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‘Human-Centered Cybersecurity’ a Priority Under Latest Federal Cyber R&D Guidance
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‘Human-Centered Cybersecurity’ a Priority Under Latest Federal Cyber R&D Guidance

The design and security of information technology systems should take into greater account what end users need, what motivates them, how they behave and what their abilities are, according to a new guide document released by the National Science and Technology Council.

The 2023 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan dubs this approach “human-centered cybersecurity” and lists it as one of five objectives and “critical dependencies” to guide federally-funded cybersecurity research toward advancing the goals of the Biden administration.

The plan criticizes what it describes as traditional cybersecurity for being overly focused on technology while underprioritizing people, whose actions cyber attackers ultimately exploit. Under the plan’s proposed approach, people are part of cybersecurity challenges and solutions.

Potential research work involving human-centered cybersecurity include coming up with ways to involve end users in the process of developing secure digital technologies; developing ways to make digital technology design factor in what people or organizations actually want to secure; and formulating approaches to evaluate whether a cybersecurity solution is effective, usable and inclusive, and if it offers a good user experience.

The 2023 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan was prepared by the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Subcommittee of the NSTC Cyber Security and Information Assurance Interagency Working Group.

The 2023 plan updates the 2019 Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan as required by the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014.

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Nationwide IT Services Books $150M Air Force Task Order for SAF/AQ Support Services
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Nationwide IT Services Books $150M Air Force Task Order for SAF/AQ Support Services

Nationwide IT Services, a Fairfax, Virginia-based information technology company, has won a potential five-year, $149.6 million task order from the U.S. Air Force for support services to the Assistant Secretary for the Air Force for Acquisitions, or SAF/AQ.

The contractor will provide SAF/AQ with specialized expertise in support of its acquisition and sustainment efforts, innovation, technical competence enhancement and other missions, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

The initial award is worth $23.6 million and runs through Jan. 11, 2025. However, the firm-fixed-price task order has options that would bring the cumulative value to the previously reported amount and extend work until Jan. 11, 2029, if exercised.

The Air Force held a competitive acquisition and selected NIS from seven bidders. It is obligating $2 million from fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance funds at the time of award.

With an annual budget in excess of $60 billion, the SAF/AQ office is responsible for overseeing the research, development, acquisition and program sustainment activities of the Air Force across more than 550 acquisition programs.

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Space Launch Delta 30 Outlines Strategic Objectives to Achieve Mission Readiness
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Space Launch Delta 30 Outlines Strategic Objectives to Achieve Mission Readiness

Col. Mark Shoemaker, commander of Space Launch Delta 30, also known as SLD 30, has outlined four strategic objectives for 2024 and beyond to align the unit’s priorities with the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space mission.

SLD 30 said Wednesday it will collaborate with SLD 45 at Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to develop new concepts for spaceport operations to enhance its ability to carry out missions in complex environments.

Its second strategic objective focuses on strengthening collaborative efforts with installation mission partners to ensure operational mission readiness.

For its third objective, SLD 30 aims to improve the delivery of housing, childcare and medical services to military and civilian Guardians and airmen and their families.

“Our aim is to hire and retain a skilled and dedicated workforce, foster a positive and enriching environment, and make Vandenberg the base of choice for Department of the Air Force members and families,” Shoemaker said.

Shoemaker said SLD 30’s fourth objective is to embrace digital transformation and innovation to enable data-informed decision-making, improve accessibility and visibility and streamline operational choices across the enterprise.

“By executing on our Strategic Objectives, we will increase our agility and capacity and answer our nation’s call with even greater responsiveness and resilience,” Shoemaker said.

POC - 2024 Space Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5 to learn how new technologies, commercial investments and adversarial threats are shaping the future of space. Click here to register!

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Carlos Del Toro Wants Comprehensive Analysis of Navy’s Shipbuilding Portfolio
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Carlos Del Toro Wants Comprehensive Analysis of Navy’s Shipbuilding Portfolio

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has called on Nickolas Guertin, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, and Vice Adm. James Downey, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, to perform a comprehensive review of the service branch’s shipbuilding portfolio and provide an interim report within 45 days.

The analysis should provide an assessment of shipbuilding challenges and its causes and offer recommended measures to strengthen the country’s shipbuilding industrial base in support of warfighters, the Navy said Thursday.

“I remain concerned with the lingering effects of post-pandemic conditions on our shipbuilders and their suppliers that continue to affect our shipbuilding programs, particularly our Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarines and Constellation Class Frigate,” said Del Toro, a previous Wash100 awardee.

“The American public should know that the Department of the Navy is committed to developing, delivering, and sustaining the finest warfighting capability to our Sailors and Marines,” he added.

In December, the secretary urged industry and academia to participate in efforts to reinstate the U.S. shipbuilding and repair landscape and noted that doing so demands a multipronged approach.

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Pentagon Unveils National Defense Industrial Strategy; William LaPlante Quoted
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Pentagon Unveils National Defense Industrial Strategy; William LaPlante Quoted

The Department of Defense has issued a new strategy that seeks to guide DOD’s policy development, engagement and investment in the defense industrial base in the next three to five years.

DOD said Thursday the inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy, or NDIS, outlines the department’s four strategic priorities: resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition and economic deterrence.

The strategy recommends several measures under each strategic priority.

To achieve flexible acquisition, the strategy suggests a number of actions, including broadening platform standards and interoperability; prioritizing off-the-shelf acquisition where reasonable and applicable; increasing access to intellectual property and data rights to enhance acquisition and sustainment; and continuing to support acquisition reform.

“The NDIS recognizes that America’s economic security and national security are mutually reinforcing and, ultimately the nation’s military strength cannot be untethered from our overall industrial strength. We must act now to build on recent progress and ensure we have the capacity to produce at speed and scale,” said  William LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a two-time Wash100 Award winner.

Victor Udoewa from the CDC is a Panelist for the POC’s 2024 CX Imperative Forum
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Victor Udoewa from the CDC is a Panelist for the POC’s 2024 CX Imperative Forum

Victor Udoewa is the Service Design Lead of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is one of the panelists for the Potomac Officers Club’s CX Imperative Forum on January 25, 2024. Get to know more about Victor Udoewa’s background and experiences here. 

 

Who is Victor Udoewa?

 

Victor Udoewa has a passion for design, education, and learning. He promotes the integration of positive deviance, pluriversal methods, and systems practice into the civic design. As part of his efforts to decolonize design, he leads an equity-centered meetup group and Justice by Design. Beyond his professional endeavors, Victor enjoys teaching salsa, singing with his a cappella group, and volunteering as a health trauma and crisis counselor.

 

Catch Victor Udoewa at the Potomac Officers Club’s CX Imperative Forum

 

Victor Udoewa is one of the panelists for the CX Imperative Forum on January 25, 2024. He is an important part of the event because he has lots of experience and knowledge in designing customer services, leading in civic design and innovation, and improving government products and services. 

CX Imperative Forum

 

See the event details here | Register here

 

You don’t want to miss the CX Imperative Forum, as it will dive into the bureaucratic paperwork challenge in the federal government, echoing President Biden’s call for change. From human-centered design to tech upgrades, the event is all about enhancing service delivery. It’s the key to boosting efficiency, equity, transparency, and citizen-focused services.

 

Victor Udoewa will be joined by other speakers, including:

 

 

One of Victor Udoewa’s notable speaking engagements was about radical participatory design (RPD) that involves stakeholders, community leadership, and a decolonized approach to the design process.

 

Victor Udoewa’s Career Timeline

 

Victor Udoewa is a Service Design Lead in the public sector, a position he assumed in September 2023. As the Founder and CEO of Justice by Design, he drives a vision for service design, equity, and accessibility. Furthermore, his CTO and Chief Experience Officer role at NASA improved employee satisfaction and migrated platforms to NASA-managed AWS.

 

Victor Udoewa’s extensive experience includes roles at CivicActions, 18F, and Google, where he played key roles in strategy, education, and design. His impact extends worldwide, from educational roles at George Washington University to influencing global digital literacy at Google. 

 

Victor Udoewa’s achievements are not limited to the technology sector. He is also a Science and Technology Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and USAID. 

 

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Victor Udoewa has engaged in music and acted in Main Street Theatre Company. 

 

How do Radical Participatory Design and customer experience work together?

 

Radical Participatory Design (RPD) is a method of designing things that involves everyone affected by the design, like customers and end-users, from the beginning to the end. 

 

In the customer experience (CX) context, RPD goes beyond bringing customers into the design process; it makes them leaders. This helps products or services match better with customer needs and make them feel more connected to what they use. The deeper involvement can also lead to higher satisfaction, quicker sales, and stronger customer loyalty.

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s efforts to enhance customer experience

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been working hard to enhance customer experience. These efforts are part of a broader initiative, “CDC Moving Forward,” to update the agency’s systems and processes. 

 

CDC focuses on sharing scientific findings and making it easier for people to use in practical applications. It wants to ensure everyone in the U.S. can access public health services by being more transparent and inclusive. CDC also launched “Clean Slate” to change the CDC.gov website, allowing for easier navigation by cutting down on unnecessary information by more than 60%.

 

Furthermore, CDC is modernizing its National Electronic Disease Surveillance System Base System (NBS) by asking people to ensure user feedback is continuously solicited and incorporated.

 

Finally, the CDC has partnered with Maximus to bring in new technology and make it easier for users to get help from the agency using digital tools.

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Pentagon Announces Release of Assistance Data Standard Version 1.0
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Pentagon Announces Release of Assistance Data Standard Version 1.0

The Department of Defense has released a memorandum announcing the launch of the first version of the Assistance Data Standard, or ADS.

ADS Version 1.0 includes other transaction agreements for prototypes and production managed by the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, or OUSD(A&S), and covers grants, cooperative agreements and technology and OTs for research led by the OUSD for Research and Engineering, according to the memo.

“All business systems generating or receiving awards for ADS-covered instruments governed by OUSD(A&S) are required to implement the ADS,” the memo reads.

The document states that ADS was designed to represent instrument types as electronic data in an extensible markup language format.

John Tenaglia, principal director for defense pricing and contracting, signed the memo on Wednesday.

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NASA Collaborates With Small Business Fibertek on Basestation Optical Laser Terminal
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NASA Collaborates With Small Business Fibertek on Basestation Optical Laser Terminal

Fibertek, a fiber optic product supplier, has provided NASA with a laser technology that was integrated into the Low-Cost Optical Terminal at Goddard Space Flight Center to support the transmission of high-resolution images and video of the lunar region to the ground station.

The Basestation Optical Laser Terminal was developed by Fibertek under a small business collaboration with NASA called the Space Communications and Navigation — or SCaN — program, the space agency said Wednesday.

Fibertek’s four-channel laser unit is designed to enable the Orion spacecraft to transmit high-power communications during the Artemis II demonstration.

“Laser communications, focusing on direct-to-Earth links, is a maturing technology that is essential for NASA to meet its future communications capacity and navigation needs,” said Jason Mitchell, director of SCaN’s Advanced Communications and Navigation Technologies Division at NASA. “As we mature any technology, establishing and supporting a healthy domestic supply chain is vital. American small businesses play a key role in that chain.”

NASA uses America’s Seed Fund to grant early-stage federal funding to small businesses looking to innovate space technologies in support of advancing agency missions.

Register here for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5, and hear from space experts, government leaders and industry executives about shaping the future of space.

POC - 2024 Space Summit
NTIA Awards $80M in Funding to Advance Wireless Network Testing, Evaluation
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NTIA Awards $80M in Funding to Advance Wireless Network Testing, Evaluation

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration has awarded $80 million in funding under the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund to support the development of new wireless technology testing and evaluation facilities.

NTIA said Wednesday the third round of funding was awarded to DISH Wireless, VIAVI Solutions, Virginia Tech, Cirrus360, Northeastern University and Rice University to help advance the deployment of open and interoperable radio access networks, or RAN.

DISH Wireless secured $50 million in funding to establish the Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment in collaboration with Fujitsu Network Communications, Mavenir Systems and VMWare.

Meanwhile, VIAVI Solutions received a $22 million grant to create a hybrid physical lab infrastructure and cloud-based testing lab-as-a-service.

“The awards today will help stand up new facilities to usher in new wireless networks, ultimately leading to more jobs and lower costs for Americans,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

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Army Space & Missile Defense Command Welcomes Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey as New Commanding General
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Army Space & Missile Defense Command Welcomes Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey as New Commanding General

A ceremony took place at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama on Jan. 9 to mark the change of leadership at U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, the U.S. Army website reported Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, who most recently served as director of the Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office and director of fires at the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7, took charge of USASMDC and JFCC IMD, succeeding Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who had led the organizations since 2019.

Gainey was described by U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George during the ceremony as “exactly the right leader” to address the “substantial” challenges the military branch faces in space, missile defense and high-altitude operations.

George also touted Gainey’s selflessness, expertise and competence, and said that with Gainey as commanding general, “I know that SMDC is in the best possible hands.”

As leader of USASMDC, Gainey said he will work to “realize the Army’s space vision and ensure we maintain a modernized missile defense force while ensuring the health of our forces remains our priority.” And as head of JFCC IMD, Gainey will work to provide, among other things, ballistic missile defense operations support and missile defense plans to U.S. Space Command.

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