/
DOE Selects 10 Projects to Develop Next-Generation Data Management, Visualization Tools
Published on
DOE Selects 10 Projects to Develop Next-Generation Data Management, Visualization Tools

The Department of Energy has selected 10 projects to advance big data movement and analysis and develop data management and visualization tools.

DOE said Thursday it will invest a total of $23.9 million in the projects over a period of three years to address challenges in managing data sets produced by scientific experiments and supercomputers.

Data management projects will focus on optimizing the management of data that must be moved and analyzed using machine learning and other mathematical techniques. Supported research will also advance the use of smart storage and networking hardware to improve the efficiency of data processing.

Moreover, projects to advance visualization techniques include research on new approaches to creating informative and interactive visualization of complex scientific data supporting DOE’s mission space.

“These efforts will enable data to be processed and stored at higher rates across the edge, cloud, and high-performance computing environments, and develop new visualization methods to explore that data, form hypotheses, and convey conclusions to a broad spectrum of audiences,” said Barbara Helland, associate director of science for advanced scientific computing research at DOE. 

/
Construction Begins on New National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence in Ohio
Published on
Construction Begins on New National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence in Ohio

The construction of the new National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in Ohio has begun with a groundbreaking ceremony held on Aug. 23.

The $9.35 million NAAMCE will support the development of electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles and other advanced air mobility initiatives of the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA and the Ohio Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center, AFRL reported Thursday.

AFRL will use the center to advance the Air Force’s Agility Prime research and development project aimed at accelerating the development of commercial eVTOL aircraft.

“What AFWERX has done with Agility Prime is they have capitalized on the fast-paced industry technology advancements, and they have followed it up trying to nest the military requirement and a piece of it and not hindering in any way the commercial development,” said Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of AFRL.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Reps. Mike Turner, Warren Davidson and Mike Carey and other local government officials.

In a separate announcement, Turner said the NAAMCE will strengthen Ohio’s defense sector and create new opportunities to facilitate economic growth in the Springfield region.

/
Pentagon Releases Action Plan to Mitigate, Respond to Civilian Harm
Published on
Pentagon Releases Action Plan to Mitigate, Respond to Civilian Harm

The Department of Defense has released a new action plan outlining a series of efforts aimed at mitigating civilian harm during future combat operations and exercises.

Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, directed the development of the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan to enhance the Pentagon’s approach to considering, assessing and responding to civilian harm resulting from military operations, DOD reported Thursday.

In a memorandum issued in January, Austin also ordered the establishment of a Civilian Protection Center of Excellence to institutionalize the advancement of knowledge and tools designed to prevent civilian casualties during combat.

The CoE is expected to achieve full operational capability by fiscal year 2025.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said DOD will work to incorporate civilian harm mitigation into military education, training and exercises as part of the action plan’s implementation.

“We envision the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence actually leading much of that and ensuring that this type of curriculum and these types of lessons learned are built into the education process of our military officers and civilians,” Ryder said.

/
ARPA-E Acting Director Jennifer Gerbi Discusses High-Risk, High-Reward Investments
Published on
ARPA-E Acting Director Jennifer Gerbi Discusses High-Risk, High-Reward Investments

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy funds high-risk, high-reward projects based on the significance and urgency of the problems they aim to solve, Jennifer Gerbi, acting director at ARPA-E, said in an interview aired Wednesday.

Appearing on the news program Government Matters, Gerbi discussed the agency’s detailed selection process, which involves different levels of internal and external reviews and empowered directors.

Gerbi provided an overview of their two funding models. The focused model involves an individual director “that decides what problem to solve and why.” This model also entails pressure testing of ideas at multiple points before being pitched to the agency.

The open model, on the other hand, is conducted every three years to allow a broader range of applicants to submit proposals as long as they are aligned with the agency’s mission. This model “enables us to [discover] areas that we had no idea existed, or solutions in a space where we don’t have focused models,” Gerbi explained. ARPA-E also offers small business innovation research seedling grants as part of its open-door program.

Once the project is awarded, ARPA-E has “substantial involvement” with the teams, conducting quarterly reviews of project milestones and work plans. It also helps identify a first market to help new and obscure technologies move forward, Gerbi told Government Matters.

ARPA-E was founded in 2009 and has since funded more than 1,000 projects on energy efficiency, resiliency and sustainability. The agency recently invested in proposals for carbon-neutral buildings and battery improvement technology.

Gerbi noted that return on investment in ARPA-E is manifested in the “technologies that exist now that didn’t exist before that are moving forward.”

/
NIST Report Cites Metrology, Standardization as Key Semiconductor Industry Challenges
Published on
NIST Report Cites Metrology, Standardization as Key Semiconductor Industry Challenges

A National Institute of Standards and Technology report describes seven “grand challenges” that U.S. semiconductor producers should address to strengthen domestic market competitiveness and leadership.

The report centered around standardization, metrology, modeling and simulation in microelectronics design, manufacturing and packaging, NIST said Thursday.

“The measurement challenges impacting the U.S. semiconductor industry are at a critical stage and must be addressed if we are to ensure U.S. leadership in this important sector,” NIST Director Laurie Locascio remarked.

The grand challenges are the agency’s recommendations to improve each of the following areas:

  • Metrology for materials purity, properties and provenance
  • Advanced metrology for future microelectronics manufacturing
  • Enabling metrology for integrating components in advanced packaging
  • Metrology to enhance security and provenance of microelectronic-based components and products
  • Modeling and simulating semiconductor materials, designs, and components
  • Modeling and simulating semiconductor manufacturing processes
  • Standardizing new materials, processes, and equipment for microelectronics

As part of its research, NIST sought input from more than 800 industry, government and academic representatives who attended agency-hosted Semiconductor Metrology Workshops. The Department of Commerce also posted a request for information to gather data for the study.

The publication comes less than a month after President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law that includes a provision for the institute to facilitate research and development projects in the metrology discipline to help companies advance microelectronics technology.

/
CBO Identifies More Than 100 Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations for FY 2022
Published on
CBO Identifies More Than 100 Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations for FY 2022

A Congressional Budget Office report has found 111 authorizations of appropriations that are set to expire before the end of fiscal year 2022 and of those authorizations, 99 are for definite amounts valued at approximately $807 billion.

CBO said in the report published Wednesday that funding for expired authorizations rose by $26 billion to $461 billion in 2022, up 6 percent from the previous year’s figure of $435 billion.

The agency found that the $461 billion in FY 2022 appropriations can be linked to 422 expired authorizations in 163 laws.

According to the report, $353 billion of the total $461 billion can be attributed to specified authorizations, while the $107 billion can be associated with indefinite authorizations.

About 44 percent of expired authorizations of appropriations that CBO identified expired more than 10 years ago. CBO also found 1,118 authorizations of appropriations that expired prior to the start of the current fiscal year.

The agency determined expired and expiring authorizations of appropriations under a three-phase process: reviewing newly enacted laws; cataloging authorizations in the Legislative Classification System; and identifying appropriations for expired authorizations.

/
NSA, ODNI, CISA Offer Supply Chain Security Guidance for Software Developers
Published on
NSA, ODNI, CISA Offer Supply Chain Security Guidance for Software Developers

The National Security Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have issued guidance outlining best practices that developers can adopt to secure the software supply chain.

The guidance document titled Securing the Software Supply Chain for Developers recommends ways on how developers can develop secure code, harden the build environment, verify third-party components and deliver the code, NSA said Thursday.

For the secure code development aspect, the document recommends several measures to mitigate the risks of intentional or unintentional use of malicious code in a project. 

Recommended practices include implementing a well-balanced authenticated source code check-in process, performing nightly builds with security and regression tests and mapping features to requirements.

The Enduring Security Framework, a public-private working group led by CISA and NSA, developed the document and intends to introduce versions of the guidance for supplier and customer software.

/
DIU Solicits Proposals for Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities Program
Published on
DIU Solicits Proposals for Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities Program

The Defense Innovation Unit has asked industry stakeholders to propose commercial hypersonic vehicles that could be used in high-cadence testing and assessment of new hypersonic technologies.

DIU said the system should come with several capabilities, such as the capacity to enable long-endurance testing of hypersonic platforms and related components, detection and tracking sensors; communications systems and components; environmental sensors; and guidance, navigation and control systems and components.

The proposed platform for the agency’s Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities requirement should meet a number of criteria, including Mach 5+ with a maneuverable and non-ballistic flight profile and a method for collecting near real-time data on the performance of in-flight vehicles and subsystems to meet design, research, testing and assessment objectives.

Interested vendors may submit multiple proposals and should include in their solution briefs their proposed systems engineering approach, technical and programmatic risks, operational or deployable restrictions and proposed schedule to first flight.

Proposals are due Sept. 16th.

//
Guidehouse Exponential Growth Prompts Recognition as a Fastest Growing Firm; CEO Scott McIntyre Quoted
Published on
Guidehouse Exponential Growth Prompts Recognition as a Fastest Growing Firm; CEO Scott McIntyre Quoted

Consulting services firm Guidehouse — which collaborates with both the private and public sectors — has been designated as one of the year’s fastest growing organizations by Consulting Magazine.

The recognition singles out firms that have demonstrated exceptional revenue growth throughout the past three years and are seen as surefire growth achievers in the near future, the McLean, Virginia-based company said Monday.

“Being named again to Consulting Magazine’s Fastest Growing Firms is an incredible honor and a direct reflection of our people – their focus, innovation, and dedication,” remarked Scott McIntyre, CEO of Guidehouse.

McIntyre, who is a six-time Wash100 Award recipient, went on to further compliment the organization’s staff, whose diverse backgrounds and experiences he said are channeled to assist customers tackle an array of elaborate challenges.

Guidehouse’s expansion efforts were epitomized in the relocation of its headquarters to a newly designed building in McLean over the last year. The facilities are built to fit the workforce’s needs post-pandemic and are seen as an attraction that aids retention and redeployment.

The firm’s growth that was celebrated by the Consulting Magazine listing has been both organic and inorganic. Guidehouse currently employs over 13,000 people.

2022 has not been lacking for signs of the firm’s continued push for new business and initiatives. It teamed up with TechSur Solutions for a mentor-protégé joint venture in June. Earlier that same month, Guidehouse earned a Data for Diplomacy award from the U.S. Department of State for its data analytics work with the department.

Solicitation of Government Contractors by Union Organizers Permitted in GSA Facilities Under New Ruling
Published on
Solicitation of Government Contractors by Union Organizers Permitted in GSA Facilities Under New Ruling

In keeping with the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to show its support for organized labor, the U.S. General Services Administration has instituted a rule that allows for solicitation by union organizers in spaces dedicated to government contracting.

Through the new edict, union advocates will now be permitted to recruit commercial government contractors on behalf of union groups within the bounds of GSA facilities in the hopes of educating, promoting and advocating to the industry members about the potential benefits of union membership, GSA said Friday.

“Today’s rule removes barriers to worker organizing and collective bargaining for federal contractors, allowing union membership to become more accessible,” commented Robin Carnahan, administrator of GSA.

Carnahan also indicated that the move could serve as an economic equalizer that diminishes hierarchy and elite social structures.

The new decree is effective immediately. Its launch comes with a public comment period of 60 days, during which GSA will accept feedback and gather information on how to proceed and adjust the ruling and others like it.

The ruling asserts that labor entities who are attempting to represent government contractors conducting their jobs in GSA facilities are not barred by the law that prevents solicitation, posting or dispersal of promotional materials on the property that applies to other self-interested parties. 

It came about after the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment submitted a recommendation. The task force was formed via Executive Order 14025.

1 … 822 823 824 825 826 … 2,703