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Matthew Travis: CMMC Accreditation Body Expects Voluntary Assessments to Begin Soon
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Matthew Travis: CMMC Accreditation Body Expects Voluntary Assessments to Begin Soon

Matthew Travis, CEO of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Accreditation Body, said CMMC voluntary assessments could kick off in the spring of 2022, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

“We’re still pushing to get to the interim voluntary period,” Travis said Tuesday during a town hall hosted. “I hope certainly by the next quarter, and we’ll keep you informed on where we stand on those issues.”

Travis said the body intends to further build up the CMMC ecosystem by recruiting more cybersecurity assessors to meet future demand from defense contractors for third-party assessments.

He noted that the number of trained assessors has increased from 111 to 759 in the past year, including “Certified CMMC Assessors” and “Certified CMMC Professionals.”

“We’re encouraged by these numbers, but we’ve got to do more,” Travis said. “You’re going to be seeing promotional campaigns from us here this spring, to really encourage Americans to think about becoming assessors. It’s a great way to enter the cybersecurity field.”

Travis also provided updates on the CMMC Assessment Process Guide and growth in the number of “licensed training providers” and “registered practitioners.”

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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: ‘Unity of Effort’ Needed in Space Programs
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Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: ‘Unity of Effort’ Needed in Space Programs

Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of Space Systems Command, said “unity of effort” is needed to enable space procurement programs to go in the same direction and speed up the delivery of technological capabilities to warfighters, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

He called the appointment of Claire Leon, former executive at Boeing, as director of the command’s space systems integration office, a “huge win for SSC” and discussed how Leon could help bring that unity of effort to space programs.

Guetlein said Leon, former head of the national security space launch program, will coordinate military space programs across the space enterprise.

“Her job is to do horizontal integration across systems to make sure that we’re actually delivering capabilities,” Guetlein added.

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Rick Ambrose Retires from Lockheed Martin, Joins Textron Board of Directors; CEO Scott Donnelly Quoted
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Rick Ambrose Retires from Lockheed Martin, Joins Textron Board of Directors; CEO Scott Donnelly Quoted

Lockheed Martin exec Richard Ambrose, a six-time Wash100 Award winner, has announced he will be retiring from the company as executive vice president of the space business and moving on to preside on the board of directors of aerospace, defense and finance conglomerate Textron.

The Providence, Rhode Island-based company said Wednesday that Ambrose will begin his new position on April 1st after his retirement from Lockheed Martin, effective on March 1st.

“Richard’s extensive experience in the aerospace and defense industry and with U.S. Government defense programs will be invaluable to Textron,” said Scott Donnelly, Textron chairman and CEO.

Ambrose spent the last nine years helming the space business at Lockheed Martin, which entailed wielding a $12 billion budget and overseeing a staff of 22,000 people in its business transactions with national security, civil and commercial sector clientele.

Within the space department, Ambrose and his team contributed to NASA’s Orion, a spacecraft built for long-duration missions and deep-space exploration with human passengers. They also developed GOES weather satellites that aim to deliver more accurate forecasts.

He began at Lockheed in 2000 in the position of vice president and general manager of ground systems, before ascending to roles such as vice president and general manager of surveillance and navigation systems in the space division, as well as president of information systems and global solutions-national.

Before his time at Lockheed Martin, Ambrose served as president and general manager of space systems at Hughes Information Systems, which was eventually acquired by Raytheon C3I Systems.

Ambrose has served on boards prior to his appointment at Textron, including as a board of trustees member of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a chairman of the board of Sandia National Laboratories and a board member of the Space Foundation.

The executive’s addition to Textron’s board follows the company’s hire of Shannon Hines as senior vice president of government affairs and Washington operations in January.

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Air Force Department in Talks With Foreign Partners on New WGS Satellite Launch
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Air Force Department in Talks With Foreign Partners on New WGS Satellite Launch

The Department of the Air Force is talking with international partners to share costs for the launch of a new wideband satellite, Space News reported Tuesday.

Keith Anderson, business and financial manager for military satcom international partners at U.S. Space Systems Command, said DAF and its partners on the Wideband Global Satcom system discussed cost management for the new WGS-11+ satellite’s launch.

Congress had to add $600 million for WGS-11+, as the Pentagon originally planned to purchase 10 WGS satellites. DAF awarded Boeing a $605 million contract modification in 2019 for the 11th WGS satellite, which is scheduled for launch in 2024.

Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Luxembourg compose DAF’s international partners for the WGS program. DAF also formed a separate, bilateral agreement with the government of Australia, which did not sign the program’s multilateral agreement on launch costs.

The U.S. Space Force announced the completion of WGS-11+’s critical design review earlier this month.

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Col. Toby Magsig: Project Convergence Aims to Give Commanders More Options
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Col. Toby Magsig: Project Convergence Aims to Give Commanders More Options

Col. Toby Magsig, deputy exercise director for Project Convergence, said the exercise’s goal is to provide a commander with more options on the battlefield.

Project Convergence 2021, which took place between October and November, demonstrated the results of combining multiple information sources in a joint all-domain command and control approach, the Army said Tuesday.

“It’s about simultaneity – bringing in multiple technologies to be able to work together to create multiple dilemmas for our enemy,” Magsig said.

The colonel and other leaders from Army Futures Command shared their insights from PC21 with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“We’ve got to get seamless between the Joint Force so that you can pass data quickly between one legacy system or one weapon system to another regardless of what Service,” said Lt. Gen. James Richardson, Army Futures Command’s acting commanding general.

The Army plans to conduct Project Convergence 2022 this fall to exhibit combined, joint all-domain operations. PC22 will apply advanced technologies including autonomy, artificial intelligence and robotics to accelerate decision making.

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NIST Calls for Public Comments on Planned Cybersecurity Framework Revision
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NIST Calls for Public Comments on Planned Cybersecurity Framework Revision

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking public feedback on the potential revisions to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework that sets standards and best practices for safeguarding critical infrastructure for both the public and private sectors.

NIST is requesting comments on how the framework is being used by organizations and how it can be updated to address supply chain risks and adapt to the evolving cybersecurity threat landscape, the agency said Tuesday.

Specifically, NIST wants information on the usefulness of the framework for supporting organizations’ cybersecurity efforts and ways to align the updated framework with other risk management resources.

The industry is also urged to comment on how the NIST Cybersecurity Framework could support the recently launched National Initiative for Improving Cybersecurity in Supply Chains.

In a request for information, NIST said the cybersecurity domain has significantly changed in terms of capabilities, technologies and threats since the agency first updated the framework in 2018.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was launched in 2014 to give guidance to organizations on how to identify, respond and mitigate cybersecurity threats facing their information systems.

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Former JAIC, AFRC Leader Douglas Drakeley Appointed to SambaNova Systems Advisory Board
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Former JAIC, AFRC Leader Douglas Drakeley Appointed to SambaNova Systems Advisory Board

Technology company SambaNova Systems has added Retired Colonel Douglas Drakeley, formerly of the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, to its advisory board.

In his board position, Drakeley will lend knowledge from a diverse, nearly 40-year career in military, hardware and finance, among others, to assist SambaNova with AI and machine learning efforts, the company said in a LinkedIn post on February 19.

Drakeley shared his anticipation for the new opportunity, adding, “Data sets and AI workloads continue to grow in size and complexity. At the same time, they are becoming more important to mission success.”

The retired Colonel feels SambaNova is uniquely equipped to tackle AI and machine learning challenges and thus aid in decision-making practices.

After working for companies such as Microsoft, DST Systems and InfoPros, Drakeley spent 10 years at the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, where he was director of intelligence. In this position, he notched an achievement as commander of the first intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group in the AFRC.

In addition, Drakeley oversaw the introduction and intensification of AI throughout the DoD in his most recent job as industry outreach officer for the JAIC. There he liaised with businesses in Silicon Valley in order to help them make inroads in the DoD.

Drakeley has also worked in the manufacturing, telecommunications and broadband industries and is proficient in sales and customer satisfaction. As of February 2022, he is a chief coach at administration development company Always Be Leadership.

SambaNova has announced a wave of new appointments over the last eight months, including Matt Taylor as vice president of strategic sales and partnerships, Prabhdeep Singh as vice president of software development and Poonacha Kongetira as vice president of hardware in September 2021.

Amy Love also joined the company in the newly created role of chief marketing officer and Wade Sheen was appointed an advisory board member, both in July 2021.

The company released a study in January 2022 that, after polling 600 AI professionals, forecasts AI and machine learning as major revenue drivers for the calendar year.

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Robert Califf Rejoins FDA as Commissioner; Xavier Becerra Quoted
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Robert Califf Rejoins FDA as Commissioner; Xavier Becerra Quoted

Robert Califf, who served as commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration from February 2016 to January 2017, officially returned to the agency Thursday as its top official after serving as head of medical strategy at Google’s parent company Alphabet.

The prominent cardiologist was nominated by President Biden to the FDA leadership post in November 2021 and confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 15 through a 50-46 vote.

“The FDA is one of our nation’s most critical public health agencies and having a commissioner with Dr. Califf’s experience and expertise will ensure we are well positioned to combat COVID-19, the opioid crisis, and many other public health challenges,” Xavier Becerra, HHS secretary and previous Wash100 Award recipient, said in a statement released Thursday.

Califf initially led the agency under the Obama administration and was the agency’s deputy commissioner of medical products and tobacco before his promotion.

He joined Alphabet in November 2019 from his prior role as vice chancellor for clinical and translational research at Duke University, where he also taught medicine as an adjunct professor.

A clinical trial specialist, Califf has more than 1,300 biomedical science publications in the peer-reviewed literature.

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Maj. Gen. Matthew Easley Named DOD Deputy Principal Info Operations Adviser
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Maj. Gen. Matthew Easley Named DOD Deputy Principal Info Operations Adviser

Maj. Gen. Matt Easley, who most recently served as director of cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the U.S. Army, has taken on a new assignment as deputy principal information operations adviser at the Department of Defense.

Easley will work in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and advise Defense Secretary and 2022 Wash100 Award  recipient Lloyd Austin on IO-related matters.

Raj Iyer, CIO of the Army and a Wash100 awardee, announced Easley’s move in a LinkedIn post Tuesday.

“Matt has set us up on an awesome path to zero trust for both IT and Operational Technology. The Army’s FISMA scorecard under his leadership is the best across the entire DoD,” Iyer wrote.

Easley assumed the CISO role at the service branch in September 2020 and received promotion to the rank of major general in December of the same year.

He delivered a closing keynote address to the Potomac Officers Club’s “The Cost of AI” event on Nov. 9, 2021, and spoke about the challenges defense agencies face as they strive to implement enterprise-level, AI-based technology. Visit the POC Events page to hear his full speech on-demand.

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Marine Corps Launches Microsoft O365 SaaS Application Development Challenge
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Marine Corps Launches Microsoft O365 SaaS Application Development Challenge

The U.S. Marine Corps is inviting uniformed and civilian Marine personnel to participate in a challenge to develop Microsoft Office 365 software-as-a-service applications to improve readiness, productivity and mission effectiveness. 

The 2022 Microsoft O365 SaaS Application Development Innovation Challenge will run from February to June and the Marine Corps is encouraging participants to consider building apps that support the service’s Talent Management 2030 program, according to a solicitation notice posted Feb. 14th. 

The challenge will be carried out in three phases and the initial phase will focus on planning and registration. Phase 2 will be the execution phase and Phase 3 will be evaluation and award.

The second phase includes two stages: training and SaaS application development. Demonstration of apps will occur in the third phase. Participants should submit their proposed ideas by Feb. 28th.

The Marine Corps’ information and knowledge management steering group will review the completed applications based on applicability and ease of use, among other criteria, and select the top 10 applications by June 16th. 

Developers will demonstrate their selected apps from June 20th to 24th and the military branch will announce the challenge’s three winners by June 30th.

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