The Wrap: AI’s Budding Cyber Power; Tech Hubs’ $2 Billion Funding Target; Army Tech Mash-Up

Welcome to The Wrap for Tuesday, April 23!

From the newsroom at MeriTalk, it’s the quickest read in Federal tech news. Here’s what you need to know today:

AI Proving its Cyber Power

The role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in improving cyber defenses is becoming increasingly clear, according to new research from MeriTalk and RSA Conference. Among the top-line takeaways from the Art of Human and AI Teaming in Cybersecurity report – underwritten by Fortinet Federal and Maximus: 80 percent of government and private sector cybersecurity decision-makers say accelerating AI adoption is critical to their organization’s resilience against evolving threats, and 31 percent say their organization is using AI for cybersecurity today. Of those that are using AI, the value is clear: 54 percent say they’ve accelerated incident response times, 52 percent successfully detected a vulnerability, and 50 percent proactively responded to a threat. “We are already seeing AI users improve vulnerability detection and accelerate incident response times,” commented Nicole Burdette, principal at MeriTalk. “The challenge for the next six to 12 months will be putting the right guardrails in place so organizations can maximize AI adoption and benefits while minimizing additional risk,” she said. Click through for all the details.

Tech Hubs’ $2 Billion Funding Target

The Commerce Department’s Tech Hubs program – created by the CHIPS and Science Act to develop tech innovation clusters across the U.S. – is eyeing $2 billion in funding for a total of 182 projects, the agency’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) said today. The projects lining up for funding would “align with their selected industrial focus and comprise cross-sector regional coalitions focused on developing industries that make, deliver and use semiconductors, quantum computing, autonomous systems, biotechnology, clean energy, critical minerals, innovative materials, and advanced manufacturing – technologies that are critical to maintain and strengthen U.S. global competitiveness and national security,” EDA said. The Tech Hubs applicants have also lined up $435 million in matching funds for their projects from partners including industry and state and local governments.

Army Tech Contract Mash-Up

The U.S. Army is taking a look at merging three of its largest IT services contracts, and wants to hear from you by May 3 on how to go about it. According to the Army’s request for information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov last week, the service branch is actively considering a potential merger of the Army Contracting Command’s Enterprise for Sourcing Services (ACCESS) acquisition with the successor to the Army Computer Hardware Enterprise Software and Solutions (CHESS) office Information Technology Enterprise Solution – 3 Services (ITES-3S) contract, ITES-4S. “This possible merger is based on ongoing initiatives to create a comprehensive and premier marketplace for knowledge-based Professional Services and Staff Augmentation, provide maximum flexibility, and support to the Federal Government Missions,” the RFI says.

Navy Principal Cyber Advisor

Congrats to Anne Marie Schumann, who was sworn in on Monday as the U.S. Navy’s new principal cyber advisor (PCA). Schumann is the Navy’s second-ever PCA, jumping into the role after Chris Cleary stepped down as the inaugural PCA in November following a three-year term. In her new role, Schumann will advise Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith on all cyber matters. And as PCA, she also will work in close coordination with the Navy’s chief information officer (CIO), the Department of Defense’s (DoD) PCA, and the DoD CIO. On top of that, Schumann will be responsible for certifying the adequacy of the Navy’s cyberspace activities budget and implementing the DoD Cyber Strategy in the Navy.

GSA Policy Chief Departing

And a big thanks to Krystal Brumfield, who will be stepping down as associate administrator for government-wide policy at the General Services Administration (GSA) effective May 4. The agency said in an April 22 announcement that Mehul Parekh, who is principal deputy associate administrator at the Office of Government-wide Policy, will become acting associate administrator. Brumfield, who stepped into the job on the first day of the Biden administration in 2021, is leaving with an impressive highlight reel including: work to promote sustainability, equity, and community engagement in decisions on where Federal facilities are located; modernizing the management of Federal advisory committees; expanding opportunities for small businesses; and launching GSA’s Acquisition Policy Federal Advisory Committee and its Acquisition Talent Development program.

Once again, let’s “call IT a day,” but we'll bring you more tomorrow. Until then please check the MeriTalk breaking news website throughout the day for the latest on government IT people, process, and policy. And finally, please hit the news tip jar [with leads, breaking news, or simply your two cents] at news@meritalk.com.