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Cedric Sims, Booz Allen SVP, to Chair Executive with Heart Campaign
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Cedric Sims, Booz Allen SVP, to Chair Executive with Heart Campaign

The Greater Washington Region American Heart Association has appointed Dr. Cedric Sims, senior vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton, to chair the 2020-2021 Executives with Heart Campaign. Follow this link to register for the upcoming 2020 Greater Washington Region Heart Walk Digital Experience on Nov. 6th – 8th.

“It is because of leaders like Cedric that we are able to advance our lifesaving mission,” said Soula Antoniou, executive director, American Heart Association Greater Washington Region. “Thank you, Cedric, for your leadership and being a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.”

The American Heart Association has set a goal to raise $750 thousand through Heart Walk by engaging local leaders to donate or raise $5,000+ to fund the mission of the American Heart Association.

Sims has more than 25 years of experience in acquisitions and risk management, cybersecurity, capital planning, portfolio and program governance and systems engineering applied to homeland security missions.

Sims, with Booz Allen’s Justice, Homeland Security and Transportation business, develops strategies to foster integration across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and delivers expertise, primarily cyber and analytics, to support complex missions.

Prior to joining Booz Allen, Sims served as president of Evermay Consulting Group, where he advised companies with strategic acquisition guidance, capture, and proposal services in delivering government services and technology solutions.

From 2010 until 2012, Sims established and led the DHS Office of Program Accountability and Risk Management. As a lead executive in the Management Directorate, his efforts promoted better accountability of the $18 billion portfolio of DHS acquisition investments and matured the acquisition risk management process.

He chaired the Centers of Excellence Council and provided strategic leadership to component acquisition executives. Sims also served as executive director of the Enterprise Business Management Office within the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer, where he supervised enterprise strategies for governance of $6.4 billion of IT investments across DHS.

Cedric Sims, Booz Allen SVP, to Chair Executive with Heart Campaign

Sims will join the other notable members of the American Heart Association Committee, including Owen Billman, president of Blake Real Estate; Linda Gooden CEO of Gooden LLC; Barbara Humpton CEO of Siemens USA; Jim Garrettson CEO of Executive Mosaic; Kent Matlick SVP of Perspecta; Rob McHale, Sr. Client Partner of Korn Ferry; Erich Sanchack EVP of Digital Realty; Vicki Schmanske, group president of Intelligence with Leidos; and Mike Pittsman EVP, DAVIS Construction.

Follow this link to register for the upcoming 2020 Greater Washington Region Heart Walk Digital Experience on Nov. 6th – 8th.

About The American Heart Association

As the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization. Our purpose is to help Americans live heart healthy and prevent America’s No. 1 and No. 5 killers, heart disease and stroke.

We are advocates of good health and promoters of positive behaviors, nutritious eating habits and healthy lifestyles. We also fund cutting-edge research and professional education programs. We promise to have an extraordinary impact on your life by empowering you and your loved ones to save lives, live healthier and enjoy more peace of mind about cardiovascular health.

Our 2020 goal is to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent, while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent. And, we can’t do it without you.

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NIST Introduces New Method to Assess Phishing Cases
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NIST Introduces New Method to Assess Phishing Cases

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)  has created a new method that organizations may use to protect themselves from phishing, a cyber attack that uses emails with malicious links potentially containing malware. 

The method, known as The Phish Scale, is designed to inform explanations behind the click rates of links found in phishing emails, the National Institutes of Standards and Technology said Thursday.

“The Phish Scale is intended to help provide a deeper understanding of whether a particular phishing email is harder or easier for a particular target audience to detect,” said Michelle Steves, a NIST researcher.

NIST used a rating system that bases results on cues seen in a phishing email's content. These cues may serve as factors that convince individuals to perceive the email as legitimate.

Steves and fellow researcher Kristen Greene said NIST needs other parties, including those outside the public sector, to provide more data for Phish Scale's further development. The additional data would expand the scale's use to include a wider range of operational scenarios.

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DOE Stands Up New Office for Arctic Region Programs; Dan Brouillette Quoted
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DOE Stands Up New Office for Arctic Region Programs; Dan Brouillette Quoted

The Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a new office meant to drive DOE's activities across the Arctic region. The Arctic Energy Office will directly report to the DOE undersecretary and handle initiatives in the areas of national security, science and energy, the department said Thursday.

AEO will also coordinate various efforts such as methane hydrate research activities and nuclear power system development.

"DOE’s Arctic Energy Office will grow to strengthen and coordinate our work in energy, science, and national security and help build an Arctic future of prosperity and increased opportunity," said Dan Brouillette, secretary at DOE.

DOE will establish AEO's physical office at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 

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FireEye to Provide Cybersecurity Defenses to Texas DIR; Pat Sheridan Quoted
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FireEye to Provide Cybersecurity Defenses to Texas DIR; Pat Sheridan Quoted

FireEye, Inc. has announced that it will offer cyber security defenses to Texas public sector agencies, under Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), the company reported on Thursday. 

“DIR has made resources available to the Texas public sector market to effectively combat the evolving threat of ransomware,” said Amanda Crawford, DIR executive director. “With these contracts for robust cyber security tools and services, we’re enabling Texas government entities to efficiently strengthen their ransomware defenses.”

Through the end of 2020, FireEye security products and Mandiant Solutions services will be available to all Texas agencies, county governments, cities and school districts through DIR’s Bulk Purchase Initiative for Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions.

FireEye will provide network security, including FireEye Email Security and FireEye Endpoint Security to safeguard critical computer systems, as well as FireEye Helix security operations platform to enable organizations to maintain control of incidents from alert to fix. 

Additionally, the company will leverage Mandiant Managed Defense and Mandiant Threat Intelligence to inform on attacker behaviors and provide decisive action. Mandiant Expertise On Demand will provide access to a wide range of Mandiant security skills, experience and knowledge to augment security teams. 

Leveraging Mandiant Purple Team Assessments, FireEye will evaluate a security team’s ability to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks through the most relevant, realistic scenarios to improve detection response.

“Mandiant ransomware investigations have skyrocketed in recent years… When organizations can detect and remediate the initial compromise quickly, it is possible to avoid the significant damage and cost of a ransomware infection. We applaud DIR for paving a clear path forward for its local agencies,” said Pat Sheridan, SVP of Sales, Americas at FireEye.

DIR facilitates contracts for state and local government entities, putting master contracts in place for technology products and services at discounted prices. FireEye will provide services through Carahsoft’s DIR contract DIR-TSO-4288 and DIR’s Bulk Purchase Agreement #BP2020-028. 

About FireEye, Inc.

FireEye is the intelligence-led security company. Working as a seamless, scalable extension of customer security operations, FireEye offers a single platform that blends innovative security technologies, nation-state grade threat intelligence, and world-renowned Mandiant consulting. With this approach, FireEye eliminates the complexity and burden of cyber security for organizations struggling to prepare for, prevent, and respond to cyber attacks. FireEye has over 9,300 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

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PSC Addresses Chinese Supply Chain Rule in NDAA; David Berteau Quoted
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PSC Addresses Chinese Supply Chain Rule in NDAA; David Berteau Quoted

The Professional Services Council (PSC) has addressed the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council to provide clarification on the Interim Final Rule, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment. 

“PSC strongly supports the intent of the legislation and the Interim Final Rule to reduce risks and provide greater security in government contractor systems,” said PSC president and CEO, and Wash100 Award recipient David Berteau. 

Focused on Section 889(a)(1)(B) of the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), PSC has submitted comments concerning prohibitions on contractors’ use of products and services from certain Chinese telecommunications firms including Huawei and ZTE.

“For example, there is no definition for what constitutes “use,” nor is there any definitive list of both covered affiliates and subsidiaries and covered prohibited equipment and services,” Berteau continued.

PSC stated that the rule provided a short timeframe for agencies to seamlessly implement the regulation. The Council added that a proposed regulation would provide time for contractors to give feedback to government regulators and ease compliance. The letter also outlines nine areas where the FAR Council should take specific actions to address the concerns in the Interim Rule.

“Our comments lay out… there is more the government can do to improve implementation by addressing ambiguities and deficiencies in the final rule when it is issued,” said Berteau.

About PSC 

PSC is the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s more than 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states.

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Northrop Grumman Wins Contract to Advance SATCOM Program; Cyrus Dhalla Quoted
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Northrop Grumman Wins Contract to Advance SATCOM Program; Cyrus Dhalla Quoted

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Space Force for the rapid prototyping phase of the Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program, the company reported on Thursday. 

“Northrop Grumman looks forward to building on more than 40 years of successfully delivering protected satellite communications solutions to our customers,” said Cyrus Dhalla, vice president, communications systems, Northrop Grumman. 

Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will develop a modernized strategic communications space segment with enhanced resilience and cybersecurity capabilities. During the rapid prototyping phase, the company will deliver the preliminary design for ESS’ space segment and a ground-based demonstration.

The ESS program will work to replace the Space Force’s existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system, replacing AEHF’s mid-latitude system capability and extending its survivable communications capability to the North Polar Region. The program will provide secure satellite communications to strategic users. 

As a prime contractor on the ESS program, Northrop Grumman will leverage its experience in protected MILSATCOM payloads for programs including Milstar, AEHF, Enhanced Polar System (EPS) and Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R).

“ESS is critical to extending our nation’s secure satellite communications infrastructure, as it will provide strategic users with assured, uninterruptible connectivity without fear of discovery anywhere on the globe,” Dhalla added.  

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is an American global aerospace and defense technology company. With over 85,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military technology providers.

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NASA-Lockheed X-59 Supersonic Jet Now Under Assembly
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NASA-Lockheed X-59 Supersonic Jet Now Under Assembly

NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunkworks are assembling an upcoming supersonic aircraft designed to perform quiet flights. The X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is under construction at a Lockheed-owned facility in Palmdale, California, NASA said Thursday.

QueSST would collect data on how quiet the aircraft would appear to the public during flights. The aircraft features the eXternal Vision System, a forward-facing camera that uses augmented reality to provide the pilot with visual awareness.

Skunkworks is using its Combined Operation: Bolting and Robotic Auto-drill (COBRA) system to accelerate drilling activities for QueSST's wing assembly.

NASA has scheduled QueSST for initial flight in 2022 and plans to begin gathering the sought public reaction data in 2024. Federal regulatory bodies and international authorities will receive access to findings so that they may use the gathered data to inform supersonic flight policy. Major ground trials might begin in 2021.

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Hon. Ellen Lord: Military Needs to Modernize Nuclear Deterrence
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Hon. Ellen Lord: Military Needs to Modernize Nuclear Deterrence

Hon. Ellen Lord, who serves as undersecretary of defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD) A&S) and four-time Wash100 Award recipient, said the state of U.S. nuclear deterrence requires immediate action to avoid negative consequences, DoD News reported Thursday.

Lord emphasized the Department of Defense’s (DoD) need to modernize its nuclear deterrence, the demonstration of U.S. nuclear power intended to show adversaries what the country is capable of doing.

“Today, we face a stark reality: the long-standing and repeated warnings about the need to modernize and recapitalize the U.S. nuclear deterrent is no longer a warning about the future,” she said in testimony with the Senate Armed Services Committee.

She and U.S. Navy Adm. Charles Richard, leader of U.S. Strategic Command and fellow 2020 Wash100 Award winner, made a statement that attributes the weakened state of U.S. nuclear deterrence to changing policies and reduced emphasis on the matter.

The U.S. military is now working to fortify the country’s nuclear triad that consists of nuclear submarines, bomber aircraft and ground-based nuclear missiles. Lord said DoD is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) on this effort.

Hon. Ellen Lord: Military Needs to Modernize Nuclear Deterrence

Join Potomac Officers Club for its 5G Summit on Oct. 27, 2020 to learn about the impact that innovative technologies and 5G integration have on the private and public sectors, the steps the federal agencies have taken to remain up to speed with the rapid advancement of technology, and the future programs, plans and priorities as the nation aligns with emerging technology.

Hon. Ellen Lord will be featured as the keynote speaker. Don’t miss out on this must see event! Register here for the 5G Summit on October 27th.

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Gerry Fasano, President of Leidos Defense Group, Receives First Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson
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Gerry Fasano, President of Leidos Defense Group, Receives First Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson

Gerry Fasano, president of Leidos’ defense group, was presented his 2020 Wash100 Award for the first time in his long career in the government contracting (GovCon) sector. Fasano received his first Wash100 Award from Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic, on Thursday.

Fasano was influential in the advancement of information technology capabilities for the U.S. military and the federal government while also driving revenue and exponential growth for Leidos.

Most recently, Leidos was awarded a $649 million task order on Aug. 10th under the U.S. Army’s Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services contract to provide follow-on operations and support services to the Special Operations Command’s Tactical Airborne Multi-Sensor (SOCOM) Platforms mission.

“We are proud to support the SOCOM community with tactical ISR operations, system integration and sustainment for commercial derivative aircraft for the Special Operations Command,” said Fasano.

In addition, Leidos secured a potential eight-year, $7.7 billion contract from the U.S. Navy in February 2020 to unify, run and maintain shore-based networks and manage data under the service management, integration and transport portion of the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) Recompete recompete contract.

Under Fasano’s leadership, the company also secured a number of major contracts, including a potential 10-year, $6.5 billion contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) in December 2019 to support operation, maintenance and security of a system to connect U.S. military and federal government personnel globally.

Executive Mosaic congratulates Gerry Fasano and Leidos on his first 2020 Wash100 Award selection. His expertise and leadership to grow the company’s spot in the federal market while also developing the capabilities of U.S. service branches has greatly improved our nation’s national security.

About Wash100 

The Wash100 Award, now in its seventh year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2020 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2020.

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Competitive Intelligence Spotlight #2: Chad Ehrmantraut, Senior Director of CI/PTW with Perspecta, Explores Competition, Tools, Ethics in CI
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Competitive Intelligence Spotlight #2: Chad Ehrmantraut, Senior Director of CI/PTW with Perspecta, Explores Competition, Tools, Ethics in CI

The ‘Competitive Intelligence Spotlight Series’ continues with Chad Ehrmantraut, senior director of Competitive Intelligence (CI) and Pricing To Win (PTW) with Perspecta. Click these links to read the full interview with Chad Ehrmantraut and ArchIntel.

In the second interview of the series, Ehrmantraut spoke with ArchIntel to provide an overview of the competitive intelligence sector, including how competitive intelligence tools and research can be applied to grow a business in the highly competitive federal sector as well as provide an advantage over your competition and the ethics inherent in that process. 

“Companies can overlook or devalue how competitors will attempt to exploit our own weaknesses. Much like we look at competition, our competitors around the beltway are sitting in boardrooms analyzing Perspecta’s strengths and attempting to exploit our weaknesses.” 

Click here to read ArchIntel’s full interview with Chad Ehrmantraut. You can also gain further insight into competitive intelligence and market intelligence by reading all available interviews in ArchIntel’s ‘Competitive Intelligence Spotlight Series.’

On October 22nd, ArchIntel Events will host the ArchIntel – AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum as its first virtual event featuring August Jackson, senior director of Marketing and Competitive Intelligence for Deltek, as the keynote speaker.

Please join ArchIntel for its first virtual event on October 22nd to hear from the esteemed minds of competitive intelligence on the opportunities and challenges arising from artificial intelligence technology as well as how CI professionals can adapt and thrive in a post COVID-19 technological world.

Register here to attend ArchIntel’s first virtual event: ArchIntel – AI in Competitive Intelligence Forum

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