Posts By Ross Wilkers

INSA Unit Releases Document on How to Prevent Insider Threats

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance unit has published a document to offer recommendations on how to develop strategies and implement initiatives for protecting information technology infrastructure. “A Preliminary Examination of Insider Threat Programs in the U.S. Private Sector” is intendedas an introduction into how organizations handle potential risks to their virtual assets and resources,Read… Read more »

NIST Unveils ‘Capstone’ Guidance for Cloud Email Archives

The National Archives and Records Administration has released guidance that aims to give federal agencies a new approach for managing email records with electronic methods. NARA’s bulletin contains factors the agency believes other agencies should consider before implementing the “Capstone” approach, NARA said Aug. 29. Such factors include business requirements, position and work of theRead… Read more »

Energy Dept, New Jersey Team to Build Disaster-Proof Transit Microgrid

The U.S. Energy Department is collaborating with the state of New Jersey to build an electrical microgrid intended to power state’s transit system in the event of natural disasters, Reuters reported Monday. Selam Gebrekidan writes DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories will design a power grid with generating capacity of more than 50 megawatts. Energy Secretary ErnestRead… Read more »

DoD, VA Pool $107M Into Brain Injury-PTSD Research Efforts

The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have jointly invested $107 million for medical research efforts focused on treating mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Research organizations will work to develop new ways for diagnosing and treating the conditions under the five-year initiative, the VA said Aug. 10. Funding will back studies underRead… Read more »

NASA Plans Up to $100M in Mars 2020 Program Grants

NASA has announced that it will release a list of grant opportunities worth up to $100 million for work supporting its spaceflight mission to Mars, scheduled to kickoff in 2020. The agency wants to identify robotic and human exploration technologies such as unmanned vehicles and payloads for the Mars 2020 program, NASA said in aRead… Read more »

NASA Assigns University Teams for SmallSat Program

NASA has enlisted 13 university teams to support the agency’s small spacecraft collaborative projects. Selected teams stand to receive as much as $100,000 annually for two years and will work with agency engineers and scientists from six NASA centers, the agency announced Monday. The agency initially received 100 proposals for the Small Spacecraft Technology Program,Read… Read more »

NASA Plots IT Products Contract Solicitation Release Date

NASA plans to release a final solicitation for a government-wide procurement contract covering information technology products and services on or around Aug. 12, FCW reported Friday. Mark Rockwell writes the agency originally scheduled the release date in May for NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement V program. The later date is intended to give SEWP IVRead… Read more »

CIO Council Aims for New Structure to Help Meet New Priorities

The federal Chief Information Officers Council has restructured its committees with the goal of fulfilling the government’s technology requirements, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday. Jason Miller writes the reorganization aims to equip CIOs with tools and guidance in order to meet the federal government’s priorities and address technology trends. Miller reports the council trimmed theRead… Read more »

Navy, NSF Taps Utah State Professor to Research Spider Silk

Prof. Randy Lewis, a molecular biologist at Utah State University, has received nearly $1.15 million in grants from the Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation to develop spider silk production methods. Lewis aims to make technology in which silk-making genes of arachnids are transferred to other animals to help boost production, USU saidRead… Read more »

DISA Pushes Back $427M Enterprise Storage Solicitation

The Defense Information Systems Agency has delayed the release of a final solicitation for a potential $427 million enterprise storage contract. DISA now intends to release the request for proposals sometime after Sept. 30 after originally planning to start accepting bids July 16, DISA said in a Monday FedBizOpps notice. No official release date hasRead… Read more »