Andrew Hallman, vice president of national security strategy and integration at Peraton and a previous Wash100 awardee, recently spoke about the importance of intelligence channels in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“Intelligence channels have proven to be an effective means of negotiation because they tend to offer enduring, lasting trusted channels that tend to be more resilient to shifting political winds,” he said in an interview on CNN.

He also shared his thoughts on the role of the CIA and the credibility that William Burns, the agency’s director and two-time Wash100 Award recipient, brings as a professional diplomat in light of the ongoing war between Israel and the militant group.

Hallman, former principal executive at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said the U.S. Intelligence Community will face increasing pressure from the current administration and Congress to develop independent intelligence streams as well as help Israelis learn from the conflict, retraining them and offering assistance to help them restore their intelligence capabilities.

According to Hallman, the Intelligence Community should keep its eye on long-term strategic threats from China and be cognizant of the need to maintain its intelligence collection capabilities.

The Department of Energy is requesting industry input on its proposed guidance on identifying which foreign entities qualify as foreign entities of concern, or FEOCs, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which aims to limit the participation of FEOCs within the U.S. electronic vehicle battery production sector.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law defines FEOCs as entities “owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a government of a foreign country that is a covered nation,” DOE said Friday.

In its proposed interpretive guidance, the department clarifies the term FEOC by providing separate interpretations of key terms in the legislation’s FEOC definition.

The interpretations relate to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s battery materials processing and battery manufacturing and recycling grant programs that prioritize projects with non-FEOC-based supply chains.

DOE also collaborated with the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to ensure that the proposed guidance is relevant to the implementation of the clean vehicle tax credit provision in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The comment period is open until Jan. 3.

Government officials have launched the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center, a NASA-led, multiple-agency effort designed to empower collaboration in the earth science field.

Resources provided by the center will be available to federal organizations and private sector entities and will include data, information and computer models from an array of relevant missions, NASA announced on Monday.

The center, which was introduced during the 28th iteration of the United Nations Climate Conference, will support the Biden Administration’s goal to “make critical data available to more people – from scientists running data analyses, to government officials making decisions on climate policy, to members of the public who want to understand how climate change will affect them,” explained Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA.

“We’re bringing space to Earth to benefit communities across the country,” he said.

Information hosted by the center will come from International Space Station observations, satellite and airborne missions and ground stations and will be made available online. These data sets will focus on estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, naturally occurring greenhouse gas sources and sinks on land and in the ocean and large methane emission event identification and quantification.

The center’s data sets, associated algorithms and supporting code will be completely open sourced. It will offer user support, an analysis hub for individuals to carry out advanced data analysis with computational resources and an interactive, visual interface for storytelling.

NASA worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop the center.

The Social Security Administration is reportedly changing the name of its Office of Systems as part of restructuring and modernization efforts, Federal News Network revealed Friday.

Sources said the Office of Systems will be known as the Office of the CIO moving forward, with CIO Sean Brune set to transition as assistant deputy commissioner of operations.

The article cited an e-mail sent by acting SSA Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi, who was quoted as saying that Brune will “assist in addressing our service delivery challenges, particularly considering the budget constraints the agency may be facing in fiscal 2024.” She stated that she will announce the new CIO and provide further information on the reorganization soon.

Patrick Newbold, SSA’s deputy CIO and deputy director of digital transformation, will serve as acting CIO until his resignation takes effect in January 2024.

The changes, which have not been confirmed by the agency, were disclosed amid the Senate’s deliberation of Martin O’Malley‘s nomination as SSA commissioner.