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Col. Jennifer Krolikowski on Leveraging Data, Addressing IT Talent Gap Within SSC
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Col. Jennifer Krolikowski on Leveraging Data, Addressing IT Talent Gap Within SSC

Col. Jennifer Krolikowski, chief information officer of U.S. Space Systems Command, said transforming the information technology organization within SSC means establishing data fabric as part of efforts to leverage data and facilitating the decision-making process.

“I’m all about the data: How you work to automate it, accelerate it, and exploit it is exciting to me. Turning data into knowledge to make better decisions is the whole purpose of collecting it,” Krolikowski said in an interview with Deloitte published Friday in The Wall Street Journal.

She talked about the CIO office’s efforts to address tech talent challenges, such as reskilling and focusing on knowledge management.

“I’m still working to fill talent gaps and am pulling in more contract support—I love leveraging talent in industry to push IT forward,” she noted.

When asked about the budget, she said the command created a non-tax-based funding line for fiscal year 2024 to help broaden the IT organization’s capabilities.

Krolikowski also explained that her organization prefers “buy” to the “build” approach so as to accelerate the adoption of tech capabilities.

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DIU’s Cherissa Tamayori Says DOD Should Introduce Reforms to 3 Parts of Defense Acquisition System
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DIU’s Cherissa Tamayori Says DOD Should Introduce Reforms to 3 Parts of Defense Acquisition System

Cherissa Tamayori, director of acquisition at the Defense Innovation Unit, said the Department of Defense must adopt commercial technology systems and culture and make changes to the requirements, budgeting and acquisition aspects of the defense acquisition system to become a “fast follower” as prescribed by the 2022 National Defense Strategy.

Tamayori wrote in an opinion piece published in the April edition of the Contract Management Magazine that DOD should simplify the procurement process and implement commercial best practices by using flexible acquisition authorities.

“This includes the use of the other transaction (OT) authority through commercial solutions openings (CSO), which maximizes competition while minimizing the opportunity costs of participating vendors,” she noted.

Tamayori said the department should replace the requirements process with a “more rapid validation of needs” for dual-use technologies and enable a flexible budgeting process for commercial platforms.

She also called on DOD contracting professionals to understand industry partners by putting themselves in the shoes of commercial stakeholders as well as enhance market research and conduct outreach efforts.

“The DoD needs to proactively build bridges with the private sector to make sure companies are aware of the potential that exists in the federal marketplace and can find opportunities with ease. This is key to ensuring that we are reaching nontraditional defense companies,” Tamayori added.

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Oliver Wise: FY23 Action Plan Covers 3 ‘Plays’ to Accelerate Value From Commerce Department’s Data
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Oliver Wise: FY23 Action Plan Covers 3 ‘Plays’ to Accelerate Value From Commerce Department’s Data

Oliver Wise, chief data officer at the Department of Commerce, said the Commerce Data Governance Board and the office of the CDO devised a fiscal year 2023 action plan, which comes with three “plays” to scale value from the department’s data.

Wise wrote in a blog post published Monday that one of those plays is transitioning from a siloed to a “more coordinated approach to data management.”

He said the department is advancing that course of action through its strategic acquisition of commercial data with the aid of the commercial data working group.

“Second, we need move from a data ecosystem that is bespoke to narrow use cases, and instead standardized for interoperability and reuse,” he noted.

Wise said the third step is moving from manual to automated data processing and analysis.

He stated that the department is using cloud computing to automate data sharing functions to advance evidence-based decision-making.

Wise went on to note that the department is working to address several questions with regard to data, such as establishing an integrated data ecosystem that offers proactive intelligence on near-term supply shocks and maximizing the potential of artificial intelligence to democratize insights from public data.

DOD Authorizes $2.6B in New Ukraine Security Packages
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DOD Authorizes $2.6B in New Ukraine Security Packages

The Department of Defense has expanded U.S. support for Ukraine with the approval of two new assistance packages valued at $2.6 billion in total.

To meet the nation’s security demands, $500 million worth of equipment will be supplied through a Presidential Drawdown and $2.1 billion will be financed by Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds, the DOD announced on Tuesday.

The Presidential Drawdown, which represents the 35th drawdown since August 2021, will provide High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, air defense interceptors and artillery rounds. Also included in the package are anti-armor systems, small arms, heavy equipment transport vehicles and necessary maintenance support.

Specific items to be delivered are 155 and 105 millimeter artillery rounds, Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles, heavy fuel tankers, spare parts and other ammunition and vehicles.

An array of air defense capabilities, artillery and tank ammunition, mortar systems, rockets and anti-armor systems will be funded under the USAI, including munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, counter-Unmanned Aerial System 30 millimeter gun trucks, air surveillance radars, satellite communications terminals and services and an assortment of vehicles, among numerous others.

While Presidential Drawdowns utilize equipment from DOD stocks, USAI allows the federal government to procure capabilities from industry. This package serves as the start of a contracting process intended to continue delivering military capabilities to Ukraine.

The DOD said that it will continue collaborating with U.S. allies to support Ukraine’s immediate and long-term security demands. Figures from the department revealed that over 54 nations have dedicated significant numbers of tanks and other armored vehicles, artillery systems, artillery rounds and Multiple Rocket Launch systems to Ukraine.

In sum, the U.S. has allocated over $35.8 billion to support Ukraine’s security.

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Video Interview: GDMS’ Chris Brady Foresees a ‘New Dawn’ in Space
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Video Interview: GDMS’ Chris Brady Foresees a ‘New Dawn’ in Space

The space domain has seen rapid commercialization and a myriad of new entrants in the last few years. As the newest warfighting domain and a fast-growing realm of opportunity, space has become a top priority for United States government and industry leaders alike.

General Dynamics Mission Systems President Chris Brady sat down with Executive Mosaic in a new video interview to talk about how proliferated space is changing the way we operate and innovate in the domain.

“Space used to be all about launch and satellites — it was very expensive to do a launch and therefore, you put everything you possibly could on board that satellite, typically positioned it way up in a geosynchronous orbit, and it did a wide variety of communications or intelligence functions. But now there’s much more of a threat in space,” the 2023 Wash100 Award winner warned.

“We think about space as a potential warfighting domain, and so we have to be a little smarter and not have just a small number of large targets for all of our capability,” he elaborated.

Brady said now, with the reduction in launch costs and the increase of private equity capital in the space industry, there are more satellite buses being launched, creating more opportunities to put important payloads on satellites and have them perform certain missions.

The GDMS president highlighted the Space Development Agency’s new acquisition and deployment model as one that more space agencies and industry partners should harness in order to innovate at speed and scale.

“It’s really a new dawn,” Brady shared. “They’re deploying much larger networks of low Earth orbiting satellites… and they’re really positioning themselves for a proliferated network that is much less vulnerable because you can take out one, two, three, four satellites and still have a large constellation available to continue to prosecute their mission of gathering intelligence and communicating and whatever else is required.”

Find out what else Chris Brady had to say about proliferated space and other C5ISR trends by watching his full video interview here.

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NVIDIA Federal VP Anthony Robbins & Unanet CEO Craig Halliday Spotlighted for 2023 Wash100 Award Wins
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NVIDIA Federal VP Anthony Robbins & Unanet CEO Craig Halliday Spotlighted for 2023 Wash100 Award Wins

On Tuesday, Executive Mosaic illuminated NVIDIA’s Anthony Robbins and Unanet’s Craig Halliday to celebrate their well-earned 2023 Wash100 Award wins.

For 10 years, the Wash100 Award has represented the highest honor for executives in the government contracting space. During its rigorous selection process, which weighs the past accomplishments and anticipated future contributions of its nominees, Robbins and Halliday shined as two of the field’s most impactful leaders. 

Robbins, who currently serves as vice president of NVIDIA’s federal arm, received his sixth Wash100 Award for his work to empower the use of artificial intelligence across a broad range of potential areas, including firefighting and cybersecurity, among others.

He has also extensively pushed for collaboration to progress AI adoption. In 2022, this resulted in the formation of partnerships with Octo and Oracle. To read his full profile, click here.

A strong advocate for the client-centered approach, Halliday won his first Wash100 Award for his work to deliver the highest tier of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management software to GovCon organizations.

As Unanet’s CEO, Halliday has leveraged trends revealed in the company’s annual GAUGE Report to improve its platforms and tailor them to the specific needs of GovCon clients. Click here to read his full profile.

The beloved Wash100 popular vote contest is in full swing! To participate in the thrilling competition, which allows you to select your 10 favorite 2023 Wash100 winners, please visit Wash100.com.

NVIDIA Federal VP Anthony Robbins & Unanet CEO Craig Halliday Spotlighted for 2023 Wash100 Award Wins

Unanet is sponsoring GovCon Wire’s Fireside Chat with the DCAA, which will host an in-depth conversation between Unanet’s Rich Wilkinson and the DCAA’s Terri Dilly that will consider the agency’s role in contracting activities and its priorities moving forward. To learn more and register to attend, please visit GovCon Wire’s events page.

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Johns Hopkins Scientists, Oceanographers Design AI-based Simulation Method to Study Climate ‘Tipping Points’
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Johns Hopkins Scientists, Oceanographers Design AI-based Simulation Method to Study Climate ‘Tipping Points’

Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences have collaborated to develop an artificial intelligence-based model for understanding climate change “tipping points.”

The Physics-informed AI Climate Model Agent Neuro-symbolic Simulator for Tipping Point Discovery project is working on predicting—and hopefully avoiding—climate breaking points, Johns Hopkins APL said Friday.

Using the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation system of ocean currents as its specific case, the research team created an AI simulation that can demonstrate the boundaries where the tipping points have a high probability of occurrence. The model was able to recreate a 2018 experiment that invoked traditional methods and similar parameters to predict the slowdown or collapse of AMOC, which is critical in the circulation of heat and freshwater in the region.

“This emerging field will also be of interest beyond the climate community, as tipping point discovery methods also apply to social, political and economic systems,” said Jennifer Sleeman, APL computer scientist and principal investigator of PACMANS.

The study is supported by the AI-assisted Climate Tipping-point Modeling program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

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SSC Requests Info on MEO Missile Warning Satellite Constellation Epoch 2
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SSC Requests Info on MEO Missile Warning Satellite Constellation Epoch 2

Space Systems Command has begun seeking information on the second installment of medium Earth orbit-based satellites for missile warning, tracking and defense applications.

In a notice posted Friday on SAM.gov, SSC said it is soliciting industry input on the acquisition strategy and technical approach for a space segment and an integrated ground segment of the Resilient Missile Warning/Missile Tracking MEO Epoch 2 program.

For each Epoch of the MEO MW/MT architecture, SSC plans to make at least one competitive award, add new technologies and update warfighter requirements.

According to SSC, the second increment will focus on the maturation of MW/MT sensors, optical satellite cross-links, data fusion, ground communications and constellation mission management.

Responses to the request for information are due May 16.

MITRE Submits Recommendations to Modernize Legacy Government Applications
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MITRE Submits Recommendations to Modernize Legacy Government Applications

MITRE has issued a set of recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress, federal agencies and industry on prioritizing and modernizing legacy government information technology systems to improve the delivery of services to citizens.

The nonprofit organization recommended that Congress enact legislation to reduce legacy tech applications across the federal government and add an IT modernization planning and delivery category to the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act scorecard.

MITRE urged OMB to release guidance for federal agencies on the development of IT modernization plans and legacy systems inventories and create a transparency mechanism to monitor compliance and progress.

Agencies must develop prioritized inventories, create IT modernization and budget plans, submit progress reports and establish partnerships to support government-wide digital transformation efforts, the company asserted.

MITRE also suggested that the private sector collaborate with federal agencies and bring innovative approaches to transitioning new software and systems.

DOE Debuts $50M Smart Manufacturing Funding Program for Small & Mid-sized Companies
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DOE Debuts $50M Smart Manufacturing Funding Program for Small & Mid-sized Companies

The Department of Energy has been authorized to launch a $50 million program that would broaden access to smart technologies for small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

The State Manufacturing Leadership Program strives to help boost domestic production efficiency, which is part of the Biden administration’s goal under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, DOE said Friday.

The program is designed to help SMMs procure and implement high-performance computing technologies and other smart manufacturing technologies and practices.

DOE has also enlisted technical assistance providers from the private and public sectors to guide the companies. The agency’s national laboratories, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnerships and Manufacturing USA’s research institutes are involved in the initiative.

The Energy Department will award as much as $2 million per state for projects with a performance period of up to three years. At least 30 percent of each competitive funding award will be matched by the states, which include Washington, D.C. and U.S. territories.

“This funding opportunity will ensure that the benefits of a clean energy economy are felt across the country,” DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm commented.

Interested applicants may attend an informational webinar on April 6, before the submission deadline on May 30.

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