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DARPA Launches New AI Program to Advance Scientific Knowledge Extracting, Modeling
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DARPA Launches New AI Program to Advance Scientific Knowledge Extracting, Modeling

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has announced a new program aimed at developing artificial intelligence tools to automate knowledge extraction and modeling to support data-informed decision-making in various missions and scientific domains. 

The Automating Scientific Knowledge Extraction and Modeling (ASKEM) program will build on the progress made in the first research opportunity under DARPA’s AI Exploration program that was intended to advance the development of scientific models, the Department of Defense’s research arm said Monday.

ASKEM serves as a broader AI program aimed at creating an ecosystem that would allow subject matter experts to streamline the process of knowledge discovery, model creation and simulation.

DARPA seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of the tools developed from the program in several scientific domains, such as viral epidemics such as COVID-19 and to the causes and impacts of space weather.

The agency’s Information Innovation Office will hold a virtual proposers day on Dec. 8th to discuss the anticipated broad agency announcement for ASKEM.

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Deltek Reveals Potential High Impact Business Development Trends for 2022; GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico Quoted
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Deltek Reveals Potential High Impact Business Development Trends for 2022; GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico Quoted

Deltek, the leading provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, announced that the company’s GovWin IQ research team, made up of more than 150 veteran market analysts and industry experts, have identified four significant themes and business development trends that are expected to make the greatest impact on the federal and SLED (state, local and education) government contracting markets in 2022.

“Our research has shown that several themes are likely to make an impact on how government contractors operate in 2022,” said GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico, senior vice president of Information Solutions at Deltek and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient…“Understanding these themes is of great importance for public sector vendors aiming to get ahead of their competition and win more government business.”

Deltek’s GovWin IQ research team discovered that the potential impact of new funding sources and appropriations will be significant in the year to come as well as the challenges surrounding new and expanding compliance requirements, the renewed focus on small businesses as a result of upcoming government policies and many federal agencies are expected to continue consolidating contracts which will result in fewer opportunities.

“The impacts of contract consolidation and expanded compliance requirements will be vital for contractors to understand, while the opportunities unlocked by new funding sources and an increased focus on small businesses can help proactive companies expand their government contracting operations,” GovCon Expert Kevin Plexico added.

In early 2022, the GovWin research team will also explore details of these trends in a two-part webinar series covering both the federal and SLED markets.

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Splunk CGO Teresa Carlson: Data Will Drive Innovation in the New Hybrid, Multi-Cloud World
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Splunk CGO Teresa Carlson: Data Will Drive Innovation in the New Hybrid, Multi-Cloud World

Splunk released four reports on Tuesday providing key insights from technology experts across the federal landscape and key Splunk senior leaders detailing the importance of data in the future and the significant trends to watch in data security, cloud acceleration, ransomware and more.

“Technology continues to provide us with a unique ability to address many of the global economy’s challenges — and by leveraging the power of data, we can take immediate action to create solutions,” said Teresa Carlson, president and chief growth officer with Splunk and a six-time Wash100 Award winner.

More specifically, Splunk’s reports provided a look into executive and emerging technologies as well as data security, IT and observability and the public sector. Some valuable insights included a prediction that many companies will look towards M&A activity once they adjust to the challenges of the pandemic as well as developing a new approach to recruitment and edge computing in 2022.

Splunk’s results also expect ransomware to increase as the importance of cyber hygiene continues to work its way into the majority of organizations. The company anticipates that cloud acceleration has left some major gaps in the customer experience and public and private sector collaboration will be vital towards long-term success for both areas in the coming year.

To access the 2022 Splunk Predictions reports across Executive and Emerging Technologies, Data Security, IT and Observability, and Public Sector, please visit:

https://www.splunk.com/en_us/campaigns/future-predictions.html

 

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Russ Langford Joins Acuity International as CGO; Bob Stalick Quoted
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Russ Langford Joins Acuity International as CGO; Bob Stalick Quoted

Russ Langford, former Dell Technologies executive, has been appointed as chief growth officer for Acuity International, previously known as Caliburn International.

As part of his new role, Langford will be responsible for helping the company achieve its growth objectives through connecting enterprise-wide go-to-market strategies, the Reston, Virginia-based Acuity said Tuesday.

Bob Stalick, Acuity International’s CEO, said Langford is “uniquely qualified” to drive company growth based on his background of delivering new technologies to create value in public and private sector markets.

“His depth of experience in sales and marketing, proven results driving revenue and growth, and strong leadership skills will be a great asset to the company as we continue to enable mission continuity and stability for our global customers,” Stalick said of the new CGO.

Langford’s career encompasses three decades of technology and federal government leadership experience. He joins Acuity International from Dell Technologies, where served as director of the company’s FSI and channel partner sales teams.

Prior to his time with Dell, Langford was director of the federal global services sales team at EMC Global Services. In this role, Langford created and executed the company’s campaigns and program capture as well as its annual go-to-market strategy.

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Army Futures Command Chief Gen. John Murray Retires
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Army Futures Command Chief Gen. John Murray Retires

Gen. John Murray, head of Army Futures Command and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, is retiring after nearly four decades of military service, the service reported Monday.

He became the first commanding general of AFC in 2018 and spearheaded efforts to gather and apply insights from academic researchers, tech industry innovators and other experts to help inform Army modernization.

Murray, who joined the Army as an infantry officer in 1982, was deputy chief of staff for the G-8 unit prior to assuming the leadership role at AFC.

He previously served as director of force management at the Department of Defense; director of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis at U.S. Joint Forces Command; and assistant deputy director of joint training, J-7, at the Joint Staff.

Murray commanded the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, during Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as commanding general for Joint Task Force-3 and deputy commanding general – support for U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

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Heidi Shyu: DOD Seeks Early Industry Engagement in Military Tech Design
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Heidi Shyu: DOD Seeks Early Industry Engagement in Military Tech Design

Heidi Shyu, Department of Defense undersecretary for research and engineering, said collaboration with vendors should begin early in the product development cycle to align technology with specific military requirements, DOD News reported Monday.

She told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum that companies value early engagement with defense agencies but are discouraged by the cost of adapting a commercially available system for military applications.

“If we can work with them upfront early in the design stage, we can leverage their capability for a commercial product into the DOD,” added Shyu, a previous Wash100 Award inductee.

Heidi Shyu: DOD Seeks Early Industry Engagement in Military Tech Design

Shyu is scheduled to deliver an opening keynote address at the Potomac Officers Club’s 8th Annual Defense Research and Development Summit on Jan. 19th to give her insight and perspective into R&D priorities at the department.

Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to learn more and discuss the Department of Defense’s current innovation priorities, technology advancements and general strategy to stay ahead of the curve in the evolving defense sector.

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OMB’s New FISMA Reporting Guidance Includes Zero Trust, CDM Program Review
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OMB’s New FISMA Reporting Guidance Includes Zero Trust, CDM Program Review

The Office of Management and Budget has released fiscal year 2021-2022 guidance to help agencies comply with the requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 and the recent cybersecurity executive order.

OMB outlined several tenets to guide performance management reform under FISMA and one of those is the transition to a zero-trust architecture, the office said in a memo published Monday.

The guidance states that agencies should implement zero trust-related security goals by the end of FY 2024 organized around the pillars of identity, devices, networks, applications and workloads and data. Other tenets listed are ground truth testing, observable security outcomes and automation.

The document calls on agencies to use the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s standard incident response playbook to help improve the ability of CISA and other agencies to evaluate the risk of vulnerabilities and carry out incident response efforts.

OMB noted that CISA will review the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program and integrate lessons learned to come up with a strategy to continue to improve CDM for FY 2022.

“This strategy will articulate challenges and opportunities for improving delivery, data quality, and support for automation,” the document reads.

To facilitate automated reporting, CISA will work with OMB and the National Institute of Standards and Technology by April to create a “strategy to continue to evolve machine-readable data standards for cybersecurity performance and compliance data through CDM.”

OMB also outlined the annual and quarterly FISMA reporting deadlines for FY 2021 and FY 2022, including those for annual and quarterly CIO metrics and senior agency officials for privacy metrics. 

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House Lawmakers Request More Info on VA’s Plans to Comply With DATA Act Requirements
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House Lawmakers Request More Info on VA’s Plans to Comply With DATA Act Requirements

Reps. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs’ oversight and investigations subcommittee and Tracey Mann, R-Kan., ranking member of the House subpanel, have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to come up with a detailed timeline on how it plans to comply with the requirements of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014.

VA should provide more information before it fully implements a potential $2.98 billion project that seeks to field a single platform to replace the department’s aging financial and acquisition systems, the lawmakers wrote in a Dec. 3rd letter to Jon Rychalski, VA’s assistant secretary for management and chief financial officer.

VA’s Financial Management Business Transformation program is expected to conclude in February 2028.

Pappas and Mann made the request after an audit by VA’s office of inspector general showed that the department failed to execute necessary improvements to meet DATA Act requirements.

“The age and decentralized nature of VA financial management systems do not enable a timely, complete, and accurate transmission of VA spending data to the Department of Treasury for presentation on USASpending.gov,” the letter reads.

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Air Force to Host Industry Event on Rotary Pilot Training
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Air Force to Host Industry Event on Rotary Pilot Training

The 19th Air Force and Air Education and Training Command (AETC) plan to host an event to inform government and industry parties about the U.S. Air Force’s rotary training priorities. 

The Introductory Flight Training – Rotary kick-off meeting aims to identify industry opportunities that can augment USAF’s pilot training programs, AETC said Friday in a SAM.gov notice. The event will take place on Dec. 15 at Randolph Air Force Base.

USAF anticipates releasing a request for information regarding IFT-R, which seeks to inform and currently does not provide solicitations or contract awards.

Interested parties may sign up for the event through Dec. 9. Parties unable to attend may still register to receive a copy of IFT-R presentation materials.

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Senate Leadership Eyes Linking Debt Limit to NDAA
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Senate Leadership Eyes Linking Debt Limit to NDAA

An attempt to increase the debt ceiling by Dec. 15 and tie the language to an annual defense policy bill could enable Senate leadership to immediately address two items in Congress’ to-do list, but the option is facing bipartisan pushback in both upper and lower chambers, The Hill reported Sunday.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., have warned that the National Defense Authorization Act with the debt limit hike language faces the risk of being rejected in the lower chamber.

“We’ve told the Senate that. That’s the reality. Those are the numbers,” said Hoyer, who confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have been discussing the option.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the NDAA has been delayed in the Senate by a number of proposed measures and one of those is an amendment over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline system that links Russia to Germany. 

Another amendment bogging down the NDAA is the incorporation of a language from the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which would prohibit products made by Uyghur Muslims through forced labor from reaching the U.S. market.

According to congressional aides, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees started working on a compromise NDAA and that the lower chamber could vote on the measure early next week.

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