GSA Updates US Government Websites to Enhance Online Service Delivery; Robin Carnahan Quoted
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GSA Updates US Government Websites to Enhance Online Service Delivery; Robin Carnahan Quoted

The General Services Administration has instituted improvements to the English and Spanish versions of the U.S. federal government’s official website to enhance the delivery of online services to the public.

Updates to the USA.gov and USAGov en Español were funded in part by the American Rescue Plan and designed to help website users access information about available federal services more quickly, GSA said Friday.

Enhancements include a quick search tool for elected officials on the federal, state and local levels and a more direct path to answers for commonly asked questions.

GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said the effort reflects the agency’s commitment to integrating “smart, user-centered designs with robust data” to provide the public with an enhanced browsing experience.

“It’s another great example of what our Technology Transformation Services (TTS) is doing to make government websites work seamlessly and intuitively while remaining as accessible as possible for all people who use these government services,” Carnahan said.

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CISA Releases Guidance on Applying for Emergency Communications Funding Grants
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CISA Releases Guidance on Applying for Emergency Communications Funding Grants

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has released guidance to assist state, local, tribal and territorial organizations looking to apply for federal funding to invest in public safety communications projects.

The document, titled “SAFECOM Guidance on Emergency Communications Grants,” outlines details on technical standards, terms and conditions and eligible activities for federal emergency communications grants, CISA said Friday.

Developed in partnership with SAFECOM and the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators, the document aims to help emergency service organizations identify available funding sources and plan programs to enhance public safety communications systems in their communities.

SAFECOM is a communications program managed by CISA to provide research, development, test and evaluation resources to address interoperable communications-related issues.

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Alastair Thomson Named Senior Adviser for Data Tech Innovation at NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
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Alastair Thomson Named Senior Adviser for Data Tech Innovation at NIH’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

Alastair Thomson has expanded his role with the National Institutes of Health by taking on an additional post as senior adviser for data technology innovation at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, according to a LinkedIn post.

As senior adviser, Thomson is responsible for defining and developing new generation data infrastructure to support ARPA-H initiatives. He will focus on innovation, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital twins and cloud-based analytics.

The official will also continue working as chief information officer at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, where he has served for over 13 years.

Thomson began his NIH career in August 2002, when he joined the government organization as a software process consultant. Since then, he climbed the ranks and became CIO of NHLBI in September 2013.

Thomson’s professional efforts extend to his work as owner and principal consultant of Strategy Insight, a small business that utilizes software development processes and management approaches to assist customers in developing and executing information technology strategies.

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Michael McNerney Selected as Director of DOD’s New Civilian Protection Center of Excellence
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Michael McNerney Selected as Director of DOD’s New Civilian Protection Center of Excellence

Public sector veteran Michael McNerney has been appointed as director of the Department of Defense’s new Civilian Protection Center of Excellence.

In his new role, McNerney will drive the establishment of the center, which was ordered as part of the DOD’s strategy for civilian harm mitigation and response, the department announced on Monday.

McNerney’s experience encompasses both public and private sector work. He has spent over 15 years in government positions centering national security strategy development and planning, civil-military coordination, international security sector reform, decision-making in conflict and international relations.

Prior to his selection, McNerney was a senior international and defense researcher at RAND Corporation, where he participated in multiple research initiatives, published numerous reports and penned several commentary pieces.

Before RAND Corporation, McNerney served as principal director for plans in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, during which he aided the secretary of defense in advising on DOD and interagency plans, force management and overseas basing.

McNerney has also presented on an array of national security issues to a number of U.S. cabinet secretaries, White House staff, members of Congress, four-star military commanders, foreign cabinet ministers, NATO’s North Atlantic Council and hundreds of government officials in more than 35 nations.

Early last year, Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense and a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, ordered the under secretary of defense for policy to develop the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan, a roadmap and resource list intended to guide the DOD in bolstering its methods of civilian protection.

In August, Austin issued the CHMR-AP, which called on Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, also a 2023 Wash100 awardee, to create the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence to “expedite and institutional the advancement of knowledge, practice, and tools for preventing, mitigating and responding to civilian harm.”

The DOD said that both Austin and Wormuth have “full confidence” in McNerney’s ability to conduct the center’s establishment.

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GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks & Navy SBIR CTO Kelley Kiernan in Conversation
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GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks & Navy SBIR CTO Kelley Kiernan in Conversation

Chuck Brooks, an esteemed member of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Expert program, as well as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, has interviewed Kelley Kiernan, the chief technology officer of the Department of the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research Program and the director of the Blue Cyber Initiative. The conversation was published in ExecutiveBiz on Monday.

The pair talked about the Blue Cyber Initiative’s unique and boundary-pushing efforts to offer outreach and education about cybersecurity to the general public, with Kiernan detailing how the project got off the ground as well as previewing what might be next to come in its operations.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Brooks: How does Blue Cyber help small businesses?

Kiernan: Blue Cyber answers basic cybersecurity questions, provides educational material on cybersecurity concepts, such as encryption and cybersecurity standards.  As mentioned, Blue Cyber also has daily office hours to listen to the small business’ struggles on their journey to protect their intellectual property and financials, and sometimes, sensitive Department of Defense information. Blue Cyber ferrets out the grants and free services being offered mostly by state entities, such as the Procurement Technical Assistance offices and National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Program Centers in each state and refers the small businesses to these resources.

GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks & Navy SBIR CTO Kelley Kiernan in Conversation

Brooks will be an introducer and the moderator of a panel between public and private sector representatives during GovCon Wire’s Defending the Homeland: Science & Technology Forum tomorrow, April 18. Register here for this informative symposium on how commercial and federal partnerships are working to fortify our national defenses via technology. You won’t be disappointed.

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Heidi Shyu Says DOD Is Set to Release National Defense Science & Tech Strategy
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Heidi Shyu Says DOD Is Set to Release National Defense Science & Tech Strategy

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the Department of Defense is set to release a national strategy that outlines its science and technology priorities to maintain a technological advantage over adversaries, including China and Russia, C4ISRNET reported Friday.

Speaking during a virtual National Defense Industrial Association, the 2023 Wash100 awardee said the National Defense Science and Technology Strategy primarily focuses on supporting the development of capabilities to enable joint missions.

“Everything we’ve been doing is very much focused in on joint warfighting capabilities and what we need to do as a joint force,” Shyu said.

“The capability that we need to develop in that arena is what’s driving a lot of our focus, especially in prototyping [and] experimentation,” the official added.

The strategy also aims to advance the deployment of warfighting technology demonstrated in experimentation campaigns to military users. This priority aligns with the recommendation of the Atlantic Council’s Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption to bridge the gap between technology demonstration and fielding efforts.

The third focus of the strategy is to expand the Pentagon’s research and development workforce through outreach to universities.

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Bailey Bickley Promoted to NSA DIB Defense Chief
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Bailey Bickley Promoted to NSA DIB Defense Chief

Bailey Bickley, chief strategy officer at the National Security Agency-run Cybersecurity Collaboration Center since September 2021, has transitioned to a new job supporting NSA’s efforts to help the defense industrial base guard assets from cyberthreats.

She announced her appointment to the chief DIB defense role in a LinkedIn post published Saturday.

In her prior position, Bickley led CCC’s strategy to engage and partner with companies to protect national security infrastructure against foreign threat actors.

The University of Maryland Global Campus graduate joined the agency in 2020 as cyber communications chief and previously worked as senior consultant at Deloitte.

Before joining Deloitte in 2017, she was senior communications strategist for the Department of Defense’s information assurance directorate.

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CSC 2.0 Report Calls for Designation of Space Systems as Critical Infrastructure Sector
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CSC 2.0 Report Calls for Designation of Space Systems as Critical Infrastructure Sector

The CSC 2.0 project, the successor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, has released a report concluding that space systems should be designated as a U.S. critical infrastructure sector to address gaps and demonstrate that the U.S. considers space security and resilience as top priorities.

The report offers six recommendations for the executive branch and these include designating NASA as the sector risk management agency for the space systems sector; strengthening international norms and standards; and integrating the National Space Council into the governance of the sector, CSC 2.0 said Friday.

The project calls on Congress to provide NASA the resources to carry out its mission and direct the Congressional Research Service to conduct a legislative review.

For private sector organizations, the document recommends the establishment of a coordinating council focused on the sector and advancement of efforts that leverage the existing work of information sharing and analysis centers.

The CSC 2.0 report urges industry and government to form a co-led risk management enterprise while advancing the implementation of cybersecurity best practices and improving U.S. resilience by adding space assets positioned outside of traditional operational areas.

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DCSA Announces Move to National Background Investigation Services eApp
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DCSA Announces Move to National Background Investigation Services eApp

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has announced a transition from the Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing system to the National Background Investigation Services eApplication starting Oct. 1.

DCSA is asking federal contractors and customer agencies under the National Industrial Security Program to secure NBIS eApp user accounts for key employees and start entering applications into the app to facilitate the transition, according to a federal investigations notice released Wednesday.

DCSA Director William Lietzau said the move is part of the agency’s efforts to comply with federal requirements to move from legacy platforms to the new NBIS system.

The agency will release notices to provide users additional guidance on the decommissioning of the e-QIP system, which will no longer be accessible after Oct. 1.

DVIDS reported that 11 percent of federal organizations have fully transitioned to the new app already and no longer use e-QIP.

According to the report, the eApp comes with real-time validation and error detection, U.S. Postal Service address validation and auto saving functions, among other features.

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NIST Requests Comments on Semiconductor Quantum Dot Devices Tuning, Characterization
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NIST Requests Comments on Semiconductor Quantum Dot Devices Tuning, Characterization

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking industry input on a program to advance artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for the characterization and autonomous tuning of semiconductor quantum dot devices.

In a Federal Register notice published Thursday, NIST said it is looking to establish a publicly available data repository of metrics and associated datasets for benchmarking automated methods for quantum dot devices.

The agency is scheduled to hold a workshop on July 19 and 20 to discuss the needs and gaps in quantum dot device tuning automation with government partners, industry and academia.

The workshop will focus on key performance metrics for the characterization, auto-tuning and control of semiconductor quantum dot devices.

Responses to the notice are due June 12.

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