Last week during a summit with Asian military leaders and their international partners, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin unveiled a first-of-its-kind vision statement outlining the United States’ near-term plans for deepening cooperation and accelerating modernization with allies in the region. The secretary and his delegation presented their U.S. Department of Defense Vision Statement for a Prosperous and Secure Southeast Asia on Thursday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus). DefenseScoop, which was traveling with Secretary Austin last week, reported that multiple inclusions in that new roadmap prioritize joint military technology-centered initiatives intended to advance the individual and collective capacity of the nations involved.

The Energy Department has a new deputy chief information officer. Dawn Zimmer, who previously directed business partnership services and focused on information technology at the Federal Aviation Administration, announced that she was filling the principal deputy chief information officer position. Brian Epley, who recently became the chief information officer at the Commerce Department, previously held the position. He left earlier this year.

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