The Department of Commerce is requesting companies to report disruptions to the microelectronics and semiconductor supply chains using the updated alert system administered by the International Trade Administration.

The Semiconductor Alert Mechanism is designed to detect potential semiconductor supply chain disruptions early and facilitate coordination with trading partners and the private sector to address the issues raised, the department said Monday.

Heather Evans, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing for ITA, said the alert system enables the administration to hear directly from industry stakeholders, encouraging companies to use the tool to share critical information to strengthen and secure the U.S. supply chain.

Commerce noted that the information gathered will inform the U.S. government’s engagement with foreign trade partners to help mitigate potential impacts on the global semiconductor supply chain.

Branches of the Department of Defense have entered into agreements with Eavor, Teverra and Zanskar Geothermal and Minerals to advance exploratory geothermal projects at four military installations across the country.

The initiatives, which are led by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and the Defense Innovation Unit, are part of the agency’s efforts to utilize local and carbon-free energy sources and reduce risks related to traditional on-grid electrical systems, DIU said Wednesday.

Eavor is teaming up with the Air Force Joint Base San Antonio to study the potential of a subsurface heat exchanger that uses conductive instead of convective heat transfer.

Teverra is using the Army’s Fort Wainwright base in Alaska to develop proprietary technology that is expected to improve energy exploration and production as well as resource delineation.

Zanskar will test an artificial intelligence-enabled discovery suite that is designed to boost the accuracy and speed of identifying and de-risking geothermal resources at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho and Fort Irwin in California.

“This is a first-of-its-kind effort within the DoD, and we are pleased to support deployment of advanced commercial technologies for installation and community energy resilience leveraging carbon-free energy sources,” said Michael Callahan, DIU senior energy advisor and program manager.

The Department of Energy has announced a funding opportunity worth up to $500 million to invest in research projects supporting the DOE Office of Science and its major programs in areas such as basic energy sciences, advanced scientific computing research, nuclear physics and isotope research and production.

DOE said Friday that the Office of Science issues a funding opportunity announcement, or FOA, at the beginning of each fiscal year to solicit applications for research assistance in areas not covered by more specific FOAs.

The open solicitation covers all research areas managed by the Office of Science and is open throughout the fiscal year.

The Office of Science funds basic research in the physical sciences and serves as the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research at universities and national laboratories.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General published two semiannual joint assessments of the U.S. government’s compliance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The 25th and 26th assessments, which evaluated compliance from June 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021, noted that the decline in reported incidents could have been skewed by the coronavirus pandemic.

DOJ and ODNI concluded that overall, FBI, CIA, the National Security Agency and the National Counterterrorism Center demonstrated a focused effort to follow guidelines and implement Section 702 of FISA. The rule authorizes targeted foreign intelligence data collection from non-U.S. individuals outside the country.

NSA targeting compliance incidents and FBI querying cases were significantly lower during the review period. DOJ and ODNI attributed the change to fewer U.S. trips made by Section 702 targets during the pandemic. FBI also conducted only four query audits of its field offices at the time, compared to 27 in 2019 and 29 in 2018.