QUICK HITS

  • What are agencies doing with AI? Bipartisan Senate duo wants to know: Sens. Wyden and Crapo are asking.

  • House pulls funding bill covering IRS, GSA, OMB, and more: After intra-party dispute.

  • TikTok Off The Clock: Navigating the TikTok ban on devices for government contractors. (Podcast)

  • The Federal EHR Modernization "State of the System” annual talk: November 14 via MS Teams.

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Space Force to create new digital modeling strategy.

The Space Force is working on a new digital modeling strategy, the latest initiative by the service to improve how it uses technology and work towards becoming more digital. Read more

AFCENT working on anonymous threat data pool, to get around partner trust issues.

Air Forces Central (AFCENT) Deputy Commander Brig. Gen. David Mineau said that 17 partner countries, both within and outside the Middle East, are working together on building a common operating picture and shared threat warning for the region. While there is “slow but steady” progress on both initiatives, long-standing regional tensions remain a frustrating challenge. Read more

AI deepfake detection requires NSF and DARPA funding and new legislation, congressman says.

Lawmakers warned of the dangers of AI-generated deepfake content during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing last week, pushing for additional funding for key federal agencies as well as new targeted legislation to tackle the problem. Read more.

ICYMI:

  • Rocket Lab to launch 3C printed hypersonic test vehicle for the Definite Innovation Unit.

  • Emirati firm to put missiles on MQ-9B, as US official says SkyGuardian, F-35 deal still 'on the table.'

  • Air Force’s first T-7 touches down at Edwards AFB ahead of new test phase.

  • Startup Rogue Space launches its first demonstration mission.

Defense Contract Awards

Follow the Defense Leaders

  • DOD CIO Names a new Permanent Deputy CIO for C3.

  • DLA recruits recent EEOC and DCSA Acquisition Leader as J3 Business Management Office chief.

  • Former Army Deputy CIO and Chief Data Officer to serve as Inserso CTO and CXO.

  • DOD’s UAP lead stepping down; new deputy named.

Defense Job Openings

DAILY FUNNY

INTEL COMMUNITY

Is there bias in the clearance process?

Ensuring the security clearance process is not disproportionately affecting diverse populations is just one aspect of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 overhaul, which is the government’s efforts to make a more agile and intuitive security clearance vetting process. Read more.

How agencies can bolster cyber infiltration, ‘exfiltration’ defenses.

Data infiltration such as hacking, and “exfiltration,” or the unauthorized transfer of information, continue to be two of the biggest cyber threats faced by the defense sector, as evidenced by a recent joint FBI, NSA, and CISA report. Read more.

ICYMI:

CIVILIAN

GAO is building GenAI tools to face internal challenges.

GAO’s chief data scientist and director of the innovation lab highlighted some programs at a recent IBM event. The first project he discussed was Project Holodeck, which is leveraging extended reality to enhance GAO employees’ ability to collect evidence. The second AI project the Innovation Lab lead highlighted was Project ToM – a topic modeling tool. Read more

10x’s Digital Experience projects are more public-facing than ever.

GSA’s program for improving digital public service has altered its investment profile to increasingly fund projects that citizens will use and benefit from. GSA’s program is called 10X, and one of its recent programs was beta.notify.gov, a digital notifications service that allows agencies to send custom text messages about federal benefits to recipients at low cost. Read more

FEMA announces $1.8B in funding to boost climate resilience.

FEMA announced a substantial funding initiative aimed at bolstering climate resilience across the United States. The goal of the $1.8B effort is to mitigate the impacts of climate change and increasingly severe weather events. Grant applications are due by Feb 29. Read more

ICYMI:

  • Coast Guard posts FMPDR Reporting and Analytical Capabilities RFP.

  • GAO presses OMB to improve USAspending.gov data; 49 agencies don’t report data there.

  • RFP: Federal Transit Administration seeks bids on $670M grant oversight contract.

  • FAA tech sprint addressing runway safety priorities.

  • USDOT official suggests that industry should pay for the FAA commercial space office.

Civilian Contracts Awards

  • Deloitte protest dismissed: $98M VA Market Area Health System Optimization (MASHO) Veteran Facility Transformation & Healthcare Enhancement (VFTHE) BPA.

  • GDIT beats out 7 to win $2.5B HHS IHS enterprise EHR system contract utilizing Oracle Cerner technology.

  • Fearless wins HHS CDC awards $35M Enterprise Data Exchange (DEX) Customer Experience contract.

Follow Civilian Leaders

  • T4NG2 Prime VetsEZ recruits senior industry technology strategy and architect.

  • Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service taps rising Innovation and Transformation SME to drive data transparency.

  • HHS taps new Deputy Director to lead the Office of the National Coordinator for Health.

  • IRS taps new CIO; he comes from the OIT at CMS.

  • IRS names Acting Chief, #InnovateIRS + Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

  • Senate confirms a new NIH Director.

  • Accenture Federal Services taps new chief data scientist.

Civilian Job Openings

  • DOJ is hiring a Supervisory Information Technology Program Manager (Senior Deputy Assistant Director FLD OPS).

  • NNSA is seeking an Associate Assistant Deputy Administrator for Global Material Security. (What’s up with the triple subordinate title?)

  • USDA is hiring an Associate Director, Office of Human Resource Management.

  • USDA is seeking SES Director Office of Contracting and Procurement to oversee $10B department-wide acquisition program.

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

There is money in space junk! This company just landed a cool $5M contract/investment.

Space tech startup Kall Morris, Inc (KMI) just secured $5M in DOD contracts and private investments. KMI essentially operations as an on-hire debris cleaning service. It takes orders from commercial companies, space agencies, and the government to remove debris or inactive satellites from orbits. Read more || Related, but different: You can track the toolbag astronauts accidentally dropped out of the ISS with binoculars in your backyard. I guess the ISS should hire KMI to clean it up!

AI can help agencies enhance their cyber defenses, survey finds.

AI tools can help the government better identify and defense against a host of cyber threats, according to a recent GDIT survey. GDIT’s survey of 200 federal officials found that 41% reported that an “overwhelming volume of data” made it hard for them to identify cyber threats. Officials also reported the surge in data was exacerbated by a skills gap within their respective agencies, with 36% of respondents saying they “lack the skilled personnel to manage and analyze data.” Read more

When disaster strikes, these good boys and girls are your rescue crew.

On a crisp autumn morning, a Labrador zigzags over broken concrete and steel rebar. There are overturned boats, piles of wood, and broken-down bus. As he climbs the small mountain of rubble, his nose is down, tail straight. This dog is working—focused and searching for a person. FEMA has 280 certified detection dogs trained to find humans in disasters. 35 canines were sent to Hawaii earlier this year to recover bodies of people who had died in the wildfires. Read more.

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