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Argonne Researchers Use Testbed to Prepare Code for ‘Aurora’ Supercomputer
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Argonne Researchers Use Testbed to Prepare Code for ‘Aurora’ Supercomputer

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory are using a test and development system to prepare scientific codes for the Aurora exascale supercomputer being developed at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility.

Sunspot is a two-rack testbed computer equipped with 128 nodes of the same technologies found in the Aurora supercomputer, ANL said Wednesday.

Susan Coghlan, ALCF project director for Aurora, said Sunspot is a miniature version of the supercomputer that enables research teams to “optimize code performance on the actual Aurora hardware.”

Tim Williams, co-manager of the ALCF’s Aurora Early Science Program, added that testbeds like Sunspot allow researchers to scale their workloads to run on larger supercomputers.

Aurora will have over 10,000 compute blades, each equipped with six Intel Data Center GPU Max Series processors and two new Intel Xeon CPU Max Series processors.

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Defense Innovation Unit Seeks Autonomous Tech for Ground Vehicle Navigation
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Defense Innovation Unit Seeks Autonomous Tech for Ground Vehicle Navigation

The Defense Innovation Unit is inviting proposals to prototype an autonomous ground vehicle navigation system for reconnaissance or logistics missions in high-risk unmapped or remote locations.

DIU said the Department of Defense is seeking technology capable of assisted teleoperation, dynamic path planning, and obstacle avoidance.

The agency will select vendors to design unmanned navigation platforms that apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to support maneuver units and aid target detection.

As part of the project, the government will provide test vehicles to navigation tech prototype developers for use in demonstration activities.

The proposed system should include data storage and management features applicable to physical and simulated environments. It should be designed with open architecture and in compliance with industry standards, according to DIU.

Responses to the Ground Vehicle Autonomous Pathways 2 solicitation are due May 10.

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FedRAMP Hits 300 Authorization Mark for Cloud Services
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FedRAMP Hits 300 Authorization Mark for Cloud Services

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program has logged its 300th cloud service approval and a 50 percent growth in offerings that reached high-impact level compliance.

Agencies can view all authorized services from industry through the federal cloud computing initiative’s marketplace and learn to reuse security packages via a step-by-step guidance document, the FedRAMP Program Management Office said Wednesday.

The office added that the number of cloud service offerings with “In Process” status rose 50 percent in the last two years.

CSOs certified under the highest security baseline allow customer agencies to handle sensitive, unclassified government information.

FedRAMP, established in 2011 and managed by the General Services Administration, offers a risk-based approach for assessing and approving platforms from commercial cloud providers.

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National AI Advisory Committee Report Highlights Need for AI Standards
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National AI Advisory Committee Report Highlights Need for AI Standards

The National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee has released its inaugural report calling upon the U.S. government to directly address AI concerns and create AI rules and standards compatible with democratic values.

Objectives and recommended actions were divided into four major themes: leadership in trustworthy AI, leadership in research and development, supporting the U.S. workforce and providing opportunity and international cooperation, according to the final report.

Suggestions include creating federal AI leadership roles, training civil servants in AI, establishing research and development programs and a large-scale national AI research resource, scaling an AI-informed workforce and boosting international collaboration on AI diplomacy, among numerous others.

The advisory panel recommended several specific actions, such as supporting public and private adoption of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Risk Management Framework, creating a chief responsible AI officer, establishing an emerging technology council, funding AI work at NIST and ensuring sufficient resources for AI-related civil rights enforcement.

In May 2022, the Department of Commerce announced the creation of NAIAC, which is administered by NIST.

DOD Approves Changes to PNT Oversight Council Leadership
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DOD Approves Changes to PNT Oversight Council Leadership

The Department of Defense has approved changes to the chairmanship of the oversight council for its positioning, navigation and timing enterprise, Defense Scoop reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the agency issued its updated PNT directive in an effort to bolster protection of military GPS systems and other PNT services used by the United States and its allies.

The PNT Oversight Council will be co-chaired by the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering as well as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. These positions are currently held by Heidi Shyu, William LaPlante and Adm. Christopher Grady, respectively. All three leaders are 2023 Wash100 inductees.

The council will be responsible for managing alternative PNT sources. They will also oversee performance assessments, architecture development, and the identification and handling of PNT vulnerabilities.

Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of defense and a three-time Wash100 honoree, affirmed the amendments. 

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NRO Director Christopher Scolese Underscores Agency Commitment to Providing Intelligence to Warfighters, Policymakers & Decision Makers
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NRO Director Christopher Scolese Underscores Agency Commitment to Providing Intelligence to Warfighters, Policymakers & Decision Makers

Christopher Scolese, director of the National Reconnaissance Office and a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, has highlighted the agency’s commitment to safeguarding and strengthening both the U.S. and the world.

Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Scolese said the NRO is working to boost data delivery speeds and outperform competitors using three guiding objectives, the NRO announced on Wednesday.

“For more than 60 years, the NRO has developed tools and techniques to bring the farthest
reaches of the planet into our grasp – seeing, hearing and sensing what you can only get from the vantage point of space,” said Scolese.

“We are using that vantage point to help find the answers to some of the nation’s most important national security questions, providing our warfighters, policymakers and decision makers the intelligence they need, when they need it,” he added.

According to the director, the agency’s efforts primarily focus on the creation of a resilient and proliferated constellation for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, leveraging emerging technologies to upgrade ground and space architectures and fostering collaboration with fellow U.S. agencies, industry and international partners.

The hearing on national security space programs for fiscal year 2023 also included testimony from Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the air force for space acquisitions and integration; Tonya Wilkerson, deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy.

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Mason Clutter Assumes Permanent Chief Privacy Officer, Chief FOIA Officer Roles at DHS
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Mason Clutter Assumes Permanent Chief Privacy Officer, Chief FOIA Officer Roles at DHS

Mason Clutter, who previously served as acting chief privacy officer and chief Freedom of Information Act officer at the Department of Homeland Security, has assumed the roles full-time. 

Her appointment took place following two months of holding the roles temporarily, the DHS said Monday.

Clutter joined the department in May 2022 as a senior policy adviser to the chief privacy officer following an over seven-year stint at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.

Throughout her tenure at the board, which advises the U.S. government on countering domestic terrorism and its impact on privacy and civil liberties, Clutter held the roles of attorney-advisor, FOIA officer, counselor to board member Ed Felten and acting executive director.

Prior to joining the PCLOB, Clutter served as national security and privacy counsel at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, rule of law counsel at the Constitution Project and research associate for the Yale Law School Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic National Litigation Project.

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Jim Garrettson Delivers 2023 Wash100 Awards to CIA’s Jennifer Ewbank & Nand Mulchandani
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Jim Garrettson Delivers 2023 Wash100 Awards to CIA’s Jennifer Ewbank & Nand Mulchandani

Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson recently presented Jennifer Ewbank and Nand Mulchandani – two Central Intelligence Agency leaders with undeniable influence on the government contracting industry – with their 2023 Wash100 Awards.

The Wash100 Award annually recognizes the achievements of the most powerful figures in the expansive GovCon field. Its highly-anticipated 10th anniversary class showcases the remarkable level of talent and impact that the award seeks out.

Ewbank, who serves as the CIA’s deputy director for digital innovation, received her second consecutive Wash100 Award in recognition of her dedicated advocacy for government-industry partnerships. She has worked extensively to promote the use of emerging technologies, specifically artificial intelligence, which she said is a “common challenge” for both groups. To read her full profile, click here.

Mulchandani joined the ranks of Wash100 for the first time this year. Since his appointment as the CIA’s first-ever chief technology officer in April 2022, Mulchandani has made it a priority to drive the development of a new technology strategy for the agency. He also co-authored the “Software Defined Warfare: Architecting the DOD’s Transition to the Digital Age” report. Read his full profile here.

While honoring past accomplishments, the Wash100 Award also considers the expected future contributions of its winners. Executive Mosaic is excited to see where Ewbank and Mulchandani take the CIA in the future.

Don’t miss your chance to cast your 10 votes in the annual Wash100 popular vote contest! The competition wraps up tomorrow, so be sure to choose your favorite 2023 awardees before voting closes at 11:59pm.

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Navy DSRC Adds ‘Nautilus’ to Supercomputer Lineup
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Navy DSRC Adds ‘Nautilus’ to Supercomputer Lineup

The Navy DOD Supercomputing Resource Center has deployed a new high-performance computing system that offers 8.2 petaFLOPS of computing performance.

Designed by Penguin TrueHPC, Nautilus provides 382 terabytes of memory, 26 petabytes of storage, 176,128 compute cores and 48 graphic processing unit nodes, the Navy said Tuesday.

In September 2021, Penguin Computing received $68 million in contracts to provide TrueHPC platforms for the Navy DSRC and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s DSRC as part of the Department of Defense’s High Performance Computing Modernization Program.

The launch of Nautilus brings the Navy DSRC’s total number of supercomputers to six, enabling DOD researchers and scientists to conduct advanced research work across climate, ocean modeling and computational fluid dynamics, among other disciplines, and develop capabilities for warfighters.

Alongside Nautilus’ completion, the Navy DSRC also upgraded its HPE Cray EX HPC platform, dubbed Narwhal. The supercomputer now features 13.6 petaFLOPS of computing performance and additional 18,176 cores.

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Sen. Mark Warner Asks Tech Companies to Provide Information AI Security Strategies & Practices
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Sen. Mark Warner Asks Tech Companies to Provide Information AI Security Strategies & Practices

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has urged CEOs of multiple artificial intelligence companies to prioritize security and counter bias as they design and deploy artificial intelligence systems.

In letters sent to technology leaders, Warner requested that the recipients respond to a list of 16 questions with regard to how they address security risks associated with AI development, the senator’s office said Wednesday.

Security risks identified by Warner, who serves as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, include data poisoning attacks, data supply chain security concerns, algorithmic bias, trustworthiness and malicious use of AI systems.

Questions listed in the letter ask about the technology companies’ security approaches, implementation of restrictions on third-party access to AI models, measures to ensure the security and accuracy of data inputs and outputs and efforts to monitor and audit systems to detect and mitigate security breaches.

The letters were addressed to chief executives of Anthropic, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Midjourney, OpenAI, Percipient.ai, Scale AI and Stability AI.

Warner said that the responses should be submitted no later than May 26.

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