/
NSF, Commerce Department Seeking Feedback on Plan to Establish Semiconductor Workforce Coordination Hub
Published on
NSF, Commerce Department Seeking Feedback on Plan to Establish Semiconductor Workforce Coordination Hub

The National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce are seeking industry input to inform plans to invest up to $30 million over the next five years to establish and operate a coordination hub for semiconductor workforce development.

The organizations released a request for information following the signing of a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on workforce training amid a shortage of skilled workers in the microelectronics industry, the NSF said Wednesday.

Under the MOU, signed by the NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s CHIPS for America Research and Development Office within the Commerce Department, the agencies will create the National Network Coordination Hub to lead the National Network for Microelectronics Education, which will provide talents with training, instructional materials and experiential opportunities.

The hub will partner with academia, industry, and workforce and labor organizations to adopt related curricula and best practices, develop a public-facing digital portal where learners and educators can access educational resources, and inform the public about semiconductor industry careers.

According to the RFI, feedback on said plan will inform a future funding opportunity under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

Responses will be accepted until Aug. 14.

“Through partnerships and access to training for the skilled jobs that are needed to support America’s chips industry, we can keep the U.S. competitive and open new opportunities to expand geographically diverse participation in graduate, undergraduate and community college programs relevant to microelectronics in every corner of the country,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.

/
Senate Bill Seeks to Improve Access of Small Businesses to Federal Subcontracting Opportunities
Published on
Senate Bill Seeks to Improve Access of Small Businesses to Federal Subcontracting Opportunities

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., has proposed a bill that seeks to enhance the federal subcontracting process for small businesses by improving the transparency of the process.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. This bill will help to ensure that small businesses—especially women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses—can compete for federal contract opportunities on a level playing field,” Casey said in a statement published Wednesday.

The proposed Ensuring Efficiency and Fairness in Federal Subcontracting Act would advance transparency by allowing small companies included in a subcontracting plan to seek updates from prime contractors on the status of relevant federal contracts.

The measure would direct the Government Accountability Office to study the use of Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System, a.k.a. CPARS, scores to better understand whether prime contractors’ behavior toward small subcontractors can impact such scores.

The bill would also permit agencies to include warnings and penalties for prime contractors for failing to meet small business utilization goals on incentive contracts.

The senator’s proposed legislation would require agencies to perform outreach events to raise awareness of small business subcontracting opportunities through online engagements and webinars, among others.

Under the legislation, the General Service Administration would be required to modernize the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System and help ensure compliance with small business subcontracting plans.

/
New Report Shows Increasing Investments by Federal Government Entities in Artificial Intelligence R&D
Published on
New Report Shows Increasing Investments by Federal Government Entities in Artificial Intelligence R&D

Federal entity investments in artificial intelligence research and development have seen an upward trend over the past few fiscal years, with $3.1 billion being requested for such efforts in FY 2024, according to a recent report co-authored by the Artificial Intelligence R&D Interagency Working Group and the National Science and Technology Council.

The report, titled “2020–2024 Progress Report: Advancing Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence R&D,” was posted Monday on the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program website. The purpose of the report is to summarize federal AI R&D activities from 2020 through 2024 and provide examples of such carried out by various agencies across the nine strategic priorities articulated within the National AI R&D Strategic Plan: 2023 Update.

Of the $3.1 billion being requested for investment in AI research, $1.9 billion will be used for “Core AI,” which the report describes as “[investments] with a primary emphasis on AI R&D,” while $1.2 billion will be used for “AI Crosscut,” which the report describes as “[investments] with primary emphases in areas other than AI.”

The report goes on to say that such investments will be used to advance strategic AI priorities through the promotion of collaboration between industry, the government, researchers and international partners.

The report also notes the importance of making investments in education, training and talent development in order to build up a workforce that is skilled in AI.

//
ODNI Tells Tech Startups to Be Cautious of Foreign Investments
Published on
ODNI Tells Tech Startups to Be Cautious of Foreign Investments

The U.S. government has warned emerging technology developers about the risks of accepting investments from foreign adversaries.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center and partner organizations said Wednesday in a joint bulletin that adversaries may steal sensitive data from U.S. startups and threaten national security.

“U.S. emerging tech startups are at the forefront of American innovation, but they face risks when seeking potential foreign investment to expand their firms,” Michael Casey, director of the NCSC, commented in a press release.

In the joint bulletin, security officials provided examples of how foreign adversaries may take advantage of startups using U.S.-based partners or intermediaries to avoid scrutiny.

The two-page document specifically mentions a 2018 U.S. trade representative warning about the Chinese government using U.S. companies to obtain technologies and intellectual property.

It also warned that companies that become victims of foreign threat actors end up in failure.

To mitigate risks, startups are encouraged to thoroughly vet potential investors and limit data that should be shared.

The joint bulletin was also published by ODNI’s Office of Economic Security and Emerging Technology, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

//
DOE Unveils Assessment of Cyber Asset Surface Management Tool runZero Through New Report
Published on
DOE Unveils Assessment of Cyber Asset Surface Management Tool runZero Through New Report

The Department of Energy has released a report on the evaluation of a cybersecurity tool designed to counter cyberattacks against the energy sector.

DOE said Wednesday researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory assessed a cyber asset attack surface management tool, called runZero, as part of the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator, or CECA, program’s second cohort and found that the technology could help scan and identify devices on industrial control systems — a.k.a. ICS — networks without hampering the performance of ICS assets.

The runZero tool is a configurable platform that uses active scanning and passive sampling to help organizations identify on-site devices, cloud-based resources and other information technology and operational technology assets on a network without disrupting system operations.

The technology seeks to help asset owners improve visibility into their network environments to better understand system risks.

“With evolving cybersecurity threats to U.S. energy systems, and with architectures changing as the grid modernizes, it is critical to drive adoption of innovative solutions,” said Dan LaGraffe, deputy director of the risk management tools and technologies division at DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response.

“We’re optimistic that the testing and results from the CECA program will help advance tools, like runZero, that can help improve security and resilience across the sector,” added LaGraffe.

The CECA program is part of DOE’s strategy that seeks to ensure the security, resilience and reliability of the U.S. critical energy infrastructure. The program’s Cohort 2 intends to address visibility issues facing asset owners when it comes to various devices linked to an ICS network.

/
NASA Funds 5 Research Projects Focused on Space Sustainability
Published on
NASA Funds 5 Research Projects Focused on Space Sustainability

NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy has selected five teams from various universities to receive space sustainability research funding with a combined value of $550,000.

Two of the teams will focus on lunar surface sustainability, including the protection of valuable locations and human heritage sites on the moon, while the rest will perform research to tackle the growing number of orbital debris and defunct human-made objects in space, NASA said Tuesday.

The research awards align with the agency’s Space Sustainability Strategy, which aims to ensure future generations can explore space in a safe, peaceful and responsible manner.

According to Ellen Gertsen, deputy associate administrator for the OTPS, the research projects will help NASA understand the economics, the policy considerations and the social elements of sustainability by generating new tools and evidence that enable better-informed decisions.

The selected proposals for lunar surface sustainability research are:

  • “A RAD Framework for the Moon: Applying Resist-Accept-Direct Decision-Making,” submitted by Caitlin Ahrens of the University of Maryland, College Park
  • “Synthesizing Frameworks of Sustainability for Futures on the Moon,” submitted by research scientist Afreen Siddiqi of Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The awardees for orbital debris and space sustainability research are:

  • “Integrated Economic-Debris Modeling of Active Debris Removal to Inform Space Sustainability and Policy,” submitted by researcher Mark Moretto of the University of Colorado, Boulder
  • “Avoiding the Kessler Syndrome Through Policy Intervention,” submitted by aeronautics and astronautics researcher Richard Linares of MIT
  • “Analysis of Cislunar Space Environment Scenarios, Enabling Deterrence and Incentive-Based Policy,” submitted by mechanical and aerospace engineering researcher Ryne Beeson of Princeton University
/
Honeywell Receives Contract to Develop Prototype Counter-sUAS Capability for Air Force Global Strike Command
Published on
Honeywell Receives Contract to Develop Prototype Counter-sUAS Capability for Air Force Global Strike Command

The Cyber Innovation Center has entered into a contract with Honeywell for the production of a minimum viable counter small unmanned aerial systems prototype that will work to protect the mobile assets of the Air Force Global Strike Command.

Strikewerx said Tuesday that Honeywell’s capability was selected out of the top 22 proposals under the Mobile C-sUAS Swarming Defeat Challenge.

Overseen by Strikewerx, the challenge saw a total of 60 submissions, which, over the course of 2023, were whittled down to the top 22. Capability showcases took place in December, resulting in the selection of the best idea to address the counter-drone requirement.

Commenting on the challenge, AFGSC Chief Scientist Donna Senft said, “The results of this project will positively impact U.S. integrated deterrence by strengthening safety, security, and effectiveness.”

For his part, CIC President Kevin Nolten said the challenge “uncovered a lot of great solutions, but the Honeywell proposal was the best integration of detection, cyber defeat, and kinetic defeat technology in a single package.”

NSF Investing $67M to Establish Center to Mitigate Foreign Threats to US Research
Published on
NSF Investing $67M to Establish Center to Mitigate Foreign Threats to US Research

The National Science Foundation is investing a total of $67 million over five years to establish the Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem, or SECURE, Center, which will work as an information clearinghouse to enable the identification and mitigation of foreign threats to the U.S. research enterprise.

Of the total investment, $50 million will go to University of Washington, which will lead the SECURE Center, and $17 million to Texas A&M University, one of nine other institutions of higher education that will support the effort, the NSF said Wednesday.

The SECURE Center will serve as a hub to five regional centers: SECURE Northeast, which will be managed by Northeastern University; SECURE Southeast, which will be managed by Emory University; SECURE Midwest, to be managed by the University of Missouri; SECURE Southwest, to be managed by The University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas A&M University; and SECURE West, to be managed by University of Washington.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State University, the University of Michigan and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution will provide expertise in several subjects, including sensitive research, threat types and geopolitical analysis.

For its part, Texas A&M University, in addition to co-managing SECURE Southwest, will lead SECURE Analytics, which will work to provide the SECURE Center and the research community at large with analytics services. SECURE Analytics will be supported by the Hoover Institution.

Also participating in the effort is the College of Charleston, which will ensure the inclusion of emerging research and minority-serving institutions.

/
Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reed Nominated to Lead Transportation Command
Published on
Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reed Nominated to Lead Transportation Command

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Reed was nominated by the president to serve as commander of Transportation Command, according to Lloyd Austin, secretary of the Department of Defense and a previous Wash100 winner.

Reed, currently deputy commander of Air Mobility Command, is also up for appointment to the grade of general.

As the no. 2 for AMC, Reed helps lead the air component of TRANSCOM, which has approximately 107,000 active-duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and civilian airmen, and a fleet of almost 1,100 aircraft operating globally to project, maneuver and sustain the Joint Force, allies and partners.

Reed served as commander of the Third Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany before assuming his current assignment.

If confirmed, the Air Force lieutenant general will replace Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the first woman appointed to run TRANSCOM and the 14th commander overall.

Van Ovost was nominated for the post in March 2021 and received a Senate confirmation through a voice vote in October of the same year.

/
CGI Federal Lands Spot on EPA Tech Services BPA
Published on
CGI Federal Lands Spot on EPA Tech Services BPA

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, or ORD, has enlisted CGI Federal to continue performing digital transformation services with a ceiling of $100 million in contract value.

Under the Scientific Modeling, Application, Visualization, Computational Science, Software and Statistical Support, or SMAVCS4, blanket purchase agreement, CGI will continue to execute the modernization initiatives for the EPA, including assistance with financial management programs, the Fairfax, Virginia-based company announced on Thursday.

Jay Hadley, CGI senior vice president, said, “CGI brings a deep understanding of ORD’s mission, leveraging our decades-long history of continuous innovation in service to EPA’s technology and modernization initiatives, which aim to deliver meaningful outcomes to EPA and its program researchers.”

The BPA will see CGI maintaining its role providing functional support for the EPA’s financial and asset management requirements. The company will also aid EPA mission operations by overseeing data collection, sharing and publication.

Mike Kearns, CGI’s vice president of consulting services, said partnering with ORD will help the EPA better understand the technological environment needed to make more informed regulatory decisions.

“It is important, now more than ever, to have an accurate understanding of environmental health. CGI’s experience supporting EPA’s technology priorities enables us to partner with ORD to align its technology future within their ecosystem. We look forward to continuously evolving the applications and data products that underpin ORD’s work,” Kearns stated.

Three other awardees have been selected to conduct duties under the SMAVCS4 BPA.

1 … 284 285 286 287 288 … 2,656