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GAO Addresses VA’s Effort to Replace Legacy Financial Mgmt Tech
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GAO Addresses VA’s Effort to Replace Legacy Financial Mgmt Tech

The Government Accountability Office has called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve its requirements for the modernization of its financial management system. The congressional watchdog said in a new report published Monday that two previous attempts of the VA to replace its 30-year-old financial and acquisition system have failed, partly due to the agency’s unreliable cost estimate and schedule.

VA’s Legacy Financial System Problem

According to GAO, the core technology in the VA’s financial management system is over 30 years old. Since 1988, the VA has been trying to replace the systems, which has incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and led to years of developmental delays.

In its most recent attempt, the VA spent $1.9 billion over six incremental deployments of its Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System, or iFAMS. The effort, which began in 2016, is expected to be completed in 2031. 

According to the VA, iFAMS is designed to serve as an “enterprise resource planning cloud solution.”

Why VA Is Struggling With Systems Replacement 

In 2021, GAO recommended that the VA refine its requirements to create a more accurate cost estimate and schedule consistent with its best practices. According to the watchdog, the move would ensure that the VA can better manage risks and make fully informed decisions. 

GAO also called out the VA for only partially meeting three of eight Agile best practices for requirements development and management. One of the unfulfilled best practices involves ensuring that the requirements are complete, feasible and verifiable. The VA also failed to maintain traceability in requirements decomposition and balance customer and user needs and constraints. 

The watchdog reiterated its recommendation to the VA to fully implement Agile best practices for requirements development and management. VA concurred with the recommendations.

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SBA’s Kelly Loeffler Unveils Top Priorities in Day One Memo
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SBA’s Kelly Loeffler Unveils Top Priorities in Day One Memo

Kelly Loeffler, the new head of the Small Business Administration, has released a memo outlining her top priorities for SBA.

“My first priority is rebuilding the SBA into an America First engine for free enterprise – by empowering small businesses and fueling economic growth,” Loeffler said in a statement published Monday.

Loeffler’s Day One memo came days after she was confirmed as SBA’s 28th administrator.

Supporting the America First Agenda

To advance the current administration’s America First Agenda, SBA will revamp its Office of International Trade into the Office of Manufacturing and Trade to promote fair trade practices, economic independence and job creation. It will also advance partnerships with other agencies to scale technology startups and innovative manufacturing to promote “Made in America.”

SBA will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to drive transparency and accountability and mandate full-time, in-office work for all employees in accordance with a presidential memorandum.

In addition to creating a fraud working group, the agency will name a fraud czar to stop and recover criminally obtained funds on behalf of U.S. taxpayers.

Empowering Small Businesses

SBA will empower the Office of Advocacy to determine and eliminate burdensome regulations; work with DOGE to evaluate multiple digital interfaces; and improve user experience by assessing its technology for cybersecurity, customer satisfaction and response times.

To promote fair competition, the agency returned the 8(a) federal contracting goal for small disadvantaged businesses to its statutory level of 5 percent.

The SBA official said she will facilitate dialogue with small business owners to address challenges, drive growth and innovation and advance the relocation of regional offices out of sanctuary cities.

Addressing Wasteful Spending, Fraud

To address fraud, SBA will request an independent financial audit, assess all options to protect the solvency of loan programs, restart its dormant collections programs and restore its underwriting standards.

The agency will implement a policy banning illegal aliens from receiving SBA assistance and execute measures to restrict hostile foreign nationals from accessing assistance from the agency.

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Gen. Chance Saltzman on Space Force’s Role in Iron Dome
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Gen. Chance Saltzman on Space Force’s Role in Iron Dome

Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force and a three-time Wash100 awardee, said the service branch will play a key role in the Department of Defense’s efforts to build a missile defense shield, known as the Iron Dome for America, C4ISRNET reported Monday.

Iron Dome Executive Order

In late January, President Trump signed an executive order to deploy and maintain a next-generation missile defense shield to protect the country and critical infrastructure from foreign aerial attacks. 

The EO titled The Iron Dome for America directs the secretary of defense to submit within the next two months a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements and an implementation plan for the missile defense shield. The order also requires a review of the country’s theater missile defense posture.

Establishing an Integrated Planning Team

Saltzman said the Space Force has formed an integrated planning team, or IPT, to evaluate options in accordance with the EO.

“I think we have a central role to play,” the 2025 Wash100 Award recipient noted. ”We are leaning forward establishing this technical IPT to start thinking about it from an overarching perspective.”

According to the report, the technical IPT is assessing what platforms the service already has in development and what capabilities it would need to develop the Iron Dome. The group will move to address the project’s technical feasibility and draft cost estimates based on existing programs.

A senior Space Force official said the IPT is expected to complete its early analysis in the coming weeks.

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Vanessa Wyche Leads New NASA Appointments at HQ & Johnson Center
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Vanessa Wyche Leads New NASA Appointments at HQ & Johnson Center

Vanessa Wyche, former director of the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, has been named acting associate director at NASA’s Washington headquarters. Janet Petro, the agency’s acting administrator who announced the appointment on Monday, said Wyche will serve as her senior adviser and perform the role as NASA’s chief operating officer overseeing 18,000 employees and over $25 billion annual agency budget.

Before her NASA headquarters assignment, Wyche managed over 11,000 NASA Johnson staff supporting the agency’s Astronaut Corps, Mission Control Center, International Space Station and the Orion and Gateway. 

Wyche’s other previous functions in her 35-year career include serving as deputy Johnson Center director, Exploration Integration and Science Directorate director, Space Shuttle Program flight manager and executive officer in the Office of the Administrator.

Other Recent Executive Moves

With Wyche’s new assignment, Stephen Koerner will serve as NASA Johnson’s acting director, moving from his former role as the center’s deputy director overseeing strategic workforce planning. Before becoming deputy director, Koerner served in various leadership roles in the center, including as director of the Flight Operations Directorate, associate director, chief financial officer, deputy director of flight operations and deputy director of mission operations.

In another executive movement, NASA appointed Jackie Jester as associate administrator for the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs handling all communication with U.S. Congress and serving as a senior legislative adviser to agency leaders. Jester is rejoining NASA after over three years at Relativity Space’s Washington office where she served last as senior director for government affairs, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before working with Relativity Space, she was a NASA policy adviser and had stints at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and at the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.  

Executive Retirement and Succession

Besides the new appointments, NASA also announced the retirement of Catherine Koerner as the agency’s associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, effective Feb. 28. With her departure, Lori Glaze, the current deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, will serve as the mission directorate’s acting associate administrator. 

Among the experience that Glaze brings to the position is her previous work as as the director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division before joining Explorations Systems Development. Before her work at NASA’s Washington headquarters, Glaze was the chief of the Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the Deputy Director of Goddard’s Solar System Exploration Division.

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DISA Official Provides Military Federated ICAM Timeline
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DISA Official Provides Military Federated ICAM Timeline

The Department of Defense is targeting the implementation of federal identity, credential and access management, or ICAM, connections on unclassified networks across all military services by the end of fiscal 2015. Brian Hermann, program executive officer for the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Program Executive Office Cyber, provided a timeline of anticipated ICAM milestones across military services during a recent media roundtable. 

Federated ICAM Solutions Across US Military

At the beginning of fiscal 2025, DISA established a federation hub to give the agency increased visibility into all the information an individual can access and ensure that ICAM across the DOD works as intended. 

Through the federation hub, DISA started working with the Army and other military services to get their ICAM solutions federated. Hermann expects the Army to get its ICAM solutions federated by the end of March and then the Navy three months later. 

The official estimates that the Air Force will get its ICAM solutions federated by the end of fiscal 2025. 

According to Hermann, the order in which the services will achieve federated ICAM is based on “deconfliction of timing.”

“I can’t really say for example, that the Army’s technical solution was more advanced or more mature than any of the others,” he revealed. “I think it was just a timing issue.”

DISA’s work does not end once all the services have achieved federated ICAM. Hermann shared that the agency will collaborate with other components of the Pentagon and its allies and partners. 

In December, the DOD announced that it achieved a federated ICAM connection with Canada. Leslie Beavers, acting chief information officer at the DOD and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, said in December that the Pentagon will next expand ICAM to the Five Eyes alliance and NATO.

What Is ICAM?

ICAM is a critical part of the DOD’s zero trust strategy. It secures a system by conducting constant checks of users who are allowed to access information. 

Hermann explained that ICAM is the DOD’s way to facilitate cooperation across the department and with mission partners. 

“Enabling our work with allied and coalition partners means we have to have some connectivity and understanding of who we’re working with in that coalition, to make sure that we have an understanding of their access rights and grant them access to DOD resources,” he stated.

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Treasury Dept Office Seeking IT Modernization Support Providers
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Treasury Dept Office Seeking IT Modernization Support Providers

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency within the Department of the Treasury is conducting market research to gauge industry capability and interest in providing IT operations and modernization support services. The effort is in line with the plan of the OCC Information Technology Services, or ITS, to adopt more modern technologies and techniques to enhance mission execution, according to a notice posted on SAM.gov.  

OCC Modernization Program

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the OCC is an independent bureau within the Treasury Department. It is in charge of chartering, regulating and monitoring national banks and federal savings associations across the United States. 

Its ITS subset contributes to the OCC’s mission by providing access to relevant technology solutions and services. At present, the OCC utilizes a combination of current and legacy services provided under multiple contract vehicles. However, ITS is in the process of adopting more modern technologies and techniques to ensure that OCC has everything it needs to execute its mission. 

IT Modernization Requirements

The selected contractors will provide a team of experts that can support OCC ITS. 

The contractors will also design, develop, configure, customize and deploy solutions that meet the office’s requirements. OCC ITS expects the use of DevSecOps techniques and Agile methodologies that enable continuous upgrades and capability integration. 

In addition, contractors will be responsible for engaging with business partners and end users. OCC provides for approximately 135 applications and corporate platforms, each containing both commercial-off-the-shelf technologies and fully customized applications. 

Work on the effort also includes network support, web content management, communication systems, identity services and business analysis. 

Interested parties may submit their capability statements until March 24.

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David Gooder to Leave USPTO; Dan Vavonese Named Successor
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David Gooder to Leave USPTO; Dan Vavonese Named Successor

David Gooder is set to step down as commissioner for trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at the conclusion of his five-year term on Feb. 28. 

USPTO said Monday Dan Vavonese, the current deputy commissioner for trademark operations, will take over the role in an acting capacity.

Table of Contents

David Gooder

Gooder oversaw significant changes during his tenure, including the retirement of the 40-year-old Trademark Reporting and Monitoring, or TRAM, system and the establishment of the Register Protection Office to boost anti-fraud efforts. He was also instrumental in effectively reducing first action pendency by two months during the pandemic.

Before joining USPTO, Gooder worked at Jack Daniel’s Properties as the founding managing director and chief trademark counsel. In his over 20 years at the company, he contributed to the growth of its distilled spirits and wine brands portfolio. He oversaw the global intellectual property program and was responsible for the company’s trademark portfolio, rights clearance, brand protection, anti-counterfeiting, licensing and entertainment deals.

Coke Morgan Stewart, acting director of the USPTO, said of Gooder, “His service to America’s brand owners has helped the U.S. trademark system remain the global standard for excellence.”

Dan Vavonese

The incoming acting commissioner for trademarks will be responsible for all facets of the trademarks organization, including policy development, petition handling, operations, register protection and administration. In his current role, Vavonese oversees the Trademark Law Offices and Trademark Services including over 900 personnel in charge of trademark examination, registration and maintenance.

The executive has been with USPTO for almost 30 years, having joined in 1995 as a trademark examining attorney. He has since held a wide range of leadership positions including senior attorney, managing attorney, business architect for trademarks and group director of the trademark law offices.

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McAlester Army Ammunition Plant Unveils Modernized Air Defense Facility
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McAlester Army Ammunition Plant Unveils Modernized Air Defense Facility

The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, a.k.a. MCAAP, has announced the opening of a new modernized facility intended to strengthen the air defense capabilities of the U.S. military.

The Army said Sunday the Theater Readiness Monitoring Facility, dubbed TRMF, was officially opened on Feb. 20 as part of the ongoing commitment to protect the future through innovation, collaboration and service to global security.

TRMF Activities

TRMF will be instrumental in the testing, recertification, assembly and repair of the HAWK missile system. Since the new facility was opened, MCAAP has managed to inspect and service 2,751 HAWK missiles, including 825 missiles from six countries outside the United States.

The modernized facility also aims to make sure that the HAWK missile system remains effective in future air defense operations. It is capable of testing and restoring missiles that have been inactive for more than three decades.

The Oklahoma-based ammunition plant’s Mobile Ammunition Renovation Inspection Demilitarization team has contributed valuable support to TRMF by going on international deployments for the HAWK program.

Aside from the HAWK missile system, the new facility also supports the Aviation and Missile Command, Security Assistance Management Directorate and Non-Standard Missile Systems.

“Getting this TRMF established has truly been a major undertaking with many challenges, and we wouldn’t be here today without the hard work and help of many different organizations,” said Kendall Prather, missile technical specialist.

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Peraton to Provide USPTO With Advanced Storage Infrastructure
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Peraton to Provide USPTO With Advanced Storage Infrastructure

Peraton has received a $52 million contract from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to provide storage infrastructure managed services.

The agreement will deliver to the USPTO data storage solutions, enabling the agency to establish secure, resilient, accessible, robust, expandable and recoverable information, Peraton said Monday. The required services ensure that the USPTO will continue to operate efficiently.

Advancing USPTO’s Mission

Amy Rall, president of citizen security and public services sector at Peraton, noted that the contract will provide expertise to advance USPTO’s critical work and ensure that U.S. innovators will continue to thrive in the international landscape.

“We are incredibly excited to support the USPTO’s mission in advancing U.S. innovation and promoting stronger intellectual property protection worldwide,” she added.

Storage Infrastructure Uses & Results

The contract requires Peraton to develop, operate and maintain a storage infrastructure that USPTO will use to promote innovation, protect intellectual property and advance U.S. businesses’ global competitiveness. A Peraton team will help the agency manage its storage networks and provide hardware, software, security, analysis, design, development, testing, implementation and operational support services.

The collaborative effort is also meant to guarantee that USPTO storage infrastructure will operate using the latest technology while maintaining predictable costs and streamlined budgeting.

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Leonel Garciga on Army’s Unified Network Operations Initiative
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Leonel Garciga on Army’s Unified Network Operations Initiative

Leonel Garciga, the U.S. Army’s chief information officer and a 2025 Wash100 Award recipient, said the military branch’s Unified Network Operations, or UNO, initiative will enable the service to gain better visibility into its technology stack and reduce the number of duplicative applications, Federal News Network reported Friday.

“Unifying the network is that very first step to being able to see ourselves and operationalize the network in a way that lets us take action that historically you would only have in pockets across the army. Now we’ve got that at an enterprise level,” Garciga said on FNN’s Ask the CIO.

“I think the bigger thing strategically that as an Army we’re working is we’ve been on this unified network plan for a while. It’s this idea of really taking and centralizing services and delivering them very differently to the force versus distributed services across the service,” the two-time Wash100 awardee added.

UNO Is Driving 2 Things

The Army CIO noted that the UNO initiative is driving two things at the service branch: enabling the service to change its tactics, techniques and protocols, and providing an opportunity to end some legacy platforms.

“Two things are happening: We have got to change our tactics, techniques and protocols (TTPs), which UNO is driving a lot of that. I think the bigger thing is we’re very quickly finding where we have opportunities not to just optimize our delivery model, but where we have opportunities to sunset some legacy capabilities and really rethink organizationally how we deliver and that’s where we’re finding the most of the bang for the buck,” he explained.

Supporting Cyber Analysts Through Network Consolidation

Garciga stated that the network consolidation effort across the Army is helping cybersecurity analysts to address issues in real time.

“I think on the cybersecurity side, the visibility at scale of endpoints, and being able to make informed decisions on risk is really important,” the career civil servant noted. “That’s what the unified network is bringing. It’s bringing those metrics now and making them visible across the enterprise so we can have a very open conversation on the risks that we’re going to take, and also of where we need to take action immediately.”

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