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GSA Issues Memo on Accelerated Payments to Small Business Contractors, Subcontractors
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GSA Issues Memo on Accelerated Payments to Small Business Contractors, Subcontractors

GSA Issues Memo on Accelerated Payments to Small Business Contractors, Subcontractors

The General Services Administration has cleared a class deviation from the Federal Acquisition Regulation to allow accelerated payments to small business contractors and subcontractors and comply with a provision of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

The class deviation sets a 15-day goal following receipt of invoice for accelerated payments to prime contractors that are small businesses and those that contract with small businesses, according to a memo issued Friday.

The policy also blocks prime contractors from charging a fee to subcontractors when releasing accelerated payments.

The deviation does not apply to multiagency contracts or Federal Supply Schedule contracts and remains in effect until integrated into FAR or revoked, according to the memo signed by Jeffrey Koses, senior procurement executive at GSA’s office of acquisition policy.

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GSA Seeks AI-Based SaaS Tool to Back Regulatory Streamlining Efforts
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GSA Seeks AI-Based SaaS Tool to Back Regulatory Streamlining Efforts

GSA Seeks AI-Based SaaS Tool to Back Regulatory Streamlining Efforts

The General Services Administration has issued a solicitation for a commercial artificial intelligence platform that can support regulatory streamlining efforts.

GSA is using the commercial solutions opening method for the procurement action in compliance with the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and has partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to look for a software-as-a-service platform.

GSA and CMS, which was named as the sponsoring customer in the solicitation, seek a SaaS tool that could be used to modernize workflows to comply with several executive orders that advance regulatory streamlining. The platform should have AI features, including natural language processing, prediction and clustering and grouping, as well as regulatory workflow component and document management capabilities.

Any contract award that will come out of the solicitation will not exceed $10M.

GSA will accept solution briefs through April 20.

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DHS Uses Machine Learning in COVID-19 Biosurveillance
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DHS Uses Machine Learning in COVID-19 Biosurveillance

DHS Uses Machine Learning in COVID-19 Biosurveillance

The Department of Homeland Security is using emerging technologies in efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Nextgov reported Monday.

DHS’ National Biosurveillance Integration Center has applied data analysis technologies to biosurveillance operations amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Aaron Firoved, NBIC director, wrote to Nextgov on the center’s COVID-19-related technology implementations such as the Biofeeds open-source tool that facilitates data analysis via machine learning and automation.

Biofeeds has helped biosurveillance personnel identify useable data from a global pool of sources, the director noted.

“This tool enables NBIC analysts to readily search for information on new and ongoing global biological events and, as they continue to use Biofeeds, that information is fed back into the system’s machine learning processes to improve the automatic detection of biothreats,” he said.

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Anniston Army Depot to Facilitate Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle De-Processing
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Anniston Army Depot to Facilitate Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle De-Processing

Anniston Army Depot to Facilitate Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle De-Processing

Anniston Army Depot will de-process or complete necessary work on the BAE Systems-made Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle as the service branch prepares the new transport machines for initial deployment.

The new AMPV will replace existing M113 units in the Army’s fleet of land vehicles, the service branch said Tuesday.

“Combat vehicles are sent from the production facility to a dedicated location to complete any required updates and stage vehicles for final shipment to a unit,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Cummings, program executive officer for ground combat systems at the U.S. Army.

The Army achieved the AMPV program’s engineering development phase at the end of 2019 and has moved to low rate initial production.

BAE Systems received a $382.6M contract in 2015 to produce the AMPV units.

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Election Assistance Commission Seeks Input on Revised Voting System Certification Guidelines
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Election Assistance Commission Seeks Input on Revised Voting System Certification Guidelines

Election Assistance Commission Seeks Input on Revised Voting System Certification Guidelines

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is seeking feedback on an updated set of guidelines for evaluating voting systems’ capacity to meet government standards, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Ben Hovland, chairman of the EAC, said in an interview with the publication that the commission recently issued the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 to cover new technologies and best practices for security, accessibility and usability.

Hovland noted that the EAC worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology-led Technical Guidelines Development Committee to establish the new requirements and will accept input through June 22.

Speaking on the agency’s other efforts, Hovland noted that the EAC is working with the U.S. Postal Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to assess the feasibility of alternative voting procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hovland said the team is looking at implementing online and mail-based voting and registration processes as the crisis continues.

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NASA Prepares Mars Helicopter for Mission
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NASA Prepares Mars Helicopter for Mission

NASA Prepares Mars Helicopter for Mission

NASA has docked the Mars helicopter to the Perseverance rover in preparation for the upcoming mission scheduled 10 months from now.

The space agency performed the installation at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility within Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s James Cawley wrote in a blog posted Friday.

The helicopter runs on solar energy and has two rotors to demonstrate flight on the red planet over a 30-day period. Flights will last for up to 30 seconds each without active control from an external operator.

NASA expects the Perseverance rover to arrive on Mars in February 2021, with a launch scheduled for either July or August 2020.

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Dana Deasy Talks DoD Initiatives to Support Telework Operations
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Dana Deasy Talks DoD Initiatives to Support Telework Operations
Dana Deasy
Dana Deasy

Dana Deasy, chief information officer of the Department of Defense and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, said that the department is rolling out technologies to address large-scale teleworking needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, DoD News reported Monday.

Deasy told reporters at a press conference that the DoD deployed telework-enabling collaboration tools such as a commercial virtual remote environment designed to handle video, voice and text data. CVR has been supporting over 900,000 active users since late March, he noted.

In addition, Deasy said that the DoD established a COVID-19 Telework Readiness Task Force, which works to handle issues like network capacity, equipment needs, supply chain management, financial requirements, cybersecurity and information technology support across the department.

Lt. Gen. B.J. Shwedo, chief information officer and director for command, control, communications, and computers/cyber at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that there are over 4 million military and civilian employees currently working based on a telework setup.

The DoD plans to sustain the new telework capabilities even after operations have returned to normal, according to Deasy.

About The 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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Karl Schultz: Coast Guard Looks to Deploy Cloud for Fleet Modernization Efforts
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Karl Schultz: Coast Guard Looks to Deploy Cloud for Fleet Modernization Efforts
Karl Schultz
Karl Schultz

The U.S. Coast Guard plans to update the information technology systems of its vessels through cloud capabilities in line with its multiyear modernization strategy, FedScoop reported Monday.

Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the Coast Guard, told attendees at the 2020 Sea-Air-Space virtual event that integrating cloud technologies into its cutters and maritime patrol ships will help improve their mobility and capacity to conduct operations such as anti-drug trafficking missions.

Schultz noted that he seeks to implement lessons learned from the Department of Defense’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract award as the Coast Guard works on its own cloud strategy.

“You sort of say, ‘What is that next big technological advancement that really changes things, that allows you to find efficiencies?’” he said. “Years of investment tradeoffs have brought our [IT] to the brink of catastrophic failure.”

Schultz’s comments come after the Coast Guard awarded Palantir a contract to develop a “readiness system” to support COVID-19 response efforts.

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Mark Amtower: CoronaVirus, The New Normal and My Modus Operandi
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Mark Amtower: CoronaVirus, The New Normal and My Modus Operandi

Mark Amtower: CoronaVirus, The New Normal and My Modus Operandi

Sequestered.

Sequestered with a phone and a Comcast web connection.

I have been home-based for thirty five years, so I have some experience in the “telework” arena, except my telework involves clients and prospects.

Yes, I do visit clients, go to networking and other events, but the majority of time I am sitting at my desk in my home office with an occasional visit from my cat, Jasmine, who just stopped by to let me know if was time for her Hobbit-like second breakfast.

Now it seems like many if not most are sequestered, teleworking from home until the Coronavirus has run its course.

I have a regular routine of reaching out to executives of smaller companies just to catch up and I’ve been doing that for a long while, well-before the current pandemic. I scroll through my LinkedIn connections (filtered by location and job title) and look for people I don’t know well or who I’ve not spoken with recently- if ever.

To read Amtower’s article in full, please click here.

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NCI Secures Contract to Provide Critical IT Operations for Army Futures Command Headquarters; Paul Dillahay Quoted
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NCI Secures Contract to Provide Critical IT Operations for Army Futures Command Headquarters; Paul Dillahay Quoted
Paul Dillahay
Paul Dillahay

NCI Information Systems (NCI) has announced its team has initiated work on a new contract to provide command, control, communications, computers, cyber and intelligence/information technology (C5I/IT) systems for the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), the company announced on Tuesday.

“Futures Command is playing a critical role in advancing the transformation of modernization for Army systems and operations. We look forward to leveraging our deep customer expertise, together with our emerging technologies, to advance our nation’s warfighters’ mission,” said Paul Dillahay, president and CEO of NCI and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.

The prime contract, awarded by the U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, has a 17-month period of performance. NCI will provide IT systems development and support services, including engineering, furnishing, installing, securing and testing for AFC’s C5I/IT systems as well as deliver integration of systems, project management support data, on-site training and equipment warranty.

“This is a really important milestone for us. It reflects on our great past work with the Army along with Army Futures Command, as well as their confidence in our expertise, exemplary work quality, and our highly-trained and talented NCI team, who are giving their all every day to support our customers across the federal mission landscape,” added Dillahay.

NCI has been ranked as one of the leading providers in deploying artificial intelligence to achieve more rapid and cost-efficient modernization of federal legacy systems using its proprietary and award-winning Shai philosophy.

The company was awarded one of the largest contracts in its history to help manage the Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise IT infrastructure. NCI will use its Shai philosophy to deliver on its “people first” commitment while harnessing next-generation, innovative AI solutions.

Under the four-year, $269.9 million prime contract from the Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) NCI will provide information technology support to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Joint Service Provider (JSP).

NCI will implement the latest technologies as well as industry best practices to simplify operations, improve efficiencies and help JSP manage the DoD enterprise IT infrastructure. The company will perform work at various locations within the National Capital Region, including the Pentagon, WHS’ Mark Center and Crystal City, Virginia.

“NCI is proud to support this critical mission and we look forward to delivering on our commitment of people first to meet JSP’s vision to Enable. Every. Mission.,” said Paul A. Dillahay, president and CEO of NCI. “We will implement new and innovative technologies, including our NCI Shai framework, to reduce administrative burden, automate repetitive tasks and share knowledge across the enterprise that will enable our team to deliver unparalleled support to JSP customers.”

About NCI

NCI is a leading provider of enterprise solutions and services to U.S. defense, intelligence, health and civilian government agencies. Informed by over 30 years of experience solving its customers’ most important and complex mission challenges, NCI has been at the forefront of operationalizing AI methodologies and numerical algorithms for the U.S. government, particularly in the areas of warfighter enablement, digital transformation, and advanced analytics.

From its Scaling Humans with Artificial Intelligence (Shai®) philosophy to accelerate AI adoption in the public sector, the company recently launched the NCI Empower™ platform. NCI Empower is an open-architecture platform to provide secure, containerized access to deploy AI solutions and produce a government workforce that is exponentially more creative and productive. NCI is a mid-tier systems integrator headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and operates at locations across the globe.

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