NOAA launches new hurricane forecasting model

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center has launched a new hurricane forecasting model.

The agency’s new Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS) went into operation on June 27 and is set to run alongside existing models for the 2023 season before being deployed as NOAA’s main hurricane forecasting model.

NOAA’s updated model more accurately predicts the rapid intensification of storms and has a range of features including the ability to provide higher resolution observations. In particular, the new model showed a 10% to 15% improvement in predictions of storm track, compared with existing models.

The National Hurricane Center’s forecasting models are crucial for giving U.S. citizens advanced warning about storms and are also widely used by the private sector, including the insurance industry, to model economic damage.

Commenting on the new model, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said: “The quick deployment of HAFS marks a milestone in NOAA’s commitment to advancing our hurricane forecasting capabilities, and ensuring continued improvement of services to the American public.”

He added: “Development, testing and evaluations were jointly carried out between scientists at NOAA Research and the National Weather Service, marking a seamless transition from development to operations.”

NOAA will continue upgrading the model over the next few years, and to halve the number of model forecast errors detected in 2017 by 2027. HAFS is also the first new major forecast model to use NOAA’s updated weather and climate supercomputers, which were installed last summer.

HAFS was jointly created by NOAA’s National Weather Service Environmental Modeling Center, Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory and NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Studies.

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On embattled NOTAM system, FAA looks to private industry for more help

The Federal Aviation Administration is considering turning to the private sector for even more help with operating the embattled Notice to Air Missions system. 

NOTAMs are the notification tool that the agency uses to share critical safety information with pilots before flights takeoff, warning them of closed off airspace, dangerous weather patterns, and other hazards. But the NOTAM system is rife with problems, according to some pilots and other members of the aviation industry. The notices can be long and full of abbreviations, making them wonky and difficult to parse. Earlier this year, the NOTAM program failed after contractors inadvertently deleted files while working with NOTAM databases, an issue that ultimately forced the FAA to halt flight take offs across the country. 

Now, the FAA is facing a major push to modernize the system — a transition that could cost nearly $20 million. With air traffic on the rise, Congress is watching the issue closely, too.

“It’s been a functional system. But as the air traffic system in the airspace has become more crowded, it basically has not — in many respects — kept up,” says Mark Dombroff, a partner at Fox Rothschild who has represented major airlines and focuses on regulatory issues in the aviation industry. “I think the FAA went back to the drawing board, and essentially has now issued this.”

Dombroff briefly worked at the FAA, and also spent time focusing on aviation issues at the Department of Justice. 

Amid pressure to improve NOTAMs, the agencies started reaching out to private companies that might be able to take on a new role in operating the technology behind these notices, according to a market survey and request for information that the agency released earlier this year. 

According to that posting, the FAA is seeking three platforms, including a collection platform, which would involve a web service to upload new NOTAMs, a management platform for processing different kinds of NOTAMs, and a distribution platform that would allow for people to search for various active NOTAMs, as well as archived NOTAMs. Notably, the agency is focused on newer, digital versions of these notices, which — unlike legacy NOTAMs — include data that can be represented in both geo-spatial and textual formats.  

“The FAA requested information from industry to determine existing industry capabilities to provide systems and services for the lifecycle management of NOTAMs,” the agency told FedScoop. “The FAA is still determining our options for future operational management of the NOTAM system based on proposed responses that meet our needs for managing a safe National Airspace.”

The agency said it has received 22 responses from vendors, and that it’s now considering next steps. Traditionally, agencies issue a request for proposals from contractors after publishing a request for information, or market survey, to establish what commercial solutions currently exist and how a contract might be structured.

Notably, the prospect of privatizing some of the FAA’s responsibilities, and particularly the operation of air traffic control, has been controversial within the aviation industry. 

The agency would not say whether which, or if any, private companies are currently involved in running the federal NOTAM system — and directed FedScoop to file a public records request instead. The FAA has a contract with a Maryland-based company called Spatial Front — the company whose contractors deleted files and caused the halting of flights earlier this year —  for assistance with the legacy NOTAM system. The FAA has also hired a firm called Concept Solutions for support with modernizing the NOTAM system. 

Concept Solutions did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication, and Spatial Front referred FedScoop back to the FAA.

“With proper oversight, with proper controls, the privatization of the NOTAM system is not going to be the nose under the tent for broader privatization,” said Peter Goelz, a former National Transportation Safety Board managing director who now works as a senior vice president at the lobbying and crisis communications firm O’Neill and Associates. “The arguments that get made for privatization is — and we’ll see whether this is true or not — is one, that they’re more adroit.”

Salesforce to raise prices for key cloud products

Cloud software giant Salesforce announced Tuesday that it will be raising prices for some of its key cloud and marketing tools by an average 9% from August onwards, which will affect all new and existing customers, including federal government agencies.

Salesforce’s first price hike in seven years comes at a time when the company, like many other tech giants, has significantly increased spending on generative artificial intelligence (AI) products and services.

“Salesforce will be increasing list prices an average of 9% across Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Industries and Tableau,” Salesforce said in a press release on Tuesday.

“In just the last few months alone, Salesforce has introduced AI Cloud, Einstein GPT, Sales GPT and Service GPT, and more,” the company said regarding its recent $20 billion investment in research and development.

The price hike will affect key products like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Industries and Tableau. 

The new Salesforce list prices will be the following: Professional Edition will go up $5 to $80, its Enterprise Edition will increase $15 to $165, and it’s Unlimited Edition will jump $30 to $330. Similar price increases will go into effect for Industries, Marketing Cloud Engagement and Account Engagement, CRM Analytics and Tableau products as well.

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Congress advances SAMOSA bill to overhaul federal software purchasing   

Bipartisan legislation intended to consolidate U.S. government software purchasing and give agencies greater ability to push back on restrictive software licensing has moved forward in the House of Representatives.

The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act passed mark-up by the House Oversight Committee Wednesday morning, and now moves forward to be debated by lawmakers on the House floor.

The SAMOSA legislation has potentially widespread implications for U.S. government software procurement, including mandating more centralized software purchasing and the requirement for independent watchdog audits of agency contracts with big tech companies.

Details of the bipartisan bill, which is intended to overhaul software purchasing, were first revealed by FedScoop in November. A companion SAMOSA bill in the upper chamber was reported favorably out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in May.

The proposed legislation has attract both support and criticism from industry leaders and independent experts. Some say it represents a long-awaited push to improve competition and reduce fees in the government software market. Others argue it could restrict the choice of products that agencies can choose from in an already consolidated market.

In a letter sent to House Oversight Committee leaders on Tuesday, a coalition of technology industry lobby groups expressed support for legislation, and said it could help the government save at least $750 million each year.

“This critical legislation authorizes the Administration to take the steps necessary to know what enterprise software exists across departments and agencies, and use that information to make smarter, more informed choices when procuring software,” said the letter signed by the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, NetChoice and the Alliance for Digital Innovation.

Former senior Senate staffer and SAMOSA Act co-author Matt Cornelius said: “Cracking down on extortionate software licenses will increase competition, lower costs, and improve agency cybersecurity. Passing SAMOSA out of COA will show that bipartisanship and bicameral cooperation is still possible — and sets the bill up well for final passage as either a stand-alone or part of a larger package before the end of this year.” 

The bill progresses amid a wider debate about how software is bundled and sold to U.S. government agencies by big tech companies. A recent study published earlier year, which was commissioned by NetChoice, warned that government software contractors such as Microsoft and Oracle routinely lock federal agencies into sole-source contracts.

The bill passed the committee mark-up with a 39-0 unanimous roll call vote.

Editor’s note, 7/12/23: This story was updated to include details of the roll call vote.

VA watchdog warns of cybersecurity deficiencies at Northern Arizona health care system

The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General has warned of key cybersecurity deficiencies at the agency’s Northern Arizona health system.

In an audit, the watchdog said it had detected previously unidentified critical vulnerabilities, uninstalled patches and network operating systems that are no longer supported by vendors.

According to the IG, the issues could “deprive users of reliable access to information and could risk unauthorized access to, or the alteration or destruction of, critical systems.”

In addition, the VA watchdog said it had identified almost twice as many devices on the health care system’s network than listed in an inventory and also found a range of weak access controls including missing video surveillance at a data center and inadequate fire detection and suppression equipment.

As a result of its investigation, the watchdog made six recommendations to the VA CIO to improve controls at the health care system because they are related to enterprise-wide information security issues similar to those identified through previous FISMA audits and information security inspections. It also made five recommendations to the director of the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System.

VA management agreed with the six recommendations made to the VA CIO.

The watchdog typically carries out such audits at VA facilities that have not been assessed in the sample for the annual audit required by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA).

Indian health agency must improve review of patient harm data, watchdog says

The Indian Health Service needs to review data it collects on events that could or did cause damage, harm, or loss to patients by location to improve the agency’s oversight of patient safety, a government watchdog said.

Trends with so-called “adverse events” are currently tracked at the area and facility level through IHS Safety Tracking and Response — a web-based system that was implemented in 2020 — but location-specific information on those trends isn’t included in reports for IHS headquarters, the Government Accountability Office said in a Monday report. 

Absence of that location-specific information means headquarters “cannot effectively prioritize attention and resources or disseminate best practices, creating the potential for disparities in patient care based on location,” the GAO said. 

Over a two-year period, more than 27,000 adverse events were recorded by IHS, which provides care to roughly 2.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, according to the report. The agency’s definition of adverse events includes giving a patient incorrect medication or a missed diagnosis.

The GAO recommended that the agency review and compare adverse event data for each of its geographic areas, at minimum, and distribute best practices in response to trends as needed. The Department of Health and Human Services, which IHS is part of, agreed with those recommendations.

The watchdog noted “longstanding questions about patient care quality and safety at federally operated IHS facilities.” In 2017, for example, the watchdog found that facilities operated by IHS reported adverse events inconsistently.

The GAO said it conducted the investigation to review the agency’s use of “information technology systems to manage patient care and monitor adverse events.” Those IT systems, the GAO said, can be used to monitor the quality of care for the populations IHS serves, which are affected disproportionately by certain health conditions.

In addition to agreeing with the recommendations, HHS also said the agency will produce a quarterly report provided to IHS leadership with national and area-level data it will use to address issues as needed.

Microsoft Federal President Rick Wagner steps down

Microsoft Federal President Rick Wagner has left his leadership role at the technology company.

In a statement to FedScoop, a spokesperson confirmed the executive’s departure and said he had left the company “to pursue new opportunities.” They added: “We are deeply grateful for his leadership and contributions to the company and wish him all the best in the future.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Wagner has led Microsoft’s government technology operation since March 2020, and before that was president of ManTech’s mission, cyber and intelligence solutions group.

Wagner’s prior roles include chief strategy officer at American defense company TASC, and program management roles at Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

His departure comes as Microsoft works to expand the services it provides to U.S. government agencies, including through the provision of artificial intelligence-assisted cloud technology.

Last month the technology company launched its new Azure OpenAI Service for government, which the company says will allow federal agencies to use powerful language models including ChatGPT while adhering to stringent security and compliance standards.

That new service is intended to allow government departments to adapt models including GPT-3 and GPT-4 for specific tasks, including content generation, summarization, semantic search, and natural language-to-code translation.

Details of Wagner’s next destination could not immediately be established.

News of Wagner’s departure was first reported by Breaking Defense.

CIO-SP4 acquisition arm commits to corrective action after 119 bid protests sustained

The technology acquisition arm behind CIO-SP4 said it will take corrective action on recently upheld challenges to the $50 billion, 10-year solicitation, while expressing optimism about the future of the contract vehicle. 

The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) announcement that it will take “corrective action required to reevaluate all proposals” comes after the Government Accountability Office recently sustained a total 119 “bid protest” challenges to the solicitation in two separate decisions.

The statement marks the third time the agency has agreed to corrective action on issues relating to advancing offerors to the second phase of the competition. The GAO previously dismissed prior bid protests in March 2023 and November 2022 after the agency elected to take corrective action.

NITAAC said it doesn’t expect needing to extend existing contracts under the solicitation’s predecessor, CIO-SP3, to prevent a gap in coverage while it conducts the reevaluation. Those existing programs expire Oct. 29.

“We are optimistic about the promise CIO-SP4 holds for our federal government customers and look forward to helping federal civilian and [Department of Defense] agencies get IT done,” NITAAC said in a statement.

CIO-SP4 — short for Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 — is the fourth iteration of a contract vehicle for acquiring IT products and specialized services across the federal government. The solicitation has been enmeshed in challenges by companies seeking to be included in it since NITAAC first requested proposals in May 2021. 

“The journey of bringing CIO-SP4 to market has admittedly been a long one, filled with all the expected growing pains of a record setting competitive federal acquisition,” the NITAAC statement said.

In June, the GAO found sustained 93 bid protests, concluding that the agency “unreasonably failed” to advance proposals past the first stage. And on Monday, the watchdog sustained 26 more protests, concluding that the agency couldn’t show that it reasonably evaluated offerors’ self-scores, a points-based process for demonstrating a prospective contractor’s work in certain areas.

The acquisition arm also defended itself in the statement, saying two recent GAO decisions sustaining bid protests received “significant attention,” but “it is equally as important to note the overwhelming number of protest arguments/allegations that have been dismissed, withdrawn, or found to have no merit.”

Editor’s note, 7/13/23: This story was updated to correct the total number of protests sustained.