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VHA Establishes Digital Health Office
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VHA Establishes Digital Health Office

The Veterans Health Administration has created a new office that combines a number of technology-focused components, including health informatics, population health, connected care, artificial intelligence programs and strategic initiatives laboratory, Nextgov/FCW reported Wednesday.

Launched on June 2, the new Digital Health Office was established as part of VHA’s Central Office optimization effort that kicked off in April 2023, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs told the publication.

“DHO’s overarching focus is to realize VHA’s vision by serving as VHA’s central coordinator of digital health strategy and execution,” the VA spokesperson said.

“DHO will enhance partnerships between VA programs and VA facilities to develop digital innovations and provide the infrastructure and support needed to spread those innovations across the enterprise,” the spokesperson added.

According to the report, Nadia Smith is leading DHO’s work as acting chief digital health officer and Latriece Prince-Wheeler, acting deputy chief digital health officer at VHA, is serving as the new office’s acting deputy.

VHA has begun its search for permanent leaders who will serve in the newly created office.

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DLA Land and Maritime Forges Alliance With Suppliers to Deliver Better Support for Warfighters
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DLA Land and Maritime Forges Alliance With Suppliers to Deliver Better Support for Warfighters

Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime held charter signing ceremonies this spring for a supply chain alliance, which, according to DLA Land and Maritime’s Don Schulze, forges partnerships between the agency and its suppliers “to improve responsiveness to the warfighter” by implementing process improvements and joint strategies.

The DLA said Wednesday the charter calls on the agency to collaborate with suppliers in pursuing supply chain management solutions with the ultimate aim of providing “the best product and service possible to the warfighter.”

The signing ceremonies were handled by U.S. Army Col. Sue Styer, land supplier operations director at DLA Land and Maritime; and U.S. Navy Capt. Dale Haney, maritime supplier operations director. Schulze, the land supplier operations deputy director, co-led them.

A total of 11 charter signings were completed.

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AFWERX Taps LeoLabs to Develop Next-Gen Radar Technology
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AFWERX Taps LeoLabs to Develop Next-Gen Radar Technology

LeoLabs has secured a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Department of Air Force’s innovation arm, AFWERX, for the development and testing of a prototype next-generation radar technology.

The company said Thursday it will design, build and test S-band 2-D Direct Radiating Array, which is eyed to advance DAF’s capability to track objects in low Earth orbit and strengthen national security.

“As the number of adversarial satellites in space dramatically increases year over year, we are committed to supporting the U.S. Department of Defense’s efforts to enhance tracking of non-cooperative launches, smaller orbital debris and objects in very low Earth orbit,” emphasized Tony Frazier, CEO of LeoLabs and a six-time Wash100 Award recipient.

The chief executive also remarked on enhancing space architecture resilience and deterrence.

The contract is worth $1.2 million and was awarded through the SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer program.

“LeoLabs is proud to be selected by the U.S. Department of the Air Force to lead the development of critical, next-generation radar technology central to countering security threats in space,” said Frazier.

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DOD FutureG Office, NPS Partner on Project to Develop 5G Expertise in Active-Duty Force; Tom Rondeau Quoted
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DOD FutureG Office, NPS Partner on Project to Develop 5G Expertise in Active-Duty Force; Tom Rondeau Quoted

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s FutureG Office and the Naval Postgraduate School have partnered on a project to advance the adoption of 5G and FutureG networks and develop the workforce that may be tasked with deploying such networks in expeditionary environments, DVIDS reported Wednesday.

The Active-Duty Open-Source Development project, or ADOSD, intends to establish a graduate-level education and research program at NPS to enable active-duty personnel to develop expertise in 5G and FutureG.

To support the project, the FutureG Office will invest $1.8 million in NPS over the next five years.

Tom Rondeau, principal director of FutureG at the Department of Defense, approved the investment on April 22.

“FutureG pursued this partnership because NPS understands the mission context in which 5G/FutureG technology will come to bear,” said Rondeau.

“This extends beyond the active-duty students to the faculty and staff that have become highly skilled in the application of their expertise to dynamic warfighter challenges. The expertise they gain will help us understand how to buy, deploy, and manage advanced wireless networks like 5G and 6G. Coupled with their previous experiences in the fleet, this will help us innovate and deploy technologies that support future operations and the department’s strategic vision,” he added.

ADOSD Project’s Three Phases

The initial phase of the project will advance master and doctoral-level research that will leverage an open standards-based private 5G network testbed. The research should align with FutureG’s Expeditionary and Tactical Use portfolio and other priorities.

The research will inform curriculum development efforts in the second phase, which will implement a course progression resulting in an academic certificate.

The third and final phase will continuously develop the cellular curriculum to support master and doctoral research and ensure operational and technical relevance.

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L3Harris to Deliver Counter Communication Systems to Space Systems Command
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L3Harris to Deliver Counter Communication Systems to Space Systems Command

L3Harris Technologies will manufacture counter communication systems under a three-year, $27 million contract from Space Systems Command.

The Department of Defense said Wednesday the systems will be added to SSC’s ground-based electronic warfare portfolio.

Work under the fixed-price-incentive-fee space systems engineering contract will be performed at L3Harris’ Palm Bay, Florida location until June 23, 2027.

The contracting division of SSC’s Space Superiority Systems Directorate, which serves as the contracting activity, is obligating $21 million from fiscal 2024 procurement funds at the time of award.

In October 2021, L3Harris secured a potential $120.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to modernize 16 fielded Block 10.2 units of the Counter Communications System at three military bases within the U.S. and in overseas classified locations. Work is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2025.

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GSA Unveils Procurement Co-Pilot Tool
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GSA Unveils Procurement Co-Pilot Tool

The General Services Administration has developed an online tool designed to improve federal acquisition professionals’ access to governmentwide buying data and help them make better spending decisions.

GSA said Wednesday it collaborated with the Office of Management and Budget to develop the Procurement Co-Pilot, which could enable acquisition professionals to review information on prices paid on products bought by agencies.

The tool, which is available on the Acquisition Gateway, could help federal employees identify vendors across all sizes and categories that work with the government and find the best contract that suits the needs of their agency’s mission.

GSA said it has used the Transactional Data Reporting Program as a data source for the online platform, which could increase visibility into data from partners.

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Senate Bill to Establish Standards for Federal AI Use, Procurement
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Senate Bill to Establish Standards for Federal AI Use, Procurement

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have introduced bipartisan legislation to set standards and safeguards to guide the purchase and use of artificial intelligence systems across the federal government.

The Promoting Responsible Evaluation and Procurement to Advance Readiness for Enterprise-wide Deployment for AI Act would require federal agencies to assess and address the AI risks before buying and deploying the emerging technology and develop pilot programs to test flexible purchasing practices, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs said Tuesday.

The PREPARED For AI Act would require agencies to include safety and security terms in government contracts for AI capabilities, conduct testing and evaluation to mitigate potential risks and set up AI governance structures to coordinate procurement efforts.

“Artificial intelligence has the power to reshape how the federal government provides services to the American people for the better, but if left unchecked, it can pose serious risks,” said Peters. “These guardrails will help guide federal agencies’ responsible adoption and use of AI tools, and ensure that systems paid for by taxpayers are being used safely and securely.”

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Benjy Grover to Succeed Sandra Brereton as Associate Principal Deputy Director at Lawrence Livermore
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Benjy Grover to Succeed Sandra Brereton as Associate Principal Deputy Director at Lawrence Livermore

Benjy Grover, a seasoned technical leader with over 20 years of experience, will succeed Sandra Brereton as associate principal deputy director at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, or LLNL, effective July 1.

He has been with LLNL for over a decade, most recently serving as its transformation officer and deputy principal associate director for program enablement in strategic Deterrence, the lab said Monday.

Grover, on behalf of the Director’s Office, will lead, manage and work with senior LLNL officials on various efforts across the lab and the Department of Energy and/or National Nuclear Security Administration enterprise.

He will also become a member of LLNL’s Business Council, co-lead the Principal Deputies Committee and oversee the Operations Community of Practice.

Brereton, who will retire from LLNL, will help Grover transition to his new role before her retirement date.

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NASA Selects 3 Proposals to Examine Space Weather Systems
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NASA Selects 3 Proposals to Examine Space Weather Systems

NASA has selected three proposals for the Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling, or DYNAMIC, mission, to conduct studies of the space weather system and its connection to Earth’s atmosphere.

Teams led by the University of Colorado, Boulder and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will each receive $2 million to conduct nine-month studies to examine how changes in Earth’s lower atmosphere influence the upper atmosphere, where space weather like auroras occurs, NASA said Tuesday.

“While space weather can spark the beautiful auroras across our skies, it also has the potential to cause disruptions for us here on Earth and can be dangerous for our spacecraft and astronauts in space,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

“The DYNAMIC mission will expand our understanding of how Earth itself shapes space weather events that influence our home planet,” Fox said.

A CU Boulder concept study led by principal investigator Tomoko Matsuo will include support from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory.

Another concept study from the university will be led by principal investigator Aimee Merkel and partners BAE Systems and Naval Research Laboratory.

Virginia Tech will partner with Southwest Research Institute, Space Dynamics Laboratory, Global Atmospheric Technologies and Sciences and Computational Physics on its proposal led by principal investigator Scott Bailey.

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20 Companies Chosen for 2024 National Security Innovation Network Vector Program
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20 Companies Chosen for 2024 National Security Innovation Network Vector Program

The Defense Innovation Unit’s National Security Innovation Network has selected a cohort of 20 companies out of 170 applicants for the 2024 edition of NSIN Vector, a program that aims to support pre-Series A or early-stage ventures seeking to do business with and develop innovations for the Department of Defense.

Under the Vector program, the members of the cohort will work with DOD mentors who, in the next 10 weeks, will provide guidance on the federal procurement process, doing market research, raising capital and how to receive additional resources to scale innovations for DOD use, according to an article posted Monday on the NSIN website.

The cohort members are working on innovations covering a variety of fields, including command and control, resilient position navigation and timing, data sharing, advanced sensing and communications in contested environments.

At the end of Vector, the participants will highlight their achievements during a showcase event, where they will also compete for $50,000 in prizes.

Commenting on the selections, NSIN Venture Portfolio Director and Defense Innovation Unit Global Partnerships Deputy Director Abigail Desjardins welcomed the program’s participants, saying, “With the help of the Vector’s government and alumni mentors, these teams will grow, gain perspective on dual-use business, and plug into an incredible defense innovation ecosystem. In return, they will provide the DoD with access to leading-edge technologies that have the potential to address key modernization priorities.”

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