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Air Force Seeking Solutions to Generate Electricity for US Bases
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Air Force Seeking Solutions to Generate Electricity for US Bases

The Department of the Air Force has issued a solicitation for commercial technologies to generate electricity and hydrogen for U.S. installations using geothermal energy.

The Air Force prefers geothermal energy because it can supply continuous, resilient and carbon-free electricity in all weather conditions, enabling the service to maintain mission continuity, according to the Monday notice posted on Tradewinds.

The solution will also allow the department to comply with congressional requirements to support energy resilience for important missions at USAF bases.

Through the solicitation, the government is looking to work with potential partners in developing prototypes to test if the desired electricity-generating technologies could be used at Air Force installations in the United States.

During the prototyping work at Travis Air Force Base in California, the selected vendors would collect data through geoscientific exploration and design a utility-scale facility to produce electricity and green hydrogen, the notice said.

The vendors are also expected to propose a deal structure to sell the generated electricity to the Air Force and other customers.

If the service determines that the proposed electricity production capability is technically and economically viable, the prototype would be considered in building a future facility to generate electricity and hydrogen.

Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals no later than Nov. 15.

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DHS Pledges $280M in Funding for FY24 State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program
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DHS Pledges $280M in Funding for FY24 State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that $279.9 million in fiscal year 2024 grants will be distributed to help state, local and territorial government agencies mitigate cyber risks and develop resilience against cybersecurity threats.

DHS said Monday the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency jointly oversee the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, or SLCGP.

SLCGP was established as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and by the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act.

The grant program provides $1 billion in funding over four years to help SLT agencies further develop their capabilities and platforms to manage and respond to cyberthreats.

“These cyber grants are an investment in the security of our nation’s infrastructure, helping to ensure that communities across the country have the tools they need to defend against cyberattacks,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. 

“CISA is proud to offer the SLCGP, helping governments lay a solid foundation for building a sustainable and resilient cybersecurity program for the future,” added Easterly, a 2024 Wash100 awardee.

In August 2023, CISA and FEMA announced the availability of $375 million in FY 2023 funding for the grant program.

According to DHS, eligible entities have until Dec. 3 to apply for funds under the program.

Join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 13 to learn more about U.S. technology initiatives to protect the country amid the evolving geopolitical landscape. Register now!

POC - 2024 Homeland Security Summit
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GovCon Index Reversed Downward Trend Last Week
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GovCon Index Reversed Downward Trend Last Week

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index rose by 0.71% last week, ending a two-week decline and raising the average to $5,293.78.

GovCon Index is an aggregate index that collects and presents real-time data on the stock market performance of 30 key government contracting companies. With this information, users can evaluate each organization’s standing in today’s GovCon marketplace while gaining insights into major financial trends in the industry.

Last week’s top performer was The Carlyle Group, which grew by 8.31%. V2X (+7.12%) followed, and Curtiss-Wright (+5.65%) claimed the third slot in the ranks. Fourth place was taken by Palantir, which rose by 4.33%, and Jacobs (+3.15%) was fifth.

GovCon Index began last week with notable gains, but dropped sharply on Tuesday and continued to fall on Wednesday. Despite these losses, increases on Thursday and Friday kept GovCon Index in positive territory overall.

Check out last week’s market reports to get the full story on daily GovCon Index performance. To view the full list of tracked companies, click here.

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CSC 2.0 Project Issues 2024 Report on Cyber Strategy Implementation
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CSC 2.0 Project Issues 2024 Report on Cyber Strategy Implementation

The CSC 2.0 project has released its report for 2024 detailing the progress being made by the government in implementing the recommendations of the original Cyberspace Solarium Commission on putting into effect a layered cyber deterrence strategy.

CSC 2.0 said Thursday that of the 82 original recommendations, 80 percent are either nearly or fully implemented, an accomplishment reached through legislation, policy or other innovative means.

The reported achievements of the executive branch include the White House’s issuance of a new national security memorandum on critical infrastructure and resilience, the Office of the National Cyber Director’s having completed 33 of the 36 initial initiatives for the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s having been appointed as the national coordinator for critical infrastructure security and resilience.

For its part, the ostensible achievements of Congress include the passage of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022, which calls on CI entities to report cyber incidents to CISA; and the provision of funds to CISA and the ONCD through the fiscal year 2024 omnibus spending bill.

CSC 2.0 nevertheless noted that more work remains to be done, especially in light of increasing threats from nation-state adversaries and criminal organizations.

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NSWC Crane Unveils New Radiation-Hardened Microelectronics Testing Capability
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NSWC Crane Unveils New Radiation-Hardened Microelectronics Testing Capability

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division launched its new radiation-hardened microelectronics testing capability, called the Short Pulse Gamma, on July 31.

The NAVSEA said Friday the SPG, also known as “Bumblebee,” is intended to bolster the NSWC Crane’s ability to provide research, development, testing and evaluation data needed by systems designers and manufacturers.

NSWC Crane, which provides radiation testing support for the Navy Strategic Systems Programs, will utilize the new facility for testing multiple, concurrent and future nuclear modernization programs.

The new SPG system marks the initial phase of NSWC Crane’s $100 million radiation modernization initiative meant to provide a complete suite of strategic radiation environment requirements for microelectronics.

Angela Lewis, SES and technical director at NSWC Crane, expressed delight over the new SPG facility, saying, “This is a critical capability that will ensure continued resilience for the Department of Defense and the United States. Radiation-hardened microelectronics are a key enabling technology for Missile Defense, Nuclear Modernization, and Space missions. This new facility will provide important capacity to support testing for multiple, concurrent, and future nuclear modernization programs.”

Dev Shenoy, principal director for Microelectronics at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, described the new capability as an important step toward validating and verifying critical technologies in radiation environments.

“NSWC Crane has a strong understanding of radiation effects and expertise required in order to ensure proper execution of these deliverables,” said Shenoy.

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Jeff Harris Joins Federal Housing Agency as CISO
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Jeff Harris Joins Federal Housing Agency as CISO

Jeff Harris has been appointed chief information security officer at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, according to a LinkedIn post he shared Friday.

Harris joins the FHFA after six years at the U.S. Small Business Association, where he served as CISO and then as director of cybersecurity operations.

The information technology and cybersecurity executive also held the CISO position at the Department of the Navy.

Before that, Harris was with the Office of Naval Intelligence as deputy chief information officer for information assurance and cybersecurity and then director of defensive cyber operations while also serving as chief of the ONI Cyber Incident Response Center.

Harris also spent time at the Department of Homeland Security as the deputy director for IT applications. 

Before joining DHS, Harris worked as the senior security architect at Camber Corporation, which was acquired in 2016 by Huntington Ingalls Industries. He was also with General Dynamics for five years as a senior staff member of architecture, integration and engineering.

Earlier in his career, Harris served in the U.S. Army as a network switching systems operator and maintainer.

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GAO Looks Into Agencies’ Compliance With OMB’s Cloud Procurement Requirements
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GAO Looks Into Agencies’ Compliance With OMB’s Cloud Procurement Requirements

The Government Accountability Office said most of the 24 major federal agencies have yet to establish guidance on service-level agreements, or SLAs, with cloud providers.  

A review of the compliance with the Office of Management and Budget’s five key cloud procurement requirements also found that one-third of the agencies did not have guidance to ensure continuous visibility in systems that process high-value information or serve a critical function in maintaining the security of the civilian enterprise, according to a GAO report released on Friday.

The OMB established the procurement requirements in 2019 under its Cloud Smart Strategy as agencies shift their IT services to cloud services.

Agency officials said guidance had not been developed because they had used SLAs provided by the cloud service providers, relied on standard acquisition practices and included the procurement requirement in their contracts, among other reasons.

GAO said the CIO Council could collect and share examples of guidance on cloud SLAs and contract language from agencies that have met the OMB requirements to help other organizations improve cloud service procurement activities.

The government watchdog also made 46 recommendations to 18 agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce, to develop or update guidance related to OMB’s Cloud Smart procurement requirements.

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17 Small Businesses Receive Semiconductor Grants From White House
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17 Small Businesses Receive Semiconductor Grants From White House

The White House, through the Small Business Innovation Research program, has selected 17 small businesses from nine states that will receive almost $5 million in total funding for research projects meant to further develop the semiconductor industry.

The Department of Commerce said Thursday the grants, the first award for the CHIPS Research and Development Office, are intended for researching concepts and developing products or services that will benefit the commercial microelectronics marketplace.

The grants also align with the administration’s efforts to provide small businesses the opportunity to succeed in their respective industries.

The CHIPS Metrology SBIR awardees are as follows:

  • Direct Electron
  • Exigent Solutions
  • HighRI Optics
  • Hummingbird Precision Machine Co. dba Hummingbird Scientific
  • Laser Thermal Analysis
  • Octave Photonics
  • Photon Spot
  • Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp.
  • PrimeNano
  • Recon RF
  • Sigray
  • Steam Instruments
  • Tech-X Corp.
  • The Provenance Chain Network
  • Tiptek
  • Vapor Cell Technologies
  • Virtual EM

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, said, “As we grow the U.S. semiconductor industry, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to building opportunities for small businesses to prosper. With today’s awards, these 17 businesses will support CHIPS for America’s efforts to grow the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem and support our national and economic security.”

The SBIR Phase I awardees were chosen from proposals sent through a notice of funding opportunity. They will be considered for the SBIR Phase II award, which will be held in Spring 2025.

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DARPA to Work With Canada, UK on AI & Cybersecurity R&D Efforts
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DARPA to Work With Canada, UK on AI & Cybersecurity R&D Efforts

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will collaborate with Canadian and U.K. defense agencies to research, develop, test and evaluate artificial intelligence tools, cybersecurity systems and information domain-related technologies.

DARPA said Friday the collaboration seeks to reduce technological risks to accelerate the transition of new capabilities into operational use.

“The trilateral collaboration is a big step toward enhancing our understanding in the outlined R&D thrust areas. Working with our international partners on science and technology helps us all leverage each other’s individual strengths in order to develop much greater collective capability,” said Stefanie Tompkins, director of DARPA and a 2024 Wash100 awardee.

One of the projects being pursued by the trilateral partnership is the Cyber Agents for Security Testing and Learning Environments program — a.k.a. CASTLE — which seeks to train AI to autonomously defend networks against persistent cyberthreats.

The collaboration is also developing trustworthy AI tools and advancing rapid software certification, among other research and development areas.

Under the trilateral partnership, the Defence Research and Development Canada and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory will respectively serve as the lead agencies for Canada and the U.K.

Register now to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s GovCon International Summit on Oct. 10. Speakers will discuss how international partnerships, emerging technologies and coalition warfare are reshaping the defense landscape and how the U.S. can stay ahead of the curve.

POC - GovCon International Summit
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NOAA Awards 4 R&D Contracts for Cloud Information Processing System
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NOAA Awards 4 R&D Contracts for Cloud Information Processing System

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has granted contracts valued a total of $5.4 million to four companies for research and development of an enterprise information processing system for the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service’s Common Cloud Framework. 

The contracts call for the delivery and demonstration of working models using application programming interfaces to enable NCCF to process the vast inquiries that NOAA receives and accommodates, NESDIS said Thursday.

A report released by the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Solicitor General in August observed that the NCCF’s current cloud platform lacks security support and puts critical data at risk.

In May, NOAA issued a broad agency announcement to solicit industry proposals that can improve environmental intelligence for the NCCF. 

Two of the awardees—Element 84 and Orion Space Solutions—won a two-year contract each valued at about $1.2 million and $2 million, respectively.   

Booz Allen Hamilton, another awardee, secured a one-year contract for approximately $1.1 million. The fourth contractor, Noblis, won a 15-month contract worth about $1.2 million. NOAA selected the contractors in a competitive BAA solicitation that drew 27 proposals.

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