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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: December 2, 2022
It’s a race’: Air Force CIO ‘confident’ FY24 budget will bolster information tech
(Breaking Defense) With the Defense Department ever-more focused on upping its game in the information space, both in the run up to conflict and during combat, the Air Force’s chief information officer said she remains convinced the fiscal 2024 budget request will include a significant budget boost for related technologies. During an online discussion with the Mitchell Institute today, Lauren Knausenberger was asked whether her August prediction of a “windfall” in the Pentagon’s FY24 five-year spending plan, known as the Program Objective Memorandum (POM), for development of foundational technologies for future “information warfare” — including the substantiation of DoD’s Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy. Read More
GAO dismisses bid protests filed over $50B IT services procurement
(FedScoop) The Government Accountability Office has dismissed 117 bid protests filed over the $50 billion CIO-SP4 IT services procurement, after the awarding agency agreed to take corrective action. The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center is set to reassess a points-based scoring system used to assess prior performance that attracted widespread criticism from contractors. As part of the corrective action NITAAC will also re-adjudicate which offerors progress to the second phase of the procurement. Read More
AFRL, Partners Eye Dandelion Species as Natural Rubber Source for Producing Aircraft Tires
(Executive Gov) The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is collaborating with three organizations to explore the potential of a variety of dandelions as a local source of natural rubber. AFRL revealed Monday that it tapped the BioIndustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem, Farmed Materials and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for the multimillion-dollar project, which aims to secure the supply chain for aircraft tire production. The team’s objective is to plant and harvest a dandelion species called Kok-saghyz, or TK, which has been found to produce natural rubber when its roots are crushed. Read More
The Hidden Costs of Manual Asset Tracking (and How to End Them)
(IoT For All) Say you run a construction firm, and you have a perfectly serviceable grinder. The tool only costs you $80, and it generates a lot of value on the job. Great, right? But what happens when you need the grinder, and it’s not where it’s supposed to be? That’s where costs start to accrue. The average hunt for a lost tool lasts about 90 minutes—an hour and a half of paying for the labor that’s not producing. You might have to delay the job until you can get a replacement; that’s more lost productivity. And if you can’t find the grinder, you have to buy a new one. Now you’re out an additional $80. Read More
A real-life Lego tank: BAE touts modular design for Army OMFV
(Breaking Defense) BAE’s design to replace its Reagan-era M2 Bradley troop carrier looks an awful lot like a sexed-up Bradley. But inside, the company told reporters today, the company’s proposal for the Army’s future Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) contract is radically different than its predecessor. For starters, you’d have a hard time finding the engine. Like the other four competitors for OMFV, the BAE machine will use a hybrid-electric engine instead of a traditional internal combustion engine. Read More
A far-sighted approach to machine learning
(ScienceDaily) A new technique enables artificial intelligence agents to think much farther into the future when considering how their behaviors can influence the behaviors of other AI agents, toward the completion of a task. This approach improves long-term performance of cooperative or competitive AI agents. Picture two teams squaring off on a football field. The players can cooperate to achieve an objective, and compete against other players with conflicting interests. That’s how the game works. Read More
Extra Time Off around Christmas Holiday Unlikely This Year
(FedWeek) Some federal employees have started asking whether they will get extra time off without charge to leave around the holidays. While there is no answer yet—if time off is granted, it typically doesn’t happen until mid-December—the precedent is against it. With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday this year, the federal holiday will be observed on Monday the 26th. When the 25th falls on a Sunday (or a Monday, and the holiday is observed on that day), there typically is no grant of time off in addition to the holiday day. That is also typically the case when, as happened last year, the 25th falls on a Saturday and the holiday is observed the day before. Read More
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