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AFRL to Establish New Center for AI/ML Research Collaboration
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AFRL to Establish New Center for AI/ML Research Collaboration

The Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate has secured funding to establish a new center dedicated to facilitating collaboration on artificial intelligence and machine learning research and development.

The Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Research Center Capability Project, or AIMR-2C, will be located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and provide 6,000 square feet of lab space to accommodate AFRL researchers and collaborators, the laboratory said Friday.

Eric Harper, a research materials engineer in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate and technical lead of the AIMR-2C project, said the new center will allow AFRL and its partners to assist each other in creating new AI and ML models and apply them to multidisciplinary materials science problems.

“Research co-location with data visualization provides dedicated subject-matter expertise in AI/ML, data analysis, and visualization to assist researchers in accelerating the development of next-generation models, workflows, and visualization pipelines,” said Kurt Lamm, facility engineer at AFRL’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate.

The $4 million AIMR-2C funding was awarded by the Office of Secretary of Defense Centralized Laboratory Investment Program.

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CISA’s Jen Easterly & Intel’s Chris George Named 2024 Wash100 Winners
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CISA’s Jen Easterly & Intel’s Chris George Named 2024 Wash100 Winners

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly and Intel Federal President and General Manager Christopher George were highlighted on Monday as winners of Executive Mosaic’s prestigious 2024 Wash100 Award.

Cast your votes for Jen Easterly and Chris George as your favorite GovCon executives at Wash100.com! The beloved Wash100 popular vote competition runs until April 30, and the winner will be announced in May.

The Wash100 Award annually recognizes the top 100 most influential and promising executives working in the U.S. federal government and the government contracting industry. These senior executives are chosen to the elite Wash100 list because of their demonstrated leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Easterly won her third Wash100 Award this year in recognition of her commitment to cybersecurity and her leadership at the helm of CISA.

“In an era marked by increasingly severe and abundant cyber threats, Jen’s cyber leadership and expertise guides CISA and our nation toward a safer, more resilient future,” said Garrettson of Easterly’s leadership.

Read more about why Easterly was selected here.

George earned his first ever Wash100 Award this year. His leadership at Intel, his dedication to advancing innovation efforts and his semiconductor industry expertise have earned him a spot on the list. Read George’s full Wash100 profile here.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Jen Easterly and Chris George on their Wash100 wins!

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5 Federal Agencies Join Pledge to Address Discriminatory Outcomes Related to AI Use; Kristen Clarke Quoted
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5 Federal Agencies Join Pledge to Address Discriminatory Outcomes Related to AI Use; Kristen Clarke Quoted

The departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and Housing and Urban Development have pledged to enforce laws to protect individuals from unlawful discrimination and other harms that may result from the use of artificial intelligence and other automated systems.

“As social media platforms, banks, landlords, employers and other businesses choose to rely on artificial intelligence, algorithms and automated systems to conduct business, we stand ready to hold accountable those entities that fail to address the unfair and discriminatory outcomes that may result,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement published Thursday.

“We are mounting a whole-of-government approach to enforcing civil rights and related laws when it comes to automated systems, including AI,” added Clarke, who also announced the launch of a webpage aimed at centralizing content with regard to her division’s work on civil rights and AI.

Officials from federal agencies on Wednesday attended a meeting hosted by the Civil Rights Division and discussed strategies to improve coordination and enforcement and raise public awareness about the potential discriminary effects of AI and other automated tools.

They also offered updates on their agencies’ guidance and other obligations under the AI executive order.

In April 2023, DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the Federal Trade Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pledged to enforce civil rights laws to protect consumers against the misuse of AI and other automated systems.

Fermilab, xLight Partner to Improve Semiconductor Manufacturing in US
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Fermilab, xLight Partner to Improve Semiconductor Manufacturing in US

The Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, with semiconductor manufacturer xLight.

Fermilab said Thursday that the aim of the CRADA is to develop key components that would enhance the manufacturing of semiconductors in the U.S.

Part of the effort involves the development of an extreme ultraviolet light source, which would make the process of making advanced chips require less energy.

The partnership was formally launched on April 4 during a meeting between Fermilab Director Lia Merminga and xLight CEO Nicholas Kelez.

Merminga said the partnership “represents a unique opportunity to transition the technologies that Fermilab develops for our science mission to commercial applications.”

For his part, Kelez expressed his organization’s “deep appreciation for Fermilab’s excellent work and leadership in particle accelerator technologies.”

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Jennifer Swanson Says Innovation Exchange Lab Advances Army-Industry Collaboration on Digital Transformation
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Jennifer Swanson Says Innovation Exchange Lab Advances Army-Industry Collaboration on Digital Transformation

Jennifer Swanson, deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Army for data, engineering and software, said the service branch’s newly established Innovation Exchange Lab — dubbed IXL — will enable faster digital technology adoption by providing a cloud-based environment for facilitating industry collaboration.

The IXL enables industry and software developers to test and evaluate their software tools’ interoperability with the Army’s Unified Data Reference Architecture 1.0, a.k.a. UDRA 1.0, which was co-developed by the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for data, engineering and software and the chief information officer, Swanson wrote in a blog post published Thursday.

UDRA 1.0 is the first tool made available to both Army and industry software developers through the IXL to encourage ongoing collaboration while developing new data-based warfighting technologies.

According to Swanson, UDRA utilizes the U.S. government’s modular open systems approach to prevent “vendor lock,” where large platforms become dependent on proprietary designs and systems.

“It is the Army’s first of a series of reference architectures, fully coordinated internally and with industry, to enable us to seamlessly integrate all of our products together regardless of which program manager or industry partner develops them,” Swanson said.

POC - 5th Annual CIO Summit

Swanson is set to speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17. Register here to save your seat and hear about the latest modernization strategies from government and industry CIOs.

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Dave Luber Named NSA Cybersecurity Director
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Dave Luber Named NSA Cybersecurity Director

Dave Luber, a senior executive with over 37 years of experience in the federal government, has taken on the role of director of cybersecurity within the National Security Agency.

He succeeds Rob Joyce, who retired after serving for over three decades within NSA, the agency said Thursday.

Joyce, a two-time Wash100 awardee, assumed the role of cybersecurity director within NSA in 2021.

In this capacity, Luber leads NSA’s Cybersecurity Directorate, which helps prevent cyberthreats facing the Department of Defense, national security systems and the defense industrial base.

Luber’s career in government has included time serving as deputy director of cybersecurity within NSA, executive director of U.S. Cyber Command, director of NSA Colorado and program director within the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.

POC - 2024 Cyber Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 and hear cyber experts, government and industry leaders discuss the latest trends and the dynamic role of cyber in the public sector. Register here.

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Phase Four to Deliver ‘Air-Breathing’ Electric Propulsion Tech to DARPA
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Phase Four to Deliver ‘Air-Breathing’ Electric Propulsion Tech to DARPA

Phase Four, under a $14.9 million contract, will provide the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with an “air-breathing” electric propulsion system in support of DARPA’s Otter program.

The company said Thursday the agency’s initiative is focused on the development, demonstration and gathering of on-orbit data for EP technologies capable of using ambient low-density air as propellant.

The Phase Four system is envisioned to power extended satellite operations at Very Low Earth Orbit altitudes of as low as 90 to 450 km, while the Otter program is intended to wrap up with a demonstration of a long duration “orbiting wind tunnel” spaceflight to test the system’s orbital performance.

“Phase Four has designed and built electric propulsion systems that have been launched on 9 satellites with over 5,300 days of on-orbit flight heritage since the company was founded,” emphasized Umair Siddiqui, Phase Four president, chief technology officer and principal investigator for the effort. He also pointed to the company’s continued work of supporting DARPA’s in-space propulsion efforts.

The Otter program will use the Phase Four-built radio frequency thruster, building upon earlier prototype development work between the two organizations.

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Department of the Navy Releases Memo on Investment Horizons
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Department of the Navy Releases Memo on Investment Horizons

The Department of the Navy has issued a memorandum to provide information on Investment Horizons, which the DON Chief Information Office will use to identify divestment opportunities and advance the adoption of new capabilities.

DON said Thursday Investment Horizons serve as an industry best practice that enables an organization to easily visualize its divestment and innovation strategy and strike a balance between investing in new capabilities and supporting existing ones.

“The shared view of capabilities across the systems lifecycle provided by Investment Horizons charts will also enable the research and acquisition communities to speed the transition of solutions that adhere to Modern Service Delivery Design Concepts (reference (a)) to enterprise services,” the memo reads.

According to the memo, Investment Horizons come in five phases for capabilities: evaluating, emerging, investing, extracting and retiring phases.

“Horizon 3 capabilities move into Horizon 2 as pilots for potential enterprise services when the technology maturity and prioritized impacts on mission outcomes,” the document states.

The DON CIO Chief Technology Officer will serve as the lead champion for Investment Horizons.

Best practices include using Investment Horizons to back rationalization and adoption of enterprise services and new technologies; reducing the need for other planning products by combining Investment Horizons charts with execution schedules to produce technology roadmaps; and providing quarterly updates of Investment Horizons to support resource allocation decisions.

Justin Fanelli, acting chief technology officer at DON, signed the memo on Wednesday.

POC - 5th Annual CIO Summit

Register here to join the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17 and learn more about the latest modernization strategies and how industry can help meet the priorities of federal CIOs.

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ODNI’s John Beieler Assumes Chief AI Officer Role, Takes Charge of AI Council
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ODNI’s John Beieler Assumes Chief AI Officer Role, Takes Charge of AI Council

John Beieler of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed during an event hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance on April 4 that he has been appointed ODNI chief artificial intelligence officer, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

In his additional role, Beieler, who also serves as science and technology adviser to Director of National Intelligence and 2024 Wash100 award winner Avril Haines, heads a chief AI officers’ council, whose members come from the intelligence community’s 18 components and whose focus is AI governance.

Beieler told Federal News Network that, at the moment, the council is working on a directive that will instruct intelligence agencies concerning the deployment of AI and machine learning.

The directive also covers privacy protections and civil liberties that must be taken into account when the IC develops algorithms.

According to the chief AI officer, the council is also working to update ODNI’s AI strategy with a view “to make sure that we have that one consolidated viewpoint of, what do we think is important for AI and the IC.”

IRS Requests Information on Follow-On Long Term Integration Support Contract
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IRS Requests Information on Follow-On Long Term Integration Support Contract

The Internal Revenue Service has begun seeking information on potential industry sources capable of providing professional and management support services and subject matter expertise in support of the Individual Masterfile Modernization program.

A notice posted Thursday on SAM.gov states that the follow-on Long Term Integration Support 4 contract vehicle will cover planning, program technical solutions analysis and specifications, program strategy and analysis, project definition and oversight support and analysis support services.

The selected contractors will propose ideas or best practices related to the program’s four main goals: maintain operational effectiveness and high-level customer service; strengthen the security posture of IMF Modernization systems; enhance oversight and accountability for IMF tools and reduce operational costs; and use vendor-driven and vendor-built model to deliver select IMF components.

Deloitte is the incumbent contractor of the predecessor LTIS contract valued at $391.8 million, which will expire on Nov. 30.

Interested parties have until April 18 to respond to the request for information.

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