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NIST Seeks Members for NICE Career Guidance Project Teams
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NIST Seeks Members for NICE Career Guidance Project Teams

The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education seeks members for five project teams that will work on career guidance efforts in cybersecurity.

The teams will consist of NICE community members who will perform implementation activities that support the initiative’s strategic plan, the National Institute of Standards and Technology said Friday.

The first project team will work to increase understanding of multiple cybersecurity pathways included in the NICE Framework.

The second team will help NICE boost the availability and quality of cybersecurity credentials including certifications and diplomas. The third team will support multidisciplinary approaches to integrating cybersecurity into a wide range of curricula.

The fourth and fifth teams will work on career entry guidance for employers and job seekers, respectively. These teams will foster the creation of entry-level opportunities that allow for early career growth in the cybersecurity industry.

The projects will occur for six months through the end of summer this year.

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Army Office Accepts 2nd Long-Range Radar for Scanning Moving Targets
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Army Office Accepts 2nd Long-Range Radar for Scanning Moving Targets

The U.S. Army’s Project Director Sensors-Aerial Intelligence office received in December its second long-range radar system for detecting moving two targets across long distances from the air.

The newly delivered Long Range Radar-Enhanced technology will be installed on the Army’s Airborne Reconnaissance Low-Enhanced aircraft to support various intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the service branch’s Program Executive Officer Intelligence Electronic Warfare & Sensors said Friday.

Developed by Northrop Grumman, the LRR-E features Ground Moving Target Indications, Dismount Moving Target Indications and synthetic aperture radar capabilities to scan for both large and small targets in the X band frequency.

The radar system also comes with a non-mechanical antenna that Bryan Farley, LRR lead for PD SAI’s Program Manager Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, would require fewer parts replacement.

The Army expects to receive its third and final LRR-E platform before the end of 2022.

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Professional Services Council CIDC Issues White Paper on Locally Led Development Goals
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Professional Services Council CIDC Issues White Paper on Locally Led Development Goals

A group within the Professional Services Council has released a new paper that discusses roles and contributions to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s localization goals.

PSC said Monday its Council of International Development Companies encourages USAID to make local organization funds part of the agency’s locally led development goals.

USAID wants to achieve allotting 25 percent of its assistance work to local partners. The paper, titled “Grants Under Contracts and Local Subcontracts: Helping Meet USAID’s Locally Led Development Goals,” states that implementing partners contribute to this percentage by programmatically involving local organizations.

This contribution aligns with USAID’s draft policy for local capacity development. In August last year, CIDC published a paper about perspectives on localization.

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Space Power, University of Surrey Develop Wireless Satellite Power Beaming Technology
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Space Power, University of Surrey Develop Wireless Satellite Power Beaming Technology

Space Power is working with the University of Surrey to develop and demonstrate a wireless power beaming prototype for space satellites under the U.K. SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology program.

The University of Surrey said Thursday the project will use lasers and optic systems developed at the institution’s Department of Physics and Advanced Technology Institute to provide additional power to smaller satellites in low Earth orbit during their eclipse period.

The project will gather data about the efficiency benefits of laser-based power beaming to guide Solar Power in designing a prototype for small satellites in space.

The team is expected to demonstrate the first private sector-developed wireless, laser-based power beaming prototype before commercializing the technology by 2025.

The Solar Power product will be available as a plug-and-play system for LEO satellite constellations manufacturers.

“The University of Surrey has a long track record in photonics and space research and brings unique expertise in both high power lasers and photovoltaics technologies. We have many years of experience in optical wireless power and are delighted to work with Space Power to help develop such technologies for space-based applications,” said Stephen Sweeney, a physics professor at the University of Surrey.

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GDIT Lands $518M Task Order to Aid U.S. Army Field Support Brigade Regions; President Amy Gilliland Quoted
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GDIT Lands $518M Task Order to Aid U.S. Army Field Support Brigade Regions; President Amy Gilliland Quoted

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) has been awarded a $518 million task order from the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command to offer continuance services to Army Field Support Brigade regions.

Under the task order, the company will be responsible for logistics, sustainment and maintenance aid to U.S. and coalition forces, the Falls Church, Virginia-based business arm of General Dynamics said Monday.

GDIT President and five-time Wash 100 Award winner Amy Gilliland anticipates the program will draw efforts and resources from across General Dynamics.

Gilliland also says the company will be “focusing our collective hardware and software systems solutions on providing CECOM with an innovative and cost-effective approach to supporting the Warfighter’s mission.”

GDIT will be expected to provide C5ISR support, attend to equipment and maintain related operational needs. The contract will allow the company to grow its global impact in its work throughout the different AFSB regions.

The task order is a Worldwide Field Support mandate that was introduced in April 2021 as part of the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services Multiple Award, an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.

The latter multiple award contract was first presented to a joint venture of General Dynamics subsidiaries, including General Dynamics Mission Systems, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems.

Currently underway is GDIT’s work under a four-year, $136 million contract from the U.S. Navy to modernize and consolidate IT help desks. That contract is administered by the Naval Information Warfare Systems Demand.

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Congress Members Urge President Biden to Unexclude DOD From Federal Sustainability EO
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Congress Members Urge President Biden to Unexclude DOD From Federal Sustainability EO

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and other Congress members ask President Joe Biden to not exclude the Department of Defense from an executive order that aims to reduce the federal government’s carbon emissions.

The letter, which was issued on Friday, stated that DOD is the largest energy consumer in the U.S., and exempting the department from the order would make it more difficult to achieve the nation’s carbon reduction goals.

The Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability urges a whole-of-government approach with the goal of achieving 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030.

The Congress members said in the letter that exempting DOD would lessen the chances of preventing climate change-driven catastrophes and meeting obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement.

The White House’s Federal Sustainability Plan released in December 2021 states that the DOD produces 56 percent of federal government emissions.

Lawmakers who have signed the letter also include Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.

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FTC Gives Consumer Goods Industry More Time to Comment on Supply Chain Issues
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FTC Gives Consumer Goods Industry More Time to Comment on Supply Chain Issues

The Federal Trade Commission has pushed the deadline for comments that would support its inquiry into supply chain disruption to Feb. 28 following industry requests.

The commission said Friday it is providing market participants around a month to detail issues affecting the supply chain and provide examples of how distribution delays impact competition in the consumer goods sector.

In November, FTC launched its inquiry into the reasons behind ongoing supply chain disruptions that the commission blamed for harming market competition and the consumer base.

It requested nine top retailers, wholesalers and consumer good suppliers to submit information relating to empty stocks and rising prices in the U.S.

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FAA, Verizon, AT&T Agree on Steps for Aircraft-Friendly 5G Wireless Expansion
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FAA, Verizon, AT&T Agree on Steps for Aircraft-Friendly 5G Wireless Expansion

The Federal Aviation Administration has announced an agreement with telecommunications companies Verizon and AT&T on steps to expand 5G wireless service while enabling safe airport operations. 

The organization said Friday it used data from the companies to determine the possibility of mapping out areas around an airport where 5G C band signals are mitigated to prevent impacting sensitive aircraft instruments.

According to the FAA, the possibility opens up the potential for operators to figure out areas where their antennas would not need to be deferred and activate more wireless towers without affecting nearby aircraft operations.

The FAA shared that it will continue talks with the aviation community regarding current and planned 5G expansion efforts.

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Accenture Federal Wins Contract from IRS to Retool, Strengthen Identity Theft and Fraud Detection
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Accenture Federal Wins Contract from IRS to Retool, Strengthen Identity Theft and Fraud Detection

Accenture Federal Services has landed a five-year, $73 million contract award from the Internal Revenue Service to create and implement a system to detect identity theft and fraud.

The public sector subsidiary of Accenture announced Monday that AFS will continue their 40-year history of collaboration with the IRS by offering technologies and analytics that aim to verify taxpayer income, alert individual fraud and enforce tax legislation.

Elaine Beeman, senior managing director and AFS civilian portfolio lead, said that AFS looks forward to enabling the IRS to strengthen its anomaly detection.

She added, “our work includes a host of enterprise modernization initiatives, including cloud architecture, automation, testing, and agile methodologies to help the IRS create more value.”

In the endeavor, AFS will specifically be collaborating with the IRS Return Review Program.

Past AFS and IRS projects have included work on the Affordable Care Act and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. They have also partnered on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Taxpayer First Act.

AFS recently received a ten-year, $200 million task order from the Transportation Security Administration to provide flight adaptive maintenance and Tier 3 support services.

The company also acquired Novetta, an advanced analytics company, in August 2021.

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Chinese Company Eyes Point-to-Point Travel for Reusable Space Plane
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Chinese Company Eyes Point-to-Point Travel for Reusable Space Plane

Space Transportation, a Chinese aerospace firm, is building a reusable winged rocket and space plane for rapid point-to-point transportation and space tourism, Space.com reported.

The company, also known as Beijing Lingkong Tianxing Technology, expects ground tests to occur in 2023 and the first flight the following year. The space plane is anticipated to perform a manned flight in 2025 and is targeted to carry out a global crewed space test flight by the end of the decade.

A video presentation on the company’s website shows a plane detaching from the wing powered by rockets following a vertical takeoff and continues its suborbital flight to its destination. Upon arrival to its destination, the plane will perform a vertical landing using three legs fielded from the rear.

In August, Space Transportation had secured $46.3 million in funds for its hypersonic vehicle. The company has been carrying out tests of its Tianxing 1 and Tianxing 2 vehicles but has disclosed limited details about the flight test activities.

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