New NCMA-WorldCC Joint Venture Intends to Transform Contract Management Profession; Heather Dallara Quoted
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New NCMA-WorldCC Joint Venture Intends to Transform Contract Management Profession; Heather Dallara Quoted

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.

OSTP Requests Feedback on Environmental Justice Research Plan Development
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OSTP Requests Feedback on Environmental Justice Research Plan Development

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.

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GSA, DOE Want Info on Emerging Tech to Advance Net-Zero Commercial Buildings
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GSA, DOE Want Info on Emerging Tech to Advance Net-Zero Commercial Buildings

The General Services Administration and the Department of Energy have started soliciting information on technologies that could enable the decarbonization of commercial buildings as part of GSA’s Green Proving Ground program.

GSA said Monday the request for information is focused on emerging technologies that support net-zero operations, healthy and resilient buildings, deep energy retrofits, all-electric buildings and vehicle fleets and building commissioning and control.

In early June, GSA and DOE announced a $30 million investment to support research projects that intend to develop and test U.S.-made clean energy technologies through the GPG program, which seeks to improve the sustainability of federal buildings by testing innovative systems.

The agencies are interested in commercial technologies that are ready for assessment in operational, occupied facilities.

Responses to the RFI are due Dec. 8.

Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to Lead DOE’s High-Performance Data Hub Project
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Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to Lead DOE’s High-Performance Data Hub Project

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.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit
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CISA, FBI & MS-ISAC Release Cybersecurity Advisory on Atlassian Confluence Vulnerability
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CISA, FBI & MS-ISAC Release Cybersecurity Advisory on Atlassian Confluence Vulnerability

A joint Cybersecurity Advisory from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center reveals that malicious threat actors exploit certain versions of Atlassian Confluence Data Center and Server for initial access to networks.

CISA said Monday the exploitation of Atlassian Confluence vulnerability CVE-2023-22515 enabled attackers to access victim systems and was done through the creation and use of unauthorized Confluence administrator accounts.

In anticipation of widespread and continued exploitation, CISA, FBI and MS-ISAC are pressing network administrators for quick application of Atlassian-provided upgrades. Organizations are also urged to scan for malicious network activities and to implement incident response recommendations if a possible compromise is flagged.

The CSA has detection signatures and indicators of compromise that organizations could use to identify breaches.

“While Atlassian’s advisory provides interim measures to temporarily mitigate known attack vectors, CISA, FBI, and MS-ISAC strongly encourage upgrading to a fixed version or taking servers offline to apply necessary updates,” the release reads.

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NASA, UC Berkeley Announce New Space Research & Innovation Hub
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NASA, UC Berkeley Announce New Space Research & Innovation Hub

The University of California, Berkeley, SKS Partners and NASA’s Ames Research Center have debuted plans to develop a new campus and innovation hub in Mountain View, California to support research and development in areas such as astronautics, aviation and quantum computing.

The Berkeley Space Center will occupy 36 acres within the NASA Research Park and include educational facilities, offices, laboratories, a conference center, student and faculty housing and retail space, NASA said Monday.

Eugene Tu, director of NASA Ames Research Center, said the partnership between NASA and UC Berkeley may lead to future collaborations in various areas, including interplanetary exploration, air transportation capabilities and environmental studies.

UC Berkeley is the second major university to choose NASA Research Park for a new research campus.

In a separate announcement, UC Berkeley said the new innovation hub is expected to generate more than 6,000 advanced R&D job opportunities.

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CyberSeek Says Cybersecurity Labor Market Remains Undersupplied
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CyberSeek Says Cybersecurity Labor Market Remains Undersupplied

CyberSeek, a data analysis platform supported by the Computing Technology Industry Association, Lightcast and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, showed that approximately 315,000 more cybersecurity professionals are needed to help address the current supply gap in the cybersecurity labor market.

CompTIA said Monday data from CyberSeek revealed that U.S. employers posted 572,392 job listings for cybersecurity positions from September 2022 to August 2023, reflecting a slight decline from the previous update that tracked job postings between May 2022 and April 2023.

Since May 2023, employers have listed approximately 45,000 job postings per month, showing a steady demand for cyber talent.

“The cybersecurity talent gap has narrowed slightly, but companies must still shift their thinking to focus on cyber skills, rather than credentials, to really get the talent they need,” said Will Markow, vice president for applied research at Lightcast.

“Focusing on skills not only expands and diversifies the talent pool by reaching more workers, it also allows employers to target their training programs and take ownership of their cybersecurity talent pipeline,” added Markow.

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NAWCAD Opens New Cyber Range Focused on Ensuring Aircraft Cybersecurity
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NAWCAD Opens New Cyber Range Focused on Ensuring Aircraft Cybersecurity

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Oct. 16 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River to mark the opening of a new national cyber range — a facility that provides technology developers with a secure virtual environment where they can test their solutions for digital vulnerabilities.

The cyber range at NAS Patuxent River will be focused on training activities and cyber testing involving aircraft, their subsystems and supporting technologies, the Naval Air Systems Command said Monday.

Steve Cricchi, executive director of NAWCAD, said the new cyber range will help secure and strengthen future flight lines and air wings, adding: “This wide-reaching investment protects warfighters from increasingly advanced cyber enemies—something we can all feel proud of.”

The cyber range at Patuxent River is the fourth of its kind, following one in Eglin Air Force Base, another in Orlando, Florida and a third in Charleston, South Carolina.

The new facility is expected to generate $20 million in revenue for St. Mary’s County in Maryland and produce new job opportunities.

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Army Officials Cite Organizational Changes as Key to Achieving Network Simplification
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Army Officials Cite Organizational Changes as Key to Achieving Network Simplification

U.S. Army officials said the military branch has initiated organizational changes in the way it procures information technology platforms and services, which they believe could enable the service to make great strides when it comes to simplifying its IT networks, Federal News Network reported Monday.

“Don’t underestimate institutional change, because I would submit to you that’s one of the key things that is very, very different here,” said Lt. Gen. John Morrison, deputy chief of staff for the Army’s command, control, communications, cyber operations and networks (G-6).

“We’re used to 40 to 60 different organizational networks that were out there, and that made us wildly inefficient. … And so this is an institutional shift: We’re not going to do that anymore,” Morrison added.

He mentioned some of the earlier institutional changes that could help the Army achieve network simplification, including the centralization of network defense and management responsibilities within Army Cyber Command.

The Army’s program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical now oversees network capability development and acquisition responsibilities, which were previously divided into two PEOs.

Mark Kitz, the top official at PEO-C3T, cited some examples of measures his office has introduced to address network complexity issues. Among them is having unified network operations.

“Another example is in our next generation tactical terminal program, where we’re consolidating our SATCOM capabilities,” Kitz said.

“We’re doing that in a way that challenges industry to deliver a capability that can be flexible to the future so we’re not stuck with one band or one technology for 20 years. So already in our programs, we’re baking in the ability to be flexible and agile,” he added.

Army Acquisition Priorities: Balancing Readiness and Modernization Forum

ExecutiveBiz will host the Army Acquisition Priorities: Balancing Readiness and Modernization Forum on Nov. 8. Register here to attend this important event.

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Gen. Chance Saltzman Announces System Delta Units to Enhance Mission Tech Development
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Gen. Chance Saltzman Announces System Delta Units to Enhance Mission Tech Development

Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force and a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, said the service branch will create new System Delta units to collaborate with the integrated mission deltas on mission capability development.

The System Delta units will operate under the Space System Command and consolidate SSC units that design, develop and deliver mission systems under a single command, Space Force said Friday.

“These units will directly complement IMDs by developing, acquiring, and fielding capability that satisfies operational needs,” Saltzman said.

The new SYD model aims to synchronize weapon systems development while collecting real-time input from operators.

The announcement follows the development of the first provisional IMDs that will focus on electronic warfare and positioning, navigation and timing.

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