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John Kavanaugh of Perspecta Delivers Keynote Address at Baird’s 2019 Government & Defense Conference
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John Kavanaugh of Perspecta Delivers Keynote Address at Baird’s 2019 Government & Defense Conference


John Kavanaugh of Perspecta Delivers Keynote Address at Baird's 2019 Government & Defense Conference
John Kavanaugh

John Kavanaugh, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Perspecta, was featured as a keynote speaker during Baird’s 2019 Government & Defense Conference on Wednesday at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Va.

During his speech, Kavanaugh provided insight into the trends currently influencing the market and emphasize Perspecta’s growing presence as a leader in the government services sector after six consecutive quarters of profitable growth. “Perspecta has a balanced portfolio, diversified contract base and very strong backlog,” said Kavanaugh on Wednesday.

Kavanaugh leads all aspects of financial strategy and implementation and serves as financial counsel to senior leadership and the board of directors for Perspecta as its CFO. With extensive professional experience in financial management, operations, business development, program and general management, Kavanaugh has a long, successful track record of driving operational and financial improvements in the public sector and commercial markets.

The full-day conference will include panel discussions and corporate presentations from multiple industry leaders.

Other event speakers include:

  • Jean Stack, Managing Director at Baird and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient
  • Pierre Chao, founding partner of Renaissance Strategic Advisors and two-time Wash100 Award recipient
  • Randy Phillips, SVP of corporate development at Leidos
  • Tiffanny Gates, president and CEO Novetta and 2019 Wash100 Awardee
  • Rick Wagner, president of the mission, cyber and intelligence solutions group at Mantech International and two-time Wash100 Award winner

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Jean Stack Speaks at Baird’s 2019 Government & Defense Conference
Published on
Jean Stack Speaks at Baird’s 2019 Government & Defense Conference


Jean Stack Speaks at Baird's 2019 Government & Defense Conference

Jean Stack, a managing director at Baird and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, offered insight into market trends during the financial services company’s annual Government and Defense Conference on Wednesday at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Va.

“There strong velocity in M&A and huge valuations,” she said in her speech at the event.

Stack serves as a managing director within the global technology and services team at Baird and as co-head of the firm’s government and defense investment banking practice. She is a board member and an executive committee member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council as well as a board member of the Association of Corporate Growth.

She joined Baird last year from Houilhan Lokey, where she served as founding member of global investment bank’s aerospace, defense and government services group and co-head of its government services practice. With more than 20 years in investment banking, Stack has deep expertise in advising companies on M&A, capital-raising and corporate matters.

The full-day conference will include panel discussions and corporate presentations from multiple industry leaders.

Other event speakers include:

  • John Kavanaugh, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Perspecta
  • Pierre Chao, founding partner of Renaissance Strategic Advisors and two-time Wash100 Award recipient
  • Randy Phillips, SVP of corporate development at Leidos
  • Tiffanny Gates, president and CEO Novetta and 2019 Wash100 Awardee
  • Rick Wagner, president of the mission, cyber and intelligence solutions group at Mantech International and two-time Wash100 Award winner.

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Senators Call on DHS to Address Funding Gap Facing Two Cyber Threat Data Sharing Centers
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Senators Call on DHS to Address Funding Gap Facing Two Cyber Threat Data Sharing Centers


Senators Call on DHS to Address Funding Gap Facing Two Cyber Threat Data Sharing Centers

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, have asked the Department of Homeland Security to address a possible funding shortfall facing the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

The Senate Democrats said in a statement Tuesday the New York-based Center for Internet Security runs both centers. MS-ISAC helps prevent, identify and respond to cyber attacks against critical infrastructure, while EI-ISAC offers cyber defense platforms to election systems professionals to help them counter foreign interference-related threats.

The lawmakers sent a letter to Christopher Krebs, director of DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and a 2019 Wash100 award winner, saying that CIS helps state, local, territorial and tribal entities defend their systems from cyber threats through its two centers.

The senators said they found that the department’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal covers less than 70 percent of the required funding to operate the two ISACs at current levels.

“With the recent surge of ransomware attacks and 2020 elections fast approaching, we cannot afford to curtail support to SLTT entities and election administrators when they need it most,” the senators wrote. “We hope that you will work with us to address this urgent concern and ensure that DHS provides MS-ISAC and EI-ISAC the resources necessary to continue their important mission.”

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ARPA-E to Fund AI, Machine Learning Projects for Energy Tech Design Use
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ARPA-E to Fund AI, Machine Learning Projects for Energy Tech Design Use


ARPA-E to Fund AI, Machine Learning Projects for Energy Tech Design Use

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has earmarked $15M to support 23 projects that aim to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning tools in the design of energy systems.

Selected projects will receive Phase I funds through ARPA-E’s Design Intelligence Fostering Formidable Energy Reduction and Enabling Novel Totally Impactful Advanced Technology Enhancements initiative, DOE said Tuesday.

The DIFFERENTIATE program seeks to address three mathematical problems that hinder the optimization of design processes.

“Incorporation of AI and machine learning into our energy technology design and engineering processes has great potential to increase the productivity of our nation’s engineers and scientists,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Iowa State University will use a $607,138 award from the agency in efforts to create ML tools that would support the design of new photovoltaic microstructures.

University of Michigan-Dearborn will get $658,321 to build an ML-supported tool that would automatically configure and evaluate electrical power converters.

The full list of awardees and projects can be found here.

ARPA-E could offer additional funds to qualifying awardees following the conclusion of DIFFERENTIATE’s first round.

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Eight Firms Selected to Design Wind Turbine Systems Through DOE Project
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Eight Firms Selected to Design Wind Turbine Systems Through DOE Project


Eight Firms Selected to Design Wind Turbine Systems Through DOE Project

A Department of Energy laboratory has awarded cost-sharing subcontracts to eight companies as part of an initiative to build and certify wind power generation systems.

DOE said Tuesday its National Renewable Energy Laboratory will provide funding support and technical assistance to the awardees through the Competitiveness Improvement Project.

The department aims to increase interoperability of wind systems with other distributed energy resources, the number of turbine designs that meet national testing requirements and cost competitiveness of wind energy.

2019 CIP awardees will also test the safety and performance of systems.

The awardees are:

  • Bergey Windpower
  • Ducted Turbines
  • Primus Wind Power
  • QED Wind Power
  • Sonsight Wind
  • Westergaard Solutions
  • Windward Engineering
  • Xflow Energy

NREL has issued 36 subcontracts worth $8.4M combined to 20 businesses since 2013, the department noted.

A workshop is scheduled to take place on Dec. 17 at the laboratory’s Flatirons Campus in Colorado and will cover CIP-related topics such as previous solicitations, design assessment requirements, merit criteria and testing and certification standards.

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Grant Schneider: Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Council Eyes Guidance for Agencies in 2020
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Grant Schneider: Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Council Eyes Guidance for Agencies in 2020


Grant Schneider
Grant Schneider

Grant Schneider, federal chief information security officer, said the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Council will prioritize the development of guidance in 2020 to help agencies address security threats to the supply chain, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

The council, which Schneider chairs, was established in 2018 in accordance with the SECURE Technologies Act to collect data on supply chain threats and help agencies counter such threats through guidance.

“The law says each agency needs a program and we need to give them guidance,” Schneider said Tuesday at an event. “We need to figure out what information we need to collect around supply chain risk management and where to have that information shared from.”

He noted that the council has initiated efforts to find an agency that will be in charge of leading data sharing efforts with the private sector and other agencies.

House Approves Four-Week Stopgap Spending Bill
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House Approves Four-Week Stopgap Spending Bill


House Approves Four-Week Stopgap Spending Bill

The House on Tuesday voted 231-192 to pass a continuing resolution to fund government operations through Dec. 20 in order to prevent a government shutdown, Defense News reported Wednesday.

The stopgap funding bill includes a provision for a 3.1 percent salary increase for military personnel, a spending measure for the Import-Export Bank. The CR seeks to authorize the extension of three provisions under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and increase 2020 census spending.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would bring the bill to the floor provided that it does not include contentious policy provisions. “A clean CR through Dec. 20 would pass the Senate. And the White House has indicated President Trump would sign it.”

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FAA Makes Efforts to Digitize Airmen Notice Bulletins
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FAA Makes Efforts to Digitize Airmen Notice Bulletins


FAA Makes Efforts to Digitize Airmen Notice Bulletins

The Federal Aviation Administration has been working to digitize its notice bulletins that contain logistical data of airports, FCW reported Monday.

Abigail Smith, the agency’s director of technical training, said these Notice to Airmen or NOTAM bulletins provide information on closed runways, flight navigation and other factors that air traffic controllers and pilots need to know about for flight safety.

For years, FAA used a paper-based system to deliver NOTAMs, complicating data accessibility. The agency is working with industrial and government partners to streamline NOTAM creation and delivery and make data more digitally accessible, Smith said.

Airline and aeronautics industry parties are providing consultancy support to help FAA further digitize NOTAM. The agency intends to have the digital NOTAM system ready by Jan. 24, 2020.

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CIT, George Mason University Support DHS Smart Building Effort
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CIT, George Mason University Support DHS Smart Building Effort


CIT, George Mason University Support DHS Smart Building Effort

The Center for Innovation Technology and George Mason University have partnered to help the Department of Homeland Security study smart building technologies under a four-year, $19M contract.

The effort aims to support public safety and aid first responders in building-related rescue operations, CIT said Monday.

The university’s Fairfax Campus hosted an exhibition of these technologies the same day, with an active threat exercise for demonstration purposes.

Volunteers, law enforcement officers, first responders, academic researchers and other stakeholders took part in the exercise that supports SCITI Labs, a DHS-sponsored program that seeks to address public safety issues via smart city technologies.

“The program is a showcase for the power of collaboration among federal, state and local government, and our university and industry partners,” said Brian Ball, Virginia secretary of commerce and trade.

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DHS S&T Taps SecureKey, Factom for Fraud Prevention R&D Effort
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DHS S&T Taps SecureKey, Factom for Fraud Prevention R&D Effort


DHS S&T Taps SecureKey, Factom for Fraud Prevention R&D Effort

The Department of Homeland Security has awarded $397,292 to SecureKey Technologies and Factom to conduct phase one research and development activities focused on mitigating cases of fraud.

DHS said Monday that Toronto, Canada-based firm SecureKey received $200,000 to study the implementation of identity network capabilities in issuing and validating digital credentials as part of the Science and Technology Directorate’s Preventing Forgery and Counterfeiting of Certificates and Licenses effort.

SecureKey’s project, titled “Identity Documents Proofing, Presentation and Exchange system”, involves using the company’s Verified.Me identity network offering to assist the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Transportation Security Administration’s operations.

In a separate release, DHS said it awarded $197,292 to Austin, Texas-based firm Factom for the “Applying Cross-Blockchain Technology to Help Prevent Forgeries or Counterfeiting of Certificates and Licenses” project. Factom will explore the use of blockchain concepts in verifying identities involved in the importation of items such as raw materials.

The other transaction agreements fall under S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, which earmarks a maximum of $800,000 to participating companies to cover four phases of R&D work for homeland security applications.

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