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White House Proposes Changes to OMB Federal Grants Guidelines, Seeks Public Comment
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White House Proposes Changes to OMB Federal Grants Guidelines, Seeks Public Comment

The Biden-Harris administration is proposing an update to the Uniform Grants Guidance, the guidelines issued by the Office of Management and Budget that govern various kinds of financial assistance from the federal government.

The draft version of the new guidance has been made available for public comment. The proposed revision aims to improve access to federal financial support by removing obstacles, lessening unnecessary compliance requirements and reducing complexity, the White House said Friday.

The suggested changes include requiring the use of plain and clear language in notices of funding opportunity to make such documents accessible to non-experts; ensuring the accessibility of such announcements to potential applicants, including underserved communities; and the provision of technical assistance prior to any award.

The revisions also call for the clarification of ambiguous terms to ensure uniformity in compliance; the reduction of prior approvals that need to be secured by awardees from federal agencies before they can spend their money; and the non-mandatory use of English in notices to increase access equitability.

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Patricia Gruber Named Science & Technology Adviser to State Secretary
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Patricia Gruber Named Science & Technology Adviser to State Secretary

Patricia Gruber, formerly chief scientific officer at the Office of Naval Research Global, has been appointed science and technology adviser to the secretary of the State Department.

In this capacity, she is expected to anticipate foreign policy impacts of scientific research and development, help build up the STEM workforce within the State Department and engage domestic and international partners to promote U.S. scientific and technological priorities, the State Department said Monday.

Gruber has extensive experience in the private sector and with academic and research leadership, having previously served as director of research at ONR, deputy director of the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University and vice president and general manager of maritime systems at Battelle.

Earlier in her career, Gruber was a solution architect at AT&T and a business development director at Marconi International.

New Directive Advances Capability Portfolio Management Adoption Across Pentagon
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New Directive Advances Capability Portfolio Management Adoption Across Pentagon

The Department of Defense’s Office of the Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment has issued a directive establishing policy for using capability portfolio management across DOD and outlining procedures for managing portfolios.

The DOD directive on CPM took effect on Monday and was approved by Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of DOD and a three-time Wash100 awardee.

According to the document, CPM seeks to advance strategic alignment across requirements, planning, technology, acquisition, programming, sustainment, budgeting and execution and enable senior leaders to make informed joint decisions and align funding across program elements.

With CPM, DOD components will use schedule, cost and performance metrics for systems to determine options to address capability gaps and synchronize development and deployment priorities.

The policy also outlines responsibilities for principal staff assistants, under secretary of defense for A&S, USD for research and engineering, chief financial officer, chief information officer and director of operational test and evaluation, among other senior officials.

PSAs, for instance, should establish portfolio governance for each capability portfolio at the enterprise level.

The USD for acquisition and sustainment should chair integrated acquisition portfolio reviews to identify risks and interdependencies throughout the acquisition lifecycle and develop enterprise acquisition portfolio roadmaps in coordination with other defense agencies and military services, among others, per the new mandate.

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Anna Gomez Instated as FCC Commissioner
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Anna Gomez Instated as FCC Commissioner

Anna Gomez, formerly senior adviser for international information and communications policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the U.S. State Department, has been named commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.

Her appointment took effect on Sept. 25, following President Biden’s nomination in May.

In a statement published Monday, Gomez said: “I look forward to working with Congress, Chairwoman [Jessica] Rosenworcel, my fellow Commissioners and the talented and dedicated FCC staff to ensure that every person in every community, of every geography and income, has access to modern telecommunications services.”

As the agency’s first Latina commissioner to serve in more than 20 years, Gomez brings over three decades of experience in communications law and policy to her current role.

She previously worked at the FCC for 12 years, holding various positions including as deputy chief of the international bureau and senior legal adviser to then-chairman William Kennard.

Before her tenure at the State Department, where Gomez oversaw preparations for the 2023 International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference, she practiced telecommunications law in the private sector.

Her career also included serving as deputy administrator at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and counsel to U.S. Senate committees, as well as deputy chief of staff of the National Economic Council.

DOD Awards $30M in Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program Grants; William LaPlante Quoted
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DOD Awards $30M in Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program Grants; William LaPlante Quoted

The Department of Defense has awarded six grants worth about $30 million combined through the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program to help strengthen the U.S. national security innovation base.

The DMCSP funding will be used to advance research and development, workforce development and small business support to bolster manufacturing capabilities across the defense industrial base sector, DOD said Monday.

“This year’s awards will strengthen advanced manufacturing capabilities in defense-critical sectors while cultivating our most important resource: our people,” said William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a two-time Wash100 Award winner.

Six consortia each received a grant worth about $5 million, including the America’s Additive Foundry Consortium to use additive, hybrid and intelligent manufacturing to establish a U.S. supply of tactical alloys.

Other awardees are the Missouri Defense Manufacturing Community Consortium; the New York Consortium for Space Technology Innovation and Development; the New York State Microelectronics Defense Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Workforce; and the Central Pennsylvania Defense Shipbuilding Talent and Innovation Defense Ecosystem.

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SandboxAQ’s Jen Sovada Weighs in on Influential Emerging Tech Areas
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SandboxAQ’s Jen Sovada Weighs in on Influential Emerging Tech Areas

Emerging technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence are taking hold in the federal government landscape as their promise and impact continues to grow. One emerging tech area that perhaps isn’t discussed as much — but that still holds great potential for the future — is biologics, and GovCon thought leaders are beginning to take notice.

“There [are] so many technologies that we hear about that are in the emerging technology space, but one that is really interesting to me — which has a really a foothold and is important to quantum technology — is sort of the biologic sphere,” said SandboxAQ Public Sector President Jen Sovada in an exclusive video interview with Executive Mosaic’s Summer Myatt.

“One of the areas that we are looking at is with simulation and optimization, which would then migrate to quantum computers… how do we accelerate things like drug discovery, material science, battery enhancements and battery efficiency? That is all based on biology,” Sovada added.

Biology, Sovada argued, is at the core foundation of how we develop new materials, how we create new drugs, how we examine our bodies’ interactions with these drugs and how we make all of these things more efficient.

“Once we are able to marry this biologic capability with quantum and AI, we have the ability to accelerate the development of all of those capabilities,” shared Sovada.

Jen Sovada is the chair of Executive Mosaic’s 4×24 Quantum Group, which convenes in a series of dinners and networking events with senior government and industry leaders in the field. Click here to learn more about 4×24 and to see if you qualify to join the program.

Watch Sovada’s full video interview here for more insights into biologics, quantum, AI and more.

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FCC Adopts Rules to Speed Up Satellite Application Processing; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted
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FCC Adopts Rules to Speed Up Satellite Application Processing; Jessica Rosenworcel Quoted

The Federal Communications Commission has approved new rules to accelerate its processing of satellite and Earth station applications to keep pace with the increasing needs of the commercial space industry.

The commission said Thursday the report and order sets timeframes for issuing public comment notices for such applications and allows applicants to seek authority to operate in frequencies within bands where there are no international frequency allocations.

According to the R&O document, the rules also seek to expedite the processing of requests to add Earth stations as points of communication and offer flexibility for operators to have more than one unbuilt non-geostationary orbit system without facing the risk of seeing their applications dismissed.

“It is a new era so we eliminate old rules that no longer meet the moment and establish clear timeframes for placing space and earth station applications on public notice,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

“This makes our process easier to understand for existing players and new entrants alike,” added Rosenworcel.

According to the FCC, the adoption of the rules marks the latest effort in advancing the commission’s Space Innovation agenda and provides the foundation for the Space Bureau’s Transparency Initiative, which intends to mitigate administrative burden by providing potential applicants with information and guidance to help them prepare as they work toward authorizations for their satellites and Earth stations.

The commission noted that it will continue to gather public feedback on proposals meant to streamline the processing of applications, such as eliminating the task of printing and keeping a paper copy of a license and changing the default status of such applications from “restricted” to “permit-but-disclose” proceedings.

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Space Force Receives Additional NOAA Satellite for Indian Ocean Weather Surveillance
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Space Force Receives Additional NOAA Satellite for Indian Ocean Weather Surveillance

U.S. Space Force has accepted another Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and will make the spacecraft part of the Electro-optical Infrared Weather System-Geostationary mission.

The purpose of the EWS-G venture is to collect weather data like cloud imagery over the Indian Ocean, information that is critical to the planning of maritime military operations, Space Force said Friday.

The new satellite, dubbed EWS-G2, is the former GOES-15 satellite, whose transfer to Space Force was approved by Congress in June after its successor came online in January.

EWS-G2 will succeed EWS-G1, formerly the GOES-13 satellite, which NOAA put in storage mode in orbit after its successor became operational in 2017. NOAA transferred the spacecraft to the Space Force that same year via a memorandum of agreement.

EWS-G1 has been serving Space Force’s mission since 2020 and is projected to reach end of service life by February 2024. EWS-G2 is expected to continue the mission through the 2030s.

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NIST Outlines National Security Guardrails for CHIPS Incentives Program Through Final Rule
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NIST Outlines National Security Guardrails for CHIPS Incentives Program Through Final Rule

The Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a final rule that seeks to implement measures meant to protect the incentives program under the CHIPS and Science Act from national security risks and maintain U.S. technological leadership in the semiconductor industry.

The rule sets standards to restrict recipients of CHIPS funding from expanding semiconductor manufacturing facilities in foreign countries of concern for 10 years following the award and prohibits recipients from adding new production lines or cleanroom space that lead to the expansion of a facility’s manufacturing capacity beyond 10 percent, NIST said Friday.

The policy classifies a list of semiconductors as critical to U.S. national security, including chips that are used for military capabilities, quantum computing and those used in radiation-intensive environments, and outlines restrictions on joint research and tech licensing efforts with foreign entities of concern.

“CHIPS for America is fundamentally a national security initiative and these guardrails will help ensure companies receiving U.S. Government funds do not undermine our national security as we continue to coordinate with our allies and partners to strengthen global supply chains and enhance our collective security,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

NIST issued the final rule after taking into consideration feedback and insights on the proposed rule introduced in March.

OMB Issues Digital Experience Guidance for Federal Agencies; Clare Martorana Quoted
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OMB Issues Digital Experience Guidance for Federal Agencies; Clare Martorana Quoted

The Office of Management and Budget issued new policy guidance to help government agencies establish and modernize their websites and digital services.

The memorandum, entitled Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to improve federal services for the American public, Federal CIO Clare Martorana announced Friday.

The memo was drafted to support agencies’ compliance with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act. The framework includes recommendations to implement design consistency across federal websites, simplify language to facilitate searching of online government information and accommodate traditional and new devices, from phones and mail to smart technologies.

“When people search online for information and services from our government, they get too many results with confusing answers and it’s not clear what they should do next. This is unacceptable. We can and must do better,” remarked Martorana, a Wash100 awardee. The digital experience guidance “gives the Federal workforce the support they need to build a truly digital government, reduce administrative burden, drive the next decade of digital modernization and transformation, and deliver on their missions in a modern way,” she said in a statement.

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