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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: June 14, 2024
DHS Not Meeting Hiring Timelines for Most Key Occupations, Says GAO
(FedWeek) DHS is not meeting its time-to-hire goals for nine of the 13 occupations that it has designated as the highest priority, GAO has said, in part because of the additional vetting requirements that apply to many of those positions. “DHS and components identified several challenges in vetting candidates in a timely manner, including ensuring that candidates have completed all position specific hiring requirements, such as medical exams, obtaining background investigations from previous employers, and verifying that the required candidate paperwork is complete and free of errors,” a report said. Read More
Lack of federal R&D support challenges AI innovation, White House official warns
(FedScoop) The director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy warned in a call with reporters on Wednesday that support for federal research and development organizations remains a challenge for promoting the government’s artificial intelligence goals. In a response to a question from FedScoop, Arati Prabhakar — who leads OSTP and serves as a science adviser to the president — said that funding for the national labs and other institutions involved with AI issues is an area of continued concern. Read More
DOD Releases Framework to Improve Hiring, Retention of Acquisition & Sustainment Professionals
(ExecutiveGov) The Department of Defense has released a framework outlining four key pillars to improve the recruitment, training and retention of acquisition and sustainment professionals. The 2024 Acquisition and Sustainment Workforce Framework focuses on enabling acquisition innovation, making DOD an employer of choice, enhancing talent development in the acquisition ecosystem and continuously improving workforce policies and programs. Read More
Pentagon pauses development of its go-to data analytics tool
(NextGov/FCW) The Pentagon is pausing development of Advana—its default data-analytics platform—so it can be upgraded to handle increased demand, according to an internal email obtained by Defense One. In the June 3 email, the Pentagon’s new chief data and artificial intelligence officer directed developers of the Advana platform to “pause much of the active work and additional features” until “infrastructure” changes are complete. The pause will force users who were banking on forthcoming features, tools, or applications to use existing Advana tools to do their work. Read More
Bipartisan Senate bill would establish federal AI acquisition guardrails
(FedScoop) Federal agencies would have to assess the risks of artificial intelligence technologies before purchasing them and using them under a new bipartisan Senate bill. The legislation, among other things, would establish pilot programs to try out “more flexible, competitive purchasing practices” and require that government contracts for AI “to include safety and security terms for data ownership, civil rights, civil liberties and privacy, adverse incident reporting and other key areas,” according to a release. Read More
Revolutionizing procurement: Leveraging data and AI for strategic advantage
(McKinsey & Company) In today’s tumultuous business landscape, where price volatility, geopolitical tensions, and sustainability imperatives converge, one function stands at the forefront of navigating these complexities: procurement. In this context, the procurement function will act as a strategic lever for value protection and creation. Procurement sits at the confluence of huge quantities of data, flowing from within the organization (for example, spend, demand patterns, specifications) and from without (suppliers, market insights databases, and the wider web). Read More
Ed Stone, Former Director of JPL, Voyager Project Scientist, Dies
(NASA Explore) Known for his steady leadership, consensus building, and enthusiasm for engaging the public in science, Stone left a deep impact on the space community. Edward C. Stone, former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and longtime project scientist of the agency’s Voyager mission, died on June 9, 2024. He was 88. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice Stone. They are survived by their two daughters, Susan and Janet Stone, and two grandsons. Read More
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