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David McKeown on DOD’s Move to Zero Trust Architecture
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David McKeown on DOD’s Move to Zero Trust Architecture

David McKeown, acting chief information officer at the Department of Defense, said DOD has been working on plans to facilitate its transition to zero trust by fiscal year 2027 and included in that initiative is the establishment of a zero trust portfolio management office, DOD News reported Monday.

The Pentagon recently unveiled the Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap, which outlines efforts to secure the DOD Information Enterprise by reducing the attack surface, facilitating data sharing and enabling risk management.

“With the publication of this strategy we have articulated the ‘how’ that can address clear outcomes of how to get to zero trust — and not only accelerated technology adoption, as discussed, but also a culture of zero trust at DOD and an integrated approach at the department and the component levels,” McKeown said.

According to the report, DOD expects every agency to achieve target level zero trust compliance as outlined in the roadmap.

“If you’re a national security system, we may require the advanced level for those systems,” McKeown said.

“But advanced really isn’t necessary for literally every system out there. We have an aggressive goal getting to ‘targeted’ by 2027. And we want to encourage those who have a greater need to secure their data to adopt this advanced level,” he added.

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AFRL, Partners Eye Dandelion Species as Natural Rubber Source for Producing Aircraft Tires
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AFRL, Partners Eye Dandelion Species as Natural Rubber Source for Producing Aircraft Tires

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is collaborating with three organizations to explore the potential of a variety of dandelions as a local source of natural rubber.

AFRL revealed Monday that it tapped the BioIndustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, Farmed Materials and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for the multimillion-dollar project, which aims to secure the supply chain for aircraft tire production.

The team’s objective is to plant and harvest a dandelion species called Kok-saghyz, or TK, which has been found to produce natural rubber when its roots are crushed.

To execute the multiyear program, the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate’s Manufacturing and Industrial Technologies Division partnered with BioMADE, a public-private manufacturing innovation institute established by the Department of Defense. 

BioMADE subcontracted small business firm Farmed Materials to access its TK dandelion crops. The rubber produced from the crops will be manufactured by Goodyear into aircraft tires tailored to Air Force specifications.

Researchers hope the collective effort will help strengthen the domestic stockpile of natural rubber, currently a major U.S. import.

“We are less than 10 years away from demand [for natural rubber] exceeding supply,” stated Angela Campo, research chemist at AFRL’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate and deputy program manager for BioMADE.

“The Air Force needs a secure supply chain of natural rubber. As we saw during COVID, many shutdowns occurred where many countries were no longer shipping items. Eventually, that picked back up, but we don’t ever want to be in that position of not having a consistent supply of critical materials,” Campo continued.

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Former DHS OPO Deputy Director Juan Arratia Named Executive Director at CISA Contracting Office
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Former DHS OPO Deputy Director Juan Arratia Named Executive Director at CISA Contracting Office

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has appointed Juan Arratia as executive director of its Chief of Contracting Office, Homeland Security Today reported.

Arratia joins COCO from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, where he worked as deputy director of the Office of Procurement Operations.

In his new role, Arratia will lead contracting and procurement strategies and liaise with the OCPO and OPO to ensure that their transactions comply with statutory and regulatory policies.

The former U.S. Marine initially became a contracting officer while in active duty. As a civilian, he held positions at the Acquisition and Procurement Office and the Financial Management and Comptroller of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Navy. He continued his career in government at the Office of Personnel Management, where he served as senior procurement executive.

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Report: Pentagon Considers Plan to Deliver Small Precision Bombs to Ukraine
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Report: Pentagon Considers Plan to Deliver Small Precision Bombs to Ukraine

The Department of Defense is looking at a proposal of Boeing to provide Ukraine with ground-launched small diameter bombs to help the Eastern European country counter Russian attacks amid declining U.S. and allied military inventories, Reuters reported Monday.

Boeing and Saab produce GLSDB, a GPS-guided weapon system composed of the GBU-39 small diameter bomb and the M26 rocket motor that can hit armored vehicles and other targets at a range of about 94 miles.

According to a document obtained by the wire service, GLSDB could be handed over to Ukraine as soon as spring 2023.

Boeing’s proposal to U.S. European Command, which manages the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, would require a price discovery waiver and source main GLSDB components from existing U.S. suppliers.

The news agency said the potential production of the small precision bombs would require at least six vendors to speed up parts delivery to accelerate weapons production.

A spokesperson for Boeing declined to comment. Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, a spokesman for DOD, said the U.S. and its allies “identify and consider the most appropriate systems” that would support Ukraine.

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DARPA-CYBERCOM Pilot Program Seeks to Speed Up Development of Cyber Capabilities for Operational Use
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DARPA-CYBERCOM Pilot Program Seeks to Speed Up Development of Cyber Capabilities for Operational Use

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and U.S. Cyber Command have launched a pilot program that intends to accelerate the delivery of strategic and tactical cybersecurity capabilities to cyber operators.

The Constellation pilot program will establish an iterative, user-directed pipeline to expedite the development and integration of cyber capabilities into CYBERCOM’s software ecosystem, DARPA said Monday.

“To have the greatest operational and strategic impact, these emergent capabilities must reach operators continuously in short timescales, much shorter than legacy acquisition processes,” said Kathleen Fisher, director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office.

“We are optimistic about Constellation’s potential to enable long-term sustainment for rapid cyber capability prototyping and integration. Running Constellation projects in parallel with DARPA development can help us reduce risks and transition timelines and overcome the ‘valley of death,’” added Fisher.

The pilot program will establish a framework and mechanisms to offer physical and virtual infrastructure, contracts and personnel and sustain relationships to help address the gap between operational warfighting capabilities and research and development.

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Treasury Dep Sec Wally Adeyemo Highlights Inflation Reduction Act Investment Opportunities
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Treasury Dep Sec Wally Adeyemo Highlights Inflation Reduction Act Investment Opportunities

Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Department of the Treasury, said the Inflation Reduction Act provides investment opportunities to advance the U.S. clean energy sector. 

In a recent roundtable with clean energy investors and operators, Adeyemo explained that the law works to enable the U.S. to boost the production of existing and new clean technologies and offers targeted bonus incentives to drive clean energy investments in underserved communities, Treasury reported Saturday. 

The department said third-party analysts estimate that the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy incentives will generate trillions of dollars in private sector investment in the energy market over the next decade.

Treasury is hosting a series of roundtable discussions with key stakeholders to gather public comments and inform its implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in August.

In October, Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released six requests for public comments on the implementation of climate and clean energy tax incentives mandated by the law.

The notices focus on energy generation incentives, credit enhancements, incentives for homes and buildings, consumer vehicle credits, manufacturing credits and credit monetization.

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David Wisniewski Appointed Deputy Director of NRO Cyber Security Office
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David Wisniewski Appointed Deputy Director of NRO Cyber Security Office

David Wisniewski, a former U.S. Space Force division chief, has joined the National Reconnaissance Office as its deputy director of the Cyber Security Office, according to a LinkedIn post published Tuesday.

In his new role, Wisniewski will oversee the development of an organization-wide cybersecurity strategy, plan enhancements to the agency’s cyber architecture and define future requirements.

The executive most recently served as division chief at the Space Warfighting and Analysis Center, where he helped develop an approach to creating resilient satellite navigation architectures.

Wisniewski previously held various roles focused on space and cyber programs during his more than 16-year career in the U.S. Air Force and was division chief of the future technologies division within the Space Security and Defense Program. The latter entity is a joint organization that manages space protection efforts across the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.

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Kathleen Henry Joins MITRE as VP of Corporate Finance, Accounting and Treasury; Wilson Wang Quoted
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Kathleen Henry Joins MITRE as VP of Corporate Finance, Accounting and Treasury; Wilson Wang Quoted

Kathleen Henry has been appointed vice president of corporate finance, accounting and treasury at MITRE, where she will manage a $2.2 billion budget.

In this role, Henry will be responsible for MITRE’s company-wide financial planning and budgeting, treasury, financial operations and accounting, the McLean, Virginia-based organization announced on Tuesday.

“I am pleased to welcome Katie to MITRE and know that her skills and vision will be integral to advancing MITRE’s Good Growth strategy while also driving change and transformation,” said Wilson Wang, the organization’s senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer.

Prior to joining MITRE, Henry spent 18 years at Booz Allen Hamilton. In her most recent position as vice president of finance, she oversaw everyday financial operations including strategic planning and forecasting, operational and management reporting and modeling and analysis for the enterprise’s national security portfolio while leading a team of 80 people.

Before assuming her previous role, Henry was the firm’s financial planning head, during which time she managed an $8 billion budget and led its finance transformation program, heading up a complete overhaul of the cost management approach.

While at Booz Allen, the executive created a dynamic infrastructure to organize the company’s cost structure, support processes and enable technologies to adapt to the expansion of Booz Allen’s business areas. Henry additionally led strategic initiatives regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also served as an advisor to senior management on numerous business issues and played an important role in many firm-wide task forces erecting standards for budgeting, reporting and profit loss calculations.

Additionally, Henry was a key developer in the creation of an internal financial management training program for Booz Allen’s finance department.

In 2017, she created and implemented a 26-week junior staff training program for the organization, which now has over 200 employee graduates.

“Katie will bring new insights and innovation to achieve our corporate and financial goals and enhance collaboration across MITRE’s diverse sponsor engagements and project teams,” Wang predicted of Henry’s contributions to MITRE.

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DOE Requests Info on Acquisition, Financial Assistance Forecasting Tool Enhancement
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DOE Requests Info on Acquisition, Financial Assistance Forecasting Tool Enhancement

The Department of Energy has begun seeking information on a program that aims to enhance a web-based tool designed to provide a forecast of contract and financial assistance opportunities across DOE. 

A notice posted Tuesday on SAM.gov states that DOE is looking for industry sources capable of adding new features, such as alerts, artificial intelligence tools, data analytics and vendor management and matching, to the acquisition and financial assistance forecasting tool. 

The DOE Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is collaborating with the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Partnership and Acquisition Services to identify short and long-term improvements to increase the visibility of contract opportunities for companies looking to do business with the agencies.

DOE will use the information from the market research to inform the development of a performance work statement and acquisition strategy. 

Interested parties have until Dec. 21 to respond to the request for information.

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OSTP, Energy Department Call on Electric Utilities to Share More Power Outage Data
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OSTP, Energy Department Call on Electric Utilities to Share More Power Outage Data

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Department of Energy have launched a call to action urging electric utilities and their data system partners to take part in a national initiative by providing standardized power outage data.

DOE’s Outage Data Initiative Nationwide was established through a public-private partnership over the last eight years and is backed by over 60 electric utilities in 26 states, according to a White House blog post published Tuesday.

Denice Ross, U.S. chief data scientist at OSTP, co-wrote the blog post with Tom Wilson, assistant director for electricity at OSTP, and Chris Irwin, program manager at DOE’s office of electricity.

The ODIN data standards seek to facilitate data sharing to provide local emergency responders visibility into outages, speed up response times and save lives.

OSTP and DOE are encouraging utilities to use the ODIN standards to share data by Dec. 9. 

The two agencies will announce the utility companies that have made ODIN data sharing commitments at the White House Electrification Summit on Dec. 14.

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