Contractors are still counting their losses from the 16-day shutdown earlier this month. But where new opportunities are to be had, some say the floodgates will open — soon. Bloomberg Government Defense Analyst Kevin Brancato has been taking stock.

The Army Research Lab is exploring the science behind cybersecurity. It has launched a five-year alliance with universities. In particular, they’ll look at human behavior on the Internet. John Pellegrino is the director of the Lab’s Computational and Information Sciences Directorate.

The White House has fired the National Security Council’s nonproliferation director after learning he was posting snarky tweets (incognito) about colleagues, Congress and others. Jofi Joseph tells Politico he deeply regrets violating the trust and confidence placed in him. But is it too late? And what does this mean for other federal employees using social media? For some answers we turn to Debra Roth, a partner at Shaw Bransford & Roth, in our weekly legal loop segment. Read more.

The Defense Department is getting everyone on the same page by moving to one network known as the Joint Information Environment. Brig. Gen. Brian Dravis is director of the Joint Information Environment Technical Synchronization Office at the Defense Information Systems Agency. On this week’s Agency of the Month, he tells Federal News Radio’s Lauren Larson what JIE has to offer.

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The Office of Management and Budget has canceled a financial management circular. A-127 no longer governs agency financial management systems. Instead, OMB has rolled a few of the old requirements into the new Appendix D of Circular A-123. Norman Dong is the acting controller at OMB. He tells Federal News Radio’s Jason Miller the decision to cancel A-127 is part of an effort to update and simplify agency financial management regulations.

The Army has serious concerns about its ability to modernize its equipment and technology over the next few years, especially if sequestration stays in effect. But leaders say they can’t afford not to think about building for the “deep future.” More from Federal News Radio’s DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.