Army Secretary Wormuth says modernization programs remain ‘a top priority’

The newly sworn-in Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth has said that modernization programs remain “a top priority” in her first message to service personnel.

“The army must be manned, trained, equipped and modernized to be ready to fight today, but also to meet the demands of an uncertain and unpredictable future,” Wormuth wrote in a memo sent on June 1. “Seeing our modernization programs through successfully will remain a top priority so that the Army is ready to meet future challenges.”

The secretary wrote to service members after last week being sworn in as the first woman to lead the Army. She has previously held several senior DOD positions, including the undersecretary for policy.

At her confirmation hearing, Wormuth told Congress she backed the Army’s plans to create a force that can fight in “multi-domain operations,” where soldiers would be able to link together operations via tactical networks and data transfers that would better inform how they can coordinate actions.

The largest multi-domain project the Army is working on is its Project Convergence. It is the Army’s contribution to the over all Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which is intended to bring multi-domain and multi-service operations to the entire military.

The Army has six major priorities for modernization that largely rely on using software and new data-based tech to increase autonomy and precision. The priorities include: Long-range precision weapons, next generation combat vehicles, future vertical lift, network modernization, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality.

The department established Army Futures Command in July 2018, which is tasked with leading modernization programs.

Biden budget proposes 2.7% average pay increase for federal employees

President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget proposes a 2.7% average pay increase for government employees in an effort to rebuild the federal workforce.

If enacted, the plan would in total boost the pay and benefits of civilians working in government agencies by $16.7 billion, or 4.4%, to $396.6 billion next year.

The proposal comes amid a push by the Biden administration to walk back changes made to federal employment under the Trump administration, including the curtailment of collective bargaining rights and the weakening of anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ employees.

“After decades of under-investment in a modern-day workforce, a failure to partner with labor unions, and ongoing, unwarranted attacks on its independence, the civil service is in need of repair and rebuilding and the administration has already taken swift action to deliver on that goal,” said a budget document published on Friday.

Biden has already issued executive orders directing agencies to review their policies for systemic barriers preventing people of color and underserved communities from accessing federal benefits and opportunities, as well as creating a Gender Policy Council.

The administration has so far restored collective bargaining rights, eliminated Schedule F and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. If enacted, Biden’s budget would take things a step further by funding implementation of his “Protecting the Federal Workforce” executive order.

The proposed pay increase for federal employees matches what’s been proposed on the defense side and was praised by several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, which felt it showed Biden “respects the civil service and the work they do for the American people.”

However, the union said also that it would continue to advocate for the 3.2% average pay increase being considered by Congress in the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act.

“While we are supportive that the long tradition of military-civilian pay raise parity has been honored in the president’s proposal, 2.7% is simply not nearly enough to compensate for the losses in buying power of federal wages and salaries over the past decade,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE president, in a statement.

“On average, federal workers are underpaid by 23% compared to those doing the same jobs in the private sector and state and local government,” Kelley added.

The budget also includes funding for a paid family leave program when employees’ family members are critically ill.

Agencies given July 19 deadline to finalize plans for return to in-person work

Agencies across the federal government have been given a deadline of July 19 to finalize plans for bringing staff back to work in person.

In an internal email sent on behalf of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, departments have been told this is the deadline by which procedures and policies must be ready to implement.

All federal agencies are being required to submit draft approaches to return to work policies by June 18 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will receive feedback on their submissions.

The draft proposals will be reviewed by OMB, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.

“The Task Force, in collaboration with OMB, OPM, and GSA, is sharing an update today that agencies will need to have finalized their plans for both reentry and post-reentry procedures and policies by July 19,” the email said. “Agencies may submit [finalized details] earlier at their discretion.”

Specifications for agencies’ final plans include the requirement that they work out a phased return schedule for staff, give plenty of notice to employees, and satisfy their collective bargaining obligations.

Planning for the return to in-person work of federal government employees is being convened by the President’s Management Council and led by the OMB, GSA and OPM.

Earlier today, Axios reported that White House employees will be invited to return to work in July, indicating the potential end of the pandemic protocols for some federal employees.

In a memo sent to the White House Office and Office of the Vice President, staff have been informed that they will start working full time on-campus between July 6 and July 23.

Bringing innovation and security to government missions with AWS GovCloud (US)

Keith Brooks is director of technical business development at Amazon Web Services (AWS), based in Washington, D.C. He was previously a Big 4 consulting firm senior strategy and technology consultant.

It’s hard to fully appreciate how much government technology has evolved in the 10 years since the launch of AWS GovCloud (US), the first cloud region specifically designed to meet the federal government’s security and compliance needs. The vision then, and now, is to enable government agencies and their commercial partners to innovate — without having to sacrifice the speed, scale, and agility the cloud enables in order to comply with security regulations. Put another way, AWS GovCloud (US) was designed to give these organizations the best of both worlds.

Looking back, the launch of AWS’s first AWS GovCloud (US) Region in August 2011 and a second dedicated region in November 2018 reflect an extraordinary journey by a diverse group of dedicated engineers and public servants. That journey wasn’t only about helping organizations move back-office applications and sensitive data securely to the cloud. AWS GovCloud (US) also represented a deeper and lasting commitment to give agencies and their contractors the tools and solutions to address mission-critical functions — and begin to innovate in ways they couldn’t using traditional on-prem systems.

This journey required a deep understanding of government agencies’ critical mission functions, as well as the many layers of regulatory, security, and compliance policy frameworks by which these organizations are bound. Some of these frameworks include:

• International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which controls the export of sensitive defense and military data, information, and technology.
• The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which promotes and authorizes standardized and secure cloud service offerings for federal agencies to address FISMA requirements in the cloud.
• Department of Defense (DoD) Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (DOD SRG), which standardizes the security assessment and authorization process for sensitive Defense Department data and systems operating in the cloud.
• Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), the Defense Department’s comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect sensitive information across the Defense Industrial Base.
• Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), which governs the security of criminal justice information services for federal and state and local law enforcement.
• IRS-1075, which protects federal tax information.
• FIPS 140-2, which specifies cryptographic security requirements to protect sensitive U.S. government information.
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which protects the processing and storage of health information.

These frameworks are more than just extra layers of code or protections; they reflect both the near-term ability to help government agencies accomplish more without taking on greater risks, as well as the long-term capability to innovate and tackle big ideas at scale with security in mind.

AWS GovCloud (US) provides a highly secure, state-of-the-art technology environment, with the latest cloud services and features for virtually every executive branch department as well as agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau and federally funded research and development centers like NASA JPL. It also provides those same services to U.S. federal contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and GDIT and technology solution providers like SAP NS2, Salesforce, and Splunk.

More than that, AWS provides unrivaled experience in guiding agencies and highly regulated entities to think big, innovate, and move forward more rapidly to deliver their missions.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy, who founded Amazon’s cloud service platform in 2006 and who has been chosen to take the helm at Amazon as CEO this fall, has a frequent saying: “There is no compression algorithm for experience.”

AWS’s experience runs wide and deep. One measure of that experience is reflected in the fact that no technology provider comes close to having the number of FedRAMP Authorizations to Operate (ATO) as AWS GovCloud (US) — more than 376 authorizations at last count. More than 115 government agencies make use of those services, and several dozen technology partners have FedRAMP Moderate and High products and services authorized on AWS GovCloud (US), according to FedRAMP’s tally.

Another example of that experience is reflected in how technology providers such as Salesforce have partnered with AWS GovCloud (US) to adapt their customer relationship management (CRM) solutions — originally delivered as a service to government agencies on premises — and make them available in a highly secure, FedRAMP High-authorized cloud environment. That move helped agencies adapt suddenly to the pandemic, and it helped Salesforce accelerate the pace of upgrades and enhancements it offers to federal, state and local government agencies.

What propels all of this innovation is the fact that roughly 90% of our roadmap for AWS GovCloud (US) comes directly from customer input. And what we are seeing and hearing is exciting: Agencies are innovating with high performance computing and machine learning; running advanced analytics at a massive scale; testing innovative mobile solutions; developing new ways to harness the Internet of Things; and enabling new air, space and satellite capabilities with the cloud.

To agencies asking how to deliver their missions with greater innovation and the security they need, my advice is to think big, explore the art of the possible and consider using AWS not just as a short-term solution but as a long-term, experienced partner to help you accomplish those big and bold ideas.

Learn more how AWS GovCloud (US) can help accelerate your organization’s mission initiatives.

Read more insights from AWS leaders on how agencies are using the power of the cloud to innovate.

U.S. Census Bureau names Cano as chief information officer

The U.S. Census Bureau has appointed Luis Cano as its chief information officer (CIO), the agency confirmed to FedScoop.

Cano steps into the role after working as chief of the Decennial Contract Execution Office, where he led the procurement of $3billion in IT contracts for the 2020 Decennial Census. The 2020 census was the first to be conducted largely online.

A Census Bureau spokesperson said Cano started as CIO in mid-April.

He takes up the position following the departure of Kevin Smith, who left the bureau in January this year to join the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Smith had worked at the Census Bureau since June 2016.

Since Smith’s departure, bureau Deputy CIO Gregg “Skip” Bailey has acted as agency CIO on an interim basis.

Cano has more than 35 years’ experience with the federal government, much of it with Department of Commerce agencies like Census and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service. He also served in the Navy.

As CIO, Cano will focus on supporting Census’ numerous programs and surveys on the nation’s people and economy. He will serve as the principal adviser to the bureau’s director and deputy director on information resources and information systems management.

U.S. Navy awards Huntington Ingalls $724.3M yard support contract

The U.S. Navy has selected Huntington Ingalls to undertake a shipyard technical support contract in Mississippi.

The deal has a hybrid structure, which includes options that if exercised would take the total value of the contract to $724.3 million.

Huntington will undertake yard support for various amphibious transport and assault ships, and will also undertake on-site technical support for naval operations in Florida, Virginia, California, and Japan.

The work is expected to be completed by May 2028.

Huntington is the U.S.’s largest military shipbuilder and was formed in 2011 as a spin-off of Northrop Grumman. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HII.

White House employees to return to in-person work in July: report

White House employees will be invited to return to work in July, indicating the potential end of the pandemic protocols for some federal employees.

In a memo sent to the White House Office and Office of the Vice President, staff have been informed that they will start working full time on-campus between July 6 and July 23, according to a report by Axios.

The memo says that exceptions will be made for staffers with extenuating circumstances and that they may continue to work remotely on a temporary basis “in consultation with their manager.”

News of the plan to get White House staff back in the office comes as employees across federal government seek for clarity on what their agencies will expect from their staff as the U.S. continues to recover from COVID-19 closures.

It is understood that each agency is being required to develop its own plan to bring employees back to work in stages.

In January, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to all agencies mandating that they adopt model COVID-19 safety principles and build tailored workplace safety plans.

The OMB in its guidance at the time said it would work with the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force to review and finalize plans, which would provide a starting point for adjusting mission requirements.

In April last year, the Trump administration issued joint guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and the OMB, requesting that agencies consider how they might bring back staff.

At the time, the guidance said that the federal government was actively planning to “ramp back up” operations to the maximum extent possible as local conditions warrant.

Senate confirms McCord as Department of Defense comptroller

The Senate on Friday confirmed Mike McCord as undersecretary of defense, or comptroller, at the Department of Defense.

It represents a return to the post for the senior government official, who was confirmed by unanimous consent, and has previously held the role between 2009 and 2014, and between 2014 and 2017.

The comptroller is a high-level civilian position within the DOD, which is appointed by the U.S. president. The comptroller advises the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense on budgetary and fiscal matters.

McCord supported defense budget growth between 3-5% under President Trump, and also defended President Biden’s plan to divert those resources during his confirmation hearing on May 11.

Biden’s proposed $171.3 billion budget for civilian research and development (R&D) prioritizes emerging technologies like quantum computing and artificial intelligence at the expense of outdated, legacy systems.

McCord’s expected nomination, along with two others, earned praise from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in early April.

“Each of these individuals is talented, experienced and highly qualified for the critical national security roles they will, if confirmed, undertake on behalf of the department.”

“Their deep experience in national security will prove essential in guiding our efforts to defend this nation and secure our interests around the world,” Austin said at the time.

During his confirmation hearing, McCord emphasized the importance of DOD’s audit for identifying waste in an “era of cyber intrusions,” and said he would look to speed up the process.

Before returning to government, following his departure in 2017, McCord was director of civil military programs at the Stennis Center for Public Service.

Ex-Army Cyber Command leader Cardon joins C3 AI

A former commanding general of the U.S. Army Cyber Command has joined artificial intelligence and cybersecurity defense firm C3 AI.

Ed Cardon, who is a retired lieutenant general, takes up the post of chair at the business, where he will provide leadership to the company on national defense priorities.

He served in the U.S. Army for over 36 years, including stints leading troops in the U.S., Europe, Iraq and the Republic of Korea. Between 2013 and 2016 he was commanding general of the Army Cyber Command. In this role, he oversaw a major expansion of the unit and led task force Ares, which focused on offensive cyber operations against ISIS.

In 2016, Cardon became director of the U.S. Army Office of Business Transformation, where he led the task force responsible for modernizing the service. Since retiring in 2018, he has worked in industry, academia, and as an advisor to the government.

Commenting on his appointment, Cardon said: “AI is one of the greatest transformational technologies of this century.”

He continued: “C3 AI is a clear leader in enterprise AI. I am incredibly impressed by C3 AI’s leadership and talent, its rich software technology, and its commitment to the Nation.”

C3 AI was established in 2009 by former Siebel Systems founder Tom Siebel. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November last year and has contracts to provide artificial intelligence software to agencies including the Defense Innovation Unit at the Department of Defense.

Biden administration proposes record $171.3B for R&D across civilian agencies

The Biden administration proposed the largest-ever increase in non-defense research and development spending as it looks to out-compete China in emerging technologies with its first budget released Friday.

Officials likened the $171.3 billion proposed for R&D across more than 20 federal agencies —which represents a 9% increase from prior year proposals — to “space race”-era spending. It comes in addition to American Jobs Plan investments of $50 billion for the National Science Foundation, $40 billion for laboratory upgrades across the country, and $30 billion for general innovation and job creation.

Historic increases in foundational R&D at scientific agencies like NSF, NASA, the Department of Energy, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology accompany growing concern that the U.S. has lost its global edge in the development of key technology such as satellites and supercomputers.

“[T]he nation is falling behind its biggest competitors in research and development, manufacturing and training,” reads the budget. “It has never been more important to invest in strengthening the nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness, and in creating the good-paying, union jobs of the future.”

Officials cited “overly restrictive” budget caps during the last decade for diminishing the country’s global advantage in emerging technologies.

The fiscal 2022 budget proposes a $7.7 billion increase to the Department of Health and Human Services‘ R&D budget, bringing the total to $51.2 billion, an 18% jump.

Of that figure, $8.7 billion would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, its largest increase in two decades, for improving disease surveillance — notably by modernizing public health data collection nationwide. A separate $1 billion is proposed for foreign assistance in crosscutting research and viral discovery programs to detect outbreaks that could lead to pandemics.

An additional $6.5 billion is proposed for the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which would be modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that helped create the internet. ARPA-H would sit within the National Institutes of Health and research advances in cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s treatments.

If the proposals are enacted, the Department of Veterans Affairs would receive a $78 million R&D budget increase to $1.5 billion, $882 million of which would go toward medical and prosthetic, traumatic brain injury, and toxic exposure effects research benefitting disabled veterans.

Another big winner in the Biden budget is the Department of Energy, which would receive a $2.1 billion, or 11% increase, to its R&D budget — bringing the total to $21.5 billion. A portion of that would go toward upgrading the National Laboratories seeking climate and clean energy breakthroughs, as well as competing with China to develop the first exascale supercomputers.

The Biden administration is prioritizing climate R&D with $36 billion in discretionary climate investments, including a proposed $10 billion, a 30% increase, for non-defense clean energy innovation. The goal is to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

Another $7 billion, representing a $1.5 billion increase, would go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for improving climate observation and forecasting and data provided to decision-makers. Meanwhile the Department of the Interior, NASA and NSF would receive another $4 billion to fund climate science.

The budget also proposes $1 billion for an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Climate and invests in the existing Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy.

A smaller $600 million is proposed for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure at 18 agencies. The General Services Administration would see dedicated funds for other agencies, and the U.S. Postal Service would receive money for charging infrastructure.

Other R&D budget upticks of note would be a $1.3 billion increase at NASA to $14.6 billion, $765 million increase at NSF to $8.2 billion, and a $621 million increase at the Department of Commerce that houses NIST to $2.7 billion.

NASA would bolster everything from its next-generation satellite projects to its efforts to broaden diversity and inclusion in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

An additional $50 billion proposed for NSF in the American Jobs Plan would go, in part, toward creating a technology directorate that will collaborate and build on existing semiconductor, advanced computing and communications, energy, and biotechnology programs across government.

The request for NIST includes program increases for measurement research and services across advanced communications, climate and energy, trustworthy artificial intelligence, quantum information science, engineering, semiconductor metrology, and the bioeconomy.

Biden’s budget reemphasized his administration’s effort to foster scientific integrity and evidence-based decision-making across agencies.

“The administration’s commitment to evidence-based policymaking and program evaluation is reflected in the prioritization and design of the budget’s historic investments in addressing climate change, environmental justice, health security, and pandemic preparedness and will be equally central to implementing these initiatives,” reads the document. “Agencies’ learning agendas and annual evaluation plans should reflect their plans to build evidence in these and other priority areas.”

Another administration goal with the budget was to improve the country’s long-term finances while making critical investments in emerging technologies, said Shalanda Young, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, on a call with reporters Friday morning.

Officials expect the budget’s corresponding American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, as budgeted, to fully offset within 15 years.

“This is a very important and forward-looking budget,” said Cecilia Rouse, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, on the same call. “The policies proposed are premised on the idea that to move forward as a country we need to invest in innovation, and the public sector is critical to building a robust and inclusive economy.”

Speaking to FedScoop, Grant Thornton Public Sector director Kelly Morrison, said the increase in R&D spending suggests an increased commitment from federal government to strength testing projects in their early stages.

“I think it’s a recognition that more needs to be done up front to prove out value and fail fast so that we’re not spending millions of dollars on initiatives that are behind schedule and don’t produce the value intended.

“In order to fix that symptom, more money needs to be invested in that R&D phase,” she said.