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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: December 19, 2025
FAA head details air traffic control modernization progress, next steps
(FedScoop) With modernization efforts ramping up at the Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration, leaders have a sharpened focus on efficiency, safety and accountability, Administrator Bryan Bedford told Congress this week. “It’s on everyone’s mind, on this committee and frankly within this administration, that modernization not turn into another NextGen boondoggle,” Bedford said Tuesday during a House hearing that marked his first appearance before Congress since being sworn into office in July. “We need to make sure modernization gets done, gets done on time and achieves the results that we’ve set out before this committee.” Read More
Much Agency-Reported Data on Security Clearances Not Reliable, GAO Finds
(FEDweek) Much of the data that federal agencies report to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and to Congress on key aspects of the personnel security clearance process are not reliable, the GAO has found. In a review of figures from seven agencies across eight reporting categories—such as number of investigations completed, timeliness and number of clearance holders—GAO found that 39 percent were inaccurate and another 24 percent incomplete. That was particularly an issue regarding timeliness, with 86 percent being inaccurate—a third by 20 percent or more. Read More
Industry flags DoD’s lack of standardized software attestation processes
(Federal News Network) Defense technology companies broadly agree on what secure software looks like. Less consistent, though, is industry-wide understanding of the Defense Department’s mechanisms for demonstrating security compliance. Instead, stakeholders generally see a lack of “consistent and standardized methods for attestation processes,” according to recent industry feedback. A new summary document released by Acting DoD CIO Katie Arrington compiled and analyzed industry responses to three separate DoD requests for information on advancing and securing software for the federal government. Read More
Reimagining the value proposition of tech services for agentic AI
(McKinsey & Company) After more than two years of navigating the transformative landscape of gen AI, technology services providers are now facing the emergence of a newer, more disruptive force to their business. Enterprises that have traditionally relied on these providers to manage their IT initiatives are now making significant investments in agentic AI, the next evolutionary stage of artificial intelligence. These organizations are cautiously optimistic that agentic AI will deliver the top- and bottom-line growth that gen AI has, to date, struggled to achieve. Read More
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