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Vince Dickens Appointed Procurement Chief for NASA’s Space Launch System
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Vince Dickens Appointed Procurement Chief for NASA’s Space Launch System

Vince Dickens, a former senior contracting officer at U.S. Army Contracting Command, has been named procurement chief for NASA’s Space Launch System vehicle.

Dickens announced his new position in a LinkedIn post published Tuesday and will support the Office of Procurement’s Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution organization in the development of the SLS rocket’s launch vehicle stage adapter, interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion stage adapter.

Prior to joining NASA, Dickens held various contract management roles at ACC, including as contracts manager for the fixed-wing special electronic mission aircraft contracting organization and contracting operations manager for procurement systems and innovative solutions.

He also served as the command’s representative on a team organized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to analyze the Department of Defense’s Modular Open Systems Approach.

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Biden Admin Releases Cybersecurity Priorities for FY 2025 Budget Submissions
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Biden Admin Releases Cybersecurity Priorities for FY 2025 Budget Submissions

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management Budget, and Kemba Walden, acting national cyber director, have sent a memo to department and agency heads outlining the Biden administration’s cybersecurity priorities for the fiscal year 2025 budget.

According to the document, budget submissions must be consistent with the five pillars of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which are to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure, combat cybercrime, shape market forces to drive security and resilience, invest in a resilient future and build coalitions with international allies and partners.

To defend the critical infrastructure sector, agencies must prioritize investments that lead to the development of long-term technologies that are “secure by design,” the memo said.

Agency investments must achieve progress in zero trust deployments and meet the goals of the Federal Zero Trust Strategy.

The guidance also directs agencies to prioritize technology modernization efforts to ensure that government systems meet standards for security and customer experience requirements.

OMB will work with the Office of the National Cyber Director to review agency submissions to determine whether they adequately address the priorities and are consistent with overall cybersecurity strategy and policy.

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NIST Collaborates With Raytheon BBN & Universities to Create Quantum Computer Toggle Switch
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NIST Collaborates With Raytheon BBN & Universities to Create Quantum Computer Toggle Switch

A research team that includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a device that enables quantum computers to switch connections between quantum bits and readout resonator circuits for faster processing.

The study also involved Raytheon’s BBN subsidiary, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the University of Colorado Boulder, NIST announced Monday.

Existing quantum computer designs are often afflicted with external or internal noises due to defective materials in the equipment. The noises can cause errors in quantum bit, or qubit, calculations.

The scientists created a toggle switch that can either isolate the qubits and resonators, connect the qubits to enable calculations, or link the qubits and the resonators to retrieve results.

“The goal is to keep the qubits happy so that they can calculate without distractions, while still being able to read them out when we want to,” said Ray Simmonds, NIST physicist and co-author of the study. “This device architecture helps protect the qubits and promises to improve our ability to make the high-fidelity measurements required to build quantum information processors out of qubits.”

The findings were published in Nature Physics, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

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CISA Finalizes Cloud-Based Data Security Guidance Documents; Eric Goldstein Quoted
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CISA Finalizes Cloud-Based Data Security Guidance Documents; Eric Goldstein Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has published the Extensible Visibility Reference Framework Guidebook to help public and private organizations strengthen the defenses of their cloud-based services.

CISA on Tuesday also released a Technical Reference Architecture document as part of its Secure Cloud Business Applications project.

The agency requested public comment in 2022 on SCuBA, a program that aims to guide federal agencies in protecting data in their cloud business application environments, as well as the platforms themselves. The feedback CISA received is incorporated in the new guide materials.

The eVRF Guidebook is intended to help organizations navigate the EVR Framework for identifying products and services that provide visibility data. It is also expected to help pinpoint process gaps and minimize threats.

The TRA document, on the other hand, is meant to help entities make sound decisions in adopting cloud services, zero trust architecture and other related technologies and strategies.

“These resources will help organizations address cybersecurity and visibility gaps that have long hampered our collective ability to adequately understand and manage cyber risk,” said Eric Goldstein, CISA’s executive assistant for cybersecurity.

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Col. Chris Anderson on Project Linchpin’s Role as Army’s AI Pipeline
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Col. Chris Anderson on Project Linchpin’s Role as Army’s AI Pipeline

Col. Chris Anderson from the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors said the service wants Project Linchpin to serve as an artificial intelligence pipeline that would enable program managers to facilitate the integration of machine learning and AI capabilities in their portfolios, Defense One reported Monday.

Anderson, program manager for intelligence systems and analytics at PEO IEW&S, told the publication in an interview that Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node will be the first program to use Project Linchpin, which is expected to become a program of record by 2026.

“So as we looked at our problem within my portfolio, and then the PEO looked at it across the board, we realized we had to have some sort of AI pipeline to create these models and algorithms to deploy to all our platforms,” Anderson said of the rationale behind Project Linchpin.

“The other thing we realized: it was going to be prohibitively expensive in both dollars and people to try for every PM shop to build their own AI pipeline. So we just sort of centralized it under [intelligence systems and analytics], focusing on Titan initially and then expanding to the rest of the PEO portfolio,” he added.

The colonel said the Army has issued two requests for information and received over 100 responses with plans to release another RFI in the summer and hold an industry day by September.

Anderson said the service expects to release a request for proposals by early fiscal year 2024 and start awarding contracts on a larger scale by the first quarter of FY 2024.

“But what I’ve been messaging the industry is it’s not just going to be one RFP. This will probably be a series of contracts to do different parts of the pipeline, whether that’s data labeling, verification and validation, training models. It’s going to take multiple industry partners and multiple contracts to do that,” he added.

Deltek Introduces New GovWin IQ Small Business Resource Center; Kevin Plexico Quoted
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Deltek Introduces New GovWin IQ Small Business Resource Center; Kevin Plexico Quoted

Deltek has launched the new GovWin IQ Small Business Resource Center, a compilation of content geared toward small businesses seeking government contracting opportunities.

The website aims to boost small business representation among federal contractors by providing these companies with materials to help them navigate the complete government contracting lifecycle, Deltek announced from its Herndon, Virginia headquarters on Wednesday.

“We’re proud of our continued commitment to supporting small businesses with their goals of finding and winning more business with government agencies,” said Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of information solutions at Deltek and GovCon Expert.

Offerings available in the Resource Center include contract opportunities, guides on agency buying behavior, guidance on determining potential teaming partners, government contact lists, market research and analysis and other educational resources.

Though small businesses are a current priority in government contracting as the public sector follows the White House’s push for a more diverse federal marketplace, there are still many setbacks these companies may encounter.

According to findings from Deltek’s Clarity Government Contracting industry study, the steps involved in securing contract opportunities can limit growth for small businesses. The study found that only 37 percent of self-identified small businesses — organizations with below $20 million in revenue — reported growth in government contracts last year as opposed to 56 percent of large companies and 49 percent overall.

Plexico, a four-time Wash100 Award winner, acknowledged the challenges small businesses face with time, resources and market understanding that may hinder their ability to compete with large businesses in the industry.

“We want to level the playing field and enable their success with educational content and tools for finding and winning more business,” Plexico said.

The majority of the Resource Center’s offerings are reserved for Deltek GovWin IQ subscribers, but there are some free resources available.

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House Subcommittee Requests GSA Briefing on Login.gov Program
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House Subcommittee Requests GSA Briefing on Login.gov Program

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s government operations and federal workforce subpanel has asked the General Services Administration for a staff-level briefing on the Login.gov program, particularly the platform’s compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s security standards.

In a June 21 letter to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan, the subcommittee urged GSA to provide details on an internal review, disciplinary proceedings, actions taken to ensure transparency and structural reforms implemented related to the program.

The briefing should be performed no later than July 10, according to the letter.

The House subpanel also called on GSA to submit documents and communications related to audits and assessments of Login.gov conducted by Kantara Initiative and those prepared by or for individuals cited in the GSA office of the inspector general’s report regarding the platform and related technologies, among others.

These documents are due for submission no later than July 6.

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NSF Invests $162M in 9 Institutions Added to Materials Research Science & Engineering Center Program
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NSF Invests $162M in 9 Institutions Added to Materials Research Science & Engineering Center Program

The National Science Foundation is granting a total of $162 million to nine materials research science and engineering centers that are working on technologies that could benefit U.S. manufacturing.

The research facilities will each receive $18 million over a six-year period for projects done in collaboration with minority-serving and emerging-research institutions, NSF announced Monday.

The awardees serve as this year’s addition to NSF’s MRSEC program. Since the 1970s, the foundation has supported 20 centers that have produced technological breakthroughs with commercial applications.

The 2023 class will specialize in areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, quantum computing and sensing, sustainable energy sources and storage and semiconductors.

The investment will also enable the facilities to conduct training among undergraduate and graduate students in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and other programs.

The awardees are:

  • Center for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials, University of Texas at Austin
  • Center for Materials Innovations at Michigan, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
  • Illinois Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, University of Pennsylvania
  • Materials Research Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
  • University of Washington Molecular Engineering Materials Center
  • Wisconsin Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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DARPA Taps MIT Lincoln Laboratory to Test AR Assistant Prototypes
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DARPA Taps MIT Lincoln Laboratory to Test AR Assistant Prototypes

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory will provide test and evaluation services to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program that aims to develop artificial intelligence and augmented reality systems designed to help warfighters perform complex physical tasks.

Lincoln Laboratory—a federally funded research and development center MIT operates for the Department of Defense—is expected to evaluate virtual “task guidance” assistant prototypes being developed under the Perceptually-Enabled Task Guidance project, according to a post on DARPA’s website.

“Our job is to evaluate each of these prototypes, construct the evaluation scenarios and the right metrics, and guide the program to ensure that the technology is both useful and relevant to the missions,” said Marianne DeAngelus, a senior staff member in the Homeland Sensors and Analytics Group.

Participants in the project include Northrop Grumman, RedShred, Raytheon BBN and Kitware.

Each team uses multiple types of AR hardware, including the Microsoft HoloLens 2 AR headset, to build its prototype system and laboratory evaluators will assess each system based on user experience, functionality and ability to detect human errors.

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University of Alaska Books $70M Contract to Continue Services for NASA’s Radar Archive Center
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University of Alaska Books $70M Contract to Continue Services for NASA’s Radar Archive Center

The University of Alaska at Fairbanks received a potential five-year, $70 million contract to continue the development and maintenance of the Synthetic Aperture Radar Distributed Active Archive Center.

The university has been performing operations and maintenance, systems engineering and data management for the facility in support of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System, the space agency said Friday.

The University of Alaska Satellite Facility operates the SAR data archive and provides its contents to a variety of users, including research teams involved in Earth science and instruments.

Aside from O&M and engineering, the new cost-no-fee completion contract also extends services such as product generation and distribution of space-borne and airborne radar data.

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