DOE Leads Interagency Publication of Clean Hydrogen Adoption Roadmap; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE Leads Interagency Publication of Clean Hydrogen Adoption Roadmap; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The Department of Energy collaborated with other federal agencies to create the country’s first framework for advancing the commercialization of clean hydrogen power.

The U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap is part of the Biden administration’s goal of making the grid infrastructure carbon-free by 2035 and achieving its net-zero emission target by 2050, DOE said Monday.

The roadmap highlights three strategies toward effective clean hydrogen adoption. The interagency report recommends targeting high-impact uses of the chemical element, such as the industrial sector, long-duration energy storage and heavy-duty transportation.

It also called for the cultivation of private sector investments and supply chain to reduce the cost of producing the clean energy alternative. DOE, along with its federal partners, suggested the prioritization of regions that already have large-scale producers and end-users of hydrogen.

The government forecasts that the hydrogen industry will create up to 100,000 new direct and indirect jobs by 2030.

The roadmap “will lay the foundation for a strong and productive partnership between the public and private sectors and will guide government and industry to realize the full potential of this incredibly versatile energy resource,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm remarked.

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Johns Hopkins APL Designs AI/ML Technology for Forecasting Ice Formation in Arctic Seas
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Johns Hopkins APL Designs AI/ML Technology for Forecasting Ice Formation in Arctic Seas

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory researchers designed a technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to help forecast the formation of sea ice in the Arctic regions.

The AI/ML model shows promise as a safety tool for commercial and military vessels navigating through previously ice-blocked sea routes, the laboratory reported Friday.

With climate change causing temperatures to rise four times faster in the Arctic, sea ice has been melting in its waters at a rate of 2.5 percent every ten years. As a result, more icebreakers and vessels for fishing, tourism and research are passing through.

“In many ways, sea ice is a brave new world…The ice is thinning, and precipitation is changing from snow to rain,” said Mary Keller, APL remote sensing scientist and the project’s lead. “Areas that appear clear in satellite imagery can be ice-blocked just a day or two later, spelling trouble for ships that thought they were on a safe course through a strait or bay.”

The National Ice Center currently uses tracking methods that involve manually clicking on satellite images to create forecast maps as advanced as 48 hours every day.

Johns Hopkins APL’s scientists were able to create a model with 1-kilometer resolution, and proved 97 percent accurate in predicting the formations one to seven days ahead of time.

The study’s lead authors noted that the technology still has a lot of areas for improvement, prompting a follow-up project that will use physics-informed neural network to refine short-term forecasting.

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CISA Unveils Final Draft of TIC 3.0 Cloud Use Case
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CISA Unveils Final Draft of TIC 3.0 Cloud Use Case

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has unveiled the final draft of the Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 cloud use case and updated several existing documents that outline security capabilities and define the concepts of the TIC 3.0 program.

These documents include the Security Capabilities Catalog Version 3, Branch Office Use Case Version 2 and Remote User Use Case Version 2, the General Services Administration said Monday.

GSA noted that it continues to back the TIC program through the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions vehicle.

According to GSA, the feedback and insights collected through a request for comments issued in July 2022 helped inform the updates made to the Security Capabilities Catalog and Cloud Use Case on April 17.

“The Branch and Remote User use cases were updated to account for applicable security capabilities added to the Security Capabilities Catalog as part of the TIC Cloud Use Case release,” the GSA notice reads.

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Jessica Salmoiraghi Appointed BSA Senior Director of IT Modernization & Procurement
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Jessica Salmoiraghi Appointed BSA Senior Director of IT Modernization & Procurement

Jessica Salmoiraghi, former chief acquisition officer at the General Services Administration, has joined global software industry trade group BSA as senior director for information technology modernization and procurement.

She assumed the position after serving as executive vice president of shared and managed services and acting EVP of growth at professional services firm Golden Key Group, BSA said Thursday.

Salmoiraghi initially joined GSA in 2018 as chief acquisition officer and associate administrator at the Office of Governmentwide Policy, where she oversaw efforts to modernize federal back-office processes and secure federal IT infrastructure.

Her industry career includes trade association roles such as director of federal agencies and international programs at the American Council of Engineering Companies and director of federal relations and counsel at the American Institute of Architects.

“She brings a proven track record of success to BSA that will help address the challenge of improving how the federal government leverages technology to modernize its services,” said Craig Albright, VP of U.S. government relations at BSA.

NIST’s CHIPS R&D Office Releases Guidance to Improve Metrology in Semiconductor Sector
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NIST’s CHIPS R&D Office Releases Guidance to Improve Metrology in Semiconductor Sector

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s CHIPS Research and Development Office has published a guidance to help address challenges in metrology in the semiconductor sector.

The document, entitled “Metrology Gaps in the Semiconductor Ecosystem,” aims to improve measurements, standardization and simulations to strengthen the industry, CHIPS R&D announced Monday.

A study conducted by the office found gaps in metrology in semiconductor value chain areas including assembly, packaging, fabrication, laboratory, prototyping and performance verification.

Based on the findings, CHIPS R&D established a metrology program guided by 10 focus areas, such as advanced metrology for supply chain trust and assurance, as well as advanced modeling verification, validation, and development for next generation manufacturing processes.

The office also recommended the standardization of automation, virtualization, security, and equipment and software interoperability. In terms of next-generation microelectronics, the guidelines suggested that special attention be given to metrology for advanced materials and devices, nanostructured materials characterization and 3D structures and devices.

DIU, Office of Industrial Base Policy Tap Into Commercial Battery Market
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DIU, Office of Industrial Base Policy Tap Into Commercial Battery Market

The Defense Department’s Office of Industrial Base Policy is working closely with the Defense Innovation Unit to tap into the commercial market to carry out the U.S. military’s battery strategy.

The goal is to standardize and aggregate battery demand to source rechargeable battery cells from domestic manufacturers, demonstrate cells in high-capacity rechargeable battery packs in different use cases and install new standardized rechargeable batteries into respective devices, the DOD reported Monday.

“We must send a consistent and coherent demand signal to industry – and by coordinating our efforts, we are ensuring that the batteries our forces use are available, ready and free of adversarial influence,” said Halimah Najieb-Locke, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial base resilience.

DIU has launched the Jumpstart for Advanced Battery Standardization program aimed at developing a standardized battery system using commercial technologies to power existing and future military ground vehicles.

Moreover, DIU has started soliciting high-capacity rechargeable battery cells or packs for military applications under the Family of Advanced Standard Batteries program.

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White House Eyes Internal Medicine Physician Mandy Cohen for CDC Director
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White House Eyes Internal Medicine Physician Mandy Cohen for CDC Director

Mandy Cohen, former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, is expected to be nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

People familiar with the matter said Biden could formally announce Cohen’s selection later in June.

Cohen would succeed Rochelle Walensky, who is set to step down by the end of June after more than two years at the helm of CDC.

The CDC director role does not require confirmation from the Senate, but the nominee is likely to face close congressional scrutiny, according to the report.

Cohen is an internal medicine physician and a public health expert who served for five years as secretary of NCDHHS.

She currently serves as an executive vice president of Aledade and CEO of Aledade Care Solutions.

Prior to NCDHHS, she held the roles of chief operations officer, chief of staff and senior adviser to the administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Cohen was executive director of Doctors for America and served as deputy director for comprehensive women’s health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Former DOJ Attorney Iris Lan Assumes General Counsel Role at NASA
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Former DOJ Attorney Iris Lan Assumes General Counsel Role at NASA

Iris Lan, former associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, has been appointed general counsel at NASA.

She succeeds Sumara Thompson-King, who has held the role since 2014 and retired from the agency in December 2022 after 36 years of service, NASA said Monday.

In her previous role at DOJ, Lan was responsible for the nation’s 93 U.S. attorneys and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

Lan started her career at DOJ as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she prosecuted cases related to export control, cyber intrusion, counterterrorism, counterintelligence and corporate fraud.

She then became deputy chief of the appellate section and supervised attorneys in briefing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lan is an elected member of the American Law Institute.

“Our team of attorneys, paralegals, and professionals are critical to NASA fulfilling our mission to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery. With Iris at the helm, I am confident they will continue to help NASA maintain our standing as the world’s premier space agency,” said Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA.

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DOD Issues Updated Guidance on Digital Capability Acquisition
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DOD Issues Updated Guidance on Digital Capability Acquisition

The Department of Defense’s office of the chief information officer has released an updated guidance outlining policy and procedures for the acquisition of digital capabilities.

The document details the responsibilities of principal acquisition professionals in the procurement of programs containing information technology, including national security systems, across all acquisition pathways.

DOD CIO and 2023 Wash100 awardee John Sherman approved the document, which took effect on Thursday, June 1, and supports the National Defense Strategy and the DOD Digital Modernization Strategy.

According to the guidance, program managers and acquisition personnel must consider government contracting laws and regulations with regard to the use of DOD IT category management purchasing platforms, Enterprise Software Initiative and component-level enterprise software licenses and document such considerations in their acquisition strategies.

PMs and procurement professionals should incorporate in the acquisition of digital capabilities cyber requirements, including cybersecurity risk management, operational mission-based design and evaluation of survivability, operational resilience and cyberspace defense, the guidance dictates.

Does Bitcoin Have a Place in the Federal Sector?
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Does Bitcoin Have a Place in the Federal Sector?

Although Bitcoin has been around for more than a decade, it’s still relatively new in the global economy, and it certainly hasn’t quite been embraced by the public sector as quickly as it has been in the private sector. As Bitcoin continues to mature and grow, is there a space for it in the federal landscape?

Unchained Capital Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer Dhruv Bansal argues that there is, but it will take some time, patience and a thoughtful approach. In a new video interview with Executive Mosaic, Bansal acknowledged the potential pain points behind Bitcoin but also highlighted the potential long-term benefits of adopting such an “exceptional” piece of software.

“Bitcoin is new, it’s scary, it’s novel, it doesn’t work the way that we expect it to. And at first order, whether it’s the energy usage, whether it’s the freedom of transactions and the uncensorable and private nature of them, whether it’s the idea that attacks and computer security become more profitable and immediate — these can be very scary first order effects,” Bansal shared. “But I think the second order effects can be really positive.”

“I think the long term outcome is actually a better system, a more robust system, a more distributed system that is fairer to its participants and better aligned with their interests than the centralized systems that we have today,” he added.

Bansal said he hopes for a nuanced response from the government as Bitcoin grows more popular around the world.

“If we react too quickly out of ignorance or fear or lack of familiarity, we set ourselves back as a nation with respect to the rest of the world that is more open, perhaps, to embracing Bitcoin and witnessing the changes that it will create in their societies,” warned Bansal.

The good news, he shared, is that Bitcoin is popular in the U.S. and its users are willing and eager to advocate for its balanced, smart and informed adoption in the federal space.

“Bitcoin is here to stay. We’re not going to get rid of it, and it’s not something we want to get rid of. It’s going to make the world better. It’s going to be a painful transition. But if we can guide it and respond in a nuanced way, I think we’re going to get the best out of it,” Bansal noted.

Watch Dhruv Bansal’s full video interview here.

If you’re interested in learning more about cyber, join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Cyber Summit on June 8! Register here.

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