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Databricks Gets FedRAMP High Authorization for Data Platform
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Databricks Gets FedRAMP High Authorization for Data Platform

Databricks has earned High authorization under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for its Data Intelligence Platform on Amazon Web Services GovCloud.

Gaining High Authorization

The San Francisco, California-based company said the authorization allows organizations handling sensitive data to innovate while meeting U.S. government security and compliance standards.

Rory Patterson, chairman of the board of Databricks Federal, said, “Data is a critical part of decision making in the government and Databricks is enabling government agencies to understand their organization’s data, identify waste, pass audits, and gain efficiencies — all while remaining secure and compliant.”

Used by over 400 public sector entities, the open-source platform supports analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance national security, fraud prevention, government efficiency and immigration processes.

The authorization expands Databricks’ existing Department of Defense Impact Level 5 Provisional Authorization and FedRAMP High and IL5 certifications for Azure Databricks.

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EO Mandates Centralized System to Record Spending on Contracts, Grants
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EO Mandates Centralized System to Record Spending on Contracts, Grants

President Donald Trump has released an executive order directing agency heads to work with Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, team leads to develop a centralized technological system to record payments issued to covered contracts and grants. 

The White House said Wednesday that each record should include a written justification submitted by the agency employee who approved the payment.

The centralized system should be implemented in a way that allows agency heads to pause and assess payments that do not come with written justification.

The requirement is part of the EO seeking to implement the cost efficiency initiative for DOGE.

Review of Covered Contracts, Grants

The new policy requires agency heads to assess all covered grants and contracts and modify or terminate them to reduce federal spending or shift funds in support of the current administration’s policies.

Within 30 days of the order’s issuance, agency heads should conduct and complete a comprehensive review of agencies’ contracting policies, personnel and procedures.

According to the document, DOGE team leads should provide the administrator of the DOGE Service with a monthly report on contracting activities.

Justification of Non-Essential Travel

The EO requires the creation of a tech system within each agency to record approval of federally funded travel for conferences and other non-essential purposes. Those records in the system should come with brief justifications, which will be posted publicly.

A monthly report outlining justifications for non-essential travel should be submitted to the administrator.

Real Property Disposition

Within seven days, agency heads should confirm to the General Services Administration that they have submitted updates to the Federal Real Property Management System to ensure that the platform reflects an accurate inventory of real property.

Within 30 days, agency heads should be able to identify all termination rights they have under existing leases of government-owned property. 

The order also directs the GSA administrator to submit to the director of the Office of Management and Budget a plan to dispose of properties that agencies no longer need.

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Hegseth Memo Directs DOD to Use Software Acquisition Pathway
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Hegseth Memo Directs DOD to Use Software Acquisition Pathway

Pete Hegseth, secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, has issued a draft memo directing DOD to adopt the Software Acquisition Pathway, or SWP, to speed up software development efforts, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

The move is part of the Pentagon’s efforts to transform how it procures and deploys software and other technologies.

“Software is at the core of every weapon and supporting system we field to remain the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. While commercial industry has rapidly adjusted to a software-defined product reality, DoD has struggled to reframe our acquisition process from a hardware-centric to a software-centric approach,” according to the draft memo obtained by the publication.

What Is SWP?

Created in 2020, SWP is a practice meant to accelerate software development through the implementation of the private sector’s best practices. It is a streamlined process for acquiring software programs bespoke to the requirements of DOD.

Through the pathway, organizations can field capabilities into systems within six months or less.

Use of Commercial Solutions Opening

According to Breaking Defense, the memo also requires the use of a commercial solutions opening as the “default solicitation” process.

Developed by the Defense Innovation Unit, the commercial solutions opening process enables DOD to implement a more flexible and faster approach when working with nontraditional defense contractors. Other transaction agreements are usually awarded as a result of this solicitation process.

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DAF Introduces AI-Powered Virtual IT Help Desk
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DAF Introduces AI-Powered Virtual IT Help Desk

The Department of the Air Force has launched the Enterprise Service Desk, or ESD, an artificial intelligence-powered enterprise-IT-as-a-service, or EITaaS, that provides IT support across the U.S. Air and Space Forces. Currently underway, Wave One of the EITaaS is already transforming the DAF IT services from a base-centric delivery model to an enterprise service model, the service branch reported Wednesday. 

Enterprise Service Desk Features

The ESD serves as a virtual agent that can handle a wide range of technical questions from airmen and guardians, allowing military personnel to troubleshoot issues. Powered by AI, the system is available to provide immediate assistance every day, whether morning or night. 

“The ESD connects Airmen and Guardians to responsive technical support, enabling swift access to IT support services,” commented Venice Goodwine, chief information officer for DAF and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient. “Through enhanced availability, IT issue resolution is significantly faster, which helps with overall efficiency for users.”

The ESD is also designed to streamline processes for airmen and guardians and reduce downtime, ensuring that military personnel can use their time to carry out more important tasks. The platform can conduct more trivial tasks such as scheduling an appointment with a human technician or ordering a new device. 

Goodwine added that integrating AI into the ESD enables the department to save time. 

ESD Development Timeline

The ESD has been in development for years. The Air Force began conducting market research for a virtual help desk in 2018. 

DAF started scaling the ESD in 2024. As of January, 82 percent of the department is now utilizing the system. 

DAF plans to achieve a full rollout of the service desk to all Air and Space Force bases by the end of 2025.

Learn about the best practices on how to safely and responsibly integrate AI into business processes at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 AI Summit on March 20. Register for the in-person event here.

DAF Introduces AI-Powered Virtual IT Help Desk
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Navy Contracts QinetiQ US Delivery Order for RF, Circuit Design Support
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Navy Contracts QinetiQ US Delivery Order for RF, Circuit Design Support

The Navy has awarded QinetiQ’s U.S. unit a one-year, $3.8 million delivery order to provide radio frequency, or RF, and circuit design support to its Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, or NSWCDD, Weapons Control and Integration Division.

Delivery Order Details

The defense technology company said Wednesday the delivery order falls under the RF & Circuit Design Assembly & Fabrication contract. The support services QinetiQ will provide NSWCDD include design, fabrication, rapid prototyping, special acquisition and technology integration.

The company will work on circuit board design, mechanical fabrication, RF distribution assemblies and fabric assemblies to support Naval Sea Systems Command’s electro-mechanical and RF systems.

Under the order, QinetiQ US will produce and deliver various products for design validation, such as internal and external wiring harnesses and cables, computer and power system enclosures, hardware and electrical kitting and custom circuit cards.

The company will use iterative prototyping to refine and validate designs and stabilize the Navy’s electromechanical and RF systems for integration, demonstration and initial outfitting phases.

Recent Army Task Order

In December, QinetiQ US received a four-year $42 million task order to support the Army’s modernization effort in sensor processing and imaging technologies. 

The task order included requirements for advanced imaging capabilities, such as aided target recognition technologies and enhanced signal and image processing algorithms.

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GAO Cautions DOD on SDA’s Satellite Laser Comm Investment
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GAO Cautions DOD on SDA’s Satellite Laser Comm Investment

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Space Development Agency first demonstrate fully the capabilities of satellite laser communications before the Department of Defense invests further in the technology. 

GAO noted in its recommendation published Wednesday the development hurdles and delays of the Tranche 0, or T0, under SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture program also known as PWSA. The T0 demonstration satellites originally scheduled for 2022 launching were eventually launched in 2023 and 2024, GAO said. It further stressed that the laser communication capabilities planned for contractors’ demonstration in the initial constellation now in orbit are below targets. 

Scores on Contractors’ Capability Demos 

GAO cited an SDA report showing that two of the agency’s four T0 prime contractors have not demonstrated any of their planned laser communication capabilities, as of December 2024. One of the contractors had demonstrated just three of its eight planned capabilities, while another contractor only achieved one out of the eight capabilities, according to the congressional watchdog office.

One of the recent on-orbit T0 demos involved the laser light terminals manufactured by Tesat onboard two SpaceX-built missile-warning satellites. The demonstration, reported in September, tested spacecraft laser communication link to enable a resilient and reliable data transport and missile warning and tracking network under the PWSA.

In addition, the GAO assessment of SDA’s laser communications development approach indicated inconsistencies with the best practices that the office had recommended. It cited as an example the nearly $10 billion contracts that the agency has already awarded to Tranches 1 and 2, or T1 and T2, of the laser communication program, despite the planned T0 goals having yet to be achieved. 

GAO also called attention to the more complex technologies and more spacecraft for T1 and T2, with 165 and 264 satellites, respectively, compared with T0’s 28.

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Senators Propose Bipartisan American-Chinese Business Competition Bill
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Senators Propose Bipartisan American-Chinese Business Competition Bill

U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-N.V., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., have proposed bipartisan legislation aimed at empowering American businesses in competition with China.

The two senators introduced the Strengthening Exports Against China Act which is intended to level the playing field by removing hindrances for U.S. companies in vital industries such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, Cortez Masto said Wednesday. A related bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Young Kim and Joyce Beatty.

Elevating American Businesses 

Export-Import Bank, or EXIM, is a government agency tasked with creating U.S. jobs by facilitating the export of American goods and services. Its China and Transformational Exports Program, or CTEP, is meant to challenge China’s export subsidies and financing in key areas such as AI, 5G, energy efficiency and semiconductors. 

Existing laws, particularly the two percent default rate cap, prevent the CTEP program from scaling up and aiding businesses against their Chinese counterparts, the senators argue. The Strengthening Exports Against China Act will remove the default rate cap, allowing the CTEP to support American exporters.

Sen. Cortez Masto, stated, “My bipartisan legislation will support more American businesses directly competing with China to help them make breakthroughs in AI, critical mineral mining and processing and other transformational areas.”

Sen. Rounds added, “The Strengthening Exports Against China Act would allow the Export Import Bank to increase export financing and insurance support to U.S. firms that export products in direct competition with China.”

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DISA, DOD Issue RFI for NIPRNet & SIPRNet eDiscovery SaaS
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DISA, DOD Issue RFI for NIPRNet & SIPRNet eDiscovery SaaS

The Defense Information Systems Agency and the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel have begun conducting market research on potential contractors capable of providing a secure, cloud-based eDiscovery software-as-a-service designed for government and military organizations.

NIPRNet and SIPRNet Request for Information Details

According to the request for information posted on SAM.gov Tuesday, the prospective vendor will deliver a DOD Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or NIPRNet and SIPRNet eDiscovery SaaS that is fully integrated into the DOD Information Network.

The platforms should be Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, authorized at Impact Level 5 for NIPRNet and Impact Level 6 for SIPRNet. Furthermore, the DOD OGC requires that the potential company is capable of obtaining DISA’s Authorization to Operate on both NIPRNet and SIPRNet.

The project will be conducted in Arlington, Virginia and have a one-year base period starting on Jan. 4, 2026. It will also come with four, one-year option periods that will put the expected completion date at January 2031, if all options are exercised.

Interested contractors may submit their responses by March 12.

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Daniel Driscoll Confirmed as Army Secretary
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Daniel Driscoll Confirmed as Army Secretary

The Senate voted 66-28 on Tuesday to confirm Daniel Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran, as secretary of the Army.

Military Times reported that Driscoll said during his Senate confirmation hearing that ramping up Army recruitment and “reinvigorating the defense industrial base” would be his top priorities if confirmed.

The Army veteran also told senators that he would serve as “the soldiers’ secretary of the Army, not of the generals or of the bureaucracy.”

Driscoll’s Career Background

The North Carolina native is a former senior adviser to Vice President JD Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School.

His nearly four years in the Army included a deployment to Iraq in 2009. The Army Ranger School graduate served as a cavalry officer with the 10th Mountain Division and left the service branch with the rank of first lieutenant.

Driscoll previously worked at private equity and venture capital firms.

He ran for the Republican nomination to represent North Carolina’s 11th congressional district during the 2020 election.

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Melanie Krause Named Acting IRS Commissioner
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Melanie Krause Named Acting IRS Commissioner

Melanie Krause has been appointed acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

The Department of the Treasury said Tuesday Krause will succeed IRS Deputy Commissioner Doug O’Donnell who is retiring on Feb. 28. She will simultaneously assume the role of deputy commissioner. This development was announced by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

Who Is Melanie Krause?

Krause served as chief operating officer for less than a year before her promotion. In this role, she directed the day-to-day operations of several departments and services with more than 100,000 personnel in over 500 locations nationwide. This included major operational divisions such as the Chief Financial Office; Chief Risk Office; Facilities Management and Security Services; Human Capital Office; Office of Chief Procurement, Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure; and Research, Applied Analytics and Statistics, or RAAS.

The C-suite executive previously worked as the deputy commissioner of operations support, chief data and analytics officer and acting deputy commissioner for services and enforcement.

Before joining the IRS, Krause spent over seven years at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General. She held leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including assistant inspector general for management and administration, deputy assistant inspector general for healthcare inspections, director of hotline coordination and associate director of clinical review management.

Krause also served as senior auditor of healthcare at the Government Accountability Office. She began her career in the medical industry as a nurse clinician for Dane County.

O’Donnell is retiring after almost four decades at the tax agency.

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