Artificial Intelligence
IARPA teases event for large language model vulnerability mitigation tools
The intelligence agency offered details on a new potential contract and October event to showcase tools that can detect and remediate vulnerabilities in large language models.
Defense
US offers rare preview of upcoming spy-satellite launch
Officials talked about Tuesday’s launch of NROL-107 in a bid to “deter the adversary.”
Ideas
Keep the focus in procurement on best value products and services for the government
Commentary | Steve Kelman argues that the current cornerstone of Part 1 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation is the right one for taxpayers and agencies.
Ideas
Machines can’t always take the heat
COMMENTARY | Two engineers explain the physics behind how heat waves threaten everything from cars to computers.
Digital Government
Taxpayer advocate highlights challenges for legit taxpayers tagged as fraudsters by the IRS
The only online remediation option for people whose tax returns have been flagged as potential identity theft is through vendor ID.me.
Acquisition
DOD looks to counter China by accelerating drone acquisition, production
The "Replicator" initiative announced by the Pentagon's No. 2 official looks to leverage lo-fi, autonomous systems to outpace China on the battlefield.
Cybersecurity
US water infrastructure ‘unsustainable’ amid rapidly evolving crisis, report warns
The United States is facing an unsustainable demand for water and lacks the security posture to defend the nation’s water systems from emerging threats, according to a new report.
Acquisition
DHS should assess the benefits of a risk management sharing tool, GAO says
A new report found that the department’s guidance for risk management practices in acquisition programs isn’t specific enough for all programs and could be helped by information-sharing tools.
Ideas
Empathy, continuous feedback are keys to CX success
COMMENTARY | How human-centered design can optimize outcomes for customer experience initiatives.
Defense
Doing business with the Navy shouldn’t be ‘artificially hard,’ research chief says
Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus said making contracting easier is a top priority.
Modernization
NBIS says it will deliver continuous monitoring for all customers by December
The National Background Investigation Services system was initially scheduled to be up and running in 2019.
People
Former CMS data chief Niall Brennan rejoins government
Brennan will be working as a senior advisor to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a focus on the agency’s data modernization push.
Ideas
Geoengineering sounds like a quick climate fix
COMMENTARY | But without more research and guardrails, it’s a costly gamble − with potentially harmful results.
Cybersecurity
More than 1,000 federal system flaws fixed via CISA's bug reporting platform
The nation’s cyber defense agency is scaling up a key program that gives federal agencies a chance to remediate vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Emerging Tech
Energy allocates $16M for high-performance machine learning research
A total of seven academic institutions and national labs working on leveraging supercomputing capabilities to advance predictive modeling and simulation received new funding.
Emerging Tech
NIST releases draft standards for 3 post-quantum encryption algorithms
The National Institute of Standards and Technology wants feedback on its draft standardization guidelines as the agency ushers in post-quantum cryptographic migration.
Ideas
Time for Congress to rationalize the c-suite
COMMENTARY | A proliferation of IT and management reforms going back more than 40 years have complicated the path to modernizing legacy technology systems.
Cybersecurity
New bill would require all federal contractors to develop vulnerability disclosure policies
The Federal Cybersecurity Vulnerability Reduction Act aims to establish standardized vulnerability disclosure policies across all federal contractors.
Artificial Intelligence
Agriculture Department is taking a ‘cautious’ approach to generative AI
The agency’s data “also needs to be in a condition… to support those kinds of tools,” according to USDA chief data officer and responsible AI officer, Chris Alvares.
Cybersecurity