The Social Security Administration has launched its redesigned website to enable online visitors to easily find the tools they need to accomplish some tasks and facilitate their access to services.

SSA said Tuesday the updated website comes with a new benefit eligibility screener, a tool for submitting applications for a new Social Security Number and replacement cards and an online application process for Supplemental Security Income benefits.

Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of SSA, said over 180 million people visit SSA.gov annually.

“Whether providing service in person or online, our goal is to help people understand what they may qualify for and seamlessly transition them to an application process,” added Kijakazi.

SSA noted that it will continue to introduce new website improvements and pages in the next few months.

Bidscale, an Arlington, Virginia-headquartered market intelligence company, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered analytics tool for federal contracting and procurement.

The platform, dubbed Bidscale Connect, enables users to browse federal contracting opportunities, receive AI-generated recommendations for contracts and communicate directly with government contractors and other industry partners, Bidscale said Wednesday.

Raymond Britt, director of business development at Bidscale, said the platform also benefits government procurement efforts by accelerating the market research process.

“Bidscale Connect helps Government users to work through the tedious procurement process faster than ever before. For example, market research that usually takes months or years can be completed in just hours, with the click of one button,” Britt stated.

Schuyler Moore, chief technology officer at U.S. Central Command, highlighted during a press briefing held Wednesday at the Pentagon the need to speed up the delivery of artificial intelligence, unmanned systems and other emerging technologies into the hands of warfighters amid rapidly evolving threats.

“And so what that means from a combatant command is that we’re really focused on technology experimentation and what that can look like to create sustained capability, and we believe that a combatant command is the right place for that because it is so critical to get these technologies into the hands of the person that uses it, in the place that they will use it, and against the threats that it will actually face,” said Moore, who was named CTO in October.

Moore responded to a question on how the command integrates AI into its combat operations in the Middle East. 

“We are very mindful and continue conversations with the policy team at all times about what the exact limits of what we can and cannot do in theater are for that,” she told reporters. “Where we’re really heavily integrating A.I. is into historical looking data, so that we understand the patterns of life that are happening in the region.”

She explained how CENTCOM uses AI to help inform the decision-making process and discussed technology development work at the Army’s Task Force 39 and the Navy’s Task Force 59.

Moore was joined by Army Sgt. Mickey Reeve, who talked about his counter-unmanned aircraft system training software.

NASA and Empirical Systems Aerospace, a San Luis Obispo, California-based small business, have unveiled an experimental all-electric aircraft, called X-57 Maxwell, and plan to conduct a maiden test flight of the plane in 2023.

ESAero developed the experimental plane through a number of NASA awards it secured under the space agency’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program and partnerships with other small enterprises that acted as subcontractors on the X-57 project, NASA said Thursday.

Joby Aviation, Electric Power Systems, Sierra Technical Services and TMC Technologies became industry partners of ESAero, which provided air vehicle and all-electric propulsion design, manufacturing, analysis, diagnostic tools, integration, ground testing and software modeling support for the aircraft as the project’s prime contractor.

“NASA’s work with the private sector on this project has brought a lot of transparency to the industry, and the companies have been able to grow themselves,” said Starr Ginn, advanced air mobility lead strategist at NASA. 

“That’s a big part of SBIRs. The government takes on the high-risk ideas and helps mature them to where they become a viable product for industry,” added Ginn.

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland participated in the electric aircraft development effort.