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Doug Cossa on DIA’s ‘Company Storefront’ IT Initiative With NGA
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Doug Cossa on DIA’s ‘Company Storefront’ IT Initiative With NGA

Doug Cossa, chief information officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said DIA is working to evolve federal systems past a “stovepipe” information technology model by advancing an initiative called “Company Storefront” in partnership with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Under Company Storefront, DIA and NGA are working to provide agencies common infrastructure services, including desktop services, for the classified environment.

“Agencies don’t have to maintain their own data centers or their own infrastructure services,” Cossa told FNN.

“They can adopt the model that we’re able to extend out to the rest of the community that integrates because it was designed that way from the beginning,” he added.

Cossa said he thinks Company Storefront will eventually offer cloud services to enable agencies to transition to a virtual desktop environment.

“I think that is the future of where we’ll go is more virtual desktop, and that’s where we really rely on the vendor community to not only work with us, but work across the other vendors to be able to have integration across the services that we depend on,” Cossa said. “Because it’s not an option for us to go back into a stovepipe model where we’re purchasing capabilities or bringing capabilities into our environment that don’t talk with anything else.”

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Gen. Chance Saltzman: Combat Readiness, Alliances, & Guardian Talent Are USSF’s Key Lines of Effort
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Gen. Chance Saltzman: Combat Readiness, Alliances, & Guardian Talent Are USSF’s Key Lines of Effort

Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force, has unveiled three lines of effort that he believes are essential to the success of the service branch.

He identified fielding combat-ready forces, strengthening existing partnerships and amplifying Guardians’ creativity, innovation and determination as key LOEs to execute Space Force missions.

The branch must build resilient and combat-ready equipment, servicemen, expertise and sustainment to endure and recover from attacks in a high-intensity operational environment, Saltzman said. Resilience must apply to mission critical support facilities, on-orbit constellations, ground stations, and even data and networks.

The space ops chief also pledged to take care of Space Force Guardians in order to unleash their creativity, innovation, determination and patriotism. He regarded their talent and expertise as the service’s most important operational advantage and made a commitment to improve transparency and professionalism in military and civilian personnel management.

Saltzman underscored the importance of USSF’s partnerships with other agencies, countries, academic institutions and the private sector. He called for direct and mutually beneficial collaborations built on trust and deep relationships to ensure that the branch can power through geopolitical, financial, and adversarial challenges.

DOD, USAID & State Department Issue Joint Oversight Plan for Ukraine Aid Efforts
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DOD, USAID & State Department Issue Joint Oversight Plan for Ukraine Aid Efforts

The offices of inspectors general for the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department have issued their first joint strategic oversight plan for the country’s activities in response to the war in Ukraine.

The Ukraine Oversight Interagency Working Group comprises 17 organizations and convenes monthly to ensure transparency and coordination in the whole-of-government Ukraine response supervision efforts, the DOD’s OIG said Wednesday.

The working group’s Fiscal Year 2023 Joint Strategic Plan for Ukraine Response lists 14 completed and 64 planned or ongoing projects.

Its accomplishments include DOD OIG’s evaluation of accountability of equipment donated to Ukraine, DHS OIG’s audit of cyberthreats, and USAID OIG’s direct budget support brief.

Meanwhile, the agencies are continuously auditing DOD’s training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as evaluating weapon stockpile replenishments and intelligence sharing. The State OIG is also monitoring humanitarian aid efforts and the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

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Allen Gardner Tapped to Lead UAS Technology Development as CTO at Edge Autonomy
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Allen Gardner Tapped to Lead UAS Technology Development as CTO at Edge Autonomy

Allen Gardner, a specialist in unmanned aerial systems design and development, has been appointed chief technology officer at Edge Autonomy.

The San Luis Obispo, California-headquartered unmanned technology company said Tuesday that Gardner will help the company keep pace with the demands of the future and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and autonomous capabilities.

“Allen brings key experience in delivering innovations in the unmanned systems market that will help us deliver ideal solutions to our clients’ key challenges,” noted Edge Autonomy CEO John Purvis.

Gardner began his career at Northrop Grumman’s aerospace systems business, where he held the position of aeronautical engineer, creating software programs for command and control and real-time survivability analysis of LO aircraft missions, among other projects. In a later stint with the company, he ascended to the role of chief architect for special programs.

In between his two periods spent with Northrop, Gardner worked for AME Unmanned Aerial Systems as chief engineer, where he was the driving force behind the development of the SharkFin mission control system and the conceptual portion of the Fury UAS. The organization was subsequently acquired by Lockheed Martin.

Before coming to Edge Autonomy, Gardner served for five years as CTO at Skydweller Aero, a U.S.-Spanish company focused on solar-powered aircraft technologies.

The executive reportedly holds a specific mastery of UAS mission control and optimization as well as artificial intelligence broadly.

In Dec. 2022, Jennifer Hagerty was installed as chief human resources officer at Edge Autonomy and charged with leading the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Edge Autonomy transitioned to its current brand identity from its previous name, UAV Factory, in February 2022.

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Greg Bowman Appointed SVP & CSO of Siemens Government Technologies; John Ustica Quoted
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Greg Bowman Appointed SVP & CSO of Siemens Government Technologies; John Ustica Quoted

Greg Bowman has been named senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Siemens Government Technologies, where he previously served as chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate development.

In this position, Bowman will lead SGT’s strategic project development and partnerships by applying the company’s technology offerings to federal initiatives surrounding energy efficiency and resiliency, smart infrastructure and digital transformation, SGT announced from Reston, Virginia on Thursday.

“Greg is superbly qualified to take on this role for us at a critical time for our customers and our business. His deep understanding for the missions and constraints our customers face, combined with an extensive understanding for the applicable elements of the technology-rich Siemens portfolio, make him uniquely qualified for this role,” said SCG President and CEO John Ustica.

Bowman joined SGT in 2016 as director of operations for cross-divisional energy and infrastructure. He has held multiple positions within the company, spanning the areas of program leadership, business development and strategic partnering, and has led initiatives focused on trusted supply chain technologies and advanced microelectronics.

Prior to coming aboard the company, Bowman served in the U.S. Army for 25 years, most recently as the strategic law and policy advisor to the secretary of the Army. His roles in the service branch have equipped him with an understanding of policy, technology and operations hurdles that affect government contractors.

Last year, Bowman was appointed to the Defense Business Board, a group of business and academic leaders selected to advise on business management, governance and best practices for the secretary and deputy secretary of the Department of Defense.

He currently serves as chair of the Aerospace Industries Association Digital Transformation Council and as a member of the Board Council of Hope for the Warriors, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting post-9/11 veterans and caregivers.

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ITI Offers 14 Recommendations in 2023 Tech Policy Roadmap; Jason Oxman Quoted
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ITI Offers 14 Recommendations in 2023 Tech Policy Roadmap; Jason Oxman Quoted

Technology trade group ITI has unveiled its 2023 tech policy roadmap outlining 14 recommendations to improve U.S. economic competitiveness.

“For the U.S. to maintain its economic competitiveness, it must advance policies that support technology and the tech ecosystem,” Jason Oxman, president and CEO of ITI, said in a statement published Tuesday.

“ITI’s legislative and policy recommendations provide a roadmap for U.S. lawmakers and the Biden Administration as they examine issues including workforce development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, privacy, and more,” Oxman added.

The recommendations outlined in the document include embracing AI; bolstering cybersecurity; modernizing public sector information technology; addressing climate change; increasing digital trade; tailoring export controls and outbound investment restrictions; improving supply chain resilience; deploying next-generation telecommunications; and bolstering U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.

For the AI aspect, the trade association called on the White House and Congress to accelerate the implementation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI Risk Management Framework to manage AI risks and advance AI adoption.

ITI also urged the current administration to work with the private sector to implement the May 2021 cybersecurity executive order and improve transparency and security of software supply chains and federal networks.

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DOE Grants Funding to 10 Private-Public Fusion Energy Research Projects
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DOE Grants Funding to 10 Private-Public Fusion Energy Research Projects

The Department of Energy is funding 10 private-public partnership projects to help push fusion energy development forward.

Industry partners have committed a 20 percent cost share of the awards, which were granted through the DOE Office of Science’s Innovation Network for Fusion Energy program, the agency said Tuesday.

DOE is distributing one- or two-year awards worth between $50,000 and $500,000, bringing the cumulative funding value to $2.3 million. They will team up their national laboratories with companies including General Atomics, Tokamak, Focused Energy, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Energy Driven Technologies, Princeton Stellarators, and Type One Energy.

The initiative comes a month after researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved the first fusion ignition in a laboratory setting.

“We were elated when the team at Livermore delivered the news that they had achieved fusion ignition, and we knew that was just the beginning,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said. “The companies and DOE scientists will build on advances from the National Labs with the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector to advance our understanding of fusion.”

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CISA Rereleases Strategy Outline for MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
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CISA Rereleases Strategy Outline for MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has updated the best practices for mapping to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, a knowledge base of techniques, software and tactics used by adversaries meant to help network defenders assess security tools, identify gaps in cyber defense and validate mitigation controls.

The document Best Practices for MITRE ATT&CK Mapping provides network defenders with instructions, examples and guidance on how to use the MITRE ATT&CK framework and seeks to help them improve their capability to detect adversary behavior and facilitate information sharing to ensure the security of networks and data.

CISA said Tuesday it made the update in coordination with the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute, a MITRE-operated research and development center.

According to the agency, the update covers mapping mistakes, common analytical biases and specific ATT&CK mapping guidance for industrial control systems and changes to the MITRE ATT&CK framework since the initial publication of the best practices in June 2021.

These changes include the introduction of new platforms, addition of ATT&CK campaigns, expansion of macOS and Linux coverage and redefinition of data sources and detections.

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Air Force Updates Contracting IT Platform
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Air Force Updates Contracting IT Platform

The Department of the Air Force has deployed functionality updates to an information technology system that helps DAF personnel write and process contracts for acquisition programs.

Version 3.04 of the CON-IT software marks the largest program release to date and supports the department’s transition of data from the legacy contract writing automation software suite ConWrite, the Air Force Materiel Command said Friday.

DAF updated the platform in accordance with version 2.6.1 of the Procurement Data Standard, which supports the formatting of clauses and other text fields.

The low-code application supports more than 1,700 users at the same time and runs at a speed of up to 369 milliseconds when processing a large number of line items.

CON-IT has served as DAF’s contract management system since 2018.

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DHS S&T Selects 7 Federal Labs to Advance Tech Commercialization; Dimitri Kusnezov Quoted
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DHS S&T Selects 7 Federal Labs to Advance Tech Commercialization; Dimitri Kusnezov Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has selected seven federal laboratories to advance the commercialization of federally funded technologies.

Under the Commercialization Accelerator Program, the awardees will create partnerships with private industry to speed up research, development, testing, evaluation and delivery of new technologies and services, DHS said Tuesday.

The awardees and their respective technologies are:

  • Argonne National Laboratory: Autonomous Intelligent Cyber-Defense Agent
  • Idaho National Laboratory: Plug-N-Play Appliance for Resilient Response of Operational Technologies; Wireless Radio Frequency Signal Identification & Protocol Reverse Engineering
  • Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: Out of Band Over Existing Industrial Control Communications
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory: Industrial Internet of Things – Physics-Informed AI Vibe Sensor for Condition Monitoring and Cybersecurity
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Technology Laboratory: Artificial Intelligence Bug Finder
  • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: Grid Resilience & Intelligence Platform 2.0
  • U.S. Naval Research Laboratory: Portable Electrochemical Sensor & Test Kit for Explosive & Gunshot Residue

The federal laboratories will receive $1.1 million to transition the technologies from their research laboratories to the marketplace.

CAP seeks proposals from federal laboratories, federally funded research and development centers and university affiliated research centers that develop technologies in support of national security missions.

Dimitri Kusnezov, undersecretary for science and technology at DHS, said the program “bridges the gap between research and the marketplace, accelerating the use and expanding the availability of federally funded technologies.”

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