DOD unveils new biodefense-focused supercomputer

by  Natalie Alms

The new system is part of a collaboration with the Department of Energy-sponsored Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The Department of Defense and National Nuclear Security Administration have a new supercomputing system focused on biological defense at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Inaugurated on August 1, the system will “provide unique capabilities for large–scale simulation and AI-based modeling for a variety of defensive activities, including bio surveillance, threat characterization, advanced materials development and accelerated medical countermeasures,” per a readout from DOD spokesperson Robert L. Ditchey II.

DOD says that it's working with NNSA to up the computing capability for national biodefense systems — and that “the collaboration has enabled expanding systems of the same system architecture as LLNL's upcoming exascale supercomputer, El Capitan, which is projected to be the world's most powerful supercomputer when it becomes operational later this year,” the readout states.

 Read full story at NextGov…

OpenAI Reveals First Federal Agency Customer for ChatGPT Enterprise

by  Rebecca Heilweil

USAID will use the tool to reduce admin burdens and ease partnerships, OpenAI's Anna Makanju said in a Q&A with FedScoop.

Just a few days after OpenAI's multimodal AI model won a FedRAMP High Authorization as a service within Microsoft's Azure Government cloud, the generative AI company says that it's partnered to offer ChatGPT Enterprise to its first federal agency customer: the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Anna Makanju, OpenAI's vice president of global affairs, told FedScoop that USAID plans to use the technology to help reduce administrative burden and “make it easier for new and local organizations” to partner with the agency.

Makanju said OpenAI is “actively pursuing” a FedRAMP Moderate accreditation for ChatGPT Enterprise, which would clear the generative AI platform to handle moderately sensitive federal data like personally identifiable information or controlled unclassified information outside of Microsoft's Azure Government service. She said the company had nothing to share, at least for now, regarding potential work with cloud providers beyond Microsoft.

 Read full story at FEDSCOOP…

What Is Journey Mapping, and How Is It Used in State and Local Government?

by  Phil Goldstein

Agencies can both simplify citizens' understanding of government services and improve how services are delivered.

As state and local agencies have digitized government services over the past few years, they have taken steps to make it easier for citizens to access those services.

In addition to using artificial intelligence tools to improve customer service and moving more benefit systems to the cloud, many state and local governments have started using a less heralded but no less valuable tool called journey mapping.

According to Digital Services Georgia, a citizen journey map is a “visualization of a person's process, end-to-end, to accomplish a goal.” State and local agencies have used them to illustrate how citizens can navigate government systems and access benefits and services.

 Read full story at StateTech…

Apple Pushes Ahead With Tabletop Robot in Search of New Revenue

by  Staff

Apple, seeking new sources of revenue, is moving forward with the development of a pricey tabletop home device that combines an iPad-like display with a robotic limb.

The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device, which uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The product, which relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees, will offer a twist on home products like Amazon.com's Echo Show 10 and Meta Platforms' discontinued Portal.

The device is envisioned as a smart home command centre, videoconferencing machine and remote-controlled home security tool, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is not yet public. The project – codenamed J595 – was approved by Apple's executive team in 2022 but has started to formally ramp up only in recent months, they added.

 Read full story at The Straits Times…

Microsoft Blocks Trick That Lets You Install Windows 11 on Older PCs

by  Laura Pippig

A popular trick that lets you install Windows 11 on older PCs with incompatible hardware will soon stop working.

For most people, installing Windows 11 is really quite easy. As long as you meet the hardware requirements and you have a legitimate product key, the Windows 11 installation process is straightforward.

What do you do if your PC doesn't meet the requirements for Windows 11 and you can't (or don't want to) upgrade your machine? The official alternative has been to stick with Windows 10.

But there's also been a less-official option floating around: use a popular trick to bypass the Windows 11 hardware checks, allowing you to install Windows 11 on non-compatible machines.

Sadly, according to one Windows Insider (@TheBobPony on X/Twitter), Microsoft has rendered this trick no longer viable.

 Read full story at PCWorld…

Windows 365 — Microsoft's Cloud-Based OS Explained

by  Gregg Keizer & Matthew Finnegan

Microsoft's take on desktop-as-a-service is more than just a cloud-based version of Windows. It also allows the company to offer up ersatz hardware — virtual machines running on a vast cloud of Azure servers.

Microsoft introduced Windows 365 three years ago, a service that lets the company cut partners out of the money-making loop by providing virtual PCs to customers.

Rather than provide only the operating system or the OS and bits of other software — notably productivity applications in the form of Office — Microsoft also serves up ersatz hardware, virtual machines running on its vast cloud of Azure servers.

Dubbed “desktop as a service” (DaaS, in keeping with other, similar acronyms) by some, Microsoft's tagged its offering as “Cloud PC” as in “Windows 365 is your PC in the cloud.”

 Read full story at Computerworld…

3 Major Cybersecurity Challenges Facing Critical Infrastructure and OT

by  Christina Hoefey

Let's be honest. Operational technology (OT) security issues are expected. Traditional OT systems were designed for specific functional operational purposes. Plus, they were designed to last for many decades.

The power grid, the water supply, the manufacturing plant floor, these ubiquitous 24/7/365 operations fuel daily activities–and they power as much business as they do hospitals that care for patients. In the industrial world, security has meant safety and physical protection of the site. But things have changed. Today, the badge scanners and cameras monitoring the physical security of the doors to the power plant are internet protocol (IP)-connected. Building automation systems are networked and OT systems are increasingly interconnected as well.

Research on today's riskiest devices shows how challenging it is to know everything that might be connected, especially in OT environments. Everything from an IP camera and label printer to the data historian and industrial control system.

 Read full story at RTP Insider…

Albany County Touts Its First Facility Powered by 100% Renewable Energy

by  Times Union, Albany, N.Y.

Albany County Touts Its First Facility Powered by 100% Renewable EnergyAlbany County leaders showed off the county's first building to be completely powered by renewable energy on Friday.

The recently completed Department of Public Works – Coeymans Subdivision garage is a 15,480-square-foot facility that replaces the original, outdated, 30-year-old structure and includes four heated drive-through double bays and two unheated drive-through double bays, as well as office space, a breakroom, bathroom facilities, and storage areas.

The building's electricity is produced by roof-mounted photovoltaic solar panel arrays, and it is heated and cooled by an advanced geo-thermal heat pump system. It also has two electric vehicle charging stations and will use collected rainwater from the roof for washing DPW trucks and other maintenance activities. This facility is intended to decrease the county's carbon footprint but will prolong the lifespan of equipment and provide future energy and operational savings.

 Read full story at Star-Telegram…

Navigating FERC Orders: Strategies for Successful Transmission Development

by  West Monroe

How FERC orders impact utilities on their journey to high clean energy growth.

Electric transmission in the U.S. historically has been designed to deliver power from central station power plants to the load centers. Transmission development was driven by reliability needs and load growth fueling efficient transmission investment to meet the societal needs of its time.

Today, the country is moving toward a clean energy economy to increase adoption of renewable generation resources. These resources are dispersed, often being built in remote areas, which is challenging the established transportation pathways to move electric power to end–users — the electric transmission system.

 Read full story at Utility Dive…