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TSMC Arizona to Build Fabs With Up to $6.6B in Proposed CHIPS & Science Act Funding
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TSMC Arizona to Build Fabs With Up to $6.6B in Proposed CHIPS & Science Act Funding

A subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. could receive up to $6.6 billion in direct funding through the CHIPS and Science Act as part of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms signed with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

TSMC Arizona plans to use the proposed direct funding to support the construction of three semiconductor fabs in Phoenix, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The company plans to invest more than $65 billion in the three fabs. The first fab will manufacture 4-nanometer FinFET process technologies and the second chip factory will produce 2nm nanosheet process technology. The third fab will build 2nm or more advanced process technologies.

TSMC Arizona expects to kick off high-volume production at the first fab by the first two quarters of 2025.

“The leading-edge semiconductors that will be made here in Arizona are foundational to the technology that will define global economic and national security in the 21st century, including AI and high-performance computing,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

“Thanks to President Biden’s leadership and TSMC’s continued investments in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, this proposed funding would help make our supply chains more secure and create thousands of good-quality construction and manufacturing jobs for Arizonans,” added Raimondo.

Under the nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms, the company could receive another $50 million in funding to build its semiconductor and construction workforce and about $5 billion in proposed loans from the CHIPS Program Office.

TSMC Arizona received support from the City of Phoenix to launch a Registered Apprenticeship program for semiconductor technicians.

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NOAA Office Envisions Future Where Space Situational Awareness Is Shared via Global Coordination System
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NOAA Office Envisions Future Where Space Situational Awareness Is Shared via Global Coordination System

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Space Commerce has released a document articulating its vision of a global system that facilitates coordination between various providers of space situational awareness services.

The OSC said Monday that its envisioned system would be composed of national or regional hubs, which, in turn, would be supported by international partnerships and augmented by a commercial SSA industry.

According to the OSC, the coordination system would work to minimize conflicting information about “potential conjunction events” that might affect spacecraft. The system would also serve as a foundation for possible space traffic coordination efforts, which would require consistent SSA information.

The office went on to note that the contribution of the U.S. to this system is the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, which may serve as a national or regional SSA provider in the future.

To facilitate global coordination, the OSC said TraCSS must be developed openly, transparently and in close coordination with other countries, including those that are developing their own SSA capabilities and those that have traditionally not collaborated with the U.S.

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Joint Report Highlights Key Recommendations on Establishing Resilient Commercial Space Sector
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Joint Report Highlights Key Recommendations on Establishing Resilient Commercial Space Sector

The U.S. Space Force, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit have released their annual joint report outlining new recommendations for maintaining U.S. leadership in the space domain and building a sustainable commercial space sector.

The 2023 State of the Space Industrial Base, or SSIB, report found the need for the U.S. to establish resilient domestic supply chains, streamline bureaucratic processes to reduce licensing barriers, enhance access to financial tools to spur economic growth and implement an “allied-by-design” approach to improve interoperability with allies, the DIU said Monday.

Key recommendations include accelerating the transition to dynamic space operations, embracing a collective North Star vision for space, shifting toward agile policymaking and execution, scaling the production of commercial space technologies and sustaining funding for programs that use commercially available tools.

This year’s report focuses on assessing the current state of launch missions, traffic management, satellite communications, remote sensing, in-space logistics, advanced power and workforce development.

The report includes feedback collected from representatives of 17 partner nations during a workshop held at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

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Proposed FCC Rules Seek to Ensure Wireless Communications Availability for Drones; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted
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Proposed FCC Rules Seek to Ensure Wireless Communications Availability for Drones; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted

The Federal Communications Commission will consider initial rules to enable operators of unmanned aircraft systems to gain access to wireless communications links in the 5030-5091 MHz band for non-networked operations.

In a report and order released Friday, FCC noted that dynamic frequency management systems would be used to oversee access to the spectrum and provide operators temporary frequency assignments to support control link communications for UAS.

“We are taking an important step forward to ensure the availability of wireless communications for increasingly important at remote-piloted aircraft activity,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement published Monday.

“The FCC must ensure that our spectrum rules meet the current – and future – spectrum needs of evolving technologies such as uncrewed aircraft systems, which can be critical to disaster recovery, first responder rescue efforts, and wildfire management,” Rosenworcel added.

On an interim basis, the proposed rules would direct operators seeking to access the band for transmission to send a request to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval and deconfliction and complete an online registration form with FCC upon receipt of authorization from FAA.

In January 2024, the commission started the rulemaking process to enable licensed spectrum use for drones.

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Senate Bill to Establish Cybersecurity Standards for Federal Workplace Collaboration Tools
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Senate Bill to Establish Cybersecurity Standards for Federal Workplace Collaboration Tools

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has introduced draft legislation that would set new mandatory cybersecurity standards for online collaboration tools used across the federal government.

The Secure and Interoperable Government Collaboration Technology Act would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the General Services Administration to establish interoperable standards for collaboration platforms to ensure that they use end-to-end encryption and other technologies to prevent foreign surveillance on government communications.

“My bill will secure the U.S. government’s communications from foreign hackers, while protecting taxpayer wallets. Vendor lock-in, bundling, and other anticompetitive practices result in the government spending vast sums of money on insecure software,” said Wyden.

The bill would also task the Department of Homeland Security with conducting cybersecurity reviews of collaboration tools acquired by government agencies.

If enacted, the legislation would create a working group comprising representatives from GSA and the Office of Management and Budget to review federal workplace collaboration platforms and suggest improvements to the new standards.

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DAF Senior Leaders Unveil 4 Organizational Changes to Air Force Materiel Command; Gen. Duke Richardson Quoted
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DAF Senior Leaders Unveil 4 Organizational Changes to Air Force Materiel Command; Gen. Duke Richardson Quoted

Senior leaders at the Department of the Air Force announced plans to make four organizational changes to Air Force Materiel Command to improve military readiness and agility in a time of great power competition.

The first two changes are the creation of the Integrated Development Office to support integrated capability development planning and the establishment of the Air Force Information Dominance Systems Center to strengthen focus on capabilities such as cyber, electronic warfare and command, control, communications and battle management, the Air Force said Monday.

The other two organizational changes are redesignating the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center as the Air Force Air Dominance Systems Center and expanding the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center by making it the Air Force Nuclear Systems Center focused on advancing the strategic deterrent role of the nuclear mission.

“To be effective partners with the operational community in this process, AFMC must make changes in terms of how we work with operators to define requirements, and how we develop, deliver, and sustain weapons systems,” said AFMC Commander Gen. Duke Richardson.

“The changes we’re making are focused on how to organize acquisition-related functions, work in partnership with operational and DAF leadership to optimize technology transition, and integrate new product pipelines, all with an emphasis on maintaining technological superiority against a peer competitor. Getting requirements right is the key to any successful acquisition program,” added Richardson.

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Video Interview: Digital Science’s Stephen Leicht Talks AI Opportunities & Threats
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Video Interview: Digital Science’s Stephen Leicht Talks AI Opportunities & Threats

In the age of artificial intelligence, new risks, opportunities, challenges and advancements are being unlocked every day. As government and industry leaders look toward an AI-enabled future, they’re taking great care to prepare for threats while driving technological innovation forward.

Digital Science President Stephen Leicht spoke with Executive Mosaic’s video reporter Summer Myatt about the dangers and benefits of AI across a myriad of industries and applications.

Video Interview: Digital Science’s Stephen Leicht Talks AI Opportunities & Threats

Stay up-to-date with the latest news and insights about AI at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17. Join us to hear panel discussions and keynote remarks focused on AI technologies and their applications within the government landscape. Register here.

“AI can simulate really the better aspects of human intelligence,” he said in a new video interview. “And this is a major differentiator between what exists today and the traditional fixed computing infrastructure. These are systems that can learn, they can reason, they can improve, they can make decisions, they can solve problems. And perhaps one of the most obvious improvements that we saw in the gen AI revolution recently is that they can innovate and create things — so you see new solutions to complex problems, which are far beyond the traditional computing infrastructure.”

Pentagon’s AI Friction Points

While AI technology is advancing at a rapid pace, some larger organizations and agencies are finding it difficult to keep up.

“I think the balance is we want to be faster, we want to be quick. This is an area where in two or three months time, the landscape is changing so dramatically that you have to put a really high emphasis on speed,” Leicht said.

“At the same time, you’re in an area where you have to put a really large emphasis on being responsible and ethical. We’re talking about communities where moving quickly is hard. It’s hard to move quickly when you’re part of the defense infrastructure. It’s a big giant machine that turns slowly. So I think those are the friction points or the challenges,” he added.

AI Opportunities

Leicht emphasized that our innovation ecosystems in the U.S. are our advantage in the race towards AI dominance on the global stage.

“I think one of the advantages we have from a U.S. defense perspective is that there are great opportunities for collaboration between our government organizations, our commercial organizations, and our universities, where a lot of this work goes on. So to the extent we can make those partnerships work, I think those are important,” said Leicht.

For more insights from Stephen Leicht about the state of AI, watch his full video interview.

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Leidos’ Thomas Bell & DOD’s William LaPlante Gain 2024 Wash100 Awards for Inspired Leadership
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Leidos’ Thomas Bell & DOD’s William LaPlante Gain 2024 Wash100 Awards for Inspired Leadership

Executive Mosaic on Tuesday spotlighted two exceptional leaders — Leidos CEO Thomas Bell and Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante — in recognition of their 2024 Wash100 Award wins.

Wash100 returned for its 11th run this year, continuing a long-lasting legacy of honoring the most admirable leaders in the government contracting industry. Recipients of the Wash100 Award are executives who have woven their ideas into the fabric of the GovCon space through notable past accomplishments and potential to shape the future of the field.

Leidos’ Thomas Bell & DOD’s William LaPlante Gain 2024 Wash100 Awards for Inspired Leadership

Bell is a first-time Wash100 Award awardee. He took command of Leidos in February 2023, and his transformative leadership tactics are what earned him a spot in the ranks. Just months after assuming his new role, he declared a new vision for the company, which he called “North Star,” and his strategy has demonstrated immense success. Read his full profile here.

Leidos is sponsoring the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Army Summit on June 13! Click here to access more information and view the speaker lineup, which includes opening keynote Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. Click here to register for the event.

LaPlante claimed his third Wash100 Award this year for guiding the Department of Defense’s acquisition efforts. In 2023, his forward-thinking approach to acquisition led to the creation of a Biodefense Posture Review and numerous developments in weapons production. He has also dedicated himself to promoting collaboration with the defense industrial base and took numerous steps to foster these relationships last year. Click here to read his full profile.

There is less than a month left to choose your favorite 2024 Wash100 winners in the annual popular vote contest! Click here to show your support for the leaders who have inspired you in this exciting competition.

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PCi Tec Lands DOD Contract for Cybersecurity Software; Rosina Kling Quoted
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PCi Tec Lands DOD Contract for Cybersecurity Software; Rosina Kling Quoted

PCi Tec has received a potential 10-year blanket purchase agreement from the Department of Defense.

The purpose of the Enterprise Software Initiative BPA is to enable the DOD to buy cybersecurity software in a more cost-effective manner, PCi Tec told ExecutiveGov on Monday.

Rosina Kling, the company’s president and CEO, said it is a “privilege” to offer these cybersecurity capabilities to the DOD quickly and at reduced rates “to help safeguard our vital national defense functions.”

The EIS BPA is a DOD-wide program designed to simplify acquisition processes and reduce costs associated with information technology products and services. It uses agreements with IT providers to obtain commercial off-the-shelf IT offerings.

Through this award, PCi Tec will be an agent for BOX, Denodo, CloudBees and Sonatype, companies that already provide software under the contract.

The BPA has a base period of five years and five one-year option periods.

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GovCon Index Fell Last Week
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GovCon Index Fell Last Week

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index closed with an average of $4,896.02 last week, a 1.37% drop from the previous week.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that tracks real-time stock market data from 30 major government contracting companies. With this information, users can assess the performance of each individual business and draw their own conclusions about the overall financial state of the GovCon industry.

Multiple organizations demonstrated growth last week despite GovCon Index’s slip. General Dynamics and Tetra Tech both rose by 4.30%. RTX also grew significantly, increasing by 4.09%. The fourth and fifth slots were taken by KBR (+1.96%) and Parsons (+1.58), respectively.

Monday set the stage for GovCon Index’s decline last week with a 0.66% fall. The most significant losses occurred on Tuesday, when GovCon Index fell by 0.88%. Wednesday continued the downward trend, but Thursday brought about new growth which continued through Friday.

Check out last week’s market reports for more information on daily GovCon Index performance. To view the full list of tracked companies, click here.

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