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Federal Executive Shila Cooch Named CIO at DOE Office of Science
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Federal Executive Shila Cooch Named CIO at DOE Office of Science

Shila Cooch, a technology executive with nearly two decades of government experience, has been appointed chief information officer at the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

In a LinkedIn post, Cooch shared that she took on the role after spending the past three years as director of information technology policy at the Office of Management and Budget, where she focused on government-wide IT modernization and cybersecurity efforts.

Cooch previously held various roles of increasing responsibility during her more than 15-year career at the Department of Homeland Security, most recently as chief of staff for the chief information officer.

In this position, she advised the CIO on matters related to technology policy, organizational planning and legislative and public affairs.

Prior to joining DHS, Cooch was a communication specialist at the U.S. Senate.

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Peraton Receives Multiple Recognitions for Veteran Employment
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Peraton Receives Multiple Recognitions for Veteran Employment

Peraton has been recognized by numerous organizations as a top employer of military veterans.

The Reston, Virginia-based organization, which aims to honor those who serve by being a choice employer for the military community, announced on Monday that it has received four recognitions.

Mara Motherway, senior vice president of government and customer relations, commented on the company’s respect for those who have served.

“At Peraton, we understand the value of our veterans, their mission mindset, their expertise, and their commitment to serving a cause greater than themselves. Unleashing their impact as industry experts supporting our government customers requires us to ensure the same sense of community and fellowship that existed in service is available to them.” she said. 

For the second year in a row, Peraton has received the U.S. Department of Labor’s HIRE Vets Gold Medallion. The medallion program, which was created under the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing Veterans Act, is the sole federal award honoring organizations that “demonstrate unparalleled commitment to attracting, hiring and retaining veterans,” as described by the DOL.

Peraton was also recognized by VIQTORY as a 2022-2023 Military Friendly Employer for the second year in a row. Selections for this list were made in accordance with VIQTORY’s standards, which measure an organization’s commitment, effort and success in creating long-lasting and meaningful benefits for the military community.

Additionally, the enterprise earned a spot on Military Times’ Best for Vets: Employers list for its third year in a row. The list is the most involved ranking regarding employers that recruit, retain and support both current and former service members, military spouses and military caregivers.

Peraton also ranked on Military.com’s Top 25 Veteran Employers list, which awarded companies with workforces made up of 10 percent to 47 percent veterans.

Laila Salguero, Peraton’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, expressed Peraton’s gratitude for these honors.

“Receiving this recognition signifies how deeply Peraton’s commitment to veterans is embodied in the culture,” she emphasized.

Last year, the organization established the VALOR ERG, which is dedicated to promoting the development of a diverse and inclusive veteran workforce. Motherway, who is a retired naval officer, serves as VALOR’s executive sponsor.

More recently, Peraton joined forces with the America’s Warrior Partnership, which connects veteran employees to resources, provides education on benefits and opportunities and advocates on behalf of veterans to ensure they receive these benefits, to offer Corporate Veteran Initiative to employees.

FTC Tightens Policy Banning Unfair Competitive Tactics; Lina Khan Quoted
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FTC Tightens Policy Banning Unfair Competitive Tactics; Lina Khan Quoted

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday released a policy statement that it will begin strictly reinforcing an existing rule to penalize companies that use unfair methods of competition.

The agency relaxed its implementation of Section 5 of the FTC Act in 2015, filtering its application based on the “rule of reason” test under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

Section 5 has been in existence since the FTC Act was signed into law in 1914. In 2015, the commission decided that it would not apply the policy if a restraint of trade is deemed economically “reasonable” through prediction.

The new policy statement details how the commission will police unfair tactics in consideration of the continuous evolution of anticompetitive behavior. The decision was made in a 3-1 vote by the commission in favor of restoring the section’s original purpose.

“When Congress created the FTC, it clearly commanded us to crack down on unfair methods of competition. Enforcers have to use discretion, but that doesn’t give us the right to ignore a central part of our mandate,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said.

She added that the statement puts them “on track to faithfully enforce the law as Congress designed.”

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BCG Exec Danny Werfel Nominated as IRS Commissioner
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BCG Exec Danny Werfel Nominated as IRS Commissioner

President Joe Biden has nominated Danny Werfel, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, to lead the Internal Revenue Service as commissioner.

Werfel previously served as acting IRS commissioner and controller at the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration, the White House said Thursday.

His over 15 years of service in the government included time with the Bush administration. He helped implement the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Werfel has been with BCG since 2014 and helped launch the firm’s U.S. public sector practice.

If confirmed, he will succeed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, whose term is set to expire on Nov. 12 after assuming the role in 2018.

In his final statement as head of IRS, Rettig cited some of the efforts the agency has taken during his term, including the expansion of digital services as part of the agency’s information technology modernization strategy.

Biden Administration Proposes Climate Change Reporting Requirement for Federal Contractors
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Biden Administration Proposes Climate Change Reporting Requirement for Federal Contractors

The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would require government contractors to publish their greenhouse gas emissions and reduction goals as well as financial risks from climate change.

The Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule was drafted in an aim to address and mitigate climate risks while fortifying federal supply chains, the White House said Thursday.

Under the draft policy, companies that are awarded more than $50 million in contracts per year would be required to report scope 1 or direct GHG emissions, scope 2 or indirect emissions, and relevant areas of scope 3, which are emissions resulting from activities not controlled or owned by the contractors. Federal suppliers that receive less than $7.5 million in annual contracts would be excluded from the mandate.

Existing third-party standards and systems such as the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures Recommendations and the Science Based Targets Initiative criteria will be employed in the public disclosures.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation would also be amended to accommodate the new rule.

President Joe Biden mentioned the proposed policy at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt. 

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NOAA JPSS-2 Satellite, NASA’s LOFTID Heat Shield Tech Demo Launch Aboard ULA’s Atlas V
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NOAA JPSS-2 Satellite, NASA’s LOFTID Heat Shield Tech Demo Launch Aboard ULA’s Atlas V

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar-orbiting weather satellite and a demonstration of NASA’s heat shield technology took off Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance-built Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System 2 will be called NOAA-21 once it reaches its final orbit and will join the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and NOAA-20 satellites in providing forecasters data to help track climate change and predict extreme weather events as they move around the globe 14 times each day, NASA said Thursday.

According to the space agency, JPSS-2 will begin gathering data a month after liftoff.

After the deployment of the JPSS-2 satellite, NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, also known as LOFTID, autonomously inflated and splashed down off the coast of Hawaii after its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere just over two hours after liftoff.

The space agency said the inflatable LOFTID heat shield, also known as aeroshell, could someday help land payloads on Mars and other planets and return samples and other components to Earth.

A team of researchers will evaluate data from the LOFTID tech demo to assess the performance of the heat shield.

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NSA Recommends Use of Memory-Safety Languages in Software Development
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NSA Recommends Use of Memory-Safety Languages in Software Development

In newly issued guidance, the National Security Agency has recommended that software developers and operators use memory-safe languages and code-hardening techniques to protect computer systems from cyberattacks.

NSA said Thursday that the use of memory-safe languages can help address memory-related issues that cyberthreat actors can exploit to access sensitive information, execute unauthorized codes and cause other deleterious effects on the system.

The agency noted that poor memory management can also result in the potential degradation of software performance, random program crashes and incorrect program results.

“We have to consistently use memory-safe languages and other protections when developing software to eliminate these weaknesses from malicious cyber actors,” said Neal Ziring, cybersecurity technical director at NSA.

The cybersecurity information sheet comes after NSA published a recommended security practices guide intended for software suppliers in collaboration with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

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DOE Requests Info on Approaches to Accelerating Emerging Technology Innovations
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DOE Requests Info on Approaches to Accelerating Emerging Technology Innovations

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science is seeking industry input on a new program aimed at developing fresh approaches to accelerating innovations in artificial intelligence, autonomy, advanced manufacturing and other emerging technologies in support of clean energy development.

A notice posted Tuesday on the Federal Register states that DOE wants to form trans-disciplinary teams of scientists and engineers from national laboratories, the industry and academia to help transform early-stage research into deployable technologies in the marketplace.

The research initiative will focus on key areas of interest to DOE including AI, advanced nuclear technologies, advanced manufacturing, data storage and cybersecurity and quantum information science.

DOE aims to bridge the gap between the technology research and commercialization phases to progress ideas into an innovation continuum.

“Bridging these gaps requires a holistic, ‘end to end’ approach that closely integrates basic scientific and engineering research across multiple disciplines with applied and industrial activities to ensure that innovations reach the marketplace,” the request for information notice states.

Responses are due Dec. 23.

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CBO: FY23 Navy Shipbuilding Plan to Cost $30B to $33B Per Year Over 3 Decades
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CBO: FY23 Navy Shipbuilding Plan to Cost $30B to $33B Per Year Over 3 Decades

A Congressional Budget Office report estimates that the U.S. Navy’s fiscal year 2023 shipbuilding plan to expand its fleet size to between 316 and 367 aircraft carriers, surface combatants, submarines and other battle force ships would cost approximately $30 billion to $33 billion in 2022 dollars annually over three decades.

CBO said Thursday the figures were based on its analysis of three alternative projections of the Navy’s future fleet in the service’s FY 2023 shipbuilding plan.

The alternatives in the plan “would require average annual shipbuilding appropriations that were 23 percent to 35 percent more than the average over the past five years” and the military branch’s total budget would jump to approximately $290 billion in 2052, up from the current $220 billion, according to the CBO report.

According to the report, the Navy would buy more large surface combatants under alternative 1, purchase more submarines under alternative 2 and procure more vessels of all types under alternative 3, except for submarines.

CBO said the military branch would see the firepower of its fleet of ships reduced over the next 10 years but would broaden its missile capability by raising the number of missile cells and fielding them on more vessels under all three alternatives.

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GSA, Partners to Test Solar Tracking, Off-Grid Mobile Charging Tech
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GSA, Partners to Test Solar Tracking, Off-Grid Mobile Charging Tech

The General Services Administration’s Center for Emerging Building Technology is piloting two programs at the Bean Federal Center in Indianapolis to test solar tracking technology and off-grid mobile charging technologies.

GSA said Thursday it is collaborating with the Sandia National Laboratories to pilot a renewable, transportable electric vehicle charging station from BEAM Global and a single-axis solar tracker from Rocking Solar for the Applied Innovation Learning Laboratory program.

BEAM Global’s charging infrastructure combines solar, battery storage and emergency power and can be operated on and off-grid while Rocking Solar’s solar energy system is designed to produce energy for both commercial and industrial buildings.

The AILL pilot programs have reportedly been assembled to support the administration’s goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and transitioning to an all-electric federal fleet by 2035.

“Providing the space for practical testing of sustainable technologies is vital to accelerating the transition to an all-electric fleet and building a cleaner, healthier future for the country,” Nina Albert, commissioner of the public buildings service at GSA.

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