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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: March 3, 2023
Industry to Navy: We need steady demand signal, earlier involvement in requirements
(Breaking Defense) In order to overcome challenges faced by industry when delivering capabilities as quickly as possible to warfighters, companies need to be involved earlier in the requirements process, several executives said recently. Setting unrealistic expectations for requirements leads down a path of poor communication between industry partners and the military, Roy Kelley, vice president of naval power requirements and capabilities at Raytheon, said at the WEST 2023 conference. “Because if you create these requirements in a vacuum without using industry — who your experts are — then I think you’re missing an opportunity,” he said Feb. 15. “So I think as I look at where’s the communication really need to start, it’s got to start as you set those requirements and if you’re not using industry to help set those requirements, then you’re probably missing a great opportunity.” Read More
National Cyber Strategy seeks to ‘rebalance’ cyber responsibility towards industry
(Breaking Defense) The Biden administration wants to rebalance the responsibility of defending cybersecurity to the “most capable and best positioned actors” in the US and set mandatory critical infrastructure cybersecurity requirements, according to the new National Cybersecurity Strategy. The 35-page strategy, released today, calls for securing the US’s digital future and making the digital ecosystem defensible and resilient against foreign adversaries like China and Russia. “The president’s strategy fundamentally reimagines America’s cyber social contract,” Kemba Walden, acting National Cyber Director, told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the strategy’s release. Read More
Why contractors need to focus on the brass tacks
(Federal News Network) The next nine months will prove crucial ones for federal contractors. Lots of acquisition regulations cooking, expansion of Buy American and more White House emphasis on small disadvantaged business. For where it’s all headed, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turned to federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen. Read More
The EU digital strategy: The impact of data privacy on global business
(McKinsey & Company) The data regulations in the European Union (EU) have recently received significant attention specifically due to the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation and the rulings around Schrems II—whereby the Court of Justice of the European Union found that the protection of personal data had limitations due to domestic law in the United States—as well as the access and use by US public authorities of personal data transferred from the EU, and recent developments such as e-privacy. While these developments have led to major changes in data privacy, one of the other goals of the regulation—to establish a market for data and facilitate data exchange between companies—has not been reached to date. Read More
Artificial Intelligence from a psychologist’s point of view
(ScienceDaily) Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen have examined the general intelligence of the language model GPT-3, a powerful AI tool. Using psychological tests, they studied competencies such as causal reasoning and deliberation, and compared the results with the abilities of humans. Their findings paint a heterogeneous picture: while GPT-3 can keep up with humans in some areas, it falls behind in others, probably due to a lack of interaction with the real world. Read More
Does the moon need its own time zone? We may need to decide soon
(Space.com) With the next era of lunar exploration on the horizon, scientists have begun to consider how time should be kept on the moon and how lunar missions will fix their own positions independent from Earth. This rethink culminated in the agreement, at a meeting of space agencies in November 2022, that an internationally accepted common reference time for the moon is vital. A joint international effort is now being launched in an attempt to achieve this. Read More
OMB Memo Requires Agencies to Remove TikTok From Federal Devices
(ExecutiveGov) The Office of Management and Budget has issued a memorandum directing federal agencies to remove TikTok, a social networking service owned and operated by China-based ByteDance, from government devices. Agencies should identify the presence or use of the software application on information technology, develop an internal process to adjudicate limited exceptions, remove installations of the app on agency-owned IT systems and prohibit internet traffic from government IT systems to the app no later than 30 days following the release of the memo, according to the document released Monday. Read More
ICEAA’s NewsBrief is a collection of articles relevant to the cost estimating and analysis community that is delivered weekly to current ICEAA members. To advertise in NewsBrief, contact iceaa@iceaaonline.org.