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AFRL, NASA Partner to Deploy Sensor Tech for Space Weather Observation
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AFRL, NASA Partner to Deploy Sensor Tech for Space Weather Observation

The Air Force Research Laboratory has partnered with NASA to launch a sensor experiment in space to study how space weather in the ionosphere affects communication navigation and communication systems.

The Gridded Retarding Ion Drift Sensor, developed by the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, was released from the International Space Station aboard NASA’s Plasma Enhancements in the Ionosphere-Thermosphere Satellite in late December, Air Force Materiel Command said Wednesday.

GRIDS is expected to be in orbit for six months to help examine how density changes in the ionosphere impact the performance of space-based communication and navigation systems.

“The GRIDS sensor is designed to measure how much plasma is present in the atmosphere and in what direction it is moving. This should allow us to detect the presence of plasma bubbles and globs and give us information into how they are formed,” said Ryan Davidson, AFRL senior research physicist and program manager for the experiment.

According to NASA, the six-unit small satellite petitSat arrived at the orbital space station on Nov. 27, 2022, as part of SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission.

AFRL will continue to collaborate with NASA for GRIDS’ second deployment in 2024.

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MITRE Releases AI-Based Tool to Speed Up FOIA Request Processing
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MITRE Releases AI-Based Tool to Speed Up FOIA Request Processing

MITRE has developed an artificial intelligence-based tool designed to assist agency analysts in handling requests to access federal government records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The FOIA Assistant uses AI and natural language processing to minimize the workload of analysts across the 118 agencies subject to the law by speeding up the process of analyzing documents for redaction and release, MITRE said Wednesday.

According to the nonprofit organization, the fully functional prototype is being evaluated in an agency environment and test results will be used to refine the tool for eventual rollout to government users.

FOIA Assistant is built on independent research and the MITRE Public Sector special initiative programs and is powered by multiple machine learning models, such as BERT, an open-source machine learning framework for NLP.

It also uses the open-source software library spaCy to detect personally identifiable information in public documents.

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NTIA Report Offers Recommendations to Promote Competition in Mobile App Market
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NTIA Report Offers Recommendations to Promote Competition in Mobile App Market

A report by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration presents several recommendations to improve competition in the mobile application market and one of those is providing consumers more control over their devices. This could be achieved, NTIA reasons, by allowing them to use alternative mobile app stores, hide or delete pre-installed apps and select their own apps as defaults.

The NTIA report recommends that operators of app stores remove restrictions on alternative approaches for users to download and install applications, not be able to “self-preference” their apps in an anti-competitive manner and address limits on in-app purchasing options.

NTIA evaluated over 150 comments from various stakeholders and found that developers and other innovators have limited avenues to reach users since consumers could not gain access to applications outside of the mobile app stores operated by Google and Apple.

According to the report, the U.S. government should introduce additional antitrust enforcement measures and new legislation to drive competition in the mobile app ecosystem.

NTIA initiated the report in response to President Joe Biden’s executive order on competition in 2021.

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OIG Assesses FDIC’s Implementation of IT Risk Examination Program
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OIG Assesses FDIC’s Implementation of IT Risk Examination Program

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s office of inspector general conducted an audit to assess whether FDIC’s Information Technology Risk Examination Program can effectively evaluate and address cybersecurity and IT risks at banks and other financial institutions and offered several recommendations to address the weaknesses found in the InTREx program.

OIG said Wednesday it found that FDIC’s InTREx program is out of date and does not reflect federal frameworks and guidance for the program’s three of four core modules.

According to the report, FDIC failed to offer guidance to its examiners after changes were made to InTREx.

Catalogued missteps also included the complaints that the FDIC does not provide training to strengthen program procedures to advance consistent completion of IT examination procedures and decision factors. In addition, it was found that FDIC did not adopt a supervisory process to assess IT workpapers prior to the completion of the examination.

The OIG report presented 19 recommendations for FDIC to address such weaknesses, such as updating and implementing the InTREx program to reflect current IT and cyber risks and guidance; communicating updates to the InTREx program to examiners in a timely manner; and developing and implementing control mechanisms to ensure that examiners complete examination procedures and decision factors.

Other recommendations are providing refresher training to reinforce InTREx program procedures; developing and implementing metrics and indicators to determine the program’s effectiveness; and creating a process to gather and analyze relevant data regarding the program.

NNSA Launches $25M Cooperative Agreement With Universities, National Labs for Nuclear Forensics R&D
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NNSA Launches $25M Cooperative Agreement With Universities, National Labs for Nuclear Forensics R&D

The National Nuclear Security Administration has entered into a $25 million cooperative agreement with a consortium of 16 universities to conduct research and development centered on nuclear forensics.

Led by the University of Florida, the consortium will receive $5 million annually for five years to explore innovations supporting the agency’s nuclear security and nonproliferation missions, the Department of Energy announced Wednesday.

The cooperative agreement involves the following universities:

  • City University of New York
  • Clemson University
  • George Washington University
  • Iowa State University
  • North Carolina State University
  • Oregon State University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • South Carolina State University
  • Texas A&M University
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • University of Central Florida
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The consortium will work with seven of DOE’s national laboratories: Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, Sandia, and Savannah River.

“The role of universities for nuclear forensics research is to innovate and develop some of the most challenging and fundamental aspects of new technology and methods,” said Keith McManus, university program manager for NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D unit. “Once these basic aspects have been proven at the university level, the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories can fulfill their unique role to perform mission-specific research and development that improves on capabilities for adoption by operational enterprises.”

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Pentagon Releases Guidance on File Documentation for Cost-Reimbursement Contracts
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Pentagon Releases Guidance on File Documentation for Cost-Reimbursement Contracts

The Department of Defense’s office of the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment has issued a memorandum offering guidance on coordination with the contract administration office and file documentation for cost-reimbursement contracts.

The memo signed Wednesday by John Tenaglia, principal director of defense pricing and contracting, was in response to one of the recommendations made by DOD’s inspector general in a report that found inconsistencies in the documentation of contract files by contracting officers.

According to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, service branches may only use a cost-reimbursement contract when a “written acquisition plan has been approved and signed at least one level above the contracting officer.”

Under acquisition planning, contracting officers should coordinate with the Defense Contract Management Agency or other contract administration office to ensure that sufficient resources are available for contract administration, the report read.

The memo also includes instructions for contracting officers when using documentation other than firm-fixed-price contracts.

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Department of the Navy CIO Appoints Solutions Chief Don Yeske as Acting CTO
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Department of the Navy CIO Appoints Solutions Chief Don Yeske as Acting CTO

The Department of the Navy’s Office of the Chief Information Officer has chosen Don Yeske, its chief solutions architect, to serve as acting chief technology officer, he announced in a LinkedIn post.

The position was previously held by Jane Rathburn, who was promoted to principal deputy CIO.

Yeske joined DON CIO in October 2021 from the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, where he led the Expeditionary Enterprise Systems and Services Division.

Before NIWC Atlantic, he spent two years as head of future operations at the U.S. Marine Corps headquarters. He was also senior information technology adviser at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Afghanistan.

He subsequently became part of the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, as director of operational sustainment, information and communication technology.

Earlier in his career, he worked for prominent defense companies including Northrop Grumman and Science Applications International Corp.

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BAE Systems Secures Contract Under $4B NAVWAR CANES Program; Lisa Hand Quoted
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BAE Systems Secures Contract Under $4B NAVWAR CANES Program; Lisa Hand Quoted

BAE Systems has won a spot on the $4.1 billion Naval Information Warfare Systems Command Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services contract vehicle.

Under the contract, BAE Systems will manage the procurement and production of afloat network devices, spares, laboratory equipment, initial software, software renewal and upkeep services for surface, shore and submarine systems, the company announced from McLean, Virginia on Thursday.

“We look forward to continuing to support the Navy’s CANES mission to update shipboard networks to improve fleet operations. Our team has a legacy of exceptional quality and production support to NAVWAR, ensuring timely and critical modernization of the afloat networks,” commented Lisa Hand, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions.

The CANES program aims to deliver an improved tactical afloat network as part of the Navy’s efforts to modernize planning processes by enhancing cybersecurity, command and control, communications and intelligence systems afloat while supplanting underperforming legacy systems.

As one of eight companies selected under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle, BAE Systems will compete for awards throughout the initiative’s 10-year period.

For eight years, BAE Systems has supported the CANES program by sourcing, assembling, testing and supplying CANES production units for large deck surface ships in Summerville, South Carolina.

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Avril Haines & Gerry Fasano Celebrated As 2023 Wash100 Award Winners
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Avril Haines & Gerry Fasano Celebrated As 2023 Wash100 Award Winners

On Thursday, Executive Mosaic singled out two of GovCon’s most impactful leaders — Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Gerry Fasano, president of the defense group at Leidos — to celebrate their 2023 Wash100 wins.

Each year, Executive Mosaic honors 100 “executives of consequence” for their invaluable contributions and influence across the vast government contracting ecosystem. This year is particularly significant as it represents the Wash100 Award’s tenth year of unmatched recognition and excellence.

Avril Haines is named to the Wash100 this year for her continued focus on national security threat assessment and her efforts to enhance information sharing in the advancement of critical missions.

In her keynote remarks during the Potomac Officers Club’s 8th Annual Intel Summit, she said having a “strong, adaptive and innovative” intelligence community is a priority she puts at the top of her list.

Haines’ 2023 win marks her third consecutive year being named to the distinguished Wash100 list. Click here to read Haines’ full Wash100 profile.

From industry, Executive Mosaic applauds Gerry Fasano for his fourth consecutive Wash100 Award. Fasano earned the recognition this year for his leadership and continued efforts to bring technological capabilities and services to national defense missions.

Fasano leads Leidos’ efforts in areas like autonomy, advanced analytics, C4ISR, digital modernization, enterprise logistics and secure agile software development. Read Fasano’s Wash100 profile here.

Don’t forget to participate in the most exciting race in GovCon! You can cast your votes for Avril Haines and Gerry Fasano to win the popular vote competition at Wash100.com.

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Thomas Sasala Named Deputy Director for Army’s Business Transformation Office
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Thomas Sasala Named Deputy Director for Army’s Business Transformation Office

Thomas Sasala, most recently chief data officer at the Department of the Navy, has joined the U.S. Army as deputy director of the office of business transformation, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

He said in an email to colleagues obtained by FNN that he will facilitate efforts to reform business practices, advance process optimizations, lead business process reengineering and modernization initiatives and help uphold the service branch business community’s alignment with the mission.

During his tenure as CDO, Sasala said DON created a data management program, standardized data management responsibilities and roles and developed an enterprise data management and analytics platform.

He joined DON in April 2019 as director of data strategy. According to FNN, he helped advance the Jupiter data platform, promote the use of data to inform decisions and address data duplication issues across the service.

Before DON, Sasala spent more than two years at the Army, where he served as CDO and director of the architecture integration center.

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