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GAO Enumerates Blockchain-Based Ledger Pros & Cons for SBIR, STTR Reporting
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GAO Enumerates Blockchain-Based Ledger Pros & Cons for SBIR, STTR Reporting

The use of blockchain on the Small Business Administration’s ledgers might help streamline the reporting process for its grant programs, but the technology could also be too complex for the agency’s operations, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.

The study was conducted amid the increasing popularity of blockchain as a potential non-financial tool to improve federal agencies’ operational efficiency, GAO said Tuesday.

Blockchain is a nontraditional type of shared database that enables easy detection of changes in a published transaction. Selected government agencies have adopted the technology to boost efficiency and reduce costs, but most of their efforts ended at the pilot phase.

The study explored blockchain’s potential benefit to SBA’s submission of Congressional reports on the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

GAO used guide questions formulated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, to assess its advantages and limitations.

Based on interviews with blockchain experts, the government watchdog found that SBIR and STTR reporting could be submitted on time if a blockchain-based ledger is implemented with adequate coordination and consistency. The ledger could also serve as an alternative resource for Congress before SBA’s submission of annual reports.

On the other hand, blockchain-based ledgers could be unnecessarily complicated to adopt and will not necessarily prevent fraud, the experts noted.

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Lt. Gen. James Mingus Put Forward as Army Vice Chief of Staff Candidate
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Lt. Gen. James Mingus Put Forward as Army Vice Chief of Staff Candidate

Lt. Gen. James Mingus, director of the Joint Staff, has been nominated to serve as the next vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army.

He previously served as director for operations at the Department of Defense’s Joint Staff before assuming the director role in June 2022.

Mingus was commissioned through the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps as a second lieutenant after graduating from Winona State University in Minnesota in 1985. Three years later, he received his first operational assignment as a platoon leader in 5th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Seventh Army, in Germany.

He returned to the U.S. in 1992 to join the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, in North Carolina.

Mingus’ nearly four-decade military career also includes leadership roles such as chief of the Joint Planning Group with Joint Special Operations Command and chief of the Commander’s Action Group at U.S. Central Command.

If confirmed by Senate, Mingus will receive his fourth star and succeed Gen. Randy George, who is nominated to be the next chief of staff of the Army.

His nomination has been received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

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CDAO Issues Industry Call for AI Bias Bounty Program
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CDAO Issues Industry Call for AI Bias Bounty Program

The Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial intelligence Office is seeking industry partners that could help develop and operate an AI bias bounty program to conduct experimentation, ensure that platforms are equitable and audit models algorithmically.

DOD is interested in a bias bounty program for a large language model or generative AI-based system that could support red-teaming approaches and assessments of qualitative and quantitative approaches, CDAO said Wednesday.

Industry stakeholders should submit by July 21 a two-page discovery paper outlining their proposed platform’s operational impact and end-user demand, among others.

Participants that will move to the second round will have an opportunity to pitch their proposed platforms to contracting professionals as part of the digital proving ground phase.

Offerors should prepare to answer some questions when making their pitches, including their experience in developing and running bug or bias bounty programs, familiarity with defense applications and contexts and experience with algorithmic bias identification and mitigation tools.

CDAO may award pilot projects via other transaction authority agreements.

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CISA & FBI Release Advisory on Enhancing Microsoft Exchange Online Monitoring
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CISA & FBI Release Advisory on Enhancing Microsoft Exchange Online Monitoring

A joint cybersecurity advisory from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI is urging critical infrastructure organizations to enhance their monitoring of suspicious activities in the Microsoft Exchange Online environment.

The CSA lists logging recommendations that organizations can implement to build up their cybersecurity defenses and improve the detection of anomalous activities in the cloud-based messaging platform, CISA said Wednesday.

According to the advisory, a federal civilian executive branch has identified and reported suspicious activity in its Microsoft 365 audit log to CISA and Microsoft.

The technology company’s network defenders discovered that advanced persistent threat actors accessed unclassified Exchange Online Outlook data. To prevent a similar incident, CISA and FBI recommended that FCEB agencies and critical infrastructure operators ensure that audit logging is enabled in their Microsoft Exchange Online environments.

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Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting Nominated to Lead US Space Command
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Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting Nominated to Lead US Space Command

President Joe Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of Space Operations Command, for promotion to the rank of general and to serve as the next head of U.S. Space Command, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

The Senate received Whiting’s nomination from the president on Tuesday.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would succeed Gen. James Dickinson as SPACECOM commander.

In his current role, Whiting oversees the preparation and sustainment of combat-ready intelligence, space, cyber and combat support forces.

The lieutenant general previously served as deputy commander of U.S. Space Force and Air Force Space Command, head of the 14th Air Force and as deputy joint force space component commander within U.S. Strategic Command.

DAF Unveils Implementation Framework for Climate Action Plan
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DAF Unveils Implementation Framework for Climate Action Plan

The Department of the Air Force has outlined efforts to implement its action plan to mitigate future climate impacts on operational resilience and readiness.

The Climate Campaign Plan is the implementation portion of DAF’s Climate Action Plan that outlines activities, offices of primary responsibility and timelines to achieve key objectives, the U.S. Air Force said Tuesday.

“Our priorities are to maintain air and space dominance in the face of climate risks, ensure our decisions reflect an understanding of the impacts of climate on our mission, and build resilience by optimizing energy use and pursuing alternative energy sources,” said Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations and the environment.

“Ultimately, this Campaign Plan is about warfighting and responding at the point of effect for theater commanders – and we will be ready,” he added.

Launched in October 2022, DAF’s Climate Action Plan focuses on three goals: maintain air and space dominance in the face of climate risks; make climate-informed decisions; and optimize energy use and adopt alternative energy sources.

POC - 2023 Annual Air Force SummitDAF officials are set to speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Air Force Summit on July 18 to discuss the service’s key objectives, capabilities and programs to address current and future warfighting needs. Click here to register and see all the confirmed presenters at the forum.

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MITRE Highlights Need for National AI Strategy to Set Holistic Goals, Approach Collaboration Strategically
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MITRE Highlights Need for National AI Strategy to Set Holistic Goals, Approach Collaboration Strategically

MITRE has responded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s request for information saying a comprehensive national strategy on artificial intelligence should focus on both risks and opportunities and establish holistic goals and expectations.

The National AI Strategy could help foster AI accountability and assurance and advance the adoption of AI to determine and address inequities, the nonprofit organization said Tuesday.

MITRE highlighted the importance of sharing ideas and workload in advancing AI innovation and ensuring the country’s competitiveness and security.

The organization noted that collaboration could be in the form of public-private partnerships, as well as cross-domain and interagency cooperation.

“It is imperative that the nation approach collaboration on AI issues strategically and holistically, rather than as individual and disconnected endeavors,” MITRE’s response reads. “The national strategy that this RFI is supporting must set the foundation, direction, and expectation to do so, both individually and collectively.”

OSTP issued the RFI in May to seek input from individuals and organizations to help inform the development of the National AI Strategy.

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Millennium Space Systems Completes SSC Missile Track Custody Program Design Review; Frank Calvelli Quoted
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Millennium Space Systems Completes SSC Missile Track Custody Program Design Review; Frank Calvelli Quoted

Millennium Space Systems has concluded the Missile Track Custody Program Design Review for the Space Systems Command.

With the completion of this milestone in only four months, the initiative remains on track for Critical Design Review in the fourth quarter, the El Segundo, California-based company announced on Wednesday.

During a testimony with the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subcommittee on April 26, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, called the MTC program an “outstanding effort building small sats in medium Earth orbit.”

“We’re clearly demonstrating we can design, build and test systems in shorter time frames on schedule,” said Millennium Space Systems CEO Jason Kim.

“In the PDR, our team demonstrated sound technological understanding of mission needs and requirements, including the space and ground segments and how launch plays into those,” he added.

Using its ALTAIR spacecraft — a product Millennium Space Systems has continuously invested in since 2015 — and efficient manufacturing practices, the organization was reportedly able to minimize risk and move quickly throughout the process.

Millennium Space Systems is now focusing on the detailed design phase to prepare for CDR. The digital model will function as the single source of truth for the project.

The MTC program aligns with Calvelli’s push for smaller, proliferated and resilient systems across multiple mission areas. In his testimony, Calvelli cited the move away from legacy missile warning architectures to a resilient missile warning architecture in order to improve missile threat tracking as an example of this work.

Currently, Millennium Space Systems is contracted for MTC space vehicle one with options for two additional space vehicles that the company expects to be exercised. Millennium Space Systems also anticipates an additional contract for vehicles four, five and six in quarter four.

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US to Advance Sale of F-16 Jets to Turkey
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US to Advance Sale of F-16 Jets to Turkey

The White House plans to go ahead with the potential $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter aircraft to Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The move came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light to Sweden to join NATO.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan dismissed claims that pushing the sale of the fighter jets to Turkey was in exchange for Erdogan’s decision on Stockholm’s bid to become a NATO member.

“President Biden has been clear for months that he supports the transfer of F-16s to Turkey, that this is in our national interest and the interest of NATO,” Sullivan told reporters at the sidelines of the NATO leaders’ summit in Lithuania. “He’s placed no caveats or conditions on that.”

The Middle Eastern country has sought the aircraft to update its aging fleet of fighter jets to support its fight with Kurdish militants in Iraq and deter adversaries, according to the report.

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Senator Seeks Response From DOD Over Potential Office of Strategic Capital Conflict of Interest
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Senator Seeks Response From DOD Over Potential Office of Strategic Capital Conflict of Interest

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote a letter to the Department of Defense expressing concerns about the lack of necessary measures to prevent conflicts of interest within DOD’s newly created Office of Strategic Capital.

In December, DOD formed OSC to help technology developers find the capital they need to bring platforms to the military and national security markets.

Warren noted in the July 9 letter that OSC hired as special government employees individuals who continue to work for defense consulting and investment firms, the senator’s office said Monday.

“Their positions provide them access to non-public political intelligence information, which ‘can be collected through briefings, meetings, committee hearings, public or non-public documents, personal conversations, and other communications between an employee of a political intelligence firm and an executive branch employee, a Member of Congress, or a legislative branch employee,’” the senator wrote in the letter.

The lawmaker asked Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, to respond by July 28 to a list of 18 questions with regard to how the newly established office works to prevent conflicts of interest.

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