The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has begun soliciting proposals for a two-phase program to develop autonomy transfer methods for refining low-fidelity models and simulations to be used for transfer.

The Transfer from Imprecise and Abstract Models to Autonomous Technologies, or TIAMAT, program aims to create sim-to-sim and sim-to-real autonomy transfer techniques that will enable same-day transfer of autonomous technologies from simulation to reality, DARPA said Tuesday.

DARPA expects that the proposed TIAMAT method could result in autonomous systems that are adaptable to different military missions.

Phases 1 and 2 will each run for 18 months and the results of the first segment will be used to down-select participants from six to three.

Interested parties have until Dec. 20 to submit proposals.

The Government Accountability Office has found that the Department of Defense has limited insights into potential national security risks from mergers and acquisitions in the defense industrial base.

In a report published Tuesday, GAO revealed that DOD’s Industrial Base Policy office assessed an average of 40 defense M&As per year in fiscal years 2018 through 2022, which represents only a small portion of the total company takeovers during the period.

GAO added that most of the Pentagon’s M&A assessments focus on competition rather than other types of risks, such as national security and innovation risks, as there is no clear direction about which M&A should be prioritized for assessment beyond those initiated in response to antitrust reviews.

The agency recommended that DOD provide additional direction on assessing the full range of risks and benefits identified in its M&A policy; ensure that the Industrial Base Policy’s M&A office is adequately resourced; provide clear direction on which M&A needs to be prioritized for assessment; and require monitoring of identified risks.

The National Contract Management Association has teamed with World Commerce and Contracting for a joint venture that aims to strengthen the understanding of contract management globally.

Built on the pillars of consensus-based updates and resource distribution, the partnership will incorporate both organizations’ experience in the field to pursue the goal of transforming the contract management profession worldwide, the two companies announced in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“This collaboration is bringing a wave of commercial and global best practices to our Contract Management Standard that is already adopted by the federal government, part of industry and academia,” said NCMA Chair Elect Heather Dallara.

“For our members and workforce, this partnership represents a pivotal moment in elevating the contract management profession globally. This joint venture between NCMA and WorldCC is undeniably a momentous step forward for the future of contract management,” she added.

Dallara, who also currently serves as senior vice president of business operations at Integral Federal, was recently appointed chair of Executive Mosaic’s 4×24 Contracts Group.

The joint venture’s focus on consensus-based updates is intended to drive the continuous improvement and growth of the Contract Management Standard, an NCMA-developed and American National Standards Institute-approved outline of contract management. The standard looks at contract management as it is related to processes that come from the integration and interaction of job responsibilities and skills as well as their related purposes.

Through their partnership, NCMA and WorldCC plan to mold the CMS to properly represent the constantly transforming contract management field and progress the standard’s use for academic recognition of contract management.

Resources offered by the joint venture will center artificial intelligence use in contract management to help users leverage the potential benefits of AI, such as increased efficiency and precision and modern practices.

“This joint venture marks a new era for contract management professionals. Together, we’ll elevate CMS globally, setting a new standard for excellence and creating a common contracting language,” said Kraig Conrad, CEO of NCMA.

WorldCC CEO Sally Guyer highlighted the organizations’ shared vision to uplift the contract management profession while making sure it “remains at the forefront of industry practices.”

“By unifying our efforts, we can deliver cutting-edge guidance and resources that will empower professionals worldwide,” she said.

The Office of Science and Technology Policy has begun seeking information on potential industry sources capable of supporting the development of a federal strategy to identify and address gaps in environmental justice research.

A notice published Friday in the Federal Register states that the OSTP is requesting industry input to inform and guide the National Science and Technology Council Environmental Justice Subcommittee’s research plan analyzing inadequacies in data collection and scientific research related to environmental justice.

Established as part of an executive order to advance environmental justice, the subcommittee is mandated to prepare and update biennially a coordinated strategy to guide research efforts of federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments.

The research plan will provide recommendations to agencies on developing and using science, data and research to support environmental justice policy.

Interested parties have until Dec. 12 to respond to the request for information.

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has been chosen by the Department of Energy as the site and director of the High Performance Data Facility hub.

JLab will team up with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to design and build the hub, which is part of DOE’s Integrated Research Infrastructure, or IRI program, the agency said Monday.

IRI aims to provide researchers a center for experimental user facilities as well as data and advanced computing resources to aid scientific discovery. The HPDF Hub will support the IRI program’s objective by hosting tools, capabilities and state-of-the-art data management infrastructure. It is expected to benefit studies in areas including artificial intelligence-enabled integrated science.

HPDF is projected to cost between $300 million and $500 million, sourced from DOE’s current and future fiscal year funds.

Geraldine Richmond, DOE’s undersecretary for science and innovation, commented that the hub “will play a central role in the operation and success of the IRI program which is designed to serve the data and analysis needs of our many DOE national laboratory user facilities and more.”

AI companies and experts are scheduled to congregate at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit, taking place on Feb. 28, 2024 in Virginia. Registration is now open.