As part of the standup of four new Navy warfighting development centers, the Office of Naval Research seeks to insert the testing and prototyping of new technologies into the Navy’s regular training exercises.
Michael Daniel, the White House cyber coordinator, said to encourage adoption of the critical infrastructure cyber framework, the government would focus on streamlining regulations, cybersecurity research and development and federal procurement policies and practice.
For cybersecurity, research and development and defense contracting, the Washington D.C. region carries a lot of weight. Now that Congress has passed a 2015 federal budget, lots of companies are looking to see how cyber, R&D and defense programs are likely to fare in the coming year. Jonathan Aberman has been looking into this. He's the managing director of Amplifier Ventures in Northern Virginia and the founder of the non-profit Tandem NSI, which brings new companies to the federal market. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive for some analysis.
The Science and Technology Directorate is giving more than 50 companies a chance to show off their DHS-funded cyber innovations. The cyber showcase is the first of its kinds from S&T.
Budget pressures on the Defense Department have driven down spending on research and development. That gives the military less say in developments that might give battlefield superiority. But industry can help with a class of products known as non-developmental items. Retired Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran, now with Harris Corporation, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with details.
The military has made some progress in reversing the training and maintenance shortfalls it underwent when sequestration first took hold in 2013. But Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said those gains will quickly reverse themselves if Congress lets the budget caps return next year.
If you are looking to understand the trends and drivers in the federal contracting market, few events are better than TechAmerica's annual Vision conference.
The Software Assurance Marketplace (SWAMP) is a new initiative from DHS Science and Technology Directorate's cybersecurity division to test apps for security vulnerabilities before they are installed on agency networks. S&T also sponsored the HOST program to promote the use and security of open source tools.
The Science and Technology Directorate's Cybersecurity Division received dozens of proposals to protect the next emerging area for cybersecurity, called physical systems. S&T will receive 70 proposals across four major areas and award $95 million to the best ideas in early 2015.
Dr. Reginald Brothers, the new Homeland Security Department undersecretary for science and technology, wants to revamp DHS' S&T portfolio by making its research projects more relevant to end users, building more connective tissue between headquarters and DHS components and rebuilding workforce morale.
The U.S. and its allies have dominated the military technology landscape for decades, but the Defense Department now sees potential adversaries in its rearview mirror. The Pentagon is coming up with some coping strategies to maintain its technological advantage, including version 3 of Better Buying Power.
Reggie Brothers, the undersecretary for Science and Technology at the Homeland Security Department, is crowdsourcing ideas across four broad goals to determine where research and development is heading over the next decade. He will use the results of the crowdsourcing effort to influence S&T's strategic plan.
The restrictions on feds' travel opportunities are having too many unintended consequences, says Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners.
The Science and Technology Directorate issued a Broad Agency Announcement and four specific solicitations to get industry, academia and others thinking about how to improve cybersecurity. Over the next nine months, the agency will review white papers, proposals and make awards, with expectations of the development of commercial or open source projects in the next year or two.
Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said while the budget agreement adds money back to DoD's overall spending capacity in 2014 and 2015, the deal still doesn't plug holes in the Pentagon's research funding. Kendall estimated R&D funding will drop by as much as 20 percent compared to the department's initial requests.