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Space Force Kicks Off On-Orbit Servicing Tech Funding Program
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Space Force Kicks Off On-Orbit Servicing Tech Funding Program

The U.S. Space Force’s technology innovation arm SpaceWERX is launching a new initiative to provide funding opportunities for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) companies, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

The military service plans to award multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) contracts under the Orbital Prime initiative to develop technologies for debris removal and satellite refueling and repair, among others.

Teams can compete for funding worth $250,000 during the first round of contracts and $1.5 million in the second round. Strategic financing will be provided to projects provided that companies raise matching funds from private investors.

SpaceWERX seeks to award contracts for the initial phase of the program in early 2022, with a plan to launch an in-orbit demonstration within three years, said Lt. Col. Brian Holt, co-lead of AFWERX Space Prime.

Selected teams will be given access to testing ranges and mentoring on contracting and regulatory requirements.

Gabe Mounce, deputy director of SpaceWERX, estimates that the entire program could be worth as much as $100 million, with funding coming from both the government and private sector.

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DHS Taps Northeastern University to Spearhead CoE for Engineering Secure Environments
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DHS Taps Northeastern University to Spearhead CoE for Engineering Secure Environments

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate has tasked Northeastern University to lead a new security-focused Center of Excellence over a 10-year period.

The university will work with other academic institutions and various partners to establish the Center of Excellence for Engineering Secure Environments from Targeted Attacks (ESE), DHS said Wednesday. S&T will award a $3.6 million grant to fund ESE’s first year of operations.

“Researching and developing science and technology solutions to combat emerging threats is a top priority for DHS, and I am looking forward to continuing this important work in partnership with Northeastern University,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security.

ESE will produce a research portfolio of technologies, tools and security measures that support counterterrorism.

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SGT President, CEO Tina Dolph Joins National Defense University Foundation Board
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SGT President, CEO Tina Dolph Joins National Defense University Foundation Board

The National Defense University (NDU) Foundation has appointed Tina Dolph, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies (SGT) and a three-time Wash100 Award, to the foundation’s board of directors along with three other industry executives.

“These Board appointments further our strategic efforts to partner with business, industry, and other organizations to ensure the National Defense University remains the international community’s premier institution for national security, public diplomacy, and global security education,” said Michael Manazir, vice president of global services at Boeing and chairman of the NDU Foundation.

The new board members will work to reinforce the NDU Foundation’s commitment to identify new and strategic public-private partnerships that align leadership and innovative capabilities to affect national defense and security, public policy, and industry to achieve domestic and global peace and stability.

SGT President, CEO Tina Dolph Joins National Defense University Foundation Board

In addition to Dolph’s appointment, Pat Tamburrino Jr., a vice president with LMI has been named to the NDU Foundation board along with Swami Iyer, president of Aerospace Systems for Virgin Galactic Holdings and Anduril Industries’ Senior Director of Space Strategy Sarah Mineiro.

“These appointees have demonstrated the ability to innovate new ideas and solutions in critically relevant domains of energy, space, cyber, nuclear capabilities, and national defense and security,” RADM Michael Manazir added.

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Gina Raimondo: Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Awards Statewide Planning Grants to 30 States
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Gina Raimondo: Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Awards Statewide Planning Grants to 30 States

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is awarding $1 million grants to 30 states and territories through its American Rescue Plan, which aims to provide Americans with direct COVID-19 relief by boosting statewide economic development and planning.

Funding from the grants will be used to accelerate pandemic-related economic recovery efforts specific to each awarded state, including skills-gap analysis programs, broadband planning and innovation cluster development programs, among other initiatives, the department said Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the funding from the Statewide Planning Program will lay the groundwork for the White House’s Build Back Better agenda to build and maintain resilient economies and remain competitive on a global scale.

“The Biden Administration is giving states and territories the unprecedented opportunity to bring all their communities together to develop comprehensive plans to build back better and stronger,” Raimondo explained.

Specifically, Alejandra Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said the grants will assist state and territory leaders in addressing “workforce training, business recruitment, capital access, infrastructure, broadband, entrepreneurial growth, economic diversification,” and other challenges.

The EDA’s Statewide Planning Program is one of six programs designed to distribute its $3 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan stimulus package passed in March 2021.

Of the 59 states and territories invited to apply for a $1 million grant, the awardees include:

  • Alaska
  • American Samoa
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Washington, D.C.
  • Delaware
  • Guam
  • Iowa
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • North Dakota
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • New Mexico
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Puerto Rico
  • South Dakota
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Vermont
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
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DOD Releases Climate Adaptation Plan Companion Document to Highlight Recent Initiatives, Achievements
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DOD Releases Climate Adaptation Plan Companion Document to Highlight Recent Initiatives, Achievements

The Department of Defense has released a Companion Document to its Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP), which was published Sept. 1, 2021 and outlines DoD’s projects and activities focused on addressing climate change.

The recently published companion document highlights examples of DoD’s climate-focused projects and provides an updated overview of the department’s ongoing initiatives across five defined Lines of Effort and focus areas aimed at ensuring DoD resilience and continued success in the face of climate-related obstacles and threats.

As part of the first LOE, climate-informed decision-making, the CAP companion document includes the DoD’s Climate Assessment Tool and Regionalized Sea Level Database resources, which give military branch leaders, engineers and planners important insights and tools for adapting to climate change.

The second LOE featured in the document outlined the department’s plan to train and equip a climate-ready force, specifically in relation to mitigating the growing threat and frequency of wildland fires. 

$2 million was recently awarded to a pilot study at Fort Huachuca in Arizona through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Program Challenge to reduce wildfire risk, promote compatible land use and protect the water supply across 2,000 acres of Fort Huachuca’s surrounding working ranges and forests.

Additional highlights regarding DoD’s second Line of Effort include educational initiatives such as the Air Force Wildland Fire Branch’s higher-level courses taught to nearly 800 Air Force and partner organization personnel.

The DoD’s third line of effort details how the department is working to create resilient built and natural infrastructure in response to the increase of coastal and inland flooding caused by climate change. DoD facilities such as the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia are implementing measures like flood visualization tools and floodwalls to increase resilience to storm-induced flooding.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Reefense program also aims to bolster coastal protection through the development of novel hybrid biological and engineered structures that mimic reefs and mitigate wave and storm damage to critical facilities.

Under the fourth LOE, supply chain resilience and innovation, the DoD has been working to install backup power generators and mechanical equipment at higher elevations throughout Defense Logistics Agency facilities to ensure operational continuity in the event of a climate-related service disruption.

DoD is also optimizing its acquisition system and logistical support requirements to make its supply lines less vulnerable to climate change effects.

Finally, the fifth LOE addressed in the CAP companion document explains how the agency will enhance adaptation and resilience through collaboration between government agencies, industry partners and the community. 

Programs like the Compatible Use Plan, as well as the Military Installation Resilience and the Defense Community Infrastructure pilot programs, work to pair DoD agencies with community partners to advance sustainment and resilience efforts.

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Senate Bill Would Establish DOD AI Data Libraries
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Senate Bill Would Establish DOD AI Data Libraries

Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, have introduced a bill that would establish data repositories at the Department of Defense to support the development of artificial intelligence tools.

Rosen’s office said Thursday that the Advancing American AI Innovation Act calls for DOD to run a pilot program on libraries intended to inform commercial companies about the department’s AI technology requirements.

The two lawmakers based the legislation on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s (NSCAI) recommendation pertaining to the software needs of the government’s digital workforce.

“We must fully utilize the public, as well as the private sector, to synchronize and develop our AI capabilities across the transportation, health care, manufacturing and national security policy spaces,” Portman said.

He believes the bipartisan bill can drive government-industry collaboration in this field.

Senate Bill Would Establish DOD AI Data Libraries

Executive Mosaic’s Potomac Officers Club will host a virtual forum on Tuesday for the GovCon community to gain insight into the budget planning and funding considerations in government AI programs. “The Cost of AI” event will feature Timothy Grayson, director of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Strategic Technology Office, as opening keynote speaker and Maj. Gen. Matthew Easley, director for cybersecurity and chief information security officer of the U.S. Army, as closing keynote speaker.

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CSET Releases Report on Global Trends in Robotics Patents
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CSET Releases Report on Global Trends in Robotics Patents

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) has issued a report providing an overview of trends in robotics patents issued to inventors across 88 countries from 2005 to 2019.

CSET said the data brief shows that China accounts for nearly 35 percent of the total robotics patents granted worldwide during the 14-year period, followed by Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

The U.S. landed the top spot when it comes to robotics patents in aerospace, military/security, telepresence and aerospace areas and patents with artificial intelligence capabilities, according to the report. The country also ranked first in terms of the number of granted military robotics patents at 26 percent. 

Russia ranked sixth when it comes to the global patent output during the period but accounted for 17 percent of the military robotics patents. China represented nearly 25 percent of the total military robotics patents issued, ranking second in the category.

CSET is calling on the U.S. to collaborate with South Korea, Japan, Germany and other allies and amend its policies on intellectual property to maintain its edge in the field of robotics.

“Amending U.S. intellectual property policies, patent eligibility and patentability doctrine to better accommodate inventions related to emerging technologies such as AI and software for robotics is a critical step toward restoring U.S. leadership in this space,” the report reads.

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Lt. Gen. Michael Groen: JAIC Enables AI Capabilities Via ADA Initiative
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Lt. Gen. Michael Groen: JAIC Enables AI Capabilities Via ADA Initiative

Lt. Gen. Michael Groen, director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, said JAIC is in a phase where it focuses on enabling AI capabilities and is trying to advance that transition toward enablement through the AI and Data Acceleration (ADA) initiative, Federal News Network reported Thursday.

The ADA initiative unveiled in June seeks to execute exercises and implementation experiments that aim to incrementally build the military’s understanding of AI to help advance joint all-domain command and control and other AI-dependent concepts.

“ADA is probably the premier example of how we integrate data and AI capabilities together. The focus of our efforts is the combatant commands and the combatant command decision environment,” Groen told FNN in an interview.

He described ADA as an experimental effort that intends to establish a decision environment for heads of combatant commands based on challenges and priorities using AI algorithms.

“ADA begins with a data environment so the chief data officer and that team are building what they call operational data teams, which will go to combatant commands and help commands with their data environment, help them make sense of the data to help them predict data flows and how they will have to use that data in a crisis environment,” Groen said.

“Our approach is to take workflows out of the combatant command and then see where we can automate or accelerate those workflows through the integration of data, real human-machine learning by taking a look at how decisions are made and how processes are conducted today,” he added.

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The Potomac Officers Club will hold the Data-Driven 2021 Series: The Cost of AI Forum on Nov. 9. Click here to register for the virtual forum to learn more about disruption scenarios and how to improve the effectiveness of budgeting AI to sustain funding for mission readiness.

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VA Unveils Cybersecurity Strategy; Secretary Denis McDonough Quoted
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VA Unveils Cybersecurity Strategy; Secretary Denis McDonough Quoted

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a strategy to protect veterans’ personal data and other critical information from cyberthreats. 

VA said Thursday that its cybersecurity strategy has five goals and these are securing and protecting VA and veteran information; protecting information systems and assets; leveraging innovation to strengthen cybersecurity; enhancing cybersecurity through partnerships and information sharing and empowering the department’s mission through cybersecurity risk management.

“As we continue to rapidly advance technology across VA, this strategy provides an agile framework to address the challenges of today and adapt to the technologies and threats of tomorrow,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough.

Each strategic goal comes with supporting objectives. For the first goal, VA will work to identify and tag sensitive data, protect data in transit and at rest and prevent data loss.

The department’s strategy is aligned with its FY 2018 – 2024 Strategic Plan and takes into account current and new executive orders, federal cyber requirements, technological innovations and events worldwide.

“This comprehensive approach practices accountability and transparency, while remaining hypervigilant of cyber threats — charting a course for success at the individual and enterprise levels,” added McDonough.

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Nominations Open for Executive Mosaic’s 2022 Wash100 Award; Submit Your Choices By Dec. 31st
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Nominations Open for Executive Mosaic’s 2022 Wash100 Award; Submit Your Choices By Dec. 31st

Executive Mosaic, the leading media and events company in the government contracting (GovCon) sector, has opened nominations for its 2022 Wash100 Award, the highest recognition awarded to outstanding government, military and industry executives for their influence, notable impact and groundbreaking accomplishments in the GovCon sector.

Nominations for this year’s prestigious award are open through Dec. 31, 2021 and can be submitted at Wash100.com, where you can also learn more about the history of the award and its prominent recipients from previous years.

This year marks the ninth iteration of the Wash100 Award, which will be granted to public and private sector leaders who have made significant contributions across the federal sector over the past year in light of myriad challenges on a global scale.

Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award said, “This past year’s embattled economy and government efforts to keep companies growing virtually, adjust supply chain, implement AI, fight cyber, protect our borders, monitor and compete with near-peer adversaries, integrate technological solutions and fight the pandemic on all fronts have produced a larger than ever array of deserving senior executives for consideration.” 

“Having an exceptional performance over the past year is but half the challenge. The Wash100 Award is further distinguished by its award to those that show the greatest promise for the year ahead,” Garrettson added.

The 2022 Wash100 Award selection follows the unprecedented participation of last year’s voting season and is expected to garner the engagement of the most eminent leaders who demonstrate the highest level of vision, innovation, achievement and mission commitment in the industry and within the GovCon community.

Eligible individuals for nomination include representatives from government contracting businesses, government advisers, policy groups, academic institutions, consulting organizations and other industry-related organizations. The review committee will be giving additional consideration to diversity and inclusion throughout the nomination process.

Visit Wash100.com before Dec. 31st, 2021 to submit your nominations for the 2022 Wash100 Award.

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