Defense Secretary Mark Esper stressed that the White House did not pressure him into reviewing the Department of Defense’s $10B Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Esper said it was his own decision to review the contract after considering insight from Congress and media reports pertaining to the single-source acquisition of […]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for the creation of a Data Protection Agency that will be dedicated to protecting online privacy. According to her proposal, the agency would be tasked with creating new rules around how tech companies are allowed to collect and use personal information about their users. The proposed legislation would also allow the […]
Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, wants to automate detection systems and move humans further out in the decision-making loop. Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the official said humans being "on the loop" would still give humans oversight of an automated system, but […]
The Federal Trade Commission has said that it will conduct a 10-year review of the acquisition activities of five U.S. tech giants to better understand large tech company acquisition activity and determine "whether large tech companies are making potentially anticompetitive acquisitions of nascent or potential competitors." According to FTC Chairman Joe Simons, the initiative will […]
The Department of Veterans Affairs has delayed its launch of a new electronic health record system to allow more time for training employees on how to operate it. VA Press Secretary Christina Mandreucci said the department complied with lawmakers' warnings about rushing the system's implementation. Mandreucci said the system is 75 percent to 80 percent complete and […]
Attorney General William Barr has urged the U.S. government to secure enduring leadership in the 5G marketplace and prevent an industrial internet becoming dependent on Chinese technology. Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, Barr said that among the priorities is for the Federal Communications Commission to deploy the C band spectrum and for […]
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie has revealed that VA will use 5G wireless technology to provide veterans with ultramodern medical care. Speaking during a "State of the VA" meeting Wednesday, Wilkie said the agency will have the first 5G hospital in America operational "this week." He added that the high speed, low latency […]
The former head of the Defense Innovation Unit, Raj Shah, has asked for a large increase in the Department of Defense's budget for emerging technology projects. According to Shah, the $1B reserved for AI research in the department's $400B annual acquisition budget is not enough. Among other areas, Shah wants larger investments in DIU, the […]
The U.S. Army is conducting virtual training as part of the Network Cross-Functional Team’s tactical cloud pilot that aims to use cloud capabilities on battlefield networks. Portia Crowe, chief data officer for the Army's Network CFT, said that the tactical cloud pilot has been critical in finding and developing solutions to tactical operational needs. She […]
