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DOD, International Partners Test Robotic Vehicles & Sensors in Joint Trial
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DOD, International Partners Test Robotic Vehicles & Sensors in Joint Trial

The Department of Defense has partnered with its U.K. and Australian counterparts to demonstrate various uncrewed robotic vehicles and sensors during a joint trial held at Cultana Training Area, South Australia.

The Trusted Operation of Robotic Vehicles in a Contested Environment, or TORVICE, trial was conducted in late 2023 to evaluate the ability of autonomous systems to operate and support missions in a contested electronic warfare environment, DOD said Monday.

TORVICE featured a network of U.K.- and U.S.-made robotic ground vehicles representing autonomous multi-domain launchers and uncrewed ground vehicles designed to carry out long-range precision fires and associated missions.

Australian scientists tested the resilience of the autonomous vehicles by simulating attacks from electronic warfare, electro-optical and position, navigation and timing systems.

“During this exercise, we performed rigorous red teaming of our autonomous/AI systems to assess and mitigate vulnerabilities and to improve their resilience in contested and complex environments,” said Kimberly Sablon, principal director for trusted artificial intelligence and autonomy at DOD.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

Sablon is set to speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21. Register here to learn about cutting edge AI innovations from government and industry experts.

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DOT Seeks to Advance Development of Decision-Support Tools Through Complete Streets AI Initiative
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DOT Seeks to Advance Development of Decision-Support Tools Through Complete Streets AI Initiative

The Department of Transportation has launched a multiphase initiative through the Small Business Innovation Research program to advance the development of artificial intelligence tools to help address transportation challenges.

Under the Complete Streets AI Initiative, DOT said Thursday it will award up to 10 Phase I contracts to small businesses to develop analytics and data capabilities that would enable state, local and tribal transportation agencies to derive insights as they develop complete streets.

Complete streets are networks and streets that enable and prioritize safety, connectivity to destinations and comfort for all users.

“Innovation in the AI and transportation sector is happening at unprecedented speed and has the potential to address some of our most pressing transportation challenges,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding supports our country’s small businesses and startups to harness cutting-edge technologies, deploy them in local communities, and make our streets safer.”

Small businesses can submit technical questions regarding the proposed research topics through March 1, according to a presolicitation notice published Thursday on SAM.gov.

The department anticipates the release of a solicitation for the initial phase of the $15 million Complete Streets AI Initiative by March 11 and plans to hold a webinar about the solicitation by March 21.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

Register here to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21 and hear federal leaders and industry experts discuss the latest developments in the field.

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Doug Bush: Army Eyes Twofold Production Increase of 155mm Munitions
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Doug Bush: Army Eyes Twofold Production Increase of 155mm Munitions

Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the service branch aims to increase by twofold the production of 155mm artillery shells by October, Defense One reported Monday.

The shells are being used by Ukraine to counter Russian aggression and Bush associated the planned increase with a new manufacturing facility the Army is constructing in Texas, which the assistant secretary said will “have an entirely new way of making the shell, using entirely new tech we’ve never used before.”

According to a slide shared at an event, U.S. production of 155mm munitions is expected to increase from 28,000 in October 2023 to approximately 60,000 this October and 100,000 by October 2025.

Bush, a previous Wash100 awardee, noted that the large use of such shells may prompt the U.S. to reassess how much it needs in its own munition stockpiles.

“If larger stockpiles are a way to mitigate risk for an extended conventional conflict, then that needs to be looked at,” he said.

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DTRA Posts Plan for Follow-On Cooperative Threat Reduction Integrating Contract
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DTRA Posts Plan for Follow-On Cooperative Threat Reduction Integrating Contract

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency plans to launch a competition for the fourth iteration of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Integrating Contract.

Through CTRIC IV, DTRA intends to facilitate the procurement and delivery of a range of products and services designed to provide chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threat reduction capabilities in collaboration with partner countries, according to a special notice published Friday on SAM.gov.

Per the draft solicitation, the agency expects the contract vehicle to help prevent the proliferation of materials related to weapons of mass destruction and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and facilitate the elimination, storage and safe transportation of nuclear weapons.

The procurement vehicle will serve as a follow-on to the multiple-award CTRIC III indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.

In June 2018, DTRA awarded six companies spots on the CTRIC III contract to help counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Questions and other comments on the draft solicitation are due Feb. 23.

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CSO Chief Col. Richard Kniseley Discusses Business Opportunities With Space Servicing Companies
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CSO Chief Col. Richard Kniseley Discusses Business Opportunities With Space Servicing Companies

A U.S. Space Force official said in a recent interview that many of the companies reaching out to the Space Systems Command Front Door align with the various dimensions of space servicing, a key element in sustaining maneuverability in the space domain and achieving what has been described as dynamic space operations.

Col. Richard Kniseley, head of the SSC Commercial Space Office, which houses the Front Door initiative, told C4ISRNet on Tuesday that his organization is working to evaluate the maturity level of the technologies offered by these companies, which, he noted, feature “a great deal of innovation and expertise.”

The CSO chief added that Front Door is also looking into the investments the companies are receiving. Kniseley explained that the government is keeping an eye out for businesses that enjoy “potential nefarious capital” or those that do not enjoy wide patronage, where the government would effectively become “a crutch to lean on.”

The SSC Front Door describes itself as “the first point of contact for early-stage start-ups and innovative commercial enterprises” seeking to do business with the Space Force. Front Door takes the ideas that these companies offer and tries to align them with a customer or mission with a matching requirement, such as the Assured Access to Space team or the Space Systems Integration Office, Kniseley noted.

“We’ve been bridging that gap between the companies and the mission areas,” the CSO leader said.

CSO Chief Col. Richard Kniseley Discusses Business Opportunities With Space Servicing Companies

Col. Richard Kniseley will speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit, which is set to take place on March 5. Register now to attend the event!

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Peraton’s Stu Shea & CENTCOM’s Schuyler Moore Recognized for 2024 Wash100 Wins
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Peraton’s Stu Shea & CENTCOM’s Schuyler Moore Recognized for 2024 Wash100 Wins

Executive Mosaic recognized Stu Shea, chairman, president and CEO of Peraton, and Schuyler Moore, chief technology officer of the U.S. Central Command, for their 2024 Wash100 Award wins on Tuesday.

The Wash100 Award represents the most prestigious honor for government contracting industry executives. For 11 years, Wash100 has carefully evaluated the past achievements and forward momentum of GovCon leaders from both the public and private sectors to call attention to the most influential figures in the field.

Shea’s 2024 win marks his eighth, and this year, he earned his award for expanding Peraton through key contract awards. In 2023, the company won multiple significant contracts, including a $2.25 Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency award, a $1 billion contract from the Department of the Interior and a $2.8 billion award from the U.S. Special Operations Command. Read Shea’s full profile here.

Moore entered the ranks of Wash100 for the first time this year for her efforts to drive modernization within the U.S. military. An outspoken advocate of digital transformation, Moore has spoken extensively about the need for Department of Defense organizations to implement cutting-edge technologies. She has also created exercises to help warfighters become familiar with artificial intelligence. Click here to read her full profile.

Peraton’s Stu Shea & CENTCOM’s Schuyler Moore Recognized for 2024 Wash100 Wins

Moore will participate in a panel discussion during the Potomac Officers Club’s Achieving Transformative Cooperation for National Defense Forum on March 15. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear Moore’s insights in person – click here to register!

The annual Wash100 popular vote contest is now underway. Visit Wash100.com to cast your votes for Shea and Moore as your favorite 2024 winners.

GSA, Access Board Begin Drafting Questions for 2024 Section 508 Assessment
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GSA, Access Board Begin Drafting Questions for 2024 Section 508 Assessment

The General Services Administration and the U.S. Access Board have begun drafting questions for the fiscal 2024 government-wide Section 508 assessment to evaluate agencies’ use of information and communication technology systems accessible to people with disabilities, Federal News Network reported Friday.

Kristen Smith-O’Connor, senior ICT specialist within the Government-wide IT Accessibility Program at GSA, expects some questions to be tweaked and refined to be more straight-to-the-point and avoid misunderstanding.

“We expect minor changes, at this point, to the questions. What exactly will they be, we are still working on. There’s a very small and very collaborative group of us working on it. I wouldn’t expect anything drastic to change. But we are refining and honing,” Smith-O’Connor said.

GSA and the Access Board are also working to expand Section 508 certifications and training under a recent Office of Management and Budget memorandum.

“Simply put, Section 508 Programs that don’t have sufficient staff can’t perform adequate Section 508 work,” a previous GSA assessment states.

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Navy Unveils Network Integration & Engineering Facility CANES Lab in Virginia
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Navy Unveils Network Integration & Engineering Facility CANES Lab in Virginia

The U.S. Navy has opened Network Integration and Engineering Facility Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services – a.k.a. NIEF CANES — a laboratory at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

“This lab will ensure we are better positioned to provide access to CANES systems that are pre-loaded for training and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) documentation, validation and updates to technical manuals, maintenance requirements, and engineering development and sustainment,” Capt. Nicole Nigro, commanding officer of NIWC Atlantic or Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, said in a statement published Thursday.

CANES is a program of record deployed on Navy ships, shore sites and submarines and provides warfighters with a scalable network platform that provides internet protocol-based capability.

The new lab will enable NIEF Atlantic to perform multiple CANES shipset pre-installation tasks and hardware post-production modifications, providing increased capacity for technical refresh, initial system builds and application integration work.

The facility also comes with an administrative space designed for collaboration between hardware and software government and contractors and is the latest addition to NIWC Atlantic’s Tactical Networks Deployment Integrated Product Team labs.

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ITI Publishes Recommendations on Developing NIST Trustworthy AI Standards
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ITI Publishes Recommendations on Developing NIST Trustworthy AI Standards

The Information Technology Industry Council has published recommendations on implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s responsibilities to support the secure and trustworthy development and use of artificial intelligence technologies.

ITI said Friday it recommends that NIST work with international counterparts on the development of a risk management framework for generative AI systems to increase alignment of approaches and consider the roles of developers and deployers in advancing AI transparency.

The global tech trade association also suggests that the agency ensure that evaluation and auditing requirements level with the risks an AI system poses and know the difference between cybersecurity red-teaming and AI red-teaming.

“We believe that a generative AI RMF or profile, standards and guidelines for AI red-teaming and model evaluation, and a plan to engage in and advance the development of international standards are all integral to advancing the development and deployment of trustworthy AI,” ITI said in response to NIST’s request for information.

In December, NIST sought industry feedback on establishing guidelines and best practices for AI safety and security as part of the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21 to hear more about cutting edge AI innovations from government and industry experts. Register here.

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DISA Chief Data Office Outlines Strategies to Ensure Responsible Data Sharing Within DOD
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DISA Chief Data Office Outlines Strategies to Ensure Responsible Data Sharing Within DOD

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s Office of the Chief Data Officer is stepping up to ensure responsible data access authorization within the Department of Defense.

DISA on Thursday explained its role in overseeing DOD components’ evaluation of enterprise information authentication requirements as the agency continues to seek ways to secure and maximize the potential of data assets.

OCDO will push for interoperability frameworks and standards for information sharing and integration, including federal policies such as DOD’s directive on net-centric data exchange and the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.

“It is vital to the success of the DISA mission to provide common language and common expectations that enable interoperability,” said acting DISA Chief Data Officer Caroline Kuharske. “Without standardization we will continue spiraling in silos of data that do not allow data analyst to work together across infrastructures to solve our IT issues today,” she added.

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