///
GAO Urges Guidance Reforms on DOD Contracts for Employee-Owned Businesses
Published on
GAO Urges Guidance Reforms on DOD Contracts for Employee-Owned Businesses

The Government Accountability Office has urged a new guidance update on the Department of Defense’s pilot program on non-competitive contract awards to companies formed as “employee stock ownership plans,” or ESOPs, being implemented by the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.

Data Gaps in Program Implementation

DOD’s initial guidance for the program, which was launched in 2022, did not generate enough information for contracting officers to check companies’ ESOP eligibility, resulting in an award to an unqualified contractor, GAO said in its report released Thursday.

The congressional budget watchdog noted that DOD updated the pilot’s guidance in December 2024, but it still lacks the mechanism for gathering other data to further empower contracting officers on effective program implementation.

Clearer Goal-Setting and Other Recommendations

To improve ESOPs operation, GAO issued five other recommendations on top of its proposed additional guidance for contracting officials. The additional measures that the office suggested include the establishment of clear, purposive and measurable program objectives, along with a data collection and assessment system for ESOPs.

GAO further recommended that the program’s assessment cover scalability to inform decisions on expanding the pilot currently with eight contractors. The office’s sixth recommendation calls for opening two-way communications with ESOPs’ internal and external stakeholders about the pilot program’s design and operation. DOD has concurred with its recommendations, GAO said.

///
Space Force Issues FY25 Data & AI Strategic Action Plan
Published on
Space Force Issues FY25 Data & AI Strategic Action Plan

The U.S. Space Force has released its fiscal year 2025 strategic action plan that provides a roadmap for how the military branch could leverage data and artificial intelligence to support the Department of Defense’s mission to deter war and defeat adversaries.

“As the world’s first digital service, the United States Space Force recognizes the critical role that data and artificial intelligence will play in maintaining space superiority,” Col. Nathan Iven, acting deputy chief of space operations for cyber and data, said in a statement published Wednesday.

“Data and AI are critical for a warfighting service that is purpose-built for space superiority. This plan charts a course to foster data literacy, equip our Guardians with cutting-edge technologies, and drive innovation,” Iven added.

4 Lines of Effort

The action plan aligns with defense and national priorities and outlines four key lines of effort that will enable the Space Force to ensure the security of U.S. interests in space.

The lines of effort are maturing enterprisewide data and AI governance; advancing a data-driven and AI-enabled culture; rapidly adopting data, advanced analytics and AI technologies; and strengthening government, academic, industry and international partnerships.

Maturing Enterprisewide Data, AI Governance

To mature enterprisewide data and AI governance, objectives include establishing and sustaining a governance program to evolve policies, structures and procedures; developing policies, standards and guidance; and ensuring investments are based on strategic priorities.

Specific activities, for instance, include appointing data and AI officers to manage data and AI initiatives at the field command level and establishing policy and guidance for the Space Force’s digital infrastructure and data storage to enable servicewide IT integration with commercial space solutions.

The document also calls for the service to assess its data and AI maturity to identify gaps, evaluate current capabilities and create a roadmap for improvement.

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24. Listen to experts as they discuss how emerging technologies and the latest tech advancements are reshaping government operations. Register now!

POC - 2025 Digital Transformation Summit
//
NGA Issues RFI for MOJAVE Functional Area 1 Follow-On Requirement
Published on
NGA Issues RFI for MOJAVE Functional Area 1 Follow-On Requirement

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has started soliciting information on small businesses that could perform day-to-day operations to meet the requirement for the follow-on MOJAVE Functional Area 1 contract.

According to a sources sought notice published Wednesday, NGA will accept responses to the request for information until April 3.

The agency is exploring the General Services Administration’s OASIS Plus contract vehicle to meet the requirement. The potential contract is expected to have a one-year base term and four option years.

Scope of Work Under Proposed MOJAVE FA1 Follow-On

Under the proposed follow-on contract, the contractor must provide general support and staff augmentation services to address manpower needs and reduce administrative burden.

The vendor should also help expedite the implementation and completion of mission-critical tasks that enable NGA component organizations to perform facilities and space management, maintain business and policy administration and conduct program and project management, corporate communications, interior design, training and development, and graphic design functions.

The RFI outlines several service requirements that the follow-on contract may cover, including analysis, security and installation operations, geospatial intelligence, human development, data and digital innovation, financial management, international operations, and partnerships and mission management.

//
CENTCOM Launches Pilot to Assess AI Computing Power Needs
Published on
CENTCOM Launches Pilot to Assess AI Computing Power Needs

With the launch of its artificial intelligence tool CentGPT, U.S. Central Command has initiated a pilot project as it works to establish its own high-performance computing infrastructure to address classified compute-related challenges, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

Assessing Compute Load Needs

As part of the pilot, CENTCOM procured and installed four NVIDIA H100 graphic processing units, or GPUs, on its classified network to support CentGPT and other AI initiatives.

The command has also teamed with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Lambda under a cooperative research and development agreement, which will enable CENTCOM to purchase an additional 24 NVIDIA H100 GPUs.

“It will give us a really huge, significant amount of compute capability that no one else — at least that I’m tracking — has in the Defense Department for classified networks,” Dan Leventry, chief data officer at CENTCOM, told FNN.

According to Leventry, the command expects the pilot to help establish baseline costs and serve as a testing ground to determine other combatant commands’ future requirements for computing power as they scale AI adoption.

“We think we’re going to be good for several years, but it allows us to benchmark what the requirements are for other combatant commands as we move into the cloud and the commercial cloud providers begin to provide that compute power in the cloud,” he said.

What Is CentGPT?

The recently introduced CentGPT is an AI-powered chatbot and document analysis platform built on open source models like Meta’s Llama. The tool integrates an AI framework called retrieval-augmented generation that enables users to upload, analyze and interpret documents.

CENTCOM launched CentGPT on its classified and unclassified networks and saw the number of users of the AI tool grow to 900 in six months.

Attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24, and hear experts as they discuss how emerging technologies and latest innovations modernize government operations. Register now!

POC - 2025 Digital Transformation Summit
/
LogicMonitor Partners With AWS for Streamlined VMware Migrations
Published on
LogicMonitor Partners With AWS for Streamlined VMware Migrations

LogicMonitor announced it has partnered with Amazon Web Services in its service offering of an accelerated, cost-effective and secure migration of customer VMware workloads to the AWS cloud environment. The LogicMonitor hybrid migration platform, itself already AWS-powered, also provides real-time on-premises and cloud environment awareness for operational continuity, the software-as-a-service company said Tuesday.

It added that its platform optimizes automated performance and streamlines workflows through the integration of additional tools, such as ServiceNow and PagerDuty.

IT Operations’ Observability Need

Will Corkery, LogicMonitor chief revenue officer, noted the “seamless visibility” that customers need in navigating hybrid environments in complex data center transformations aimed at making informed decisions and mitigating risks. “Through this collaboration with AWS, we’re empowering organizations to streamline their VMware migrations with confidence—optimizing performance, reducing costs and unlocking the next level of observability that modern IT operations demand,” said the LogicMonitor executive.

The collaboration adds to LogicMonitor’s earlier designation as a member of the AWS Partner Network with a demonstrated AWS Cloud operations competency in end-to-end cloud operations.

Alan Braun, AWS managing director of technology partnerships, pointed out that “observability is key” for organizations rapidly transitioning to the AWS cloud environment. “Bringing together AWS’s advanced cloud services with LogicMonitor’s observability expertise is another way customers can make a seamless transition to the cloud, and speed up the modernization of their IT workloads,” the AWS executive pointed out.

In January, the Santa Barbara, California-based LogicMonitor also entered into a strategic partnership with OpenAI that led to the joint development of Edwin AI, which is designed to combine advanced reasoning and deep observability in artificial intelligence applications in IT operations.

/
Air Force Seeks Software Contractor for Advanced Simulation
Published on
Air Force Seeks Software Contractor for Advanced Simulation

The U.S. Air Force is soliciting proposals for the software development and integration requirements in the Implementation of Advanced Government Simulation Architectures, or IAGSC. The contract covers incorporating Department of Defense systems to the Air Force Sustainment Center’s Software Development Directorate Experimentation Division, according to a USAF post in SAM.gov Monday.

Cybersecurity & Software Testing Tasks

Other deliverables of the selected contractor include cybersecurity implementation throughout the software development and integration process, as well as software testing and modeling and simulation capability verification.    

In addition, the contract calls for integrating intelligence community data into software capability for threat detection. It also requires administrative and systems engineering support for all simulation architecture activities, including security services for files and facilities.

Earlier Sole Source Contract Award  

The deadline for the submission of offers is on April 5. The IAGSC requirement of the Air Force has been fulfilled earlier through a sole source acquisition contract award to ensure services continuity, according to the SAM.gov post. 

A DOD report in early March announced that Modern Technology Solutions Inc. has secured a potential $48.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity USAF contract to support IAGSC. The company’s work extends up to March 17, 2027, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

/
ITI Suggests 72-Hour Window for Contractors’ Cyber Incident Reporting
Published on
ITI Suggests 72-Hour Window for Contractors’ Cyber Incident Reporting

The global tech trade association Information Technology Industry Council has recommended that government contractors be given a 72-hour reporting window and a significance threshold on cybersecurity incidents involving controlled unclassified information, or CUI. Policymakers should adopt consistent requirements and strategic assessments on the government’s CUI guardrails, ITI said Monday.

The reporting timeframe is one of ITI’s suggestions following a Federal Register announcement on a request for public comments on proposed amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation on contractor compliance obligations in safeguarding CUI. The Department of Defense, NASA and the General Services Administration initiated the public comments solicitation.

Consistency Measures in CUI Management

ITI’s other recommendations on the FAR amendments include certification processes alignment across all federal agencies to ensure consistent CUI management and establishing reasonable cutoff levels for contractor liability risk.

The trade group also suggested in the 10-page comments it submitted that FAR should centralize reporting for shared services to prevent overclassification. In addition, it recommended the standardization of CUI management training to prevent inconsistencies between agencies. 

Actionable Reports Needed

Leopold Wildenauer, ITI director of cybersecurity and supply chain policy, described as “fragmented and duplicative” the current cyber incident reporting policies, and noted that policymakers need to focus on aligning them across federal agencies.

“By granting contractors a 72-hour reporting window and establishing a significance threshold, the government can ensure that incident reports are both actionable and meaningful,” Wildenauer stressed.

To support the development of cybersecurity incident reporting policies, ITI has formulated and released two templates:  Policy Principles for Security Incident Reporting in the U.S. and Global Policy Principles for Cybersecurity Incident Reporting.

//
DARPA Publishes Scoring System for AI Cyber Challenge Final Round
Published on
DARPA Publishes Scoring System for AI Cyber Challenge Final Round

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has published the scoring system for the final leg of a competition to build an artificial intelligence-powered system that could safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure. The AI Cyber Challenge, or AIxCC, final competition will assess competing systems on their ability to find and fix intentionally introduced synthetic and real world vulnerabilities, the agency said Wednesday. 

Mission to Protect CI Systems

The competition recognizes the threat malicious actors from around the world pose to systems Americans rely on every day. From bridges and highways to hospitals, the systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. 

“Cyberthreats to critical infrastructure are broad and unrelenting,” commented Andrew Carney, program manager for the AI Cyber Challenge. “We’re looking for breakthrough systems that can give software defenders an edge when it comes to outpacing adversaries.”

AIxCC Details 

The final competition will have four rounds culminating at DEF CON 33, which will take place in Las Vegas in August. Only the final round will be scored. The first three rounds will be unscored exhibitions of proposed cyber reasoning systems. 

During the final round, each CRS will showcase how it identifies and patches vulnerabilities in software critical to industry, national security and the public.

“Now, we’re raising the bar and putting the top systems to the test against a broader and more complex range of challenges, with the goal of developing systems that the public and private sectors can use immediately to secure critical code,” added Carney.

Seven teams that advanced during the semifinal round held in August 2024 will participate in the final competition. 

/
DCSA Unveils 5-Year Strategic Plan
Published on
DCSA Unveils 5-Year Strategic Plan

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency has released an updated strategic plan that will serve as its roadmap for the next five years as a provider of integrated security services in alignment with national and Department of Defense priorities.

3 Strategic Priorities

DCSA said Tuesday the 2025–2030 Strategic Plan outlines the agency’s three strategic priorities.

Those priorities are moving the agency to full performance and integration in each mission, anticipating and preparing DCSA for the future by equipping the agency to confront an evolving threat landscape in 2040 and raising the level of understanding and recognition of DCSA as the premier provider of integrated security services for the federal government with external stakeholders.

Each of the three priorities comes with specific objectives.

To move DCSA to full performance, objectives include meeting mission requirements, fostering an elite workforce, formalizing integration and improving agency decision-making.

“With a focus on quality and efficiency, we will expand our capabilities and capacity, streamline our processes, integrate cutting-edge technologies, and build greater agility to adapt and scale in times of national need,” DCSA Director David Cattler said in his opening letter in the document.

“Through this evolution, we will be true to our vision as the nation’s premier provider of integrated security services for the Federal Government,” Cattler added.

Underpinned by DOD, National Priorities

Building on the 2022–2027 Strategic Plan, the updated document is underpinned by DOD and national priorities focusing on restoring trust through effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars; achieving strength through direct support to the defense industrial base; and reestablishing deterrence through lethality, accountability, meritocracy, standards and readiness.

The new strategy also details DCSA’s mission areas, including personnel security, industrial security, counterintelligence and insider threat, security training, and field operations.

/
DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools
Published on
DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools

The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded contracts to three commercial artificial intelligence providers to develop prototypes for advanced AI tools designed to streamline budget execution and project management.

DIU said Tuesday it selected CORAS, GovSignals and Pryzm Dynamics to develop the AI-powered platforms as part of the agency’s Enterprise Workflow and Reporting Platform, or eWARP, project, launched in February.

Utilizing AI to Streamline DIU Operations 

The project is in response to the current issues experienced in integrating technologies into the Department of Defense. Existing systems don’t have the necessary integration and transparency for tracking milestones, managing contracts and monitoring performance.

To address these challenges, the agency aims to enhance the efficiency of its program and financial management tasks by optimizing its operations and minimizing the need to perform manual tasks. Furthermore, the project aims to boost leadership visibility and financial reporting.

The three companies chosen to proceed to the prototyping phase of the eWARP project will develop different AI-powered platforms. CORAS will focus on creating a centralized system with AI-driven, configurable no-code components for integrating financial tracking, milestone oversight and vendor management into a single financial management tool.

GovSignals will work with Unstructured to develop an intuitive platform designed to process diverse data formats, support different enterprise personas, enhance data-sharing and adapt to dynamic mission requirements. Pryzm Dynamics will develop an AI-enabled centralized platform to enhance financial, contract and project management while facilitating collaboration and providing project status updates.

Jaime Fitzgibbon, AI program manager and contractor, said, “The goal of this project is to transform insight gathering from manual spreadsheet drudgery into an intelligent, responsive system. By harnessing AI and large language models, we’re deploying a solution that not only accelerates the discovery of insights but also establishes accountability through automated precision.”

Register now to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 AI Summit on March 20 and learn from some of the most esteemed AI experts in the industry.

DIU Awards 3 Contracts for AI-Powered Financial & Project Management Tools
1 … 132 133 134 135 136 … 2,656