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Zero Trust, Network Modernization Projects at 3 Agencies to Get TMF Investments; Clare Martorana Quoted
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Zero Trust, Network Modernization Projects at 3 Agencies to Get TMF Investments; Clare Martorana Quoted

The latest tranche of Technology Modernization Fund investments will support network upgrades and zero trust implementation at the departments of Agriculture and Homeland Security and the Federal Trade Commission.

“This Administration is on a path to aggressively invest in defenses and shift from outdated perimeter-based defenses to a ‘zero trust’ approach that confronts our adversaries’ capabilities and intent,” Clare Martorana, federal chief information officer and chair of the TMF Board, said in a statement published Tuesday.

“These investments will implement robust multifactor authentication, encrypt government data, quickly detect and contain adversary activity, and continuously identify and remediate vulnerabilities,” added Martorana, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner.

USDA will get $64 million in TMF funding to build a unified network to support and improve the cybersecurity posture of the Food Safety and Inspection Service and other program offices as part of the USDANet modernization project.

DHS will receive an investment of $26.9 million to update its Homeland Security Information Network through the adoption of a cloud-native platform to facilitate information sharing among law enforcement, first responders, government partners and the private sector.

FTC will buy a security operations center as a service using $3.9 million in TMF funds to implement a zero trust architecture as part of efforts to safeguard sensitive data and speed up response to cyberattacks.

The three agencies intend to repay the TMF funds by the end of fiscal year 2028.

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JAIC Taps BlackSky to Implement Data Platform, Meet DOD AI Needs; Patrick O’Neil Quoted
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JAIC Taps BlackSky to Implement Data Platform, Meet DOD AI Needs; Patrick O’Neil Quoted

BlackSky Technologies has secured a five-year basic order agreement worth up to $241 million from the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to deploy their dynamic monitoring platform for AI models and applications.

The terms of the BOA expect BlackSky to develop and facilitate data sets that broadly benefit the U.S. Department of Defense’s AI strategies, the Herndon, Virginia-based geospatial intelligence company said Tuesday.

“This agreement will open even more doors for BlackSky to contribute its unique value to the diverse national security challenges faced by the wider DoD community,” asserted Patrick O’Neil, chief innovation officer at BlackSky.

The contract marks JAIC’s interest in BlackSky’s range of capabilities, which include automatically programming satellites, space-based fluctuation monitoring and low-latency production and analysis of high-frequency geospatial imagery and non-imagery information.

Recently merged with the Defense Digital Service and the Office of Advancing Analytics, JAIC now operates under the unified umbrella of the Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer.

BlackSky’s team is currently working under a five-year BPA from NASA to supply high revisit satellite imaging data of Earth observations until 2026.

In May, it was announced the company won a spot on a 10-year, multi-billion dollar National Reconnaissance Office contract alongside Maxar and Planet to enable enhanced transparency, situational awareness and humanitarian aid through commercial imagery and commercial remote sensing data.

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NOAA Selects ASRC Federal Business for Satellite Operations and Maintenance Support; Jennifer Felix Quoted
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NOAA Selects ASRC Federal Business for Satellite Operations and Maintenance Support; Jennifer Felix Quoted

An arm of ASRC Federal has won a potential five-year, $44 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to conduct repair and functionality assistance services on a ground satellite system.

Under the Fairbanks Command and Data Acquisition Station Operations and Maintenance Support Services contract, Netcentric Technology commenced set-up, modifications and administration of specialized satellite equipment on June 1, the subsidiary said Tuesday.

The contract’s work will be carried out at the FCDAS facilities in Fairbanks, Alaska, which ASRC CEO and President Jennifer Felix attests is a vital federal resource that runs at every hour of the day, each day of the week, even during emergencies and extreme weather conditions.

“We are honored to continue our work on this important mission, and grateful for this validation of our team’s experience, contributions and previous success,” shared Felix, who is also a previous recipient of the Wash100 Award.

At the FCDAS satellite depot, Netcentric and ASRC Federal will provide upkeep services for the buildings, transportation equipment, roads and infrastructure that make the satellites possible. Their efforts are expected to directly aid the FCDAS facilities’ mission to gather meteorological and environmental data via polar-orbiting satellites.

The site is additionally a substitute for the principle NOAA geostationary satellite ground headquarters.

Netcentric is currently performing engineering and operations support for Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico through 2029 under a U.S. Air Force contract. Their team is executing general management, installation and emergency management services for the base’s civil engineering work under this $380 million contract, not dissimilar from its newly awarded NOAA contract.

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SpyCloud Appoints Joel Bagnal as Federal Director; CEO Ted Ross Quoted
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SpyCloud Appoints Joel Bagnal as Federal Director; CEO Ted Ross Quoted

Spycloud announced on Monday that Joel Bagnal as its new director of federal business with the company to lead the expansion in its government practice by connecting its leading-edge solutions and intelligence to support the intel community, defense agencies and law enforcement.

“The hiring of Joel Bagnal to lead SpyCloud’s federal efforts is a huge step forward for the company. Joel’s comprehensive experience working in the highest levels of government makes him an invaluable addition to the SpyCloud team,” said Ted Ross, CEO & co-founder of SpyCloud.

Previously, Joel Bagnal has served in a wide range of cybersecurity and leadership positions, which includes acting as a senior advisor to the President of the United States during the Obama administration.

Over his career, Bagnal has also been the Principal Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, Chairman of the Homeland Security Council Deputies Committee, and Co-Chair of the Counterterrorism Security Group.

With SpyCloud’s expertise in analytical and investigative support to the federal government, Joel Bagnal’s history and experience on combatting terrorism, emergency management preparedness and planning, continuity of government, incident management, public health and medical preparedness and information sharing.

“The current state of global relations shines a light on the need to secure every potential attack vector in government. Joel brings unique, quality expertise that will further SpyCloud’s position as a trusted partner to U.S. government agencies as they seek to protect their most critical assets,” Ted Ross added.

About SpyCloud

SpyCloud transforms recaptured data to protect businesses from cyberattacks. Its products leverage a proprietary engine that collects, curates, enriches and analyzes data from the criminal underground, driving action so enterprises can proactively prevent account takeover and ransomware, and protect their business and consumers from online fraud.

Its unique data from breaches, malware-infected devices, and other underground sources also powers many popular dark web monitoring and identity theft protection offerings. SpyCloud customers include half of the ten largest global enterprises, mid-size companies, and government agencies around the world.

DOE Invests $61M to Advance Nuclear Energy Research Efforts
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DOE Invests $61M to Advance Nuclear Energy Research Efforts

The Department of Energy has allocated a total of $61 million to fund 74 university-led projects targeting nuclear energy advancement.

The projects were initiated by over 40 universities located across the U.S and were intended to support three focus areas, the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy said Friday.

Forty-nine awards amounting to $53 million will support the research and development of nuclear systems.

DOE awarded $5.2 million to help 20 universities expand scientific infrastructure and modernize research reactors and selected five university scientists to receive $3.1 million in total grants for their work under the department’s Distinguished Early-Career Program.

The latest awards bring the amount DOE has invested in nuclear energy research and professional training since 2009 to more than $931 million.

DCSA Renames Defense Consolidated Adjudications Facility
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DCSA Renames Defense Consolidated Adjudications Facility

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has changed the name of its organization that determines whether Department of Defense military and civilian personnel are eligible to handle classified government information or assume a national security-related sensitive position.

The move to rebrand the DOD Consolidated Adjudications Facility as DCSA Consolidated Adjudication Services will not affect its organizational structure and process, the agency said Friday.

Marianna Martineau, assistant director for adjudications at DCSA, will continue to oversee the process.

Her team performed more than 836,000 personnel security, credentialing and suitability actions during fiscal year 2021, according to the agency’s annual report.

DCSA absorbed the now-former CAF in October 2019 as part of the Pentagon’s vetting enterprise realignment initiative.

New Space Force Intelligence Unit to Operate From Wright-Patterson AFB
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New Space Force Intelligence Unit to Operate From Wright-Patterson AFB

The U.S. Space Force will stand up the National Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio where it will operate to analyze space domain threats to the U.S., SpaceNews reported Monday.

The upcoming space intelligence center will be managed by Space Delta 18– a new Space Force unit– and will have Col. Marqus Randall as commander.

The space intelligence community will gain support from the Space Delta 18, with Space Force intelligence analysts working to analyze raw data and identify and evaluate usable intelligence from different sources.

Transferring the Space Analysis Squadron and Counter-Space Analysis Squadron of the National Air and Space Intelligence Center to the Space Force will lead to the establishment of NSIC.

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Lindsey Saul on DLA’s Enterprise Data Management, Information Visualization Evaluation Efforts
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Lindsey Saul on DLA’s Enterprise Data Management, Information Visualization Evaluation Efforts

Lindsey Saul, chief data and analytics officer at the Defense Logistics Agency, said DLA is working to build up an enterprise data management division to raise the agency’s data maturity level from two to three, Federal News Network reported Monday.

“In today’s day and age, where data is is deemed a weapon — or they even say data analytics platform is almost like a weapon system of the future for the Department of Defense — we really need to be prepared and equipped to have access to our data very quickly, be able to understand our data, and not do what we’ve done in the past, which is really rely on a single person who has all of the knowledge,” Saul said during a webinar Thursday.

“And instead, we need to make sure that it’s well documented, we have the right data dictionaries in place, the correct metadata and metadata management tools to link the lineage of the data to the present day,” she added.

Saul discussed how data management and access enabled DLA to speed up the development of applications in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine crisis.

She also cited DLA’s work on the Information Visualization Evaluation program using the Department of Defense’s Advana analytics tool and how the initiative provides the agency with insights over the logistics of fuels, operational rations and other items.

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Battelle Seeks to Eliminate Source of Contaminated Drinking Water With Closed-Loop Tech
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Battelle Seeks to Eliminate Source of Contaminated Drinking Water With Closed-Loop Tech

Battelle expects to be operational by June 2023 at least four units of a closed-loop, on-site platform designed to destroy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in contaminated water.

The PFAS Annihilator can target and remove the source of contaminated drinking water by breaking down PFAS chemicals to non-detectable levels using the supercritical water oxidation process, the nonprofit research and development company said Sunday.

Also known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS are used in non-stick cookware, food packaging, paint, cosmetics and other industrial and consumer products but are capable of resisting water, heat and oil, making them hard to eliminate from the environment.

Battelle said its platform will be deployed in North Carolina in the summer to destroy PFAS in firefighting foam, also called aqueous film forming foam.

In March, Battelle performed a pilot demonstration of the technology at a wastewater treatment facility run by Heritage-Crystal Clean in Michigan and showed the capability of the platform in eradicating PFAS in landfill leachate.

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House Armed Services Panel to Consider Chairman’s Mark for FY 2023 NDAA
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House Armed Services Panel to Consider Chairman’s Mark for FY 2023 NDAA

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has released his proposed fiscal year 2023 defense policy bill that would authorize $772.5 billion in funding for the Department of Defense.

HASC is set to consider Smith’s FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, June 22, the House panel said Monday.

“This mark supports investments in the alliances and partnerships that the United States needs to help meet these challenges, including more than $6 billion in funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and nearly $4 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative,” Smith said.

The proposal supports a 4.6 percent salary increase for warfighters and authorizes $131.3 billion in research and development funding across the national security enterprise, according to a summary of the chairman’s mark.

The measure would codify and make permanent DOD’s Mentor-Protege program to improve the defense industrial base’s resiliency, require a report on the supply chain for the Improved Turbine Engine program and enhance sustainment planning for major weapon systems acquisitions.

The bill would require the secretary of DOD to submit a plan with regard to the expansion of the Shared Early Warning System program to additional countries and assess the department’s hypersonic testing infrastructure.

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