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DOE Selects Projects Under Competitive Research Program
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DOE Selects Projects Under Competitive Research Program

Thirty-one research projects will receive $21M in funds through a Department of Energy effort that aims to develop capabilities in underserved regions within the U.S.

University researchers will collaborate with personnel from DOE national laboratories to explore various topics including solar energy and particle physics as part of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research program, the department said Thursday.

DOE selected the projects through a competitive peer-review and will obligate funding from fiscal year 2020 funds. The teams will be led by universities in 19 states including Alabama and West Virginia.

The department will provide the details for each award after the completion of final contract negotiations.

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NASA, Japan Sign Agreement for ISS, Artemis Cooperation
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NASA, Japan Sign Agreement for ISS, Artemis Cooperation

Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, has formed an agreement with Japan in support of the International Space Station and the Artemis program, an effort that aims to revive manned space exploration.

The joint exploration declaration of intent defines Japan's contributions to Artemis' lunar exploration and the complementary Gateway outpost, the space agency said Friday. Bridenstine virtually signed the agreement with Koichi Hagiuda, Japan's minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology.

“We appreciate Japan’s strong support for Artemis and look forward to extending the robust partnership that we have enjoyed on the International Space Station to cis-lunar space, the lunar surface and beyond," the NASA head said.

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Mark Lewis to Serve as DoD Research & Engineering Undersecretary Temporarily
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Mark Lewis to Serve as DoD Research & Engineering Undersecretary Temporarily

Mark Lewis, director of defense research and engineering for modernization at the Department of Defense (DoD), has been appointed to serve as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering on a temporary acting basis, Defense News reported Friday. Lewis temporarily replaces Mike Griffin, two-time Wash100 Award recipient who is leaving DoD for a commercial pursuit alongside Lisa Porter, the latter's deputy.

Lewis' term as the R&E undersecretary will run as long as the department has still not designated an official acting officer for the role, said Lt. Col. Robert Carver, a DoD spokesperson.

In his current role, Lewis manages DoD's investments in modernization priorities such as artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity, directed energy, space, hypersonics and biotechnology. He also served at advisory boards of various federal entities such as NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

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NASA Unveils New Planetary Protection Directives for Moon, Mars Missions; Jim Bridenstine Quoted
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NASA Unveils New Planetary Protection Directives for Moon, Mars Missions; Jim Bridenstine Quoted

NASA has created two space directives focused on ensuring planetary protections in support of future long-term space exploration missions, SpaceNews reported Saturday.

Jim Bridenstine, administrator of NASA and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, unveiled the new directives during a recent webinar and said they are meant to prevent “harmful biological contamination” on the lunar and Martian surfaces.

The first interim directive revises most of the moon’s planetary protection classification to Category 1, which doesn’t include requirements for documentation or cleanliness guidelines.

The moon’s polar regions will be placed under Category 2, which imposes decontamination standards and documentation for biological materials carried to the lunar surface.

Historic sites such as the area where the Apollo landing took place will also be placed under Category 2, according to the report.

NASA’s second interim directive covers requirements such as terrestrial contamination limits on the surface of Mars and calls for research into modifying future guidelines. Under the directive, NASA will launch robotic missions to survey landing sites on the planet for existing organic materials.

The two directives incorporate recommendations from an independent review in 2019 and will not change the Committee on Space Research’s existing planetary protection guidelines, the report states.

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Comtech Secures $54M Contract to Integrate NG9-1-1 Services to South Carolina; Fred Kornberg Quoted
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Comtech Secures $54M Contract to Integrate NG9-1-1 Services to South Carolina; Fred Kornberg Quoted

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has announced on Monday that its Safety and Security Technologies (SST) group has been awarded a statewide contract valued up to $54 million to design, deploy, and operate Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) services for the State of South Carolina through the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.

“With this award, we will bring our market-leading solutions and the highest performance and reliability standards to support South Carolinians with mission-critical emergency services,” said Fred Kornberg, president and CEO of Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

The total contract value has included multiyear contract extension options. Initial funding for the contract is $16.9 million. Under the contract, Comtech will integrate NG9-1-1 services that will provide citizens with advanced communication capabilities when calling for emergency services, including police, fire and emergency medical services.

Comtech’s Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) will enable South Carolina to offer a seamless, coordinated and efficient NG9-1-1 system to all the state’s local 9-1-1 centers. In addition, the centers and counties will have the option of purchasing Solacom Call Handling Equipment as part of the contract.

“We are honored that Comtech has been entrusted with this important work to enable statewide access to highly reliable advanced communication systems for emergency services for the citizens of the State of South Carolina,” added Kornberg.

About Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. designs, develops, produces, and markets innovative products, systems and services for advanced communications solutions. Comtech’s highly reliable technologies enable the successful handling of over five million 9-1-1 calls and texts each month. The Company sells products to a diverse customer base in the global commercial and government communications markets.

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PSC Releases 2020 Federal Business Forecast Scorecard; Alan Chvotkin Quoted
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PSC Releases 2020 Federal Business Forecast Scorecard; Alan Chvotkin Quoted

The Professional Services Council (PSC) has released the PSC’s Federal Business Forecast Scorecard that has examined procurement forecasts, which agencies use to provide valuable information on projected needs, PSC announced on Monday.

“Clear project needs enable contractors to plan for the needed personnel and resources to compete successfully for U.S. government contracts, thus resulting in better proposals and shorter award decision timelines allowing programs to commence in timely fashion. The benefit to agencies is that companies can prepare better and earlier,” said Alan Chvotkin, PSC Executive Vice President and Counsel, and GovCon Expert.

The Scorecard has recognized agencies for the improvements made to their forecasts following last year’s evaluation. PSC noted that the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) had the most significant improvement over their 2019 evaluation. The agency has provided in-depth information concerning security clearance needs and other program requirements.

Following NAVWAR, the Department of Education (DoE) has matched their respective score from the 2019 edition, ranking highly in the 2020 Scoreboard. Eight components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scored in the “good” category, an improvement over the 2019 scores where five DHS components achieved the rating.

The Council has ranked the recognized agencies based on a list of 15 “key attributes” that PSC determined in 2019 must be included in an effective forecast, including identified action/award type, anticipated solicitation date and set-aside status. Successful forecasts have offered clear project and award descriptions with information for users to make informed decisions about proposal investments and costs.

PSC has recognized and categorized the forecasts of 48 agencies into three classes: good, fair and needs improvement. PSC then engaged with many of the lower rated agencies as well as the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss how agency business forecasts can be improved.

“Highlighting the importance of successful agency forecasts in the overall procurement lifecycle is critical to our member companies, particularly given that forecasts are often the first step in programmatic activity,” Chvotkin continued. “We look forward to working with our members, the various agencies, OFPP, and Congress, to continue to improve the government’s vital business outreach effort.”

With our GovCon Expert program, you can access the words of caution and celebration from the elite minds behind the innovation and implementation of emerging technologies across federal agencies and industry, including artificial intelligence, national security, cybersecurity, 5G, cloud, big data as well as competitive intelligence, open source solutions and other aspects of the GovCon industry.

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Accenture Makes Strategic Investment with Synadia to Advance Edge Computing; Sanjeev Vohra, Tom Lounibos Quoted
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Accenture Makes Strategic Investment with Synadia to Advance Edge Computing; Sanjeev Vohra, Tom Lounibos Quoted

Accenture has made a strategic investment to enhance value for its clients as edge computing accelerates, the company reported on Friday. The agreement was made through Accenture Ventures, in Synadia Communications.  

“Enterprise data is increasingly being created at the edge and the ability to securely message across the edge application landscape is critical,” said Sanjeev Vohra, senior managing director, Growth & Strategy, Accenture Technology. “Powered by NATS.io, Synadia provides capabilities we believe will provide value for our clients now and in the future as edge computing accelerates.”

Synadia Communications has supported the open source NATS.io project that has provided scalable, secure communications technology for digital systems, services and devices. The agreement will provide secure, flexible, extensible and future-proof communications capability across cloud, on-premises, web, mobile and Internet of Things environments. 

Synadia will also support differentiated Adaptive Edge Architecture. The company’s cloud-native messaging technology will enable companies to build a new class of edge applications with improved security, latency and ease-of-use over today’s options.

The company is the latest addition to the investment portfolio of Accenture Ventures, which is focused on investing in companies that create or apply disruptive enterprise technologies. Terms of the equity investment were not disclosed.

“Our investment in Synadia and the NATS.io ecosystem demonstrates Accenture Ventures’ commitment to discover and curate the next generation of technologies and entrepreneurs that will forever change how the world works, lives and plays. We believe that Synadia offers our enterprise clients a foundational piece of data security and resiliency needed for edge computing,” said Tom Lounibos, managing director, Accenture Ventures.  

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. 

With 513,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises.

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NTT DATA Manages RSA Data Center to Enhance Operational Efficiencies; Chris Merdon, Dr. David Bronner Quoted
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NTT DATA Manages RSA Data Center to Enhance Operational Efficiencies; Chris Merdon, Dr. David Bronner Quoted

NTT DATA has announced an agreement with the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) to manage and operate its data center in Montgomery, Alabama to enhance RSA’s industry standard certification posture, NTT DATA reported on Monday. 

Under the agreement, NTT DATA will expand RSA’s capabilities by integrating operational efficiencies through automation, as well as offer clients Smart Hands and Remote Hands services. NTT DATA will leverage its partnerships with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and AWS to provide cloud transformation support and local private cloud options.

“Through our end-to-end data center partnership, the State of Alabama and the Retirement Systems of Alabama will be able to expand the capabilities and offerings,” said Chris Merdon, SVP, Public Sector, NTT DATA Services. “An optimized, intelligent data center… will allow state and local organizations and commercial businesses to maximize value from their IT investments and establish a flexible infrastructure environment to scale, grow and innovate.”

NTT DATA will enhance the data center to attract businesses with new services and capacity. In addition to management of the RSA data center, NTT DATA will provide insights to Alabama businesses to integrate cloud solutions, modernize applications and accelerate growth through information technology (IT).

To support management of the data center, NTT DATA will leverage its existing Data Center Management expertise, as well as identify and hire local talent from the state of Alabama to bolster the company’s team currently providing support in Montgomery.

“This agreement will benefit the citizens of Alabama, as well as the pensions for the thousands of Alabamians who trust us to secure their futures,” said Dr. David Bronner, CEO, RSA. “NTT DATA’s operation of the local data center will enable Alabama businesses to leverage a global IT services leader to effectively modernize and achieve positive business outcomes.”

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA partners with clients to navigate and simplify the modern complexities of business and technology, delivering the insights, solutions and outcomes that matter most. We deliver tangible business results by combining deep industry expertise with applied innovations in digital, cloud and automation across a comprehensive portfolio of consulting, application, infrastructure and business process services.

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Maj. Gen. John Morrison: Outcomes Enable Partners to Achieve Collective Defense in Cyber Space
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Maj. Gen. John Morrison: Outcomes Enable Partners to Achieve Collective Defense in Cyber Space

Maj. Gen. John Morrison, chief of staff of U.S. Cyber Command (Cybercom), said Cybercom is assessing the success of an operation or strategy based on outcomes and that such outcomes enable other U.S. government agencies and foreign partners to carry out action in defense of the country, C4ISRNET reported Friday.

Morrison told the publication that establishing partnerships promotes a collective effort in cyber defense and could help counter adversaries in the future. He also cited the command’s need for flexibility when it comes to capabilities, structure of teams or in tactics.

“We have thinking adversaries that we go against every single day. That drives us to change how we operate,” Morrison said. “You change your tactics, techniques and procedures but that’s also going to drive changes in how we train and what we train … It drives how we do capability development and development of capabilities and the employment of those capabilities, which again ties back to training at a much faster pace in this space.”

Morrison also discussed Cybercom’s efforts to improve acquisition practices to enhance the way it feeds operational requirements into cyber capabilities and the command’s integration with combatant commands.

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Bob DeLuca Named Acting Chief of GSA’s Technology Transformation Service
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Bob DeLuca Named Acting Chief of GSA’s Technology Transformation Service

Bob DeLuca, who left the General Services Administration (GSA) in June 2020 to serve as deputy chief information officer at Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, will return to GSA to serve as interim director of the Technology Transformation Service and deputy commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, Nextgov reported Sunday.

Starting July 19, DeLuca will perform the duties of TTS Director Anil Cheriyan, who announced his retirement in late June. DeLuca previously served as executive director of the Information Technology Centers of Excellence program at GSA.

“The good news we’ve got is that Bob DeLuca … has agreed to come back on detail until they fill the job permanently,” Emily Murphy, administrator of GSA and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said during an interview on Government Matters Sunday.

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