For years, both the Executive and Congress have expressed concerns over PNT vulnerabilities and clamored for solutions. Yet little has changed. Three important reports emerged at the tail end of the old regime. As new leadership takes the helm, in which direction will it take the PNT enterprise?
As far back as 1996, when Executive Order (EO) 13010 stood up The President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, folks started taking notice that exclusive reliance on GPS for U.S. transportation creates undue risk.
Two years later, Presidential Decision Directive 63 ordered the Department of Transportation (DOT), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), to evaluate GPS in relation to national transportation and civilian systems. (Note: It was not until late 2004, in National Security Presidential Directive (PD) 39, that the mantle was officially handed to DOT for GPS policy. PD 39 also made DOT co-chair with DOD of the National Space Based Positioning, Naviga
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been central in federal cybersecurity policy for years, as an important non-regulatory body that convenes the private sector, works across agencies, and protects information sharing with and between the private sector. We expect DHS to increase its influence on federal procurement in the coming years, both as a network security advisor to most federal agencies and as a purchaser of networking, security, and cybersecurity services. Contractors should keep an eye on DHS’s expanding role in procurement policy, particularly as new leadership takes the reins of the agency.
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Society relies on GPS and the technology is vulnerable Meddlers range from nation-states to teenagers. If it went out, you d notice. We need a backup.
By Kate Murphy Text size Copy shortlink:
Time was when nobody knew, or even cared, exactly what time it was. The movement of the sun, phases of the moon and changing seasons were sufficient indicators. But since the Industrial Revolution, we ve become increasingly dependent on knowing the time, and with increasing accuracy. Not only does the time tell us when to sleep, wake, eat, work and play; it tells automated systems when to execute financial transactions, bounce data between cellular towers and throttle power on the electrical grid.
THE SYSTEM IS ESSENTIAL BUT ALSO VULNERABLE. WE NEED A BACKUP.
Time was when nobody knew, or even cared, exactly what time it was. The movement of the sun, phases of the moon and changing seasons were sufficient indicators. But since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve become increasingly dependent on knowing the time, and with increasing accuracy. Not only does the time tell us when to sleep, wake, eat, work and play; it tells automated systems when to execute financial transactions, bounce data between cellular towers and throttle power on the electrical grid.
Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, the global reference for timekeeping, is beamed down to us from extremely precise atomic clocks aboard Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The time it takes for GPS signals to reach receivers is also used to calculate location for air, land and sea navigation.