/
NIST Names Kevin Stine Head of Information Technology Laboratory
Published on
NIST Names Kevin Stine Head of Information Technology Laboratory

Kevin Stine, a 17-year veteran of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has been named director of the agency’s Information Technology Laboratory, or ITL.

In his new role, Stine will oversee more than 600 staff and guest researchers who support IT measurement, testing and standards across NIST in areas such as computer science, systems engineering and cybersecurity and privacy, NIST said Wednesday.

Stine most recently served as chief of the ITL’s Applied Cybersecurity Division, which oversees priority programs including the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity, also known as the NICE Framework.

“He spearheaded the development of NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework, one of the world’s leading sources of cybersecurity guidance, and he has expanded several programs critical to national and economic security,” said Laurie Locascio, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and director of NIST.

Stine’s government career includes time as chief information security officer of the Food and Drug Administration, where he spearheaded the development of the agency’s cybersecurity program.

/
NASA-Funded Commercial Space Station Achieves Testing Milestones for Life Support System
Published on
NASA-Funded Commercial Space Station Achieves Testing Milestones for Life Support System

The critical life support system of Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef space station reached certain milestones, completing four tests designed to assess the capability of the system’s several components in cleaning, storing and reclaiming the air and water needed to support human spaceflight.

Orbital Reef’s life support system completed a water tank test, water contaminant oxidant test, a trace contaminant control test and urine water recovery test, NASA said Wednesday.

NASA is funding the design and development of the commercial space station, which is being developed by Blue Origin under a Space Act Agreement with the space agency.

“These milestones are critical to ensuring that a commercial destination can support human life so NASA astronauts can continue to have access to low Earth orbit to conduct important scientific research in the unique microgravity environment,” said Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program.

“Additionally, each milestone that is completed allows NASA to gain insight into our partner’s progress on station design and development,” Hart added.

/
State Department Deputy Chief Data & AI Officer Garrett Berntsen Stepping Down
Published on
State Department Deputy Chief Data & AI Officer Garrett Berntsen Stepping Down

Garrett Berntsen, deputy chief data and artificial intelligence officer at the State Department, is stepping down from his position in the coming weeks.

“It has been an incredible journey alongside my colleagues at the U.S. Department of State Center for Analytics and partners across the entire Department,” Berntsen said in a LinkedIn post published Wednesday.

“When we pitched people on the idea of data science for diplomacy they often struggled to keep a straight face. Now State has put technology and AI at the forefront of its diplomacy and modernization,” he added.

Berntsen assumed the role in January, marking his return to the State Department, where he previously served as deputy chief data officer for nearly three years.

Prior to his appointment, he was director for technology and national security at the White House National Security Council.

His industry career included time as a senior manager at Deloitte, where he served as a data analytics and strategy consultant supporting the digital transformation efforts of federal customers.

Berntsen is a retired U.S. Army captain who served as a senior logistics officer during his military service.

USAID Amends Acquisition Regulation to Incorporate New IT Security Contract Clause
Published on
USAID Amends Acquisition Regulation to Incorporate New IT Security Contract Clause

The U.S. Agency for International Development has issued a final rule amending its acquisition regulation to incorporate a new contract clause related to information security and IT resources that support the agency’s operations and assets.

The revisions to the USAID Acquisition Regulation, or AIDAR, will take effect on May 20 to provide increased oversight and management of contractors providing IT products and services to the federal government.

Based on industry feedback, the final rule continues to use the definition of IT issued in an Office of Management and Budget memorandum to maintain consistency with OMB guidance and principles for implementing the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act.

To simplify the rule, USAID also consolidated into a single clause the prior two clauses related to a limitation on the acquisition of IT systems and the use of IT approval.

The final “Information Technology Authorization” clause mandates that all agency chief information officers review and approve acquisitions of IT systems and services for use in their organizations.

Once implemented, contracting officers are required to insert the IT Authorization clause in all solicitations and contracts.

POC - 5th Annual CIO Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17 to hear about the latest modernization strategies from government and industry CIOs. Register here to save your seat at the highly anticipated event.

/
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks: Production Is Deterrence
Published on
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks: Production Is Deterrence

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks highlighted the need for the Department of Defense, Congress and the U.S. defense industrial base to work together to accelerate the production and delivery of military capabilities to warfighters to enable them to deter aggression and win in the event of a conflict.

“Because production matters. Production is deterrence,” Hicks, a 2024 Wash100 awardee, said Wednesday at a summit in Washington, D.C.

During the event, the deputy DOD secretary cited some of the administration’s investments to strengthen the country’s defense industrial base, including $24.7 billion for multiyear procurement of long-range anti-ship missiles and other key munitions, $12.9 billion for industrial base infrastructure and facilities and $10.3 billion for microelectronics.

She also cited the negative impact of continuing resolutions on defense innovation and modernization efforts.

Hicks mentioned the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which includes a procurement budget of $167.5 billion.

“All of these investments and more have been aligned with the needs of our National Defense Strategy, and the National Defense Industrial Strategy that builds upon it,” she stated.

/
US, EU Partner to Align Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Measures
Published on
US, EU Partner to Align Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Measures

The Department of Homeland Security has partnered with the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications, Networks, Content, and Technology, a.k.a. DG CONNECT, to compare cyber incident reporting elements to inform the alignment of transatlantic approaches to security and incident reporting.

The Potomac Officers Club will host the 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 to hear from government and industry experts about the dynamic and ever-evolving role of cyber in the public sector. Register here!

Under the agreement, DHS and DG CONNECT conducted a comparative assessment of the recommendations outlined in the 2023 DHS report on how the federal government can streamline and harmonize the reporting of cyber incidents and the cybersecurity incident reporting measures included in the European Union’s NIS 2 Directive, DHS said Wednesday.

The joint report focuses on six main areas for comparative analysis: definitions and reporting thresholds; timelines, triggers and types of cyber incident reporting; contents of cyber incident reports; reporting mechanisms; aggregation of incident data; and public disclosure of cyber incident information.

Each area includes a schematic comparison of the cybersecurity incident reporting frameworks and general conclusions on their similarities and differences.

DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the European Agency for Cybersecurity supported the development of the report to help inform their future approach to evaluating cyber incident reporting processes.

“Our approach will allow governmental authorities to get the information they need to provide cyber defense while streamlining the process for victim organizations,” said Robert Silvers, under secretary for policy at DHS and chair of the Cyber Incident Reporting Council.

POC - 2024 Cyber Summit
/
Rocket Lab, NRO Launch 5th National Security Mission; Chris Scolese Quoted
Published on
Rocket Lab, NRO Launch 5th National Security Mission; Chris Scolese Quoted

Rocket Lab USA and the National Reconnaissance Office launched the fifth national security mission for the agency using an Electron launch vehicle, which lifted off from Wallops, Virginia on Thursday.

The agency said the recent mission dubbed NROL-123 marks the first NRO launch that Rocket Lab has performed in the U.S., specifically from Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia Spaceport Authority’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

“This launch, which is putting research missions into space, exemplifies the NRO’s commitment to building partnerships with private industry and academia,” said Chris Scolese, director of NRO and a previous Wash100 awardee. “The knowledge gained from this research will advance innovation and enable the development of critical new technology.”

The agency used its Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket contract to procure services for NROL-123 and the four missions before it, which were conducted from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand in 2020 and 2022.

The contract serves as a streamlined, commercial approach to sending small satellites into orbit, and Laura Robinson, deputy director of the NRO’s Office of Space Launch and mission director for NROL-123, said, “The NRO is always looking for innovative ways to advance our capabilities in space and build agility and resilience into everything we do.”

/
Marine Corps Looking Into Medium Landing Ships, Autonomous Platforms to Enhance Logistics Capabilities
Published on
Marine Corps Looking Into Medium Landing Ships, Autonomous Platforms to Enhance Logistics Capabilities

Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney discussed in a recent interview with Defense One the need for new transportation equipment to modernize the logistics capabilities of the USMC.

According to Mahoney, one of the options the service is looking into is the medium landing ship, or LSM, an amphibious vessel with 8,000 square feet of deck cargo space and the capacity to carry a crew of about 70 sailors, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Mahoney described LSMs as “a shore-to-shore logistics connect” meant to transport heavy cargo in scenarios where aircraft are insufficient and using large ships is not desirable.

Between 18 to 35 LSMs are expected to be acquired by the U.S. Navy for the Marine Corps.

Mahoney also said the service is looking into the autonomous low-profile vessel and medium and large autonomous drones for use in logistics.

The Marine Corps official noted that this year will see the testing and evaluation of such platforms.

QinetiQ, DOD Complete Initial Test Flights of Modified Rattler Supersonic Target Variant
Published on
QinetiQ, DOD Complete Initial Test Flights of Modified Rattler Supersonic Target Variant

QinetiQ and the Department of Defense have finished testing the first two Rattler Supersonic Target MkIs at the White Sands Missile Range High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility.

The tests have provided opportunities for the HELSTF Tracking Illuminating Laser System to acquire, track and queue from a supersonic target at a short slant range, the company said Wednesday.

QinetiQ has been integrating a third-party target board into the target drone to measure high-energy laser characteristics during supersonic flight.

The development effort is in support of the $10 million HEL Measurement Rattler program, which began in February 2022 and is expected to end in mid-2024.

/
CACI’s DeEtte Gray & IBM’s Susan Wedge Named to 2024 Wash100 List
Published on
CACI’s DeEtte Gray & IBM’s Susan Wedge Named to 2024 Wash100 List

DeEtte Gray, president of business and information technology solutions at CACI International, and Susan Wedge, managing partner for the U.S. federal market at IBM Consulting, were recognized on Thursday as winners of Executive Mosaic’s 2024 Wash100 Award.

The 2024 Wash100 season is just getting started. Vote for DeEtte Gray and Susan Wedge as your favorite GovCon leaders at Wash100.com! The popular vote competition is open until April 30, and winners will be announced in May.

Every year, Executive Mosaic compiles a list of the top 100 executives of consequence working in the federal government and government contracting industry. The resulting Wash100 list represents the best and brightest minds in GovCon and recognizes these individuals for their demonstrated leadership, innovation, achievements, reliability and vision.

Gray earned her eighth Wash100 Award this year for spearheading defense sector technology modernization efforts.

“Since joining CACI seven years ago, DeEtte has distinguished herself as one of the company’s central pillars, supporting continuous technological innovation and consistent and predictably reliable revenue achievement for the company,” said Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson of Gray.

Read her full Wash100 profile here.

Wedge makes her debut on the Wash100 list this year for her work advancing the delivery of innovative technology platforms to IBM’s government customers. She has held her current position for more than two years, and she has been with IBM for over two decades. Learn more about why we selected Susan Wedge — check out her Wash100 profile here.

Executive Mosaic congratulates DeEtte Gray and Susan Wedge on their inclusion in the 2024 Wash100 list.

1 … 419 420 421 422 423 … 2,704