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Bill Evanina Receives Senate Confirmation for Top Counterintelligence Role
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Bill Evanina Receives Senate Confirmation for Top Counterintelligence Role
Bill Evanina
Bill Evanina

The U.S. Senate confirmed William Evanina, a national counterintelligence executive, as the National Counterintelligence and Security Center’s director, Politico reported Wednesday.

The confirmation on Wednesday happened almost two years after President Trump’s decision to nominate Evanina for the role. Trump nominated Evanina in June 2018 with a renewal in March last year.

Evanina has contributed many years of work to the intelligence community, having held roles with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Buerea of Investigation (FBI). He oversaw a global anti-espionage team of 200 personnel during his time with the CIA.

“We have a qualified professional who is tailor-made for an important job,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the senate majority leader.

Richard Grenell, acting director of national intelligence, made a statement acknowledging Evanina’s confirmation.

“With more than 30 years of distinguished federal service, including nearly six years of leading NCSC, Evanina’s confirmation is overdue and well-deserved,” Grenell said in a statement.

Evanina has been NCSC’s leader since June 2014.

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CGI Secures NetApp Contract to Accelerate Digital Initiatives for Enterprise Customers; Sheila Rohra, Dave Henderson Quoted
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CGI Secures NetApp Contract to Accelerate Digital Initiatives for Enterprise Customers; Sheila Rohra, Dave Henderson Quoted
CGI Secures NetApp Contract to Accelerate Digital Initiatives for Enterprise Customers; Sheila Rohra, Dave Henderson Quoted

CGI has secured a 5-year contract contract award from NetApp, a leading cloud data services provider, to deliver managed professional services leveraging data fabrics, CGI reported on Thursday. 

"CGI's scale, industry expertise and unmatched service delivery are attributes NetApp seeks from a partner at a time when our clients are accumulating an unprecedented amount of data," said Sheila Rohra, NetApp Senior Vice President of Worldwide Services and Support.

CGI’s data fabric architecture will help simplify and integrate data management across cloud and on-premises to accelerate data-intensive digital initiatives and transformations. With NetApp, CGI will provide healthcare, manufacturing, financial services and government clients with access to specialized digital services and scalable end-to-end capabilities. 

"By integrating NetApp's strategy for helping customers build their data fabrics with CGI's end-to-end services, we'll help organizations across industries drive their data-intensive digital initiatives," said Dave Henderson, CGI President of U.S. Commercial and State Government Operations.

In addition, CGI will provide its offerings through a center of excellence (CoE) that specializes in NetApp services, utilizing a combination of local metro market expertise and its North American delivery centers.

"To successfully transform, our clients know that data must become the lifeblood of their organization, seamlessly flowing through it to enable new customer and citizen touchpoints through technology, create innovative business opportunities, and optimize operations," Rohra commented.

CGI's 2019 Client Global Insights report that 81 percent of executives interviewed cite analytics as their most frequently planned innovation investment within the next three years. While the amount of transactional and contextual data an organization captures continues to grow, the data is still stored in too many disparate, incompatible and closed systems to allow for meaningful analysis.

"We are proud to work with NetApp at a time when many will be contemplating new business models and practices to enable new ways of interaction. CGI is ready with services and insights for responding to unprecedented challenges, rebounding effectively, and reinventing ways of working," added Henderson.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 78,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. 

CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. With Fiscal 2019 reported revenue of C$12.1 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB).

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Lawmakers Call for $26B in Coronavirus Relief Funding to Support R&D Programs
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Lawmakers Call for $26B in Coronavirus Relief Funding to Support R&D Programs
Lawmakers Call for $26B in Coronavirus Relief Funding to Support R&D Programs

A bipartisan group of senators is seeking $26 billion from the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief package to sustain research efforts and personnel in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The office of Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said Monday that he and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., along with 31 other senators wrote to Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., calling for additional emergency relief funding to support the scientific research community.

The senators noted that despite the government’s prioritization of coronavirus-related research and development programs, most R&D initiatives saw delays or termination due to facility closures.

Funding will support the provision of research grants and fellowships as well as assistance for research personnel until facilities reopen to continue pre-pandemic activities, according to the letter.

“Research universities, academic medical centers, and national labs are major employers in all 50 states, and protecting the research workforce is critical to state economies,” the letter states. “Congress must act to preserve our current scientific workforce and ensure that the U.S. is prepared to continue our global scientific leadership once this crisis ends.”

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General Dynamics Information Technology Secures $350M IDIQ DOS Contract to Support WHP; Paul Nedzbala Quoted
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General Dynamics Information Technology Secures $350M IDIQ DOS Contract to Support WHP; Paul Nedzbala Quoted
Paul Nedzbala
Paul Nedzbala

General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) has been awarded a $350 million, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to support its Western Hemisphere Program (WHP), the company reported on Thursday.

“GDIT’s work with the INL will deliver new technical capabilities to counter-narcotics trafficking, money laundering and other transnational criminal activities,” said Senior Vice President Paul Nedzbala for GDIT’s Federal Civilian Division.

GDIT has partnered with INL WHP to strengthen international counter-narcotic, anti-crime and foreign partner law enforcement capabilities. The contract includes a base period of one year with four 12-month options.

Under the contract, GDIT will deliver IT services designed to enhance INL’s counter-narcotic and anti-crime interdiction capabilities, increase DOS capacity to deploy new technology and improve information sharing among partners and regions.

Additionally, the company will expand the law enforcement capability of foreign government partners. With the contact, GDIT has expanded its expertise with federal agencies. The company has been a mission-integrated partner with the State Department for more than 20 years.

“Our solution will directly support INL’s critical mission to minimize the impact of international crime and illegal drugs, protecting both U.S. citizens at home and our partners abroad,” added Nedzbala.

About GDIT

The people supporting some of the most complex government, defense, and intelligence projects across the country. We deliver. Bringing the expertise needed to understand and advance critical missions. We transform. Shifting the ways clients invest in, integrate, and innovate technology solutions.

We ensure today is safe and tomorrow is smarter. We are there. On the ground, beside our clients, in the lab, and everywhere in between. Offering the technology transformations, strategy, and mission services needed to get the job done.

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Julie Dunne, Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, to Give Keynote Address at Potomac Officers Club’s 2020 Procurement Virtual Forum on June 9th
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Julie Dunne, Commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, to Give Keynote Address at Potomac Officers Club’s 2020 Procurement Virtual Forum on June 9th
Julie Dunne
Julie Dunne

Julie Dunne, commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service, will serve as a keynote speaker during Potomac Officers Club’s 2020 Procurement Virtual Forum on Tuesday, June 9th.

Dunne took the helm of FAS in January 2020 and oversees the delivery of more than $65 billion of products and services that enable federal agencies to efficiently accomplish their missions while saving taxpayer dollars. 

Under her leadership, FAS will continue implementing previously announced plans for consolidating the 24 separate Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) into a single Schedule. MAS Consolidation is one of the four cornerstones of the Federal Marketplace (FMP) strategy, GSA’s plan to modernize and simplify the buying and selling experience for customers, suppliers, and acquisition professionals.

Dunne recently outlined the 2020 version of its Federal Marketplace Strategy detailing revisions in its policies, processes and technologies in Feb. 2020, noting that the agency has begun implementing changes related to the consolidation of multiple-award schedules in solicitations.

Dunne stated that GSA has also deployed robotic process automation in supply chain security efforts, with GSA’s Truman Bot already working on business procedures and automating administrative tasks involving MAS offerings. In addition, GSA has implemented a Prohibited Products Robomod that screens products, equipment and software for potential vulnerabilities.

“Both of these efforts greatly reduce the amount of time our employees spend on repetitive data entry and manual tasks so they can instead spend time negotiating better prices for federal agencies to create taxpayer savings,” Dunne said.

During her keynote address, she will discuss the short term and long term strategies, acquisition innovation initiatives, commercial items acquisition, workforce initiatives, technology modernization and collaboration between government and industry.

In addition to Dunne, the Procurement Virtual Forum 2020 will feature another keynote speaker,  Soraya Correa, chief procurement officer with the Department of Homeland Security.

Join the Potomac Officers Club for our 2020 Procurement Virtual Forum. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to hear public and private sector leaders discuss the shift in procurement regulations and how government business will adapt to the challenges ahead. 

Register here for Potomac Officers Club’s 2020 Procurement Virtual Forum on Tuesday, June 9th.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wants Pentagon to Shed Light on Increased Progress Payment Rates
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren Wants Pentagon to Shed Light on Increased Progress Payment Rates
Sen. Elizabeth Warre
Sen. Elizabeth Warre

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has asked the Department of Defense (DoD) to answer some questions about the increased progress payment rates for contractors.

DoD released a memo in March that increases the progress payment rates to 90 percent for large businesses and to 95 percent for small businesses in an effort to ensure cash flow into the industrial base during the coronavirus pandemic.

Warren wrote an April 30 letter to Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, airing her concerns over the progress payments policy change.

“I am concerned that the change to the progress payments policy may be a cash subsidy that largely benefits big defense companies that can better withstand the economic shock caused by coronavirus … while leaving smaller, less financially resilient companies in the supply chain behind,” she wrote.

“Furthermore, I am skeptical as to whether large defense contractors will share these extra funds with their smaller supply chain partners in a timely fashion, and whether the Department will hold these industry giants accountable if they fail to do so.”

The lawmaker wants DoD to provide information on analyses conducted to determine if the increased progress payments are needed for national security purposes, metrics and reporting the department is requiring to assess how much funds are flowing from prime contractors to subcontractors and measures being implemented to ensure that large contractors support small vendors using the progress payments.

Warren asked Lord’s office to submit responses by May 15.

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DoD Officials Testify Before Senate Panel Over FCC Decision on Ligado Application
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DoD Officials Testify Before Senate Panel Over FCC Decision on Ligado Application
DoD Officials Testify Before Senate Panel Over FCC Decision on Ligado Application

Officials with the Department of Defense (DoD) appeared Wednesday before the Senate Armed Service Committee to oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) approval of Ligado’s application to use the L-band spectrum to field a 5G network, citing its potential risk to GPS networks, CNBC reported Wednesday.

“Ligado and 5G simply do not go together. It is clear to the DoD that the risk to GPS far outweighs the benefits of this FCC decision and the FCC needs to reverse their decision,” said Dana Deasy, chief information officer of DoD and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner.

Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations within the Space Force and a 2020 Wash100 Awardee, also responded to the Senate panel’s question about the significance of GPS to military operations. “It’s the DNA of our way of war. It’s systemic in everything that we do,” he said.

Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, also joined Deasy and Raymond during the Senate committee hearing.

About Wash100

This year represents our sixth annual Wash100 Award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector. These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, 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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Jennifer Santos: DoD Sees Uptick in Adversarial Capital in US Tech Firms
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Jennifer Santos: DoD Sees Uptick in Adversarial Capital in US Tech Firms
Jennifer Santos
Jennifer Santos

Jennifer Santos, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said the Department of Defense (DoD) has witnessed a rise in “adversarial capital” in U.S. technology companies, including small drone providers, during the coronavirus pandemic, C4ISRNET reported Wednesday.

“In general terms, there has been of an uptick, but it’s always been pretty high,” Santos said Wednesday during the C4ISRNET Conference.

She noted about the dominance of foreign companies in the small unmanned aerial systems sector and said that Chinese companies control 97 percent of the market.

Santos said DoD has seen an increase in the number of shady foreign investments it is monitoring since expanding reviews of such investments in February through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

“We simply cannot afford during this period of economic uncertainty the loss of American know-how in critical tech,” she added.

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Marine Corps Receives Lockheed-Made Helicopter Training Tool
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Marine Corps Receives Lockheed-Made Helicopter Training Tool
Marine Corps Receives Lockheed-Made Helicopter Training Tool

Lockheed Martin has delivered a new training device for the U.S. Marine Corps intends to use with the CH-53K King Stallion helicopter. The Containerized Flight Training Device is designed to simulate operational environments with a realistic cockpit display, Naval Air Systems Command said Friday.

The program office for H-53 heavy-lift helicopters received the device on April 14. Lockheed partnered with Veraxx to develop the CFTD technology that also allows for integrated use with other simulator systems.

The Center for Naval Aviation Technology Training plans to gather CFTD and other upcoming training devices for the helicopter. Succeeding devices, the Helicopter Emulation and Composite Maintenance Trainers, will follow CFTD as part of a new set of CH-53K training tools this year.

USMC expects the helicopter to achieve initial operational capability in 2023 or 2024.

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DARPA Science Office to Host Proposer’s Webinar in June
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DARPA Science Office to Host Proposer’s Webinar in June
DARPA Science Office to Host Proposer’s Webinar in June

An office within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will sponsor a webinar event that aims to engage with industry on certain scientific and technical interests.

The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) invites potential proposers to take part in the Discover DSO Day or D3 webinar from June 24 to 25 and learn more about DSO's areas of interest, DARPA said Monday.

“The goal of D3 is to familiarize attendees with DSO’s mission, provide an overview of the latest office-wide broad agency announcement solicitation scheduled for release in June and facilitate dialogue between our program managers and participants,” said Valerie Browning, director at DSO.

DSO's highlighted topics include computation, mathematics, sensor limits, complex social systems and emerging technologies. The science-focused office works to pursue research across a wide range of technical disciplines.

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