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GSA Eyes Two-Phase SAM Portal Rollout in April, May
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GSA Eyes Two-Phase SAM Portal Rollout in April, May

The General Services Administration (GSA) will roll out its two-phase effort to combine the legacy System for Award Management (SAM) portal with the beta SAM.gov website this spring.

Phase One of the modernization effort will begin on April 26 in preparation for the full migration and consolidation of both integrated award environments (IAE), GSA said Monday. Phase Two will take place on May 24 and result in the transition of the new SAM.gov from its beta phase.

The updated IAE portal will include features for identifying contract opportunities and visualizing wage determinations under a single log-in.

Launched in 2017, the beta SAM website was initially envisioned to consolidate 10 IAE systems. Three systems have transitioned operations to the beta portal to date, according to GSA. GSA plans to hold a walkthrough of the new portal in May.

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DLA, GSA Address Issues in Export Transshipment; Perry Knight Quoted
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DLA, GSA Address Issues in Export Transshipment; Perry Knight Quoted

The Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) distribution arm concluded a year-long initiative to streamline supply chain operations and address the General Services Administration’s (GSA) challenges in transporting items that were halted at the shipping chain level.

DLA Distribution and GSA worked to realign supply chain processes to simplify financial operations and properly identify and bill the latter’s frustrated freight and export transshipments, DLA said Tuesday.

The effort resulted in the closing of $5 million in transshipment charges to the GSA as well as the identification of 84,000 items impacted by frustrated freight.

Perry Knight, deputy commander of DLA Distribution, said the joint initiative helped improve processes as well as the delivery of support to warfighters. GSA and DLA also worked with the U.S. African Command and European Command to align supply chain operations.

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DISA-STRATCOM Field Office Shuts Down Legacy Information Facility for New System
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DISA-STRATCOM Field Office Shuts Down Legacy Information Facility for New System

The Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) field office with U.S. Strategic Command has closed down the core of a legacy military network to give way to a new command and control facility.

The Defense Information Systems Network's final core device shut down on Dec. 21 to be succeeded by a new C2 system with modern telecommunications technology, DISA said Tuesday.

The now defunct legacy facility, which was operated by Offutt Air Force Base, supported the U.S. military's telecommunications for nearly four decades.

“DISA-STRATCOM Field Office leadership and on-site coordination were the key enablers that facilitated delivery of capability ahead of schedule and within budget," said David Bennett, director of operations at DISA.

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Christopher Barnhurst Named DISA Executive Deputy Director
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Christopher Barnhurst Named DISA Executive Deputy Director

Christopher Barnhurst, formerly chief financial officer at the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), has succeeded Anthony Montemarano as executive deputy director at the agency. Barnhurst will help DISA address potential issues and drive the implementation of perimeter, boundary and endpoint cybersecurity capabilities under his new role, the agency said Tuesday.

He will also assist the agency in performing a mission analysis and optimizing its capabilities as an enterprise information technology and combat support provider. Barnhurst previously held the roles of deputy chief financial officer and principal adviser to the comptroller for planning, programming, budgeting and execution at DISA.

“The CFO position further prepared me for the role of executive deputy director in the sense that it is one of the few positions in the agency that has total visibility across all centers and programs,” said Barnhurst.

As DISA’s chief financial officer and comptroller, during which time he provided oversight for executing an $11 budget. The senior executive service member also supervised the creation of a revised pricing scheme for DISA’s network services.

“We will also need to be hyper-focused on data management – both how we use the data we generate to inform strategic and operational decisions, and how we contribute to the execution of the department’s over-arching data strategy outlined by DoD CIO,” Barnhurst added.

Montemarano departed from his role at DISA in December.

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Accenture, VMware Launch New Business Group Under $3B Investment to Drive Cloud Strategy; Julie Sweet, Pat Gelsinger Quoted
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Accenture, VMware Launch New Business Group Under $3B Investment to Drive Cloud Strategy; Julie Sweet, Pat Gelsinger Quoted

Accenture and VMware have expanded their partnership and launched a business group to enable users adopt a ‘cloud first’ strategy, Accenture reported on Wednesday. The new unit will accelerate migration to the cloud, develop applications, and leverage the cloud as a foundation for innovation and new business models to drive value.

The new business group is part of Accenture Cloud First, which Accenture launched in 2020 with a $3 billion investment in new capabilities, solutions, partnerships and client engagements to support businesses in the cloud.

“Cloud is the single most powerful tool for mastering change,” said Julie Sweet, chief executive officer, Accenture. “As organizations accelerate their move to the cloud and edge over the next few years, the Accenture VMware Business Group will help deliver the speed, scale and security they need to fundamentally reinvent their businesses and create more value.” 

The group will unite professionals with expertise in hybrid cloud and cloud migrations, cloud native, application modernization and security. The Accenture VMware Business Group will invest in joint go-to-market and sales operations. 

Additionally, the business will train Accenture practitioners in VMware technologies and drive the development of new service offerings, assets and accelerators, supported by VMware technologies. The two companies will also develop pre-engineered vertical industry solutions, including a platform to accelerate the integration of 5G and edge computing services. 

The Accenture VMware Business Group will launch a specialized VMware Cloud Migration Factory to migrate computing workloads to the cloud, using automated processes. The VMware Cloud Migration Factory will provide access to a controlled environment and resources to plan, test, migrate and modernize applications at scale. 

“Increasingly, customers are running their applications on one or more clouds, datacenters and the edge and the Accenture VMware Business Group will bring together the world-class teams and expertise required, with the speed, agility, and resilience that organizations demand, today and tomorrow,” said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware.

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CGI Federal’s Stephanie Mango Recognized in WeQual Awards
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CGI Federal’s Stephanie Mango Recognized in WeQual Awards

Stephanie Mango, senior vice president of Security, Assistance, Justice and Health Programs with CGI Federal, has been named as a finalist for the WeQual Awards 2021 in The Americas region, CGI reported on Wednesday.

Mango has been recognized for her leadership, cognitive ability, drive and resilience, integrity, emotional intelligence, personal development, approach to equality and knowledge of the business. Mango has more than two decades of IT experience.

With CGI Federal, Mango leads the development and execution of the business and solutions strategy for a diverse client portfolio including the Department of Defense (DoD), Homeland Security, Justice, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, Intelligence Community, and the Legislative and Judicial Branches.

Additionally, Mango has served in leadership positions across the government markets in profit and loss operations, business development, sales operations and strategic planning. She has supported federal organizations in the civilian, defense and intelligence communities to help improve operations through business and information technology solutions.

With CGI, Mango has expanded the company’s footprint in the federal sector by leveraging innovative business models and solutions to drive efficiency, effectiveness and desired outcomes for her customers.

In Oct. 2020, CGI was awarded a $400 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract to provide mail and general support services to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The contract has a one-year base period with four option years and two additional 1-year award terms.

CGI’s governance, corporate infrastructure and more than 10 years of partnering with DOJ provide an in-depth understanding of agency’s operations, enabling us to react quickly, with the utmost sensitivity and discretion,” said Mango.

Under the contract, CGI will deliver shared services to the DOJ and its associated divisions, as well as other federal agencies. The company will support DOJ’s mission to achieve economies of scale and provide efficient solutions across the agency’s component offices.

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Ankura Names Ken Serwin as Senior Managing Director
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Ankura Names Ken Serwin as Senior Managing Director

Ankura has appointed Kenneth “Ken” Serwin, Ph.D, as senior managing director, where he will be based in San Francisco, Calif, the company reported on Tuesday. As part of Ankura’s executive leadership team, Serwin will strengthen the company’s intellectual property and antitrust expertise. 

Serwin's counsel is based on the application of rigorous economic logic to complex business questions, particularly in the area of dispute resolution.

"With extensive experience as an expert witness in federal and state courts, Ken brings a wealth of knowledge in intellectual property, antitrust and class action disputes," said Mary Beth Edwards, leader of Disputes & Economics at Ankura. 

Serwin is a testifying expert and has addressed economic questions associated with large commercial disputes. He also has deep experience in intellectual property matters and class action disputes.

In terms of intellectual property disputes, he has testified on patent infringement, theft of trade secrets, copyright infringement and trademark infringement. For class action disputes Serwin has spoken on  product liability, false advertising, and breach of contract. He has testified on class action disputes at both the certification and merits stages.

"His experience will be truly important and valuable to our clients and provide them with the expertise needed to navigate their complex business challenges. Ken values our culture of collaboration and we're excited about our future together," Edwards added. 

Throughout his career, he has provided economic consulting and research services on public policy matters, specifically concerning the economic impact of various forms of corporate taxation.

Serwin has delivered consulting work in economic public policy analysis, focusing on the role of corporate tax regimes on domestic economic activity. He has also examined the role of intellectual property protection on corporate innovation and general activity. 

"Together with my colleagues at Ankura, I look forward to providing thoughtful counsel to clients on complex intellectual property and antitrust matters across the industries and geographies we serve, particularly as we expand our presence in California," said Serwin.

 

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Ball Aerospace to Support NASA Solar Cruiser; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup Quoted
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Ball Aerospace to Support NASA Solar Cruiser; Dr. Makenzie Lystrup Quoted

Ball Aerospace has been selected to support a NASA small satellite technology demonstration, Solar Cruiser, the company reported on Wednesday. Ball will perform several mission-critical functions, including the integration and test of the satellite bus with the solar sail system that will form the completed Sailcraft. 

"Solar Cruiser will be an important step in the advancement of solar propulsion technology that could enable future missions studying the Sun, space weather and deep space," said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. 

Ball’s efforts will inform on the use of solar photons for propulsion in space. The Solar Cruiser will be one of four missions launching with the NASA Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), currently scheduled in 2025. 

Ball Aerospace will procure a Venus-class microsat commercial bus, define mission-specific modifications and perform the integration and test of the completed Sailcraft. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will deploy an 18,000-square-foot sail to catch solar radiation to propel the vehicle. Les Johnson, from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is the mission's principal investigator.  

“[Solar Cruiser] builds on our legacy as a long-time mission partner to NASA and the scientific community, at large, in the development of leading-edge science and technology to achieve science at any scale." 

In addition to Solar Cruiser, Ball Aerospace completed the spacecraft and payload assembly integration of NASA's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) space-based astrophysics observatory, in Jan. 2021. With the completion, Ball will start environmental testing of the observatory, including instruments and the spacecraft bus.

The observatory has been scheduled to launch in late-2021. Once on orbit, IXPE will measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays. The measurements will enable NASA to improve the understanding of the fundamental physics of extreme objects in the universe, such as black holes.

IXPE is a Small Explorer (SMEX) mission, under NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program, which is led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and supported by Ball Aerospace, the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at University of Colorado Boulder and other partners.

Under the mission, Ball will deliver the IXPE spacecraft, mechanical and structural elements of the payload, observatory assembly, and integration and test. The spacecraft for IXPE is based on Ball's smallest Ball Configurable Platform (BCP) model. 

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Kathleen Hicks Assumes Role as Deputy Secretary of Defense
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Kathleen Hicks Assumes Role as Deputy Secretary of Defense

Kathleen Hicks, a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, has been sworn in to become the Defense Department's (DOD) new deputy secretary, bringing years of experience as a Pentagon executive, DOD News reported Tuesday. 

Hicks will help Gen. Lloyd Austin, the new secretary of defense and a fellow 2021 Wash100 Award winner, execute a strategy to address adversaries that threaten U.S. national security.

The new deputy secretary of defense most recently served as a vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

Her career with the Pentagon includes work as the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy in 2012. She began this career in 1993 as a Pentagon management intern.

“Even as we stand ready today, we must modernize our concepts, capabilities, workforce and budget for deterrence to endure,” she said.

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NASA Renews TRISH Space Health Research Institution; Dorit Donoviel Quoted
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NASA Renews TRISH Space Health Research Institution; Dorit Donoviel Quoted

NASA has decided to renew and continue funding a Houston Texas-based research institute that focuses on technologies that maintain astronaut health. 

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) will receive funds worth $134.6 million between 2022 and 2028 for its continued operation, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) said Tuesday. 

BCM leads the TRISH consortium with the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology. TRISH partners with NASA’s Human Research Program to address issues that challenge human performance in deep space.

“We are proud to be NASA’s partner in its human space exploration mission and to be supporting the research necessary to create new frontiers in health care that will benefit all humans.” said Dorit Donoviel, director of TRISH.

NASA's decision to renew TRISH follows the institute's successful program review in December 2020.

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