GSA’s Digital Consulting Office Marks 10th Anniversary With Over 450 Completed Projects
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GSA’s Digital Consulting Office Marks 10th Anniversary With Over 450 Completed Projects

A digital consulting office within the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services has marked its 10th anniversary with the completion of 455 projects aimed at supporting federal agencies and Congress in buying and building digital products and services for improving user experience across the government.

“18F has helped agencies navigate complex modernization activities and build key technology capacities that are often missing where they are needed the most, like product management,” said Ann Lewis, Technology Transformation Services Director.

Since its inception in March 2014, 18F has helped agencies adopt best practices and commercial tools and update legacy processes and frameworks to create more user-friendly websites and technologies that are secure and accessible to the public.

18F is credited for helping the Forest Service modernize its online permit and application process, assisting the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division in streamlining the process of submitting civil rights violation complaints and supporting a new case management system for the Tax Court.

The office has also created a de-risking guide to help both federal and state agencies reduce risks in custom technology projects.

“18F has helped show agencies what is possible with government technology while also helping TTS evolve into a multifaceted organization that provides a variety of technology services and best practices to the government. We are excited to celebrate this moment,” Lewis said.

GAO: IRS Needs Better Planning to Incorporate IT Modernization Budget
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GAO: IRS Needs Better Planning to Incorporate IT Modernization Budget

The Government Accountability Office has revealed in a new report that the Internal Revenue Service has not fully updated its strategic operating plan for incorporating funding allocated to the agency through the Inflation Reduction Act to support its information technology modernization efforts.

GAO recommends that the IRS complete an enterprise technology road map addressing its plan’s objectives, complete and update individual plans for its modernization programs and improve its quarterly progress reports to Congress.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 appropriated $79.6 billion to the IRS through fiscal year 2031 to support IT modernization programs across the agency. The funding includes $45.6 billion for tax enforcement activities, $25.3 billion for operations support, roughly $3.2 billion for taxpayer services and another $4.8 billion for business system modernization.

In April 2023, the IRS released an agency-wide strategic operating plan outlining five areas where it will spend the appropriated budget. These include enhancing taxpayer services; resolving taxpayer issues; strengthening enforcement on complex tax filings and high-dollar noncompliance; improving technology, data and analytics; and boosting workforce.

“The IRS intends to use some of these funds to replace legacy IT systems, give taxpayers more online tools and services, and protect taxpayer privacy and security. However, the agency hasn’t fully updated its plans to incorporate these additional funds. For example, the IRS needs to make changes to the scope and milestones of its IT modernization programs,” according to the GAO report.

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CISA, Partners Release Guidance for Mitigating Threats From China-Linked Volt Typhoon
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CISA, Partners Release Guidance for Mitigating Threats From China-Linked Volt Typhoon

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in partnership with U.S. and international agencies, issued a joint fact sheet outlining mitigation measures to counter a state-sponsored cyberthreat group linked to China.

CISA said Tuesday the fact sheet serves as a guide for critical infrastructure owners and operators to safeguard their assets from cyber risks posed by Volt Typhoon, a China-linked advanced persistent threat group that uses living off the land techniques to breach information technology systems and networks.

The agency warned that Volt Typhoon actors conduct pre-exploitation reconnaissance to learn about their target organization and tailor their tactics, techniques and procedures to a victim’s network environment.

To mitigate against Volt Typhoon threats, critical infrastructure operators are urged to make proactive decisions and drive a culture of security and cyber awareness.

CISA developed the fact sheet in collaboration with the National Security Agency, the FBI, the Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre and New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre.

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DOD to Finance 27 Projects Under Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
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DOD to Finance 27 Projects Under Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research

The Department of Defense will award a total of $17.6 million in funding under the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or DEPSCoR, whose aim is to strengthen the basic research infrastructure at higher education institutions in underutilized states and territories.

The DOD announced Tuesday that 27 teams from academia have been selected as program beneficiaries: 25 from the DEPSCoR Research Collaboration competition and 2 from the DEPSCoR Capacity Building competition.

The Research Collaboration competition seeks to support science and engineering research relevant to the needs of the DOD while the Capacity Building competition seeks to bolster the R&D capabilities of higher education institutions in eligible states and territories.

Each winning Research Collaboration team will receive up to $600,000 over three years while each Capacity Building team will receive up to $1.5 million over two years.

Bindu Nair, director of the DOD’s Basic Research Office, explained the goal of DEPSCoR, saying, “[The program] aims to increase the number of academics pursing research in DOD-relevant areas, while enhancing the science and engineering capacity of their institutions into the long term.”

“It is crucial that we build a Department of Defense research infrastructure that strategically uses the research capabilities found across the country,” Nair added.

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State Department OKs Javelin Missile Sale to Morocco
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State Department OKs Javelin Missile Sale to Morocco

The State Department has approved the government of Morocco’s request to buy Javelin missiles and related equipment from the U.S. government under a potential $260 million foreign military sales agreement.

The North African country asked to procure 612 Javelin FGM-148F missiles and 200 Javelin Lightweight Command Launch Units, as well as missile simulation rounds and Javelin support equipment, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the possible sale, said Tuesday.

The potential FMS also covers component parts and support equipment, life cycle support and other technical assistance, training and additional related elements of logistics and program support.

The Javelin Joint Venture between Lockheed Martin and RTX will serve as the deal’s prime contractor.

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DISA’s Steve Wallace on Concierge AI Tool
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DISA’s Steve Wallace on Concierge AI Tool

Steve Wallace, director of emerging technology and chief technology officer at the Defense Information Systems Agency, said a new tool called Concierge AI represents DISA’s plans for integrating data with artificial intelligence, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.

Wallace told FNN in an interview that Concierge AI seeks to minimize the friction to the user when it comes to finding and analyzing data as part of efforts to improve the decision-making process.

According to the DISA CTO, the initial pilot of the AI tool provides security personnel and users with a level of comfort when it comes to using large language models in a government cloud environment at Impact Level 5.

“Some of the lessons we’ve learned is really around how do we secure these [LLM] environments? The concept of these vector databases is generally new, how do we secure them? How do we make sure that we’re doing the right thing by the data that we’re ultimately storing,” Wallace said.

“I think we’re going to learn a lot as well as we start to ingest a large document set, which we haven’t necessarily done yet in the lab. It’s been very small dribs and drabs, but I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen just with the limited amount of what we have been able to do. In the first half of this calendar year, we expect to have something out to the digital workforce to start experimenting with, and from there, we’ll gather information about the user’s experience, and then, potentially, make it go more wide scale,” the DISA executive added.

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Reagan Institute’s National Security Innovation Base Report Card Gives ‘D’ Grade to Defense Modernization
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Reagan Institute’s National Security Innovation Base Report Card Gives ‘D’ Grade to Defense Modernization

A new report by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s Center for Peace Through Strength has given defense modernization in the U.S. a “D” grade, reflecting the country’s limited progress in transitioning innovative platforms into fielded national security capabilities.

According to the Reagan Institute’s second annual National Security Innovation Base Report Card, the grade reflects a downward trend and the lack of new programs of record that address NSIB priorities.

“Failure to act on innovation priorities and pull through technologies at scale is materially affecting overall readiness levels and ability to fight and win against a pacing competitor,” the report reads.

The use of other transaction authority agreements to accelerate the transition of new capabilities to the production phase rose 46 percent between 2022 and 2024, compared with 30 percent from 2018 through the end of 2023.

“Commercial space acquisition more than doubled since 2018, with a 7% increase of share seen from 2018-2019, demonstrating ability to leverage innovative private tech,” the report notes.

Apart from defense modernization, the report card assessed and graded the national security innovation ecosystem across nine other key indicators: innovation leadership; pull-through for broader national priorities; customer clarity; private sector innovator base; public/civil innovation base; government alignment; international alliances and partnerships; innovation capital; and talent base.

Innovation capital, pull-through for broader national priorities, government alignment and international partnerships and alliances are the indicators that exhibited improving trends in the report card.

The document also offered six signature recommendations to improve the NSIB ecosystem, including the need for the Department of Defense and Congress to fully fund the Replicator initiative in fiscal year 2025 and prioritize the development and maturation of novel manufacturing processes that support the production of munitions and other military capabilities.

Congress should establish a National Security Innovation Base Green Card Recapture Program to build up the STEM workforce and DOD should launch a pilot program for shared access to commercial classified infrastructure, according to the report.

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Airbus Secures NASA Contract for GRACE-C Twin Spacecraft Development Contract
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Airbus Secures NASA Contract for GRACE-C Twin Spacecraft Development Contract

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has awarded Airbus a contract to design and build the twin spacecraft for the GRACE-C mission.

GRACE-C stands for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Continuity and is a joint mission of NASA and the German Space Agency that seeks to continue collecting measurements of the Earth’s gravity field to observe changes in the planet’s groundwater, land, oceans and ice sheets, Airbus said Tuesday.

“It is amazing to think that, without looking down at Earth, two satellites more than 200 km away from each other, can tell us how quickly our ice sheets are melting. In environmental monitoring, continuity is key,” said Alain Faure, head of space systems at Airbus.

“The valuable data provided by the previous GRACE missions is testament to their success and it is great news that Airbus continues to be part of this international mission providing the tools to measure how our climate is evolving,” added Faure.

GRACE-C is composed of two satellites, each weighing approximately 600 kilograms and flying around 200 kilometers apart at an altitude of about 500 kilometers. The two identical satellites will feature upgraded avionics and Laser Ranging Interferometer.

The German Space Operations Center will operate the GRACE-C mission, which is expected to launch from the U.S. no earlier than late 2028.

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DAF to Debut Hypori-built Secure Mobile Access Platform; Venice Goodwine Quoted
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DAF to Debut Hypori-built Secure Mobile Access Platform; Venice Goodwine Quoted

The Department of the Air Force plans to implement a Hypori-developed platform intended to provide personnel with secure mobile access to government applications, unclassified data and Common Access Card-enabled websites.

The Air Force said Tuesday the Hypori Halo Workspace Anywhere application would create a separate and secure virtual workspace from personal phones, tablets or computers of U.S. Air Force and Space Force members and allow them to access email, NIPRNet and other government apps while ensuring user privacy.

It also wouldn’t download or store data on employees’ phones to eliminate risks from compromised, lost, or stolen devices.

“Our Airmen and Guardians are the core of our national security advantage,” said Venice Goodwine, chief information officer of DAF and a 2024 Wash100 awardee. “In our dynamic environment, the Department of the Air Force is committed to providing user-friendly enterprise solutions which empower the force to work securely in a wide range of operational contexts.”

The mobile app will enable global connectivity and will be available in Summer 2024 from any iOS, Android, or Windows-based device, following a pilot program with the Department of the Army to research the adoption of Hypori Halo, the same app-based offering.

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Intel Set to Receive $8.5B in CHIPS Act Funding; Pat Gelsinger, Gina Raimondo Quoted
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Intel Set to Receive $8.5B in CHIPS Act Funding; Pat Gelsinger, Gina Raimondo Quoted

Intel has signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms, or PMT, with the U.S. Department of Commerce for $8.5 billion in potential CHIPS and Science Act funding.

With this investment, Intel intends to upgrade chip manufacturing sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon to advance various research and development programs, the Santa Clara, California-based company announced on Wednesday.

Intel Set to Receive $8.5B in CHIPS Act Funding; Pat Gelsinger, Gina Raimondo Quoted

Microelectronics are key components of building advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, which Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said is “supercharging the digital revolution.”

As the sole U.S. company that develops and produces logic chips, Intel is a major player in the nation’s efforts to perfect this new technology. According to Gelsinger, the funds would “help to ensure that Intel and the U.S. stay at the forefront of the AI era.”

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The PMT is part of a joint effort between the Commerce Department and Intel to invest a total of over $100 billion into the U.S. microelectronics industry.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the deal is “one of the largest investments ever in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.” She noted that it will create over 30,000 jobs.

The investment gives Intel the choice to utilize up to $11 billion in federal loans. The company also expects to claim the Department of the Treasury’s Investment Tax Credit, which could potentially reach 25 percent of qualified investments of over $100 billion in a five-year period.

Through the agreement, Intel aims to promote U.S. technology leadership and improve its Intel Foundry and finance R&D initiatives focused on microelectronics. The organization will also work to cultivate the future semiconductor workforce while increasing supply chain resilience and sustainability.

This announcement follows a recent move in which the Department of Defense canceled its plan to provide $2.5 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding to Intel, pushing the responsibility to the Commerce Department.

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