Jane Edwards
is a staff writer at Executive Mosaic, where she writes for ExecutiveBiz about IT modernization, cybersecurity, space procurement and industry leaders’ perspectives on government technology trends.
Latest stories
Red Hat’s Adam Clater: Open Source Tech, Freedom of Choice Key to Federal IT Modernization
Adam Clater, chief architect for North America public sector at Red Hat, wrote in a GCN article published Tuesday that federal agencies should advance information technology modernization and the initial step they need to do is avoiding proprietary or vendor lock-in arrangements when it comes to cloud adoption.
- in News
GSA Seeks to Improve Citizen Experience Through Hackathon
The General Service Administration plans to conduct a hackathon on June 19 in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and six other GSA locations to enhance the usability of some agency applications and improve customer experience, Fedscoop reported Friday.
- in Contract Awards, News
NASA Issues Statement on Maxar’s Selection for Lunar ‘Gateway’ Propulsion Dev’t Contract
A source selection statement issued by NASA Thursday shows that price and contract terms were the factors that helped Maxar Technologies win a  $375M contract to build and demonstrate a power and propulsion element for the agency’s proposed lunar Gateway space station, SpaceNews reported Friday.
- in News
IBM’s John Kamensky: Federal Agencies Should Prepare Employees for the Future of Work
John Kamensky, a senior fellow with the IBM Center for the Business of Government, wrote in a Nextgov article published Friday that the federal workforce should undergo retraining as several factors shape the future of work. Kamensky mentioned some of the forces that could change how work will be carried out in the future that were cited in an article published in Harvard Business Review.
Lockheed, Air Force Put ‘Space Fence’ Radar Through Debris Detection Test
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have conducted an endurance exercise to test the capability of a new surveillance radar to detect space debris. The Space Fence radar system released a “breakup alert†after it detected a large amount of debris fields from an anti-satellite test carried out by India to destroy the Microsat-R satellite at approximately 300 kilometers, Lockheed said Wednesday.
PSC Foundation Report Looks at State of Federal AI Adoption; AFS’ Dominic Delmolino Quoted
The Professional Services Council Foundation has issued a report that assesses the federal government’s adoption of artificial intelligence and identifies the opportunities and challenges agencies face when it comes to AI implementation. The report highlighted opportunities that AI offers to the government including reduction in backlog; optimization of resource allocation; accelerated decision making; fraud prevention; and extraction of insights from large amounts of data.
Air Force Eyes AI for Teaming Fighter Jets With Drones; Will Roper Quoted
The U.S. Air Force has begun to assess whether it can integrate an artificial intelligence platform, Skyborg, into an F-35 or F-15EX fighter aircraft to enable pilots to control the Kratos Defense-built XQ-58 Valkyrie unmanned air vehicle and other drones, Defense News reported Wednesday. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, told the publication Tuesday that the service is in talks with Lockheed Martin and Boeing on the plan to team fighter aircraft with drones through the Skyborg program.
- in News
SAIC’s Stephen Rigdon on Need to Rebuild Supply Chain for Navy Mk48 Torpedo
Production of Mk48 torpedoes went on hiatus for 20 years and Science Applications International Corp. is now starting to manufacture the propulsion system and other afterbody sections of the submarine-launched weapon at its Bedford, Ind.-based facility under a contract with the U.S. Navy, Seapower reported Tuesday.
Lockheed Updates F-22 Software With Agile Development Process
Lockheed Martin has started implementing Agile development process since August 2018 and is now set to deploy in the summer the software upgrade for the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 fighter aircraft, FCW reported Tuesday.
Raytheon’s Thomas Kennedy on New Tech ‘Moonshot’ Projects
Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy wrote in a LinkedIn article published Monday that the pace of technological advancements has accelerated since the launch of the manned lunar mission 50 years ago. Kennedy, a 2019 Wash100 winner, said that after the launch of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, new technology “moonshot†projects have emerged and are now ready for launch, including hypersonic flight and artificial intelligence avatar.
Forcepoint’s Eric Trexler: CDM DEFEND Phase Could Help Agencies Address Modernization, Interoperability Issues
Eric Trexler, vice president for global governments and critical infrastructure sales at Forcepoint, wrote in a commentary published Tuesday on Federal News Network that the Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation program’s transition to the third phase – Dynamic and Evolving Federal Enterprise Network Defense – could provide agencies an opportunity to address interoperability and modernization challenges. Such challenges were revealed in a survey of more than 200 federal civilian IT leaders conducted in August with research firm Market Connections.