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GAO: Documented Processes Needed for SBIR/STTR Due Diligence
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GAO: Documented Processes Needed for SBIR/STTR Due Diligence

The Government Accountability Office learned in a recent study that the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA do not have documented processes for requesting analytical support and sharing that information — including classified information — as part of due diligence when vetting applicants for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program awards.

Having documented processes serves to ensure that all the necessary information is gathered to help officials evaluate and mitigate risks associated with the awarding of SBIR or STTR contracts, GAO said Thursday.

Risks From Foreign Actors

The government watchdog explained that such risks stem from foreign actors seeking to illicitly acquire research and technologies that are funded by the federal government. According to U.S. intelligence agencies, these foreign actors may target emerging technology companies in the U.S., including small businesses seeking SBIR or STTR awards.

The goals of such efforts include obtaining proprietary data, advancing the economic and military capabilities of foreign nations and threatening U.S. national security.

GAO Recommendation

To address the issues found in the vetting processes of the DHS, EPA and NASA, GAO recommended that the three agencies “develop and document agreed-upon procedures for requesting analytical support and sharing information—including classified information, as applicable—to support due diligence reviews.”

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HHS Issues RFI for IT Staffing at Federal Occupational Health
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HHS Issues RFI for IT Staffing at Federal Occupational Health

The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking industry input on potential contractors to provide IT staffing support services to Federal Occupational Health, a component of the Program Support Center within the department.

According to a notice posted on SAM.gov Friday, FOH seeks qualified IT personnel to provide enterprise-level end-to-end IT operational services. This is intended to enhance the IT infrastructure enabling it to meet mission requirements and operational objectives. The contractor is expected to provide reliable IT infrastructure and staffing expertise to boost the agency’s ability to deliver occupational health services.

What Is Federal Occupational Health?

FOH is an agency that provides occupational health services to the federal government. Its main objective is to enhance the federal workforce’s health, safety and productivity. It partners with federal departments and federal agencies’ national headquarters through interagency agreements aimed at promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of its employees.

The agency utilizes occupational health programs and services such as clinical services delivery, customized medical consultations, wellness and health promotion services, behavioral health services, and environmental health and safety services.

Interested vendors must send in their responses by Dec. 16.

Register now and join the Potomac Officers Club for the 2024 Healthcare Summit. Get to know the latest about the healthcare sector from industry experts and thought leaders.

HHS Issues RFI for IT Staffing at Federal Occupational Health
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Gen. Michael Guetlein on USSF’s Contracting Plans for CASR
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Gen. Michael Guetlein on USSF’s Contracting Plans for CASR

Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force, said the service branch plans to award five contracts in 2025 and another 15 contracts the following year for companies to participate in its Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, or CASR, initiative, Defense News reported Friday.

“We’ve got a few things to work through about governance and contracting strategies, but we hope to have our first five contracts in ‘25 and then another 15 contracts or so in ‘26,” Guetlein said Wednesday at the National Security Innovation Forum.

According to the general, the U.S. will need initiatives like CASR that offer options for excess capacity as the country prepares for the possibility of a future conflict with peer adversaries such as Russia and China.

“What we know about this next fight is it’s not going to be efficient,” Guetlein said. “And we’re going to have to get comfortable with being inefficient. That means I need redundant capabilities, excess capacity, proliferation.”

Companies selected for CASR will participate in the Department of Defense’s war games. The first CASR event is scheduled for February.

What Is Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve?

The service branch expects CASR to help establish a framework for the military to leverage commercial space capabilities during peacetime and in conflict.

Since 2023, the Commercial Space Office has developed an implementation for the CASR program, which includes writing contractual language for businesses that will participate in the reserve.

In August, Space Force sought industry feedback to help inform the development of the CASR framework.

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Army Conducts Annual Network Modernization Experimentation
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Army Conducts Annual Network Modernization Experimentation

The U.S. Army has completed its Network Modernization Experiment, or NetModX, an annual event where new technologies are evaluated by scientists and engineers in realistic operational conditions.

The Army said Friday around 60 technologies were assessed this year. The event, conducted by the C5ISR Center of the Combat Capabilities Development Command, lasted more than nine weeks and was held in various terrains in New Jersey and Maryland.

Highlighted NetModX Projects

The Mobile and Survivable Command Post, or MASCP, project involves the development and integration of tactical communications, computing infrastructure, power and environmental signature awareness into systems to create resilient capabilities. The tests included integrating 22 tech components into Strykers and Humvees to determine potential on-the-move command and control capabilities.

The Predictive Logistics project experimented with using a Soldier’s Nett Warrior device and the Tactical Readiness Asset Key-Terrain Reconstitution toolkit for logistics modernization. The project aims to enhance real-time in-transit visibility and digital tracking of commodities.

The use of commercial 5G technology to create a high-bandwidth, low-latency communications network was also tested. This project can potentially enhance tactical communication.

Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said during the AUSA 2024 Accelerating C2 and Network Innovation fireside chat in October that recent Army Futures Command experimentation, including events involving commercially available technology, has been successful in demonstrating capabilities to soldiers.

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DOE Appoints Dawn Zimmer as Principal Deputy CIO
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DOE Appoints Dawn Zimmer as Principal Deputy CIO

The Department of Energy has named Dawn Zimmer as principal deputy chief information officer.

Zimmer, who announced the appointment in a LinkedIn post on Friday, has served as the executive director for information technology experience and engagement at Virginia Tech since November 2019.

Zimmer’s Public and Education Sector Experience

Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she held various roles at the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the director of business partnership services responsible for ensuring secure and reliable access to air traffic support systems, establishing the FAA Customer Experience Division and improving user onboarding processes. Zimmer also served as the agency’s strategy manager for core services and customer engagement, chief of staff of the Office of Finance and Management and management operations manager.

She also spent time as a deputy director at the Department of Justice’s Office of the CIO, director of customer support and training at Ulticom, and product manager at GE Capital.

The new DOE deputy CIO replaced Brian Epley, who left the agency earlier in 2024 to assume the CIO role at the Department of Commerce, FedScoop reported. Current DOE CIO Ann Dunkin is also expected to leave the agency when the Biden administration ends. At that time, Zimmer would serve as acting CIO until DOE appoints a permanent replacement.

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NASA Seeks Orbiting Spacecraft Support for Medium Explorer Mission
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NASA Seeks Orbiting Spacecraft Support for Medium Explorer Mission

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is looking for potential teaming partners to provide satellite and on-orbit support services for its upcoming heliophysics medium explorer mission.

GSFC is interested in working with qualified vendors that can host instruments on orbiting spacecraft, support the integration and testing of the completed observatories, perform services for mission operations and provide a mission operations center or ground station for control capability, according to a Nov. 22 notice on SAM.gov.

NASA Support Requirements

NASA has set a maximum budget of $300 million for the project, with the estimated costs to cover the instruments, spacecraft, instrument-to-spacecraft integration support, environmental testing, launch site operations and operations for up to two years. Notably, the projected costs exclude the launch vehicle and mission-specific adjustments.

Project’s Estimated Timeline

According to the space agency, shortlisted submissions will advance in a mission concept study stage in April 2026, which will culminate in a nine-month concept study report and be followed by a site visit. The government plans to start soliciting proposals in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2025 and targets launch readiness by January 2032.

Responses will be accepted until Jan. 6, 2025.

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DCMA Directorate Realignment to Boost Modernization
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DCMA Directorate Realignment to Boost Modernization

The Defense Management Contract Agency has undergone restructuring resulting in changes aimed at consolidating organizations and boosting the agency’s modernization initiative.

The agency said Thursday the realignment is meant to streamline operations, promote collaboration and strengthen the alignment within headquarters components.

Enterprise Analytics & Modernization

The Portfolio Management and Business Integration Directorate was renamed Enterprise Analytics & Modernization, or EA&M, effective July 28. The Program Support, Policy Guidance and Competency Planning and Industrial Analysis divisions are still based in the DCMA headquarters as part of EA&M.

In a related move, EA&M executive director Walter Eady tasked Chief Digital and Artificial Officer Craig Morgan to stand up the Agency Data Analytics and Optimization capability.

The establishment of EA&M aligns with efforts to enhance the monitoring of systemic performance trends by utilizing business business-intelligent and data analytics tools. Industrial Analysis is another key focus of EA&M. It enhances Defense Industrial Base Mission Assurance awareness and fosters collaboration aimed at supporting DOD risk management activities to boost warfighter capabilities.

Other DCMA Realignments

The Corporate Assessment Team and the Customer Engagement Teams, formerly part of the renamed directorate, were moved to the Corporate Operations Directorate. The Earned Value Management Systems Center was moved to the Cost and Pricing Command while the Reimbursable Team is now part of the Financial and Business Operations Directorate.

The Data Management division, formerly of Corporate Operations, is now under EA&M. This move is included in the first phase of establishing the Department of Defense-directed CDAO.

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Randy Resnick Says DOD Zero Trust Office Working to Secure OT
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Randy Resnick Says DOD Zero Trust Office Working to Secure OT

Randy Resnick, director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office within the Department of Defense’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, said his office has “pivoted” from strengthening the security of IT systems to protecting operational technology and weapon systems from foreign cyberthreat actors, Breaking Defense reported Thursday.

“For OT and weapon systems, we are coming out with initial zero trust guidance. Why? Because the adversary is attacking,” Resnick told the publication.

“The adversary wants to get into weapon systems to prevent their launch, or mess with the GPS coordinates, so the DoD is looking to initially secure these things beyond what they are today,” he added.

Resnick’s office intends to fully implement zero trust for IT by the end of fiscal year 2027 with plans to release zero trust guidance for OT followed by another guidance for defense critical infrastructure.

“We are going to be coming out with guidance for OT, and that’ll probably come out at the end of summer [2025] and we’ll have a date beyond 2027 where we start establishing ZT [zero trust] into OT,” Resnick noted.

“Then, of course, we’re also concerned about defense critical infrastructure, so that’s another thing,” the 2024 Wash100 awardee added.

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GovCon Index Gains Positive Momentum From Mid-Week Rise
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GovCon Index Gains Positive Momentum From Mid-Week Rise

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index gained positive momentum this past week, increasing 1.05%, following its worst recorded performance period. The index closed with an average of $5,212.93 for the week.

GovCon Index provides site visitors with a real-time look into the stock market performance of 30 key government contracting organizations. Users can evaluate the index’s recorded data on each tracked company and gain insights into critical GovCon market trends. 

Top Momentum Gainers

Following six consecutive days of loss, a 0.68% gain on Wednesday instigated positive momentum for the rest of the week.

Booz Allen Hamilton is currently enjoying three days of positive movement after sustaining a seven-day losing streak. Fluor Corporation rose 7.45% for the period, while Boeing came in second with a 6.49% increase. Boeing’s weekly gain was viewed as surprising due to the company announcing over 2,200 job layoffs at the start of the week. 

Palantir Technologies, GCI’s top performer in 2024, topped Friday’s winners with a 4.87% increase. Maximus sustained a 7.69% drop, the most of any decline. 

Take a firsthand look at last week’s market report to review daily GovCon Index performance. Visit GovConIndex.com to see the complete list of tracked organizations.

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DISA Eyes Hybrid Cloud Communication Expansion
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DISA Eyes Hybrid Cloud Communication Expansion

The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to expand in fiscal year 2025 to more American units outside the continental United States its Joint Operational Edge, or JOE, cloud platform operating with a commercial system extension.  

JOE’s hybrid OCONUS cloud operation, currently confined within the Indo-Pacific Command following its introduction in August 2023, seeks to connect the gap dividing cloud and edge computing to overcome operational problems in denied or degraded communication environments, DISA said Friday.  

According to Adam Ringel, DISA J-9 Hosting and Compute Directorate OCONUS Cloud user experience chief, the JOE platform provides the physical computing hardware at the edge when a commercial provider is unable to deliver communication.

DISA Private Cloud Deployed

DISA is addressing the commercial shortfall through its private cloud Stratus, which is now operating in U.S. military units in Hawaii, Japan and Europe. The agency said Stratus is a multi-tenant platform with secure and scalable features complementing public cloud capabilities.

The platform can run applications that requires high bandwidth while also providing the flexibility and resource sharing provided by commercial cloud systems, DISA added.

JOE Contract Opportunities 

The agency is looking beyond Stratus in its continuing efforts to test and refine the JOE cloud platform, which uses AWS Outpost to deliver the capability to INDOPACOM.

The platform’s goal is to have its capabilities available not only through AWS but also via Microsoft, Oracle and Google under the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, Ringel said. “These edge deployments will ensure that mission partners have the tools they need, no matter where they operate,” he added.

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