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GSA Awards Deloitte, Esper Contract to Advance AI Technology; Julie Dunne, Bob De Luca Quoted
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GSA Awards Deloitte, Esper Contract to Advance AI Technology; Julie Dunne, Bob De Luca Quoted

The General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded its multiple year, $9.9 million contract to Deloitte Consulting and Esper through GSA’s Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority.

“The Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is pleased to offer an innovative acquisition solution to support our agency partners as they continue their work in support of the Administration’s regulatory reform activities,” said GSA FAS commissioner Julie Dunne. “This award is another gratifying example of our FAS team providing innovative solutions and acquisition support, allowing our agency partners to focus on their core missions.”

The Centers of Excellence (CoE), within the agency’s FAS Technology Transformation Services (TTS) office, and the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) have collaborated to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology solutions to conduct regulatory review and improve the rule-making process for federal agencies.

The contract was awarded to support the White House’s Executive Order on Regulatory Reform, which has pushed to apply AI solutions to government business challenges. The CoE used GSA’s Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority to increase the agility of the acquisition process and acquire innovative and commercial solutions in an expedited manner.

The CoE initiative has worked to advance IT modernization at federal agencies by leveraging private sector innovation and government services. The center will also integrate best practices and expertise for holistic transformation, which will make GSA services more accessible, efficient. GSA’s CoE will also promote modern applications, platforms, processes, personnel and software solutions.

“Applying AI to a manual review many agencies encounter can increase operational efficiency for agencies throughout the federal government and the CoE has been an integral part of the process to help scope opportunities,” said acting FAS deputy commissioner and TTS director Bob De Luca. “This award announcement illuminates the ongoing strong collaboration occurring between offices within GSA, which has allowed the CoE to provide agency partners improved acquisition capabilities.”

GSA Awards Deloitte, Esper Contract to Advance AI Technology; Julie Dunne, Bob De Luca Quoted

GovConWire Events will host its “Winning Business and FY21 Opportunities Forum” on October 20th. Click here to register for the event. 

Featuring Brian Barnes, associate administrator for the Office of Small Business Utilization with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), as the keynote speaker, the event will educate and inform small to midsize GovCon professionals on the current Federal Marketplace and FY21 opportunities. 

The event will also include an expert panel hosting federal and industry executives that will discuss how to navigate the GSA schedule and what industry can do to help. Join GovConWire’s virtual event to learn all about the latest topics within the federal marketplace.

Click here to register for GovConWire’s “Winning Business and FY21 Opportunities Forum” on October 20th.

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Keith Nakasone: GSA Integrates Cyber, Supply Chain Risk Mgmt Requirements Into Contracts
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Keith Nakasone: GSA Integrates Cyber, Supply Chain Risk Mgmt Requirements Into Contracts

Keith Nakasone, deputy assistant commissioner for acquisition within the Office of Information Technology Category (ITC) at the General Services Administration (GSA), said GSA’s office of ITC is adding supply chain risk management and cybersecurity requirements to old and new federal contracts to ensure that vendors comply with certain requirements, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

“We’re not only going through the process, where the contractors are delivering commodities and services, but also the follow-through,” Nakasone said Tuesday during a GSA webinar. “So after they go through a self-certification process, there’s a compliance piece that we’re working on that we’ll monitor to ensure that they are following their SCRM plan.”

ITC, for instance, integrated some of the language of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program into the 8(a) STARS III governmentwide acquisition contract (GWAC) for IT platforms to ensure the GWAC has the basic cyber requirements for CMMC Level 1 vendors.

“We’re trying to build more flexibility into our major contracts so that we will be able to move forward as innovation, emerging technologies and as regulations, policies and procedures change over time,” Nakasone said.

Keith Nakasone: GSA Integrates Cyber, Supply Chain Risk Mgmt Requirements Into Contracts

GovConWire Events will host its “Winning Business and FY21 Opportunities Forum” on October 20th. Click here to register for the event. 

Featuring Brian Barnes, associate administrator for the Office of Small Business Utilization with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), as the keynote speaker, the event will educate and inform small to midsize GovCon professionals on the current Federal Marketplace and FY21 opportunities. 

The event will also include an expert panel hosting federal and industry executives that will discuss how to navigate the GSA schedule and what industry can do to help. Join GovConWire’s virtual event to learn all about the latest topics within the federal marketplace.

Click here to register for GovConWire’s “Winning Business and FY21 Opportunities Forum” on October 20th.

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Air Force Develops Prototype of Next-Gen Fighter Aircraft; Will Roper Quoted
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Air Force Develops Prototype of Next-Gen Fighter Aircraft; Will Roper Quoted

The U.S. Air Force has built and flown a prototype of a new fighter aircraft using virtual tools as part of the Next Generation Air Dominance program (NGAD), Defense One reported Tuesday.

“The announcement isn’t that we just built an ‘eplane,’ and have flown it a lot of times in our virtual world, which we’ve done, but that we have built a full-scale flight demonstrator and flown it in the real world,” Will Roper, chief acquisition executive at the Air Force and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, told reporters Tuesday.

The report said the service developed a virtual prototype and a physical aircraft using data from the T-7 trainer and F-35 fighter jet programs under the NGAD program.

“What having the ‘eplane’ will allow us to do is get much faster through design, much faster through assembly, get out to test faster and be able to go after the data we need to anchor models,” Roper said. 

“So these digital threads that are pulled through the life cycle of the program, appear to accelerate everything. The windfall of accelerating everything is getting to focus on what actually matters because the digital model is allowing you to convey things that you already know.” 

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Mark Sirangelo Succeeds Eric Schmidt as Defense Innovation Board Chair
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Mark Sirangelo Succeeds Eric Schmidt as Defense Innovation Board Chair

Mark Sirangelo, entrepreneur scholar in residence at the University of Colorado, has succeeded Eric Schmidt as chairman of the Defense Innovation Board (DIB), Inside Defense reported Tuesday.

Sirangelo announced Tuesday that Schmidt, former CEO of Google, and several other members of the DIB, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson, ended their four-year terms on the board.

Sirangelo joined DIB in 2018 and currently leads the board’s newly established space advisory committee. He most recently worked at Sierra Nevada Corp. as head of space systems division and was the former chairman and CEO of SpaceDev.

The report noted that DIB named Drew Endy, a professor at Stanford University and president of BioBricks Foundation, to the board.

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DHS to Conduct Chemical Hazard Support Efforts
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DHS to Conduct Chemical Hazard Support Efforts

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) is set to provide chemical hazard support in preparation for Hurricane Sally's landfall.

CSAC is identifying chemical facilities within Sally's predicted path that may be vulnerable to chemical release due to loss of power or building damage, DHS said Monday. The center will also remain on standby to assess potential hazard on chemical surface transport, piping systems and other facilities.

DHS will transmit the results of the analysis to Joint Task Force – Civil Support Team and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center.

CST and FEMA/IMAAC reached out to CSAC in August in response to a chemical fire at Biolab following Hurricane Laura's landfall.

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DHS Overrules TSA Concerns on CLEAR’s Expanded Airport Security Authorities
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DHS Overrules TSA Concerns on CLEAR’s Expanded Airport Security Authorities

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has rejected objections from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on a bill to expand the traveler vetting authorities of security technology maker CLEAR.

Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of homeland security, wrote in a letter dated Sept. 9 that the DHS overruled the concerns of TSA Administrator David Pekoske on CLEAR’s expanded operations, Bloomberg Government reported Monday.

In May 2020, Pekoske wrote a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee stating that allowing CLEAR to have additional authorities “would be a bridge too far” and place critical transportation and national security functions “in the hands of private firms that are not directly accountable to the U.S. Government.”

CLEAR currently serves as a sole partner in TSA’s Registered Traveler initiative and is under contract to provide screening services at 35 airports. A company spokesperson told BGOV that the legislation would ensure that security procedures and traveler assessments “would remain with TSA where they belong.”

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Army Eyes Contract Award for GPS Tech Alternative Before October
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Army Eyes Contract Award for GPS Tech Alternative Before October

The U.S. Army is looking to award a contract by the end of the month for the service branch’s positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) effort aimed at establishing an alternative for GPS technologies.

The Army intends to select an awardee for the Mounted Assured Position Navigation and Timing (MAPS) contract and deploy a prototype in two years, C4ISRnet reported Monday.

MAPS will be used to support PNT operations such as anti-jamming and spoofing functionalities in GPS-denied environments. MAPS Gen 3, the planned latest version of the PNT capability, is meant to be integrated into the electronic warfare (EW) and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) Modular Open Suite of Standards (CMOSS).

The Army plans to leverage the CMOSS chassis as a standardized plug-and-play platform for disparate PNT technologies.

Col. Nickolas Kioutas, program manager for PNT at the Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors (IEW&S), told C4ISRnet that the service is “nearing an award to a single vendor” as it continues MAPS transitioning and fielding activities.

Kioutas’ comments come after the Army announced plans to establish a PNT development hub next month to support programs such as the CMOSS initiative.

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USS Ford Marks 4,000th Aircraft Launch, Recovery; Capt. Kenneth Sterbenz Quoted
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USS Ford Marks 4,000th Aircraft Launch, Recovery; Capt. Kenneth Sterbenz Quoted

The U.S. Navy has recorded the 4,000th aircraft launch and recovery of the USS Gerald R. Ford's Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) 

Built by General Atomics, the vessel's AAG and EMALS components require less maintenance and manpower and are specifically designed for Ford-class ships, the Navy said Friday.

“Reaching 4,000 launches and recoveries is not only an important performance datapoint, but it also represents years of technological development and the dedication, professionalism, and successful work put forth by the ALRE team and CVN 78,” said Capt. Kenneth Sterbenz, Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment program manager for EMALS and AAG at the Navy.

The components are currently undergoing an 18-month post delivery test and trial and is on schedule to complete all requirements prior to its commissioning to the service branch.

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House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Improve IoT Cybersecurity Standards; Rep. Will Hurd Quoted
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House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Improve IoT Cybersecurity Standards; Rep. Will Hurd Quoted

The House has passed bipartisan legislation introduced by Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas and two-time Wash100 Award recipient, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., that seeks to fortify the security posture of U.S. internet of things (IoT) networks.

Hurd’s office said Monday the 2020 IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act awaits Senate approval and requires all government-owned IoT devices to undergo vetting procedures to ensure supply-chain accountability as well as compliance with federal security requirements.

The legislation would also direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish criteria for IoT device management and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to assess current information security guidelines.

In addition, agencies would be banned from procuring devices that do not meet NIST and OMB’s standards while contractors are subject to “coordinated vulnerability disclosure” requirements.

“The [IoT] grows every single day, and, by the end of next year, it will include more than 20 billion devices,” according to Hurd. “America needs to keep up with this incredible trend, and that means ensuring proper security and protections—the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act is a step in that direction.”

NIST and OMB must modify IoT security guidelines and policies every five years under the legislation.

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Cambridge Names Josh Golden CFO; Kim Harokopus Quoted
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Cambridge Names Josh Golden CFO; Kim Harokopus Quoted

Cambridge has appointed Josh Golden to the company’s executive management team as chief financial officer (CFO), Cambridge reported on Tuesday. Golden will be responsible for leading the Finance department as well as work with Cambridge’s executive management team to further the company’s strategic vision.

“Josh has extensive experience overseeing global operations and leading sustainable growth while also implementing innovative approaches,” said Kim Harokopus, Cambridge CEO.

Golden will bring more than two decades of experience to Cambridge. As an operationally focused CFO for a variety of companies in the government contracting space, Golden most recently worked throughout the C4ISR; border security and chemical; and biological and explosive threat detection markets. He will be based in Cambridge’s Arlington Headquarters. 

“Cambridge is excited to have Josh onboard… We look forward to leveraging his expertise as we continue to grow and look for new ways to provide our customers with outstanding service at the best value,” said Harokopus. 

About Cambridge 

For more than 25 years, Cambridge has been fighting bad actors in both the cyber and physical worlds. We have worked in some of the most challenging domains imaginable including critical infrastructure, illicit trafficking, border security, flight mission assurance, banking and threat finance, and medical and health security. We have proven our mettle on the toughest problems. It is why you can trust us to be your partner.

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