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Joint Interoperability Test Command to Establish IT Testing Facility; Capt. Robert Matthias Quoted
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Joint Interoperability Test Command to Establish IT Testing Facility; Capt. Robert Matthias Quoted

The Department of Defense’s Joint Interoperability Test Command held a groundbreaking on May 17 for a $35 million facility at Fort Huachuca in Arizona as part of efforts to expand JITC’s capability to test and evaluate information technology and national security systems in support of joint warfighting requirements.

“Today’s groundbreaking of our new 40,422 square foot Test and Evaluation Facility shows this country’s commitment to JITC’s contribution, and the forward lean the DOD must make toward advancing joint capabilities, forging alliances and embracing critical innovation,” Navy Capt. Robert Matthias, commander of JITC, said in a statement published Wednesday.

“We are proud to be a part of the leading-edge in modernizing information technology and national security systems to join greater forces and overcome pacing threats,” Matthias added.

The planned test and evaluation facility will accommodate over 600 personnel, provide access to classified open storage areas for collaborative testing environments, house 229 server cabinets, serve as a redundancy backup for networking services across the campus and integrate with the distributed network control center and related facilities.

Construction work will kick off in June and the new facility is expected to open in early 2024.

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Verizon Publishes Annual Report on Cybersecurity Trends; Hans Vestberg Quoted
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Verizon Publishes Annual Report on Cybersecurity Trends; Hans Vestberg Quoted

Verizon has released its annual report analyzing cybersecurity crimes and patterns in system vulnerabilities across the world.

The 2022 edition of the Data Breach Investigations Report found that ransomware intrusions grew by 13 percent in one year, which amounts to more than the increases in the statistic in the prior five years combined, the telecommunications company said Tuesday.

Hans Vestberg, CEO and chairman of Verizon, posited that while many societal shifts over the preceding years of the pandemic have affected businesses, cybersecurity presents the most pressing area for evolution and change.

“As we continue to accelerate toward an increasingly digitized world, effective technological solutions, strong security frameworks, and an increased focus on education will all play their part in ensuring that businesses remain secure, and customers protected,” Vestberg remarked.

The Data Breach Investigations Report also reflected an overwhelming amount of cyber attacks coming from organized crime; external bad actors were four times more likely to stage a breach than an inside source.

The report additionally confirmed the surplus of supply chain issues that have gripped the business world over the past year, some of which are visible in cybersecurity incidents. 62 percent of system interceptions were perpetrated by a company’s partner, due to the fact that successfully imperiling a business partner can be a force multiplier for cybercriminals.

Based on the study’s findings, the human factor remains the most likely reason an organization’s system is cyber compromised. 82 percent of breaches were due not to a technological weakness but a human mistake, misuse of privilege or a social engineering incident. The latter category alone accounted for 25 percent of breaches.

“While the report has evolved, the fundamentals of security remain the same. Assess your exposure, mitigate your risk, and take appropriate action,” said Dave Hylender, lead author of the DBIR.

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Deltek Releases 13th Annual Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study; GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico Quoted
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Deltek Releases 13th Annual Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study; GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico Quoted

Deltek announced the release of the 13th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study on Wednesday to identify and share the current trends and market outlooks in the government contracting (GovCon) sector.

After collecting survey responses from over 650 members of the GovCon community, Deltek has revealed their findings to help government contractors address the biggest challenges impacting business development, risk management, financial compliance, manufacturing, contract management & procurement, human capital management and IT professionals.

“The challenges companies reported include growing in headcount while facing increased competition, citing business development and digital integration of functions as key areas of growth and investment,” said GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of Information Solutions at Deltek and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient.

After this year’s surveys and information collection, Deltek revealed that business development has emerged as a critical investment area for the GovCon sector and diversification among the new markets has been used by federal organizations to drive organic topline growth.

In addition, Deltek learned that the manufacturing sector is undergoing digital transformation efforts as a critical growth area with more than 60 percent of respondents mentioned supply chain issues as one of the greatest challenges and risk concerns as well as the complexity to underscore the need for technology and contract management integration.

“This year, we heard from many businesses that although 2021 was not a superb year, results moving into 2022 were surprisingly positive with increased win rates expected,” said  GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of Information Solutions at Deltek and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient.

The full results are now available in the report here, or watch this on-demand webinar to learn more about the study.

About Deltek 

Better software means better projects. Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for project-based businesses. More than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek for superior levels of project intelligence, management and collaboration.

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NASA Taps National Academy of Sciences for Space Research Work
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NASA Taps National Academy of Sciences for Space Research Work

The National Academy of Sciences in Washington D.C. will provide space-related research and advisory services to NASA under a five-year, $32 million contract.

NAS will commence work on June 1 under the Strategic Advice Supporting NASA Science and Technology Programs contract, the agency said Wednesday.

The nonprofit organization will explore items of national importance that fall under space, biological, physical and Earth science disciplines.

Work under the SASNSTP indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract includes support for decadal surveys and advice on various space applications.

Congress formed the academy in March 1863 under the Lincoln administration to act as a national organization focused on helping the government advance science and art subjects.

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Quad Leaders Reaffirm Commitment to Boosting Resilience in Indo-Pacific
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Quad Leaders Reaffirm Commitment to Boosting Resilience in Indo-Pacific

President Biden met with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for a strategic security dialogue in Tokyo where they renewed their commitment to boosting the security, resilience and economic growth of the Indo-Pacific region.

In a joint statement published by the White House on Tuesday, the four Quad leaders discussed the coalition’s key areas of focus, including peace and stability, global health security, climate change, cybersecurity and emerging technology.

The Quad partners mentioned the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its potential impact on the region, reiterating the need for peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.

They also discussed the coalition’s efforts to support global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including financial contributions of approximately $5.2 billion to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment program.

“Noting significant expansion in the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, we will continue to share safe, effective, affordable and quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines where and when they are needed,” the statement said.

Moreover, the leaders affirmed commitment to accelerate disaster preparedness and response efforts in the region through the use of space-related applications and technologies.

In February, the Biden administration released the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States outlining its plans to build connections within and beyond the region, help drive regional prosperity and security and support efforts to achieve regional resilience.

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Excella Secures $241M DRAID Contract With JAIC to Accelerate DoD AI Adoption; Sarath Ravella Quoted
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Excella Secures $241M DRAID Contract With JAIC to Accelerate DoD AI Adoption; Sarath Ravella Quoted

Excella announced on Tuesday that the agile technology solutions company has been awarded a potential five-year, $241 million Data Readiness for Artificial Intelligence Development (DRAID), through a Services Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA), from the Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). 

Through the DRAID BOA, Excella will accelerate AI adoption across the Defense Department as well as provide various services including project and program management, data science, data engineering, software development, data governance and cloud integration.

“Leveraging AI to support the key missions of the DOD is critical to national security, both at home and abroad,” said Sarath Ravella, vice president of Strategic Initiatives at Excella. 

“We’ve seen first-hand the progress the DOD has made in modernizing its systems with AI and data engineering, and our expertise will help increase the impact of AI on mission-critical applications in support of the warfighter,” Ravella added.

Excella will provide other services including data engineering, data architecture, data acquisition and curation, data quality and analysis, and synthetic data generation and data anonymization under the DRAID BOA contract. 

Excella has been on the ground supporting AI development for the DOD and has nearly two decades of experience successfully leading organizational transformations and modernizing legacy IT systems across federal government agencies.

Previously, Excella delivered data engineering and DevSecOps leadership to establish the Joint Common Foundation with JAIC through its partnership with the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in 2020.

Since establishing the JAIC in 2018, the agency has both rapidly incorporated AI into existing applications and created new, innovative applications. Excella’s holistic AI approach, with a focus on responsible AI, will help JAIC accelerate the adoption and delivery of AI capabilities and scale the impact of AI across the agency.

About Excella

Excella is an Agile technology firm and transformative partner to leading organizations. Since 2002, federal agencies, prominent brands and trailblazing nonprofits have turned to Excella to transform bold ideas into elegant technology solutions. We believe technology exists to solve challenges and evolve thinking – we help organizations harness this power to make real progress.

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JAIC, Defense Digital Service, ADVANA to Operate Under CDAO Office in June
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JAIC, Defense Digital Service, ADVANA to Operate Under CDAO Office in June

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Defense Digital Service and ADVANA or the Office of Advancing Analytics will stop operating as independent organizations as they become part of the newly established office of the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer within the Department of Defense starting June 1, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

CDR Sarah Flaherty, spokesperson for the CDAO, told the publication the CDAO office reached initial operating capability on Feb. 1 and will achieve full operating capability in June.

FedScoop reported that Diane Staheli, an AI ethics and research expert, was named head of the responsible AI division within the office of CDAO. In this capacity, she will help develop and implement practices, policies, metrics and standards for procuring and building accountable and trustworthy AI.

Staheli previously worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where she led efforts focused on human-centered AI.

DOD made recent appointments at the newly established office. In late April, Craig Martell, formerly head of machine learning at Lyft, was named CDAO weeks after the appointment of Sharothi Pikar as deputy CDAO for acquisitions. In March, Margaret Palmieri, founder and former director of the Navy’s digital warfare office, was appointed deputy CDAO.

In February, the Pentagon established the CDAO office to bring AI and digital strategy and policy development to senior DOD leadership and appointed John Sherman, chief information officer of DOD and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, as acting CDAO.

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Defense Business Board Releases DOD Civilian Talent Management Study
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Defense Business Board Releases DOD Civilian Talent Management Study

The Defense Business Board performed a 24-week study of the Department of Defense’s civilian workforce and found that talent management within DOD lags behind the commercial sector and that DOD fills short-term vacancies with little attention to future technology requirements and strategy to upskill or reskill them, Federal Times reported Tuesday.

The board has recommended that the Pentagon increase training opportunities for civilian employees and improve collaboration with military talent managers to keep pace with the private sector when it comes to aligning talent with work function.

“The Department doesn’t know its employees’ capabilities and requirements for the future, the systems to manage them, the policies to enable the new generation of skilled employees, or the programs to upskill them,” the DBB report reads.

According to the study, DOD lacks the data approach, organization and cultural foundation to “take its place as a bastion of STEM development.”

The report offers three recommendations for the Pentagon to better manage civilian talent and these are transforming civilian culture to prioritize talent management; prioritizing and elevating talent management within the organization; and modernizing DOD’s workforce planning and data.

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Navy Event Highlights Role of Hypersonic Tech in Global Security Environment
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Navy Event Highlights Role of Hypersonic Tech in Global Security Environment

The U.S. Navy sought to emphasize the potential value of incorporating hypersonic technology into the national security mission at a three-day conference jointly presented by the branch’s Strategic Systems Programs office and NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge.

Government, industry and academic sector representatives attended the Hypersonics Innovation Conference to discuss technical factors that could expand the application of hypersonics to address global security challenges, the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Crane Division said Tuesday.

Navy SSP and MTB also collaborated with the Air Force Institute of Technology, Defense Strategies Institute, National Security Technology Accelerator and the Indiana Innovation Institute to organize the event.

“This event came at a critical time for our country. The message throughout the conference was clear: The hypersonics community must come together and be innovative in our approach to developing advanced systems,” said Sarah Armstrong, director of the Joint Hypersonics Transition Office Systems Engineering Field Activity at NSWC Crane.

Navy Event Highlights Role of Hypersonic Tech in Global Security Environment

ExecutiveBiz, sister publication of GovConDaily, will host a virtual forum on July 12 to highlight the role of public-private partnerships in the next level of hypersonics development work for national defense missions. Click over to ExecutiveBiz to learn more about the upcoming Hypersonics Forum.

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Sen. Gary Peters Issues Report on Use of Cryptocurrency in Ransomware Attacks
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Sen. Gary Peters Issues Report on Use of Cryptocurrency in Ransomware Attacks

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has released a report saying the federal government lacks sufficient information on ransomware attacks and the use of cryptocurrency in ransom payments.

The report also found that current reporting of such attacks is fragmented across federal agencies and that lack of comprehensive information on cryptocurrency payments and ransomware attacks restricts available tools to protect against national security threats, Peters’ office said Tuesday.

According to the study, the lack of data on such attacks and payments restricts the capability of the federal government and the private sector in assisting victims of cybercrimes.

The report offers several recommendations, including the need for the administration to implement a law that requires incident reporting of cyberattacks and ransomware payments against critical infrastructure, and standardize federal data on ransom payments and ransomware incidents to facilitate analysis.

Congress should come up with more public-private programs to investigate the ransomware economy and support data sharing regarding ransomware payments and attacks.

Implementing the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 “will be a significant step to ensuring our government has better data to understand the scope of this threat, disrupt the incentive virtual currencies provide for cybercriminals to commit attacks, and help victims quickly recover after breaches,” Peters said.

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