The opening article describes the U.S. Air Force's Cyber Security and Information Systems Information Analysis Center - CSIAC
We learn that "CSIAC is chartered to leverage best practices and expertise from government, industry, and academia on cyber security and information technology. Operating in an agile manner, the CSIAC will monitor and utilize emerging technologies of information assurance, software technology, software and systems engineering, modeling and simulation, knowledge management and information sharing."
You can't miss the word "agile" that, if anything, is a loaded idea, especially in the DoD. But since this quote came from a contracting officer, Paul M. Engelhart, one can only hope that general approach of agile in the U.S. government is in play.
There's an interesting article on software reliability, something that has wide interest and application all across the apps industry, whether mobile or traditional web. We're told:
Software reliability is defined as
the ability of a program to perform a required function under stated conditions for a stated period of time. Quantitatively, this may be considered as “the probability that software will not cause the failure of a system for a specified time under specified conditions.An unreliable software-based system may be unavailable, incorrect, vulnerable, or possibly even unsafe. This variety of inadequacies and failure modes includes both “sins of omission” (not behaving as intended) and also “sins of commission” (behaving in unintended ways).
And, in a bit of inside-the-beltway infomation, who knew there is a Department of Defense (DoD) Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification (EBTS), and even more curious, who knew there is a Biometrics Identity Management Agency (BIMA). You can't make this stuff up; and where else can you read about it?
