The Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are collaborating for a campaign to strengthen the resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure.

The Shields Ready campaign is a follow-up to Shields Up, and aims to provide resources and tools to help hospitals, utilities and other critical infrastructure entities respond and recover from operational disruption, DHS announced Tuesday.

CISA previously launched Shields Up to urge the sector’s stakeholders to develop time-sensitive risk management measures in preparation for cybersecurity-specific threat intelligence.

Shields Ready is designed in likeness to FEMA’s Ready initiative for disaster response. It includes guidance on identifying an infrastructure organization’s dependencies and risks, making actionable plans and developing metrics for continuous improvement strategies. More information is found on the campaign’s page on CISA’s website.

“In coordination with FEMA’s own Ready campaign, this new approach will help us encourage critical infrastructure stakeholders to practice preparedness and build a more resilient nation by creating plans to protect people and communities alike against hazardous events,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell remarked.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and CISA Director Jen Easterly, who are both Wash100 inductees, expressed similar sentiments, saying the project prepares individuals and communities for present and future threats and challenges in national infrastructure.

DHS and CISA will be among the participants at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 15. Click here to register for the event.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching a three-year competition to spur innovations in medical triage in civilian and military settings.

The agency announced Tuesday that it is funding teams from Arete Associates, Battelle Memorial Institute, Charles River Analytics, the University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania and RTX‘s BBN business as initial participants in the DARPA Triage Challenge.

The five-track challenge will focus on new approaches to injury signature identification in mass civilian or military incidents. It will be divided into virtual, systems and data competitions.

Technologies may range from autonomous systems with standoff sensors, to artificial intelligence and robotic military platforms that can be used in primary and secondary triage.

DARPA is expecting to fund more teams in the coming weeks. Self-funded teams may also submit their application until Nov. 27.

The Potomac Officers Club is gathering private and public sector healthcare experts to discuss critical issues such as changes in the industry since the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 Healthcare Summit is happening on Dec. 6, and registration is now open.

Four Senate and House lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize for four years the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s Section 702 provision and establish accountability measures and protections to prevent warrantless searches and other forms of surveillance abuse.

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Lee, R-Utah introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act with Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

“Our bill continues to give government agencies broad authority to collect information on threats at home and abroad, including the ability to act quickly in emergencies and settle up with the court later. But it creates much stronger protections for the privacy of law-abiding Americans, and restores the warrant protections that are at the heart of the Fourth Amendment,” Wyden said in a statement published Tuesday.

The proposed Government Surveillance Reform Act would protect U.S. citizens from warrantless backdoor searches, limit the acquisition of information on Americans as part of large datasets and require warrants for government purchases of private data of Americans from private brokers and for surveillance of citizens’ web browsing, location data and search records.

The legislation would also prohibit the targeting of foreigners as a pretext for surveilling Americans and would include exceptions to ensure that the U.S. government can continue to use the Section 702 authority for defensive cybersecurity purposes.

The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, has opened a new quantum information science and technology facility in Illinois to facilitate QIS research collaboration among scientific communities, industries and start-ups.

The Quantum Garage is a 6,000 sq ft lab space featuring new large dilution refrigerators that host devices developed by the SQMS collaboration for performing quantum sensing, computation, metrology and communications, Fermilab said Monday.

The platforms include a commercial quantum processor; quantum memories and transducers based on novel technology approaches; quantum metrology tools for materials standards development; and quantum sensors for fundamental physics.

“The SQMS Quantum Garage will enable the scientific community, including start-ups, academia and industry to advance quantum technology and science, and break through the difficult technical barriers, with increased access to cutting-edge scientific tools and equipment,” said Geri Richmond, undersecretary for science and innovation.