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TSA Seeks Maintenance Services Provider for Airport Checkpoint Equipment
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TSA Seeks Maintenance Services Provider for Airport Checkpoint Equipment

The Transportation Security Administration has issued a request for proposals seeking providers of integrated logistics support services for the maintenance of checkpoint equipment deployed at various airports and government-designated facilities.

The requirements include corrective, preventative and excepted maintenance; tools, test equipment and calibration; communications; parts and parts obsolescence; and TSA Service Response Center services, according to the RFP posted Tuesday on SAM.gov.

The potential contract will have firm fixed price and time and materials contract line item number elements and feature a six-month base transition in period, seven one-year option periods and one six-month option period.

The TSA notes that the solicitation is currently unfunded but that funding is anticipated prior to award.

Interested parties have until June 4 to respond.

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John Plumb on DOD’s Integrated Air & Missile Defense Imperatives
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John Plumb on DOD’s Integrated Air & Missile Defense Imperatives

John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said there are four imperatives that have been driving his team at the Department of Defense when it comes to integrated air and missile defense, or IAMD, and the first two are balanced offense-defense approaches and rapid innovation in future technologies.

Plumb said that when it comes to rapid innovation, DOD should invest in novel areas such as hypersonic defense, directed energy and space-based missile warning and tracking.

“The space domain is intrinsically linked to missile defense in terms of missile warning, tracking, and detection, and is an area with significant technological growth ahead,” he said Tuesday during his speech at a conference.

“On regional hypersonic defense, the Department is currently engaged in the development of a future capability called the Glide Phase Interceptor, or GPI,” he added.

He also discussed the other two IAMD imperatives: comprehensive missile defeat and close engagement with allies and partners.

Plumb described comprehensive missile defeat as “a full-spectrum approach to prevent and defeat adversary missiles in all domains and along all timelines through a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities such as passive defense and electronic warfare.”

He noted that DOD continues to prioritize IAMD-related engagement with international allies and partners.

“Building our collective IAMD efforts strengthens our common protection, enhances extended deterrence, and provides assurances essential to the cohesion of our alliances and partnerships against regional missile threats, coercion and attacks,” the DOD official added.

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IARPA Program Seeks Algorithms That Can Re-Identify, Geolocate People & Objects Across Disparate Recordings
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IARPA Program Seeks Algorithms That Can Re-Identify, Geolocate People & Objects Across Disparate Recordings

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has launched the Video Linking and Intelligence from Non-Collaborative Sensors program, which seeks to develop re-identification algorithms that would make it possible to autonomously associate content found across footage recorded by diverse video sensors and geo-locate that re-identified content.

According to Video LINCS Program Manager Reuven Meth, the resulting capabilities would provide a new tool that intelligence analysts can use to process and identify threats that might be recorded in large volumes of disparate video imagery, IARPA said Tuesday.

The Video LINCS program will unfold in three phases across 48 months. The first phase involves demonstrating the feasibility of the re-identification and geolocation of persons in video compilations. The second phase would cover vehicles. The third phase would cover generic objects without prior knowledge as to what kind of objects they would be.

Although the Video LINCS program is in pre-solicitation status, IARPA has already selected MITRE, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the National Institute of Standards and Technology as testing and evaluation partners.

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OPM Director Kiran Ajuha to Leave Role
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OPM Director Kiran Ajuha to Leave Role

Kiran Ahuja will step down from her position as director of the Office of Personnel Management in the next few weeks.

Ahuja, who was confirmed by the Senate as OPM chief in June 2021, has led initiatives to recruit and retain more than 2.2 million federal employees, the agency said Tuesday.

With her at the helm, OPM has strengthened the merit-based civil service, reinstituted the Presidential Rank Awards program for federal employees, established the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility and released a final rule to broaden federal opportunities for early career talent and recruit government leaders through the Pathways Programs, among other initiatives.

“Kiran leaves an incredible legacy as a strong and indefatigable champion of the 2.2 million public servants in the federal workforce,” said OPM Deputy Director Rob Shriver. “Under Kiran’s leadership, OPM has bounced back stronger than ever and partnered with agencies across government to better serve the American people.”

Prior to OPM, Ahuja was CEO of Seattle-based nonprofit network Philanthropy Northwest.

She previously served as chief of staff at OPM and as a civil rights lawyer at the Department of Justice.

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Proposals Sought for New Batch of NSF Regional Innovation Engines
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Proposals Sought for New Batch of NSF Regional Innovation Engines

The National Science Foundation is soliciting new proposals for the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program, which seeks to fund the establishment innovation ecosystems, dubbed NSF Engines, that would stimulate and sustain economic activity and technological development within the geographic region that the Engine is intended to impact.

Successful proposers would receive up to $160 million in funding over 10 years, the NSF said Tuesday.

Unlike the previous funding round, which has already resulted in the establishment of 10 inaugural NSF Engines, the current round allows tribal nations and state and local government agencies to submit a proposal as the lead organization. The current round will also only accept proposals for full NSF Engines.

Interested parties have until June 18 to submit letters of intent and Aug. 6 to submit a preliminary proposal. Full proposals are due Feb. 11, 2025.

The NSF Engines program was launched in 2022 under the authorization of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

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DMI’s Gary Wang Outlines Effective Cloud Migration Practices
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DMI’s Gary Wang Outlines Effective Cloud Migration Practices

Gary Wang, chief technology officer at DMI, said implementing a human-centered approach and adopting a zero trust architecture are key to ensuring the success of an organization’s transition to the cloud.

An effective cloud migration initiative requires holistic and strategic organizational change management to bridge knowledge gaps on cloud migration best practices and address concerns about job security and cultural resistance to changes, Wang wrote in an opinion article American City and County published Friday.

According to Wang, state and local government agencies must focus on culture changes, workforce development and business process optimization throughout the migration process to ensure “a successful shift to cloud-based operations.”

A zero trust architecture is also a crucial component of an efficient cloud migration effort to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of cloud environments.

“Cloud service providers and their public sector partners have a shared responsibility to adhere to the major pillars of zero trust, including full visibility in the cloud and least privilege access policies,” Wang said.

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NASA Seeks Feedback on Space Technology Needs; Kurt Vogel Quoted
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NASA Seeks Feedback on Space Technology Needs; Kurt Vogel Quoted

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is soliciting feedback from the U.S. aerospace community on nearly 190 space technology shortfalls or needs for future space exploration and science missions as it works to refine its strategy for prioritizing tech development investments.

“STMD is developing many critical technologies, but shifting to a more open and collaborative approach allows us to better prioritize our efforts and align with key stakeholder needs while ensuring we all get the most bang out of our investments,” Kurt Vogel, associate administrator for space technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in a statement published Tuesday.

The space agency is seeking feedback on critical tech shortfalls, including cryogenic fluid management, additive manufacturing, advanced propulsion, in-situ resource utilization and thermal management systems.

NASA will gather data from industry, academia, government and other stakeholders through virtual meetings over the next month and create a final list of shortfall priorities.

The agency will assess its ongoing tech development initiatives against the priorities to determine new investments and identify potential adjustments within its portfolio.

Insights are due May 13.

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DAF Officials Highlight FY2025 Priorities to Support National Defense Strategy Implementation
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DAF Officials Highlight FY2025 Priorities to Support National Defense Strategy Implementation

Top officials from the U.S. Air Force and Space Force have outlined their fiscal year 2025 budget priorities to support the continued implementation of the 2022 National Defense Strategy and optimize operations to meet challenges posed by competition with China.

In a joint statement, the officials reaffirmed the Department of the Air Force’s commitment to supporting the NDS’ four key priorities: defending the homeland, deterring strategic attacks against the U.S. and its allies, deterring aggression and building a resilient joint force.

To deter aggression from rivals including China, the DAF will take full advantage of the Quick Start initiative authorized by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act to save costs and time.

“Our effort to Reoptimize for Great Power Competition is intended in large part to create institutions with the mission of ensuring continuous competitiveness against our pacing challenge,” the statement reads.

The DAF’s efforts also center around its seven operational imperatives that aim to build its capability to deter and defeat modern-day adversaries.

The DAF’s total budget request for FY2025 is $217.5 billion, which includes $188.1 billion for the Air Force and $29.4 billion for the Space Force and represents a 1.5 percent increase from the enacted budget level in FY2024.

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Gina Raimondo Unveils New US AI Safety Institute Leaders
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Gina Raimondo Unveils New US AI Safety Institute Leaders

Gina Raimondo, secretary of the Department of Commerce, has appointed new leaders to the U.S. AI Safety Institute — dubbed AISI — at the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the development and responsible use of trustworthy artificial intelligence systems across the federal government.

Paul Christiano, the founder of the non-profit organization Alignment Research Center, has been named head of AI safety at AISI, responsible for overseeing the evaluation of AI models designed to address national security concerns, the department said Tuesday.

The AISI executive leadership team also includes Adam Russell, director of the Information Sciences Institute’s AI Division at the University of Southern California, as chief vision officer; Mara Quintero Campbell, former deputy chief operating officer at the Economic Development Administration, as acting chief operating officer and chief of staff; and Rob Reich, professor of political science at Stanford University, as senior adviser.

Mark Latonero, former deputy director of the National AI Initiative Office at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, joins AISI as head of international engagement to help align U.S. guidance on AI development with global standards.

“Developing guidelines that will strengthen our safety and security, engaging with civil society and business, and working in lockstep with our allies are fundamental to addressing this generation-defining technology,” Raimondo said.

NASA Plans to Devise New Plan for Mars Sample Return Program
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NASA Plans to Devise New Plan for Mars Sample Return Program

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has unveiled the agency’s plans to seek new methods of retrieving Mars samples being collected by the Perseverance rover to support future space exploration missions.

“Safely landing and collecting the samples, launching a rocket with the samples off another planet – which has never been done before – and safely transporting the samples more than 33 million miles back to Earth is no small task,” the 2024 Wash100 awardee said.

“We need to look outside the box to find a way ahead that is both affordable and returns samples in a reasonable timeframe,” he added.

NASA plans to solicit architecture proposals from industry to devise a new plan for the Mars Sample Return program that could retrieve samples by 2030.

A September 2023 report from the Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board recommended that NASA develop an updated mission design that lowers mission complexity and ensure that the mission has an overall budget between $8 billion and $11 billion.

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