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Northrop Grumman Supports Successful MDA Flight Test; Scott Lehr Quoted
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Northrop Grumman Supports Successful MDA Flight Test; Scott Lehr Quoted

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) successfully intercepted a Northrop Grumman Corporation built Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) target that was launched during a flight test from the Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll, the company reported on Tuesday.

“With this successful test, the MDA has successfully demonstrated critical capabilities for the defense of our country utilizing many of Northrop Grumman’s missile defense capabilities, said Scott Lehr, vice president and general manager, launch and missile defense systems, Northrop Grumman.

FTM-44 satisfies a Congressional mandate to demonstrate that the MDA can use the Navy’s Aegis Combat System equipped with the Standard Missile 3 Block IIA (SM-3 IIA) to intercept intercontinental threats.

The company has supported three ICBM target launches and five IRBM target launches with 18 more on contract for future test missions with the MDA. Northrop Grumman also offers additional short, medium and long-range targets to meet evolving threats.

Northrop Grumman is also the prime contractor on the Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) target, which is air-launched from a C-17 aircraft to provide the MDA with flexibility in mission engagement scenarios.

“As the ICBM target prime contractor for the Missile Defense Agency, we understand how critical it is to launch a realistic threat target to ensure our nation’s defense systems work when called upon,” Lehr added.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman solves the toughest problems in space, aeronautics, defense and cyberspace to meet the ever evolving needs of our customers worldwide. Our 90,000 employees define possible every day using science, technology and engineering to create and deliver advanced systems, products and services.

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Sevatec Names Ryan Taibl as VP of USCIS Portfolio; Sonny Kakar Quoted
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Sevatec Names Ryan Taibl as VP of USCIS Portfolio; Sonny Kakar Quoted

Sevatec has appointed Ryan Taibl as vice president of the company’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) portfolio of business, Sevatec reported on Tuesday. 

With Sevatec, Taibl will serve as customer success manager to supervise the company’s USCIS programs that deliver DevSecOps, software modernization, data analytics and cybersecurity. 

"We are thrilled to have someone with Ryan's experience and background join Sevatec to help continue delivering exceptional outcomes for one of our most critical customers," said Sonny Kakar, founder and CEO of Sevatec. "Ryan's career has been dedicated to helping clients achieve their goals and he is already hitting the ground running – making meaningful impacts in all facets of our business."

Before joining Sevatec, Taibl led efforts for programs inside of USCIS, including program manager of myUSCIS, a personalized customer facing system that helps guide prospective applicants through their journey of lawful US immigration. 

"I am excited to join Sevatec, as it is one of the leading pure-play DevSecOps companies in this market," said Taibl. "I am also elated to be coming back to support the USCIS client, one that I served for almost 6 years. Their mission has always been one I found alluring, as it reaches so many people, from all around the world. USCIS' adoption of leading technologies and approach to service delivery is at the forefront of government agencies."  

About Sevatec

Sevatec builds the software that powers exceptional government missions. Our Digital Software Supply Chain, Shift UpTM, which brings together commercial best practices and advanced technology tools in Agile delivery, human-centered design, DevSecOps, Cloud, Security, and Data, has helped us modernize several hundred applications across the federal government.  

Founded in 2003 on the concept of "Seva," meaning "to Serve a Greater Purpose," we serve the missions of Homeland and Law Enforcement agencies, Department of Defense, General Services Administration, Department of Transportation, and multiple civilian departments and agencies.

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Noblis Elects Rich Jacques as Corporate Officer; Amr ElSawy Quoted
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Noblis Elects Rich Jacques as Corporate Officer; Amr ElSawy Quoted

Rich Jacques, Noblis vice president of Intelligence and Law Enforcement, has been elected by the Noblis Board of Trustees to serve as corporate officer.

“Rich has strengthened our offerings to clients in the intelligence and law enforcement area and built a strong leadership team positioning Noblis for further growth,” said Amr ElSawy, Noblis president and CEO and two-time Wash100 Award recipient. “He has demonstrated strong leadership, decision making, operational excellence and collaboration skills that have benefitted Noblis and our clients.”

With Noblis, Jacques leads the overall direction of Noblis’ mission in the intelligence, national security and law enforcement sectors of government. His team provides actionable intelligence solutions to clients to help drive mission-critical decisions.

Jacques develops and integrates the advanced technologies that are changing the intelligence landscape with agility and security. He joined Noblis in Jan. 2019, and has more than two decades of experience leading transformational initiatives across technology modernization, organizational performance and growth strategies.

He specializes in operational aspects of business optimization, including strategy development, change management, technology transformation, organizational process improvement, contract and program management and human capital strategies.

Jacques has several accreditations including certified Project Management Professional, Scaled Agile Framework Scrum Master, and ITIL certification, a service management framework that supports organizations with their IT and digitally-enabled product and service delivery.

“He played a leading role in our recent acquisition and integration of Inductive Minds, an expert provider of cloud hosting, systems engineering and analytic services to U.S. government clients,” added ElSawy.

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Marine Corps Activates Space-Focused Unit; Maj. Gen. Matthew Glavy Quoted
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Marine Corps Activates Space-Focused Unit; Maj. Gen. Matthew Glavy Quoted

The U.S. Marine Corps has established a space organization that will be led by Maj. Gen. Matthew Glavy and will support the Fleet Marine Force.

Gen. David Berger, USMC commandant, ordered the activation of Marine Corps Forces Space Command, which will initially operate at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, U.S. Space Command said Friday.

“We have an incredible opportunity to create a synergy across the information environment based on our unique position within the naval and joint force,” said Glavy, who concurrently serves as commander of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command.

Space professionals from the existing Marine Corps Forces Strategic Command compose the new service component. He noted that combining space and cyber capabilities can help the branch build a competitive advantage.

Glavy joined USMC in 1986, then went on to become a naval aviator. His military service includes multiple leadership roles such as assistant deputy commandant for aviation at the Marine Corps Staff.

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DoD’s FY 2020 Financial Audit Reports 530 Resolved Issues; David Norquist Quoted
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DoD’s FY 2020 Financial Audit Reports 530 Resolved Issues; David Norquist Quoted

The Department of Defense's (DoD) fiscal year 2020 audit of financial statements has found that its organizations resolved 530 findings from the FY 2019 audit and addressed challenges despite COVID-19 disruptions.

The DoD said Monday that seven DoD entities produced “clean” or unmodified opinions. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which the Pentagon expects will produce a clean opinion for its Working Capital Fund this year, is one of the said organizations.

Four audits are in progress and are slated to conclude between Dec. 15, 2020, and March 25, 2021.

David Norquist, deputy defense secretary and 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the financial audit has “proven its tremendous value” for the third consecutive year.

Defense agencies were able to resolve issues from the FY 2019 audit, including payments to military and civilian personnel, fraud and military equipment completeness, according to the DoD notice.

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OMB: OPM’s Michael Rigas Named Acting Federal CIO
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OMB: OPM’s Michael Rigas Named Acting Federal CIO

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently confirmed that Michael Rigas, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has been serving as the federal chief information officer on a temporary basis since Suzette Kent left the post in July, NextGov reported Monday.

OMB named Rigas the acting federal CIO to succeed Kent, a fact reflected in the executive’s LinkedIn profile and confirmed by a representative from the agency.

Rigas is OPM’s deputy director and holds temporary positions such as acting deputy director for management at OMB. He assumed multiple positions in the government sector, having served with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services.

He helped veteran- and woman-owned small businesses access federal contracting opportunities during his time at GSA. The executive holds more than 20 years of professional experience across nonprofit, commercial and government sectors.

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Jay Clayton to Leave SEC Chairman Post
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Jay Clayton to Leave SEC Chairman Post

Jay Clayton, who has been the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) chairman since May 2017, will step down from his role by the end of 2020. He prioritized initiatives aimed to promote economic growth, investor security, market integrity and investment opportunities during his tenure, the agency said Monday.

Clayton led SEC in efforts to help businesses grow capital across both private and public markets. The commission received monetary relief orders worth $14 billion and returned investor money amounting to $3.5 billion under his leadership.

The agency also credited him with implementing a practice meant to encourage the use of near-term agenda to guide the organization's regulatory activities for the next year.

“I am proud of our collective efforts to advance each part of the SEC’s tripartite mission, always with an eye on the interests of our Main Street investors," Clayton said.

He previously worked at Sullivan & Cromwell as a partner and helped spearhead the New York City-based law firm's corporate practice. 

His career also includes time as an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Clayton is a bar member in Washington, D.C., and New York.

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OMB Chief Russell Vought Releases Memo on FISMA Reporting Requirements for FY 2021
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OMB Chief Russell Vought Releases Memo on FISMA Reporting Requirements for FY 2021

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has issued a memo detailing reporting requirements and deadlines for agencies in fiscal year 2021 in compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014.

Vought said in the Nov. 9th memo the updated FISMA guidance directs agencies to report to OMB the status of their data security programs and requires inspectors general to carry out independent reviews of those programs on an annual basis. 

“At a minimum, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies must update their CIO Metrics quarterly and non-CFO Act agencies must update their CIO metrics on a semiannual basis,” the memo reads. 

The document requires senior agency officials for privacy to report annually and submit documents separately via CyberScope. Those documents include an agency’s privacy program plan, breach response plan and a privacy continuous monitoring strategy. 

For the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, the memo states that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) “will maintain a fully operational Federal Dashboard to provide, in aggregate, situational awareness of the Federal Government's overall cybersecurity posture.” 

The CDM program management office and non-CFO Act agencies will collaborate to set up information exchange between the federal dashboard and their dashboards by the end of the fourth quarter of FY 2021, according to the memo.

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Crystal Philcox on Tech Project Updates in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release
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Crystal Philcox on Tech Project Updates in GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release

Crystal Philcox, assistant commissioner of the office of Enterprise Strategy Management at the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), wrote in a blog post published Monday about updates on technology projects, policies and processes as part of GSA’s Federal Marketplace Strategy Fall 2020 Release. 

Philcox said the Verified Product Portal is expected to come online in November 2020 to help wholesalers and manufacturers upload product images and data to make it easier for customers to search for products and make comparisons. 

She mentioned that GSA updated Truman Bot – Truman 2.0 – to enable users to automate the development of internal price and pre-negotiation memorandums. 

“Truman saves the FAS workforce about 75 minutes for each new offer – and more than 2,300 hours to date,” she added. 

When it comes to supply chain risk management, Philcox said GSA integrated SCRM into key acquisition vehicles and implemented a process for deactivating products that pose supply chain risks to boost customers’ confidence in Multiple Award Schedule Catalog offerings on GSA Advantage!

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Report: GAO Helped Federal Agencies Generate $77.6B in FY 2020 Savings
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Report: GAO Helped Federal Agencies Generate $77.6B in FY 2020 Savings

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report saying it helped the federal government saved $77.6 billion in spending in fiscal year 2020. The figure represents a return of $114 for every dollar Congress invested in GAO. , the agency said in the FY 2020 Performance and Accountability Report published on Monday. 

GAO said it has helped agencies make 1,132 improvements in government operations. Some of those improvements are the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) efforts to improve communications with law enforcement authorities over drone safety and the Veterans Health Administration’s implementation of a tool to facilitate reporting of safety and quality concerns related to medical providers. 

When it comes to its support to the legislative branch, GAO released 586 reports, made 1,459 new recommendations, accepted 550 requests for work from 90 percent of standing committees in Congress and issued 59 testimonies before lawmakers on various topics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Census, the country’s fiscal health and disaster preparedness.

1 … 1,259 1,260 1,261 1,262 1,263 … 2,625