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Carlos Del Toro Wants Comprehensive Analysis of Navy’s Shipbuilding Portfolio
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Carlos Del Toro Wants Comprehensive Analysis of Navy’s Shipbuilding Portfolio

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro has called on Nickolas Guertin, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, and Vice Adm. James Downey, head of Naval Sea Systems Command, to perform a comprehensive review of the service branch’s shipbuilding portfolio and provide an interim report within 45 days.

The analysis should provide an assessment of shipbuilding challenges and its causes and offer recommended measures to strengthen the country’s shipbuilding industrial base in support of warfighters, the Navy said Thursday.

“I remain concerned with the lingering effects of post-pandemic conditions on our shipbuilders and their suppliers that continue to affect our shipbuilding programs, particularly our Columbia Class Ballistic Missile Submarines and Constellation Class Frigate,” said Del Toro, a previous Wash100 awardee.

“The American public should know that the Department of the Navy is committed to developing, delivering, and sustaining the finest warfighting capability to our Sailors and Marines,” he added.

In December, the secretary urged industry and academia to participate in efforts to reinstate the U.S. shipbuilding and repair landscape and noted that doing so demands a multipronged approach.

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Pentagon Unveils National Defense Industrial Strategy; William LaPlante Quoted
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Pentagon Unveils National Defense Industrial Strategy; William LaPlante Quoted

The Department of Defense has issued a new strategy that seeks to guide DOD’s policy development, engagement and investment in the defense industrial base in the next three to five years.

DOD said Thursday the inaugural National Defense Industrial Strategy, or NDIS, outlines the department’s four strategic priorities: resilient supply chains, workforce readiness, flexible acquisition and economic deterrence.

The strategy recommends several measures under each strategic priority.

To achieve flexible acquisition, the strategy suggests a number of actions, including broadening platform standards and interoperability; prioritizing off-the-shelf acquisition where reasonable and applicable; increasing access to intellectual property and data rights to enhance acquisition and sustainment; and continuing to support acquisition reform.

“The NDIS recognizes that America’s economic security and national security are mutually reinforcing and, ultimately the nation’s military strength cannot be untethered from our overall industrial strength. We must act now to build on recent progress and ensure we have the capacity to produce at speed and scale,” said  William LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a two-time Wash100 Award winner.

Victor Udoewa from the CDC is a Panelist for the POC’s 2024 CX Imperative Forum
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Victor Udoewa from the CDC is a Panelist for the POC’s 2024 CX Imperative Forum

Victor Udoewa is the Service Design Lead of the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He is one of the panelists for the Potomac Officers Club’s CX Imperative Forum on January 25, 2024. Get to know more about Victor Udoewa’s background and experiences here. 

 

Who is Victor Udoewa?

 

Victor Udoewa has a passion for design, education, and learning. He promotes the integration of positive deviance, pluriversal methods, and systems practice into the civic design. As part of his efforts to decolonize design, he leads an equity-centered meetup group and Justice by Design. Beyond his professional endeavors, Victor enjoys teaching salsa, singing with his a cappella group, and volunteering as a health trauma and crisis counselor.

 

Catch Victor Udoewa at the Potomac Officers Club’s CX Imperative Forum

 

Victor Udoewa is one of the panelists for the CX Imperative Forum on January 25, 2024. He is an important part of the event because he has lots of experience and knowledge in designing customer services, leading in civic design and innovation, and improving government products and services. 

CX Imperative Forum

 

See the event details here | Register here

 

You don’t want to miss the CX Imperative Forum, as it will dive into the bureaucratic paperwork challenge in the federal government, echoing President Biden’s call for change. From human-centered design to tech upgrades, the event is all about enhancing service delivery. It’s the key to boosting efficiency, equity, transparency, and citizen-focused services.

 

Victor Udoewa will be joined by other speakers, including:

 

 

One of Victor Udoewa’s notable speaking engagements was about radical participatory design (RPD) that involves stakeholders, community leadership, and a decolonized approach to the design process.

 

Victor Udoewa’s Career Timeline

 

Victor Udoewa is a Service Design Lead in the public sector, a position he assumed in September 2023. As the Founder and CEO of Justice by Design, he drives a vision for service design, equity, and accessibility. Furthermore, his CTO and Chief Experience Officer role at NASA improved employee satisfaction and migrated platforms to NASA-managed AWS.

 

Victor Udoewa’s extensive experience includes roles at CivicActions, 18F, and Google, where he played key roles in strategy, education, and design. His impact extends worldwide, from educational roles at George Washington University to influencing global digital literacy at Google. 

 

Victor Udoewa’s achievements are not limited to the technology sector. He is also a Science and Technology Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and USAID. 

 

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Victor Udoewa has engaged in music and acted in Main Street Theatre Company. 

 

How do Radical Participatory Design and customer experience work together?

 

Radical Participatory Design (RPD) is a method of designing things that involves everyone affected by the design, like customers and end-users, from the beginning to the end. 

 

In the customer experience (CX) context, RPD goes beyond bringing customers into the design process; it makes them leaders. This helps products or services match better with customer needs and make them feel more connected to what they use. The deeper involvement can also lead to higher satisfaction, quicker sales, and stronger customer loyalty.

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s efforts to enhance customer experience

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been working hard to enhance customer experience. These efforts are part of a broader initiative, “CDC Moving Forward,” to update the agency’s systems and processes. 

 

CDC focuses on sharing scientific findings and making it easier for people to use in practical applications. It wants to ensure everyone in the U.S. can access public health services by being more transparent and inclusive. CDC also launched “Clean Slate” to change the CDC.gov website, allowing for easier navigation by cutting down on unnecessary information by more than 60%.

 

Furthermore, CDC is modernizing its National Electronic Disease Surveillance System Base System (NBS) by asking people to ensure user feedback is continuously solicited and incorporated.

 

Finally, the CDC has partnered with Maximus to bring in new technology and make it easier for users to get help from the agency using digital tools.

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Pentagon Announces Release of Assistance Data Standard Version 1.0
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Pentagon Announces Release of Assistance Data Standard Version 1.0

The Department of Defense has released a memorandum announcing the launch of the first version of the Assistance Data Standard, or ADS.

ADS Version 1.0 includes other transaction agreements for prototypes and production managed by the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, or OUSD(A&S), and covers grants, cooperative agreements and technology and OTs for research led by the OUSD for Research and Engineering, according to the memo.

“All business systems generating or receiving awards for ADS-covered instruments governed by OUSD(A&S) are required to implement the ADS,” the memo reads.

The document states that ADS was designed to represent instrument types as electronic data in an extensible markup language format.

John Tenaglia, principal director for defense pricing and contracting, signed the memo on Wednesday.

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NASA Collaborates With Small Business Fibertek on Basestation Optical Laser Terminal
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NASA Collaborates With Small Business Fibertek on Basestation Optical Laser Terminal

Fibertek, a fiber optic product supplier, has provided NASA with a laser technology that was integrated into the Low-Cost Optical Terminal at Goddard Space Flight Center to support the transmission of high-resolution images and video of the lunar region to the ground station.

The Basestation Optical Laser Terminal was developed by Fibertek under a small business collaboration with NASA called the Space Communications and Navigation — or SCaN — program, the space agency said Wednesday.

Fibertek’s four-channel laser unit is designed to enable the Orion spacecraft to transmit high-power communications during the Artemis II demonstration.

“Laser communications, focusing on direct-to-Earth links, is a maturing technology that is essential for NASA to meet its future communications capacity and navigation needs,” said Jason Mitchell, director of SCaN’s Advanced Communications and Navigation Technologies Division at NASA. “As we mature any technology, establishing and supporting a healthy domestic supply chain is vital. American small businesses play a key role in that chain.”

NASA uses America’s Seed Fund to grant early-stage federal funding to small businesses looking to innovate space technologies in support of advancing agency missions.

Register here for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Space Summit on March 5, and hear from space experts, government leaders and industry executives about shaping the future of space.

POC - 2024 Space Summit
NTIA Awards $80M in Funding to Advance Wireless Network Testing, Evaluation
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NTIA Awards $80M in Funding to Advance Wireless Network Testing, Evaluation

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration has awarded $80 million in funding under the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund to support the development of new wireless technology testing and evaluation facilities.

NTIA said Wednesday the third round of funding was awarded to DISH Wireless, VIAVI Solutions, Virginia Tech, Cirrus360, Northeastern University and Rice University to help advance the deployment of open and interoperable radio access networks, or RAN.

DISH Wireless secured $50 million in funding to establish the Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment in collaboration with Fujitsu Network Communications, Mavenir Systems and VMWare.

Meanwhile, VIAVI Solutions received a $22 million grant to create a hybrid physical lab infrastructure and cloud-based testing lab-as-a-service.

“The awards today will help stand up new facilities to usher in new wireless networks, ultimately leading to more jobs and lower costs for Americans,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

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Army Space & Missile Defense Command Welcomes Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey as New Commanding General
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Army Space & Missile Defense Command Welcomes Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey as New Commanding General

A ceremony took place at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama on Jan. 9 to mark the change of leadership at U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, the U.S. Army website reported Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, who most recently served as director of the Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office and director of fires at the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-3/5/7, took charge of USASMDC and JFCC IMD, succeeding Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, who had led the organizations since 2019.

Gainey was described by U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George during the ceremony as “exactly the right leader” to address the “substantial” challenges the military branch faces in space, missile defense and high-altitude operations.

George also touted Gainey’s selflessness, expertise and competence, and said that with Gainey as commanding general, “I know that SMDC is in the best possible hands.”

As leader of USASMDC, Gainey said he will work to “realize the Army’s space vision and ensure we maintain a modernized missile defense force while ensuring the health of our forces remains our priority.” And as head of JFCC IMD, Gainey will work to provide, among other things, ballistic missile defense operations support and missile defense plans to U.S. Space Command.

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ISS National Lab Requests Flight Concepts for Space-Based R&D Projects
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ISS National Lab Requests Flight Concepts for Space-Based R&D Projects

The International Space Station National Laboratory is seeking flight concepts that use the government-funded space facility to develop technology in areas such as translational medicine, chemical and material synthesis, edge computing and in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing.

ISS National Lab said Tuesday it aims to facilitate space-based technology development and demonstration projects that seek to advance hardware prototype testing, enable process improvements, conduct advanced materials research and demonstrate novel drugs and diagnostic services.

The latest research announcement will follow a two-step proposal submission process. Concept summaries are due March 4 while full proposals must be submitted by May 7.

The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages ISS National Lab, has scheduled a webinar for Jan. 18 to provide further details on the research announcement.

ISS National Lab previously sponsored the development of Hewlett Packard Enterprise‘s Spaceborne Computer-2, which will launch on Northrop Grumman‘s 20th Commercial Resupply Services mission to enable high-performance computing in space.

ISS National Lab Requests Flight Concepts for Space-Based R&D Projects

The Potomac Officers Club will host the 2024 Space Summit on March 5 to discuss how new technologies, commercial investments and adversarial threats are shaping the future of space. Register here to save your seat at the highly anticipated event.

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House Bill to Advance Federal AI Risk Management Policy Implementation
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House Bill to Advance Federal AI Risk Management Policy Implementation

Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Zach Nunn, R-Iowa; Don Beyer, D-Va.; and Marcus Molinaro, R-N.Y., have introduced bipartisan legislation to advance federal risk management guidelines for artificial intelligence technologies used by government agencies and vendors.

The Federal Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Act would require federal agencies to incorporate the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Risk Management Framework into their AI management programs, Lieu’s office said Wednesday.

“The AI Risk Management Framework developed by NIST is a great starting point for agencies and vendors to analyze the risks associated with AI and to mitigate those risks. These guidelines have already been used by a number of public and private sector organizations, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be applied to the federal government as well,” Lieu said.

Under the bill, the Office of Management and Budget must issue guidance requiring agencies to implement the framework and establish a workforce initiative to provide federal agencies with access to diverse AI risk management expertise.

The legislation would also require NIST to test and evaluate new AI acquisition capabilities.

Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced a companion bill in the Senate in November.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 21 to hear more about cutting edge AI innovations from government and industry experts. Click here to register!

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Molly Just-Behr Named DOD CHIPS Coordination Cell Director
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Molly Just-Behr Named DOD CHIPS Coordination Cell Director

Molly Just-Behr, a defense and technology executive, has rejoined the Department of Defense as director of the CHIPS Coordination Cell.

She announced the move in a LinkedIn post published Wednesday.

Her appointment comes as DOD advances efforts to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor defense industrial base in support of national security and defense programs.

Just-Behr most recently served as a senior director at In-Q-Tel, where she led engagements across DOD and the Intelligence Community.

Prior to IQT, she was a senior director at Avascent, where she founded the DOD consulting practice and led business development, client engagement and growth strategies.

She previously worked at DOD as a special assistant within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, providing research, writing and analysis support.

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