GSA Administrator announces $80 million for smart building technologiesGSA Administrator Announces $80 Million for Smart Building Technologies

by  GSA

�The Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced plans to invest $80 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest climate investment in U.S. history, into smart building technologies that will help reduce emissions, increase efficiency and reduce costs, and enhance comfort across an estimated 560 federal buildings.

“These smart investments through President Biden's Investing in America agenda will drive down energy costs for taxpayers while making buildings more sustainable in the long-term,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “Through the Inflation Reduction Act, GSA is going to make our building operations better, faster, and cheaper - all while creating good-paying jobs in communities.”

GSA intends to enhance operations through granular controls, expand available reporting with more advanced metering sources, and optimize the operator experience through this IRA investment, including:

• Optimize federal building operations and energy use by installing approximately 1,000 new meters to measure  electricity, water, and gas performance. These meters allow GSA to monitor the operations of the building, identify inefficiencies and take immediate steps to resolve them. 
• Improve comfort level and building occupant experience in more than 70 federal buildings by installing Smart Sensors. GSA will measure indoor air and environmental quality, carbon dioxide levels and other conditions to adjust building operations based on real-time data.
• Make it easier for GSA to manage operations with real-time data through a new Unified User Interface for more than 150 federal buildings.This will consolidate information currently residing in separate applications to improve the work environment through more direct access to data about equipment operation, energy usage, and sustainability performance.
• Implement 'best in class HVAC controls' (based on ASHRAE Guideline 36) for approximately 15 buildings.This investment will reduce energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and utility costs while increasing comfort for building occupants.

 Read full story at GSA…

How Skills-Based Hiring Enhances National Security

by  Gary Bartlet

A forthcoming policy promises to broaden the federal talent pool, alleviate talent shortages and improve employee retention, but there's more to be done right now.�

In the face of escalating reports of potential threats on our nation's critical infrastructure, addressing the cyber talent gap and equipping the federal workforce with the necessary skills has become imperative. The White House has made strides in this direction, most recently announcing a shift in educational requirements for the federal IT workforce, prioritizing candidate skills over credentials. Over the next year, the Office of Personnel Management will be converting over 100,000 federal titles to skills-based hiring, revolutionizing the landscape for the prospective federal workforce.

This soon to be policy ushers in a transformative era for federal personnel, promising not only greater equality in the hiring process and broadening the talent pool, but also alleviating talent shortages and improving employee retention.

 Read full story at NextGov/FCW…

Navigating the CISO Role: Common Pitfalls for New Leaders

by  Don Lohrman

�What are the top mistakes that I see new security leaders continue to make in 2024 as they start their CISO careers or take on new roles? How can these challenges be addressed?

More than a decade ago I wrote a blog post entitled, Top five mistakes new IT security leaders make.

What may surprise you is that, despite all of the advances and changes in the technology and cybersecurity industries over the past 10-plus years, the advice I gave is not only still relevant, but these areas are still top concerns -- with some new twists.

As a quick summary (although I do recommend reading that entire article), here are the top five pitfalls I presented in 2013:

1) Becoming “Dr. No”: You've made a list and checked it twice. Now you're ready to use your newly acquired security power to shut down all the bad things that are going on in your enterprise. Be careful …

 Read full story at GovTech…

What Is a CAIO -- and What Should They Know?

by  Lucas Mearian

The relatively new position of Chief AI Officer requires someone who can handle a myriad number of overlapping responsibilities, not the least of which is extracting ROI from AI technology.�

… By last October, 11% of midsize and large organizations had already filled a CAIO role, according to research firm IDC -- and another 21% were actively seeking one. Just over half of 97 CIOs surveyed last fall said their organization had plans to have an individual leader responsible for AI and about half of those CIOs expect that person to be part of the C-Suite, IDC said.

Newly hired or appointed CAIOs “are not only part of an organization's C-suite, but they are expected to be one of the most strategic members of the organization,” IDC said in its report.

 Read full story at Computerworld…

A House Committee Is Scrutinizing LiDAR and IoT Cyber Risks From China

by  David DiMolfetta

�China's supply chain dominance in light sensing modules and internet of things components -- which include autonomous vehicles, drones and batteries -- could be teeing up a slew of cyber risks, experts say.

A House of Representatives panel focused on national security issues between the U.S. and Beijing is putting Chinese-made light sensing modules and internet of things components in its crosshairs amid concerns the equipment is laying groundwork for enhanced intelligence-gathering and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is seeing growing Chinese market dominance in light detection and ranging technologies -- known as LiDAR -- and has assessed that the dynamic poses security risks to several U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, according to a committee aide with direct knowledge of the matter.

 Read full story at NextGov/FXW…

Microsoft Can't Recall On Its Copilot+ PCs

by  Kevin Krewell & Tirias Research

This week marked the official launch of Microsoft's AI PC program, the Copilot+ PCs. Unfortunately, it did not go quite as Microsoft had anticipated.�

The problem? One prominent feature, Recall, had to be pulled from the final operating system deliverable due to privacy concerns. Obviously, this led to several humorous headlines about Microsoft recalling Recall. That said, Microsoft and Qualcomm are fully committed to the launch of the Copilot+PCs. The companies are setting up retail kiosks throughout the country in stores like Best Buy promoting these new PCs from various OEMs. Because of the sudden change in the operating system, many of these systems did not get into the hands of reviewers before the launch. As result, there are few reviews available at launch time. Tirias Research will also be providing a review in the future.

 Read full story at Forbes…

Canada to Accelerate Fusion Development

by  Clarion Energy Content Directors

Canada's national nuclear laboratory Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has developed a fusion roadmap and launched new programmes to advance fusion deployment.�

Canada's national nuclear laboratory Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has developed a fusion roadmap and launched new programs to advance fusion deployment.

The fusion roadmap, which was developed jointly with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and other players, points to the rapidly growing global market, with almost 100 operating fusion experiments and demonstration facilities and more than 43 private fusion companies operating and attracting more than CA$8.2 billion (US$6 billion) in funding.

Commenting that early-mover advantage is critical to capturing global market share, CNL calls on the Canadian government to promptly mobilize a fusion ecosystem through a clear policy and mandate, in order to capitalize on the economic benefits available from the domestic implementation of fusion energy and to support the international nuclear sector.

 Read full story at Power Engineering…

Modern Network Management Supports Grid Quadremma

by  Esri

What is Grid Quadremma? It's a made-up phrase but implies a four-pronged dilemma when applied to the US grid.�

The first is the decarbonization of power generation. According to the US Energy Information Administration, today's generation capability is about 1.3 gigawatts. Fossil fuel produces about 60% of that generation. To decarbonize, the US must substitute that 60% with green energy. That's assuming the demand in 2050 is the same as today. But it won't be.\

The graphic below dramatically illustrates the challenges of green energy production. If projections come true, the US will require ten times the amount of solar energy, 100 times the storage capacity, and two times the wind power.