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SPA Australia VP Mary Hill Awarded Bronze Commendation from Australian Defense Force; CEO William Vantine Quoted
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SPA Australia VP Mary Hill Awarded Bronze Commendation from Australian Defense Force; CEO William Vantine Quoted

Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA) announced on Monday that Mary Hill, vice president and general manager for SPA’s Australia business unit, has been awarded a Bronze Commendation from the Australian Defence Force (ADF). 

“We are incredibly proud of Mary and her success in building a strong partnership with the ADF and we look forward to continuing to provide the ADF with objective, responsive, and trusted support to address their most challenging issues,” said Dr. William Vantine, SPA president and CEO. 

The Bronze Commendation recognized Mary Hill’s invaluable contributions to the ADF during a farewell event after serving for four years in Canberra as SPA’s general manager of Australian Operations. She received the award from Air Vice Marshall Steve “Zed” Roberton. 

Roberton commended Hill for her efforts and achievements in the delivery of SPA’s analytical products to the Australian Defense Force from the past three years. He specifically recognized Hill’s contributions and leadership towards the modernization of the ADF’s capabilities. 

“We congratulate and thank Mary for all she has achieved and wish her the greatest success in her new role as VP, Australian Programs & International Integration, where she will help oversee SPA’s growing international presence in Europe as well as Australia,” Dr. Vantine added.

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Derek Tournear: SDA Seeks to Accelerate Delivery of Capabilities Via Spiral Development Model
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Derek Tournear: SDA Seeks to Accelerate Delivery of Capabilities Via Spiral Development Model

Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, said SDA uses the spiral development model to deliver “good enough” capabilities to warfighters every two years. 

He described the model as “profound” and noted that the framework could be used across the board, including activities that capitalize on commercial investments. 

Tournear told Government Matters in an interview published Sunday that “good enough” means making “sure that we can get the capability that industry can produce in the hands of the warfighter as rapidly as possible.”

He said SDA has a warfighter council that meets every six months and vets requirements. Through the council, the agency presents what it will deliver to combatant commanders over the next couple of years. 

“We go around the room to make sure if we provide this capability in the next two years, will that affect your fight and your ability to respond to a threat. When the answer comes back ‘yes,’ that’s what we know that’s good enough and we’ll push forward in that,” Tournear said.

“We have thresholds that we try to meet and objectives that we strive for to essentially add capabilities. But if we need to dump those objectives off to meet the minimum viable product on schedule, we’ll do that,” he added.

Apart from spiral development, Tournear said SDA’s other main pillar is proliferation or hundreds of satellites in a constellation.

He said SDA is in the draft phase of solicitation for 28 missile tracking space sensor satellites, which would provide “single satellite global coverage” to help detect and track hypersonic glide vehicles and traditional ballistic missile threats.

Tournear also offered updates on communication satellites SDA plans to procure to enhance tactical data link connectivity by 2024 and the agency’s transition to the U.S. Space Force.

Space Acquisition Forum

GovCon Wire’s Space Acquisition Forum on Jan. 19 will feature Tournear as one of the speakers to share his insights on military acquisition reform and modernization efforts.

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Women to Play Key Role in Future Crypto Governance; Carole House Quoted
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Women to Play Key Role in Future Crypto Governance; Carole House Quoted

Women are playing a role in cryptocurrency-related policy development and enforcement as the current administration and Congress work to advance innovations in the space while preventing the use of the virtual currency in facilitating ransomware payments and other illegal activities, Nextgov reported Thursday.

“I just see women kind of owning crypto, especially on the government fronts like in a really wonderful way across the agencies, whether it’s the IRS or all the different components of Treasury that are looking at virtual currency because there’s a lot that look at it from different perspectives,” said Carole House, director of cybersecurity at the White House National Security Council.

“There’s always women in the room. It is something where I think that diversity generally, and that particular aspect of diversity is continuing to grow and it’s just really encouraging to see,” House added.

Those women leaders reporting on cryptocurrency governance include Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; Katherine Bradbury, senior sanctions policy adviser at the Department of the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control; and Michele Korver, digital currency counsel at the Department of Justice’s criminal division.

POC - Digital Currency and National Security Forum

On Jan. 27, the Potomac Officers Club will bring together distinguished government and industry leaders to offer the GovCon community an insight into the national security aspect of digital currencies. 

POC’s Digital Currency and National Security forum will feature National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Juan Zarate, global co-managing partner and chief strategy officer at K2 Integrity, as speakers.

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Johns Hopkins APL to Support Air Force Chief Architect Office
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Johns Hopkins APL to Support Air Force Chief Architect Office

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has received a $9.3 million sole-source contract to provide engineering, management, technical and operational support services to the Department of the Air Force’s Chief Architect Office.

The U.S. Air Force is obligating $1.6 million at the time of award from its fiscal 2022 research and development funds and expects contract work to conclude by March 31, 2023, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

APL will support the office led by DAF Chief Architect Preston Dunlap, who previously served as executive for national security analysis at the university-affiliated research organization.

Dunlap assumed his current position in March and oversees efforts to develop a suite of systems, such as the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System, for use in cross-domain operations.

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DISA Seeks Sources of High-Throughput Satellite Services for Space Force
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DISA Seeks Sources of High-Throughput Satellite Services for Space Force

The Defense Information Systems Agency is looking for companies that can provide high-throughput satellite services to support the U.S. Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office.

CSCO needs contractor HTS capacity and broadband services, gateway services, service monitoring and control, satellite terminals, field service representative support, training and terrestrial backhaul, according to a sources-sought notice published on SAM.gov Tuesday.

The office pointed out that services required must enable transmission of files larger than one terabyte, high definition videos and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data.

Interested vendors can submit their questions to the Space Force on or before Jan. 11 and their responses to the notice until Jan. 14.

The selected contractor will perform work under a potential five-year period that is expected to start in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

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Army 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion Supports Multi-Domain Adoption
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Army 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion Supports Multi-Domain Adoption

The U.S. Army’s 915th Cyber Warfare Battalion, established in 2019, is supporting the service branch’s adoption of a more multidomain force approach, C4ISRnet reported Thursday.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Klimkowski, the battalion’s commander, said his organization is helping the Army define multidomain operations with a focus on information advantage.

Klimkowski added that doctrine writers will need input from his team’s operations and testing to shape multidomain operations.

The Army created the battalion to deliver non-lethal cyber, information and electronic warfare technologies that support the needs of Army component commands.

The service branch envisions the battalion to have 12 teams for expeditionary cyber and electromagnetic activities by 2026.

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NSA Celebrates First Anniversary of Cyber Collaboration Center
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NSA Celebrates First Anniversary of Cyber Collaboration Center

The National Security Agency this month celebrated the first anniversary of its Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, which fosters government-industry information exchanges to identify and address foreign threats.

The Cybersecurity Collaboration Center has delivered insights that have helped NSA detect adversaries and protect networks and infrastructure from these threats, the agency said Wednesday.

The center’s partner base has grown from 10 to more than 100 within a year, with work that resulted in vulnerability disclosures, product certifications, a domain name service pilot program and five threat-informed papers.

“The only way to mitigate the threat is to communicate and collaborate in real-time to drive outcomes,” said Morgan Adamski, collaboration center chief for NSA.

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MDA Seeks IT, Cyber Management Services for CIO Operations
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MDA Seeks IT, Cyber Management Services for CIO Operations

The Missile Defense Agency is soliciting information technology and cybersecurity management services in support of MDA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer.

MDA said Tuesday in a SAM notice it launched the solicitation as part of the Technical, Engineering, Advisory and Management Support-Next or TEAMS-Next procurement.

The future contractor would perform IT/CM assistance and advisory services for the agency’s CIO office.

Interested parties may submit proposals through Jan. 31, 2022, after registering a proposal manager, who may access needed training on the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment solicitation module. Companies interested in serving as subcontractors must submit a proposal separate from that of their intended prime contractor.

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NIST-Supported Paper Details Theoretical Cognitive 6G Network
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NIST-Supported Paper Details Theoretical Cognitive 6G Network

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and various international organizations published a paper in October proposing a new cognitive network that is 500 times faster than 5G.

The paper presented a theoretical 6G network that could send data at any time and place with their semantic meaning intact, as well as adjust according to each user’s demands, NIST said Wednesday.

The “6G Cognitive Information Theory: A Mailbox Perspective” paper explained that a 6G network must use intelligent applications and artificial intelligence technologies to become distributed, proactive and cognitive.

According to the document, a different study shows that technologies enabling 6G for mobile communications would enter the market as early as 2023 and the network itself will emerge in 2030.

2022 NDAA Measure Directs DHS to Report on Supply Chain Vulnerabilities; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted
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2022 NDAA Measure Directs DHS to Report on Supply Chain Vulnerabilities; Sen. Rob Portman Quoted

A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 directs the Department of Homeland Security to conduct research and development into supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten national and economic security.

The Domains Critical to Homeland Security Act requires DHS to submit a report in December 2022 to identify critical domains and determine whether their disruption would pose a threat to homeland security in the future, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Tuesday.

The bill also requires the DHS secretary to submit an annual report to Congress detailing actions taken by the federal government to address weaknesses identified in critical domain supply chains.

The authors of the bill cited shortages of essential supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the immediate concerns facing the U.S. supply chain.

“Between shortages of medical supplies and semiconductors, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how offshoring of our manufacturing base has weakened our homeland security and this bipartisan legislation will direct DHS to address it,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said that taking actions to increase the production of critical supplies in the U.S. would also result in the creation of job opportunities for Americans.

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law the FY 2022 NDAA, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending, a 5 percent increase from the previous defense policy measure enacted in FY 2021.

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