.

She said an agency that aims to adopt the agile methodology should establish a collaborative culture that will allow technology developers to exchange ideas throughout the development process.

Loften also recommended that agencies use the strategy to modernize public service websites for mobile device users and believes doing so can help increase citizen interaction with the government.

The Commerce Department has appointed 17 digital technology leaders to the board of advisers of the agency’s newly-formed digital economy agenda organization.

The department said Tuesday the appointees will work to provide private sector input and support to the agenda, which was created in efforts to facilitate free and open internet access for U.S. citizens.

Zoe Baird, Markle Foundation president and CEO, and Mitchell Baker, Mozilla executive chairwoman, were appointed as co-chairs of the advisory board.

“I am thrilled that such a knowledgeable and diverse group of thought leaders has volunteered to serve on our new Digital Economy Board of Advisors,” said Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Alan Davidson, DoC digital economy director, will work with the secretary and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to apply the board’s recommendations.

Other board appointees include:

•          Karen Bartleson, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers president-elect
•          Greg Becker, Silicon Valley Bank and SVB Financial Group president and CEO
•          James Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs
•          David L. Cohen, Comcast senior executive vice president and chief diversity officer
•          Austan Goolsbee, Robert P. Gwinn professor of economics at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
•          Mindy Grossman, HSN CEO and director
•          Oisin Hanrahan, Handy co-Founder and CEO
•          Sonia Katyal, Chancellor’s professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law
•          James Manyika, McKinsey Global Institute director
•          William Ruh, GE chief digital officer and GE Digital CEO
•          Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer
•          Corey Thomas, Rapid7 president and CEO
•          Marta Tellado, Consumer Reports president and CEO
•          Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO
•          John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president