By Debbie Gregory.

The Pentagon has yet to make a decision as to what company will be awarded a multi-billion dollar contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, the cloud technology infrastructure that will handle unclassified material as well as data classified as secret or top secret.

The choice to go with a single-award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract for the project has had tech companies taking their gripes to federal court. It is believed that Amazon Web Services is the front-runner.

Oracle filed a suit against the Department of Defense in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in early December, and the redacted complaint was published December 10th.

Oracle has claimed since the start of the process that this approach would lock the government into legacy tech and could damage innovation, competition and security – and that it goes against various rules on government procurement for high-value awards.

The lawsuit repeated these assertions, but also alleges conflicts of interest within the DoD and that the Pentagon “crafted” the request for proposals criteria to limit the number of vendors that could compete.

It also claims the government has introduced “unduly restrictive requirements” into the criteria required for vendors to bid, which will “cause Oracle significant competitive prejudice”.

IBM, which first filed a protest of JEDI October 10th, filed additional materials with Government Accountability Office (GAO) November 19th in support of its claim that the DoD has turned its back on the wishes of Congress and the administration, as well as industry best practice in cloud acquisition.

Lawmakers have already called for an investigation into the JEDI contract, saying that it appeared tailored to one specific vendor.

The GAO has until February 27, 2019, to issue a decision on IBM’s protest.

By Debbie Gregory

Although it sounds like science fiction, the U.S. military hopes that common marine microorganisms might be genetically engineered to detect enemy submarines, underwater vessels, and even divers.

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is researching engineered organisms such as Marinobacter, which could be modified to react to certain substances such as metals, fuel exhaust or human DNA left by enemy vessels, divers, or equipment.

“In an engineered context, we might take the ability of the microbes to give up electrons, then use [those electrons] to talk to something like an autonomous vehicle,” said NRL researcher Sarah Glaven. “Then you can start imagining that you can create an electrical signal when the bacteria encounters some molecule in their environment,”

Glaven believes the research is about a year away from providing concrete evidence that she can engineer reactions in abundant marine life forms that could prove useful for the military.

“The reason we think we can accomplish this is because we have this vast database of info we’ve collected from growing these natural systems. So after experiments where we look at switching gene potential, gene expression, regulatory networks, we are finding these sensors,” said Glaven.

The Applied Research for the Advancement of Science and Technology Priorities Program on Synthetic Biology for Military Environments is aimed at giving researchers the tools they need to engineer genetic responses into organisms that would be useful for the military.

“We want to move synthetic biology from the laboratory to the field. That’s a big thrust of ours and so there’s a lot of tool development in order to do that,” said Dimitra Stratis-Cullum, who leads the biomaterials team at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations said the United States, and the Navy in particular, is investing heavily in synthetic biology to better compete with China, an emerging synthetic-biotechnology powerhouse.

By Debbie Gregory.

At the Nashville Airport, travelers stood and service members saluted at the sound of the National Anthem as some of the Gold Star families got ready to board the Snowball Express. American Airlines staff members threw a party at the gate for the children who have sacrificed a parent in combat. A video shot by Jen Tringale captured the moment, and later went viral.

The Gary Sinise Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on veterans, first responders, and their families, sent some 1,750+ Gold Star family members to Walt Disney World as part of its holiday season program that aims to help families of fallen service members.

Snowball Express was started in 2005 by a group of Southern Californians including Rotarians and has grown each year. In 2017, Snowball Express became an official Gary Sinise Foundation program. The 5-day event for 1,750+ children and the surviving parents give them the opportunity to have some fun and meet and bond with other children with the same experience.

Debbie Gregory, the founder and CEO of VAMBOA had the pleasure of helping with the first Snowball Express, and has continued to support the organization over the years.

Other airports got in on the festivities as well. The Killeen Airport, a familiar location for any service members who have activated or deployed through Fort Hood, Texas, welcomed Snowball Express participants and a man in a Santa costume met with the families.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association sent tote bags to participants to help them get all their goods from location to location, and the controllers themselves posted photos on social media celebrating as flights took off from airfields under their control.

Gary Sinise is a wonderful supporter of those who serve, past and present. If you’re interested in supporting the Gary Sinise Foundation, which also builds adaptive homes for disabled veterans, hosts free theater nights for veterans, and helps pay for training and equipment for first responders visit the website at https://www.garysinisefoundation.org.

Here is a list of the 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies Program – i6 Challenge Awardees

• ACTION Innovation Network, Fall River, MA
• CLT Joules, Charlotte, NC
• Elevate Ventures, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
• Exponential Impact, Colorado Springs, CO
• Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Phoenix, AZ
• HealthShare Exchange of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
• Maryland Department of Commerce, Baltimore, MD
• Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, El Paso, TX
• New Jersey Innovation Institute, Inc., Newark, NJ
• North Idaho College, Coeur d’Alene, ID
• Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, Inc., Fort Wayne, IN
• Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA
• Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, San Juan, PR
• Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Providence, RI
• South Carolina Research Authority, Columbia, SC
• State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education, Pueblo, CO
• The Curators of the University of Missouri, St Louis, MO
• The Research Foundation for SUNY at Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
• The Southern Windsor County Incubator, Inc., Springfield, VT
• Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, Lakeside Park, KY
• University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
• VilCap, Inc., Washington, DC
• Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Little Rock, AR

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