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Kathleen Hicks Unveils DOD’s Data, Analytics & AI Adoption Strategy
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Kathleen Hicks Unveils DOD’s Data, Analytics & AI Adoption Strategy

Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of the Department of Defense and a three-time Wash100 awardee, has launched a strategy meant to help DOD accelerate the adoption of analytics, data and artificial intelligence to speed up the decision-making process on the battlefield.

The Chief Digital and AI Office developed the 2023 Data, Analytics and AI Adoption Strategy in collaboration with other DOD offices, the department said Thursday.

“As we’ve focused on integrating AI into our operations responsibly and at speed, our main reason for doing so has been straightforward: because it gives us even better decision advantage than we already have today,” Hicks said.

The strategy describes an agile approach to AI adoption to scale five decision advantage outcomes: superior battlespace awareness and understanding; adaptive force planning and application; fast, precise and resilient kill chains; resilient sustainment support; and efficient enterprise business operations.

The document outlines DOD’s strategic goals to meet its “AI hierarchy of needs,” which includes quality data, governance, insightful analytics and metrics, assurance and responsible AI.

The strategic goals are strengthening governance and removing policy barriers; delivering capabilities for enterprise business and joint warfighting impact; improving foundational data management; investing in interoperable, federated infrastructure; advancing the data, analytics and AI ecosystem; and expanding digital talent management.

“Accelerating the adoption of advanced data, analytics, and artificial intelligence technologies presents an unprecedented opportunity to equip Department leaders, at all levels, with the data they need, to make better decisions faster, from the boardroom to the battlefield,” said Craig Martell, head of CDAO.

“Our strategic approach prioritizes an agile approach to adoption by focusing on the fundamentals of speed, agility, responsibility, and learning,” added Martell, a 2023 Wash100 awardee.

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Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier on Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System
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Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier on Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said an artificial intelligence-assisted, cloud-based database designed to capture all-source intelligence data is expected to reach initial operational capability in the spring of 2024, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

The Machine-Assisted Analytic Rapid-Repository System — a.ka. MARS — will replace the Military Intelligence Integrated Database and is expected to achieve full operational capability in 2025, according to Berrier.

The MARS platform “takes everything that’s in MIDB, but infuses it with the tools that we have available today from all of those sources. And so not only a satellite image and a description, but you will have a map database infused with lots of different open source data points that will tell you what’s going on there — information that we can buy, other information that we can steal,” Berrier said during a fireside chat with the Center for Strategic and International Security.

“And it gives analysts through alarms and tippers ways to analyze what’s happening and techniques that we haven’t used before,” he added.

The DIA director also touched upon the importance of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the agency’s mission and shared his insights on the role of DIA in strategic competition with China and significance of intelligence sharing with allies and other partners.

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Senate Passes Bipartisan Bills to Support Commercial Launches, Reduce Space Junk
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Senate Passes Bipartisan Bills to Support Commercial Launches, Reduce Space Junk

The Senate has passed bipartisan bills aimed at establishing U.S. leadership in the space domain by fostering commercial space innovation and reducing space junk in orbit.

“We can’t let space junk and red tape stifle American innovations that are lifting us to new frontiers in space. Our bills will help our country maintain space leadership,” the bills’ sponsor Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., said in a statement published Wednesday.

The Orbital Sustainability Act aims to establish a research, development and demonstration program to remove the nearly 1 million pieces of orbital debris that pose risks to U.S. space assets and astronauts.

Meanwhile, the Launch Communications Act seeks to modernize the Federal Communications Commission’s current spectrum licensing process for commercial space launch missions to keep pace with the increasing demand for commercial launches that support national security objectives.

Both pieces of legislation secured approval from the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

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Marie Bussiere Appointed Technical Director of NUWC Division Newport
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Marie Bussiere Appointed Technical Director of NUWC Division Newport

Marie Bussiere, digital transformation executive for the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development test and engineering since October 2021, has been named technical director of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport.

She will assume her new post in January and succeed Ron Vien, who retired in March after nearly 36 years of service in the U.S. Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command said Wednesday.

Rebecca Chhim, acting technical director of NUWC Division Newport, will remain in the role through December.

Prior to her current role, Bussiere was head of the Undersea Warfare Combat Systems Department for nine years and led the planning and implementation of a spectrum program for submarine combat systems.

Bussiere previously headed the Department of the Navy Modeling and Simulation Office, the Undersea Weapons Acquisition and Life Cycle Engineering Division within the Torpedo Systems Department and the Logistics Product Development Branch within the USW Combat Systems Department.

She also served as logistics career field manager for the Naval Acquisition Development Program and NAVSEA’s Live, Virtual, Constructive Modeling and Simulation Knowledge Point Champion.

NSF Selects Research Projects to Develop Secure AI Technologies
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NSF Selects Research Projects to Develop Secure AI Technologies

The National Science Foundation has unveiled the 11 research projects to receive $10.9 million in funding to support the development and implementation of safe and resilient machine learning systems.

NSF said Tuesday the Safe Learning-Enabled Systems program was launched in partnership with Open Philanthropy and Good Ventures to fund foundational research projects that aim to create secure autonomous systems and generative artificial intelligence models.

The selected research projects include the development of safety-aware machine learning algorithms and methodologies, foundational technologies for safe learning-enabled systems based on distributional reinforcement learning techniques and a specification-guided, perception-enabled reinforcement learning framework.

“NSF’s commitment to studying how we can guarantee the safety of AI systems sends a clear message to the AI research community: We consider safety paramount to the responsible expansion and evolution of AI,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.

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Army Issues RFI for Project Linchpin AI Bill of Materials
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Army Issues RFI for Project Linchpin AI Bill of Materials

The project manager for intelligence and analytics within the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office – Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors is seeking industry input regarding ways to implement and automate an artificial intelligence bill of materials, or AIBOM, for Project Linchpin, whose aim is to establish a pipeline that would develop AI and machine learning solutions for PEO IEW&S sensor programs.

An AIBOM would work to identify potential vulnerabilities in an AI model by tracking key information about its components, including its software supply chain, details about the model itself and the lineage of the data used to train the model, according to a request for information posted on SAM.gov.

The pertinent information would have to be extracted automatically from relevant sources in order to make an AIBOM viable.

Interested parties have until Dec. 1 to respond.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray: Homegrown Violent Extremists Are the Greatest Terrorism Threat to US
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FBI Director Christopher Wray: Homegrown Violent Extremists Are the Greatest Terrorism Threat to US

Homegrown individual or small extremist cells that exploit online violence are the biggest terrorism threat to the United States, FBI Director Christopher Wray said during a Senate hearing.

In a statement presented Tuesday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Wray warned that adversaries are taking advantage of modern technology to commit crimes, from cyber attacks to disinformation and weapon construction.

He discussed the growing number of domestic and homegrown violent extremists, which operate within the U.S. or its territories to mobilize disorder and other unlawful acts through social media and online platforms. He clarified that the FBI is using all the tools applicable to fight domestic terrorism.

The agency is also continuing to combat hostile foreign intelligence services and operatives, especially amid conflicts in the Middle East.

“We continually adapt and rely heavily on the strength of our federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and international partnerships to combat all terrorist threats to the United States and our interests,” Wray stated. Using lawful investigative techniques, the agency maintains efforts “to collect, analyze, and share intelligence concerning the threats posed by violent extremists who desire to harm Americans and U.S. interests,” told lawmakers.

The Potomac Officers Club is participating in the national security conversation as the host of the 2023 Homeland Security Summit, which takes place on Nov. 15. Register now to join the event.

POC - 2023 Homeland Security Summit
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DHS Develops Cybersecurity Readiness Metric for Potential Contract Awardees
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DHS Develops Cybersecurity Readiness Metric for Potential Contract Awardees

The Department of Homeland Security finalized a new metric for assessing the cybersecurity readiness of prospective contract awardees.

The Cybersecurity Readiness Factor resulted from the statistical analysis of the 2023 Cyber Hygiene Assessment Instrument Questionnaire, and involves meeting the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publications 800-171r2 and 800-172 on information security, DHS stated in a notice published Wednesday on SAM.gov.

The metric divides readiness into three levels of likelihood, based on whether they have partially, fully or not satisfied security requirements. For fiscal year 2024, DHS set the objective baseline at fifteenth percentile. The contractor’s resulting percentile will be sent to the DHS contracting officer for review during the pre-award stage.

DHS is inviting industry feedback on the Cybersecurity Readiness Factor until Nov. 17.

On Nov. 15, the Potomac Officers Club is hosting the 2023 Homeland Security Summit to shine a light on today’s most pressing U.S. security issues. Register now to join the event.

POC - 2023 Homeland Security Summit
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2 Weeks Out Preview: 2023 Baird Government & Defense Conference
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2 Weeks Out Preview: 2023 Baird Government & Defense Conference

Financial services company and investment firm Baird will host its 6th annual Government and Defense Conference on Nov. 15 at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in Virginia. The event will showcase some of the government contracting industry and federal sector’s most prominent names, with sessions featuring CEOs, military officials, intelligence community leaders and more.

“We try to go beyond the superficial and really go in depth in terms of the subject matter,” Baird Managing Partner and event organizer John Song told GovCon Wire. “Whether it’s AI or space-related topics, among many others, the speakers will be extremely thorough about the issues and considerations for those areas of the market.”

Song is a recipient of the Wash100 Award — the GovCon space’s most distinguished honor — and the conference will see a number of his fellow awardees take the stage, including CGI Federal President Stephanie Mango, Noblis CEO Mile Corrigan and CACI President of National Security and Innovative Solutions Todd Probert, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stacey Dixon and more.

For a more extensive preview of the conference, read GovCon Wire’s reporting here.

If you have further questions or would like to request an invitation, please contact Baird’s conference events team at IBEvents@rwbaird.com.

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Senate Bill Aims to Enhance Federal AI Testing & Evaluation Systems
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Senate Bill Aims to Enhance Federal AI Testing & Evaluation Systems

Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., have proposed a bill that aims to enhance the federal government’s capacity to assess and test artificial intelligence tools to protect national security and citizens and foster innovation.

The proposed Testing and Evaluation Systems for Trusted AI Act would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to work with the Department of Energy to come up with testbeds for the assessment of trusted AI tools to meet workforce needs and advance AI-related capabilities, Risch’s office said Tuesday.

The bill seeks to improve the trustworthiness and reliability of federal and commercial AI systems and develop classified testbeds to support safeguards meant to test and prevent misuse of AI tools.

“This will help harness the talent of our National Laboratories to boost our federal capacity to implement responsible guardrails that protect our national security, ensuring this technology is not misused or manipulated,” Lujan said of the TEST AI Act.

Risch and Lujan introduced the legislation with Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Thune, R-S.D.

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