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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: November 3, 2023
AFMC Forms Task Force to Accelerate Digital Materiel Management Implementation
(Executive Gov) Air Force Materiel Command has formed a new task force to advance the implementation of AFMC’s digital materiel management objectives and help drive digital transformation initiatives across the service branch. The Digital Acceleration Task Force will focus on modernizing information technology infrastructure, establishing industry consortia, creating a DMM playbook and identifying common data standards and data sharing structures, AFMC said Friday. DATF aims to collaborate with defense and industry partners to accelerate its efforts across all focus areas and identify best practices for acquiring and implementing digital technologies. Read More
White House AI exec order raises questions on future of DoD innovation
(Breaking Defense) A new artificial intelligence executive order signed by President Joe Biden Monday is being hailed by the administration as one of the “most significant actions ever taken by any government to advance the field of AI safety” in order to “ensure that America leads the way” in managing risks posed by the technology. Through the executive order, DoD is directed to establish a pilot program to identify how AI can find vulnerabilities in critical software and networks and develop plans to attract more AI talent, among other tasks. But new regulations on how the commercial world develops AI could have as much, if not more, impact on how the Defense Department and industry collaborate moving forward than the official taskings outlined in the EO. Read More
DHS to lean further into AI with generative pilots
(Federal News Network) The Homeland Security Department will continue its aggressive lean into artificial intelligence. As early as Friday, DHS is expected to detail its plan for several generative AI pilots focused on the mission areas. Eric Hysen, the agency’s chief information officer and first chief AI officer, said he’s spending about half of his time on AI issues with a focus on a how best to use and accelerate the technology to support mission areas. Read More
Federal labor coalition urges ‘prompt’ finalization of OPM’s anti-Schedule F proposal
(Federal News Network) Federal unions are urging the Office of Personnel Management to put its final stamp on an effort to guard against the potential return of Schedule F as quickly as possible. In September, OPM issued a proposed rule seeking to clarify and reinforce merit systems principles and other worker protections for career, non-political federal employees. OPM’s move was a direct attempt to prevent the possible revival of the now-overturned Schedule F executive order from the Trump administration that sought to reclassify tens of thousands of career federal employees to make them at-will and easier to fire. Read More
Here’s what drove a 22% spike in bid protests this year
(Government Executive) After four consecutive years of declining bid protests, the total number of protests filed by industry jumped 22% in fiscal 2022 — up 367 protests over fiscal 2021’s total — and the most since industry lodged 2,149 protests in 2020. Yet the Government Accountability Office’s annual bid protest report, issued to Congress Oct. 26, offers a succinct, specific reason for the increased filings. A single governmentwide acquisition contract, the Health and Human Services Department’s Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 4 — or CIO-SP4 — received more than 300 bid protests on its own. Read More
How employees can get more fulfillment out of their jobs
(Federal News Network) The company HP, recently launched its first HP Work Relationship Index. It is a study that tracks and analyzes the relationship between people and their work. What it found was the relationship most employees have with their jobs is a bit on the rocks. To learn more about the study and what it could mean for future jobs, including in government, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with Todd Gustafson, the President of HP Federal. Read More
What is In Space Production Applications?
(Nasa.gov) NASA supports In Space Production Applications (InSPA) awards to help the selected companies raise the technological readiness level of their products and move them to market, propelling U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products in low-Earth orbit. These commercialization awards provide opportunities for NASA to reduce its future costs in LEO enabling deep-space missions farther from Earth, including the Moon and Mars. Read More
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