Posted by
Cost Estimating NewsBrief: December 5, 2025
Agency software-buying bill advances in the House
(FedScoop) A bill that would overhaul how the federal government purchases software has found itself in a familiar place: moving forward in the House while awaiting Senate consideration with just a few weeks left in the congressional calendar. The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act advanced out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday, teeing it up for a vote in the full chamber. The SAMOSA Act, which would direct federal agencies to assess their software licensing practices and streamline future IT buying decisions to avoid duplicative purchases, Read More
Legislative branch sees boost for modernization in government spending package
(FedScoop) Civic technology advocates are celebrating after the government funding package to reopen the government allocated millions of dollars to modernize the systems and workflows that underpin congressional offices. The spending deal, signed by President Donald Trump last month to end the 43-day shutdown, set aside $4 million for the House’s Modernization Initiatives Account, a fund dedicated to increasing efficiency in Congress, including by expanding the use of office technologies. “The MIA funds initiatives to ensure that the House can serve the American people efficiently and effectively. Read More
Why Machine Shops Should Love Data Collection
(IndustryWeek) Mike Payne, president and owner of Hill Manufacturing & Fabrication love data and metrics. If he can pull information from a machine, he’s doing it. Mike talked with IndustryWeek’s Dennis Scimeca about why he collects all of that data, what he does with it and why, despite all of this technology, succeeding in manufacturing is still all about relationships and performance, not technology. The big message? Just start tracking things. “What’s measured matters. So, and when we weren’t tracking it, didn’t matter,” Payne says of his operations in 2018. Read More
Mars clocks run ahead of Earth by microseconds each day
(Space Daily) Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have produced the first detailed calculation of how fast time passes on Mars compared with Earth, providing a parameter that future human and robotic missions will need for navigation and communications. They determine that clocks on the Martian surface run on average 477 microseconds faster per Earth day than clocks on Earth, with that rate varying by as much as 226 microseconds over a Martian year. The study extends earlier NIST work on precise timekeeping for the Moon to Mars, where the length of the day, the orbital period and the gravitational environment differ from terrestrial conditions. Read More
ICEAA’s NewsBrief is a collection of articles relevant to the cost estimating and analysis community that is delivered weekly to current ICEAA members. To advertise in NewsBrief, contact iceaa@iceaaonline.org.