Military Leaders Brief Congress on Cyber Security Protection Efforts
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Military Leaders Brief Congress on Cyber Security Protection Efforts


Military Leaders Brief Congress on Cyber Security Protection Efforts

U.S. military officials briefed House lawmakers about efforts to protect U.S. networks from existing and emerging cyber threats.

Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of National Guard Bureau, told the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee that the guards helped monitor foreign activities in the past midterm elections.

The meeting highlighted how the National Guard and military reserves are providing cyber warfare training, intelligence support, foreign interference monitoring and coordination with industry to help improve national cyber security, the Department of Defense said.

Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey said cyber operations teams are being deployed nationally to help the Army Cyber Command and other government agencies improve cyber readiness.

The Joint Reserve Intelligence Centers are working with the Defense Intelligence Agency to provide cyber warfare training and real-time intelligence support to combatant commands, support agencies, the intelligence community and Navy fleets, according to Navy Reserve Chief Vice Adm. Luke McCollum.

Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee said his component will transition some information technology support, service and sustainment to the private sector in an effort to allow personnel to focus on “mission assurance and active defensive cyber operations.”

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Energy Department Unveils $70M Grant for Cyber Security, Energy Production Efforts
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Energy Department Unveils $70M Grant for Cyber Security, Energy Production Efforts


Energy Department Unveils $70M Grant for Cyber Security, Energy Production Efforts

The Department of Energy plans to award $70M in grant funding to support technology development that will boost energy usage and production processes through the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

The department said Tuesday the institute will create cyber security approaches and technologies, distribute information to U.S. manufacturing firms and assess potential cyber security risks to low-energy production industries through the pursuit of research and development initiatives. The institute will focus on shielding the supply chain network and automation processes. 

“Improved cyber security can reduce risks as well as catalyze adoption of more energy efficient technologies in the manufacturing industry,” said Rick Perry, secretary of energy. “This Institute will conduct early-stage research to help U.S. manufacturers remain resilient and globally competitive against cyberattacks.”

Interested applicants have until May 15 to submit their concepts for the five-year grant.

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General John Raymond Nominated to Lead U.S. Space Command
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General John Raymond Nominated to Lead U.S. Space Command


General John Raymond Nominated to Lead U.S. Space Command

Gen. John Raymond, commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, was nominated by President Trump to serve in the same position at the U.S. Space Command. Once confirmed, Raymond will help the command carry out joint space war fighting missions and maintain combat readiness as part of his new role, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Previously, Raymond served as the deputy chief of staff for operations at the Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C. He also served as a commander at the 30th Operations Group at Vanderberg Air Force Base, the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, the 5th Space Surveillance Squadron at the Royal Air Force Feltwell in England and the 14th USAF and U.S. Strategic Command Joint Functional Component Command for Space.

In addition, he supported the Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom operations as the director of space forces. Raymond will retain his duties as the commander of AFSC upon his confirmation.

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Ellen Lord Says Defense Will Issue New Cybersecurity Standards for Contractors
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Ellen Lord Says Defense Will Issue New Cybersecurity Standards for Contractors


Ellen Lord Says Defense Will Issue New Cybersecurity Standards for Contractors

Ellen Lord, the undersecretary for acquisition and logistics at the Pentagon and a 2019 Wash100 winner, said officials plan to issue new cyber security standards for the industry to follow when competing for defense contracts, Fifth Domain reported Tuesday. The Department of Defense is working with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create metrics on minimum cyber security practices.

“We are deriving cyber security standards form the NIST standards,” Lord said. “We will have metrics associated with those. We’ll stand up third-party auditors.”

She said the government intends to start using the new standards within the next 18 months to improve how it selects contractors. The effort will also involve Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in the future. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said in late 2018 that cyber security would become a key measurement to guide how the Defense Department evaluates companies.

However, small businesses have raised concerns with the proposed standards at the Pentagon. John Luddy, vice president for national security at the Aerospace Industries Association, told lawmakers that small and medium-sized vendors would face challenges in creating “self-sustaining cyber security programs” and in meeting the requirements of a one-size-fits-all checklist.

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General James McConville Nominated for Army Chief of Staff Post
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General James McConville Nominated for Army Chief of Staff Post


General James McConville Nominated for Army Chief of Staff Post

Gen. James McConville, the U.S. Army’s vice chief of staff, was nominated to serve as the branch’s chief of staff, Military.com reported Tuesday. President Trump submitted the nomination to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Monday.

McConville possesses more than 30 years of military experience including as the former commander in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also held various staff assignments with the Army and the U.S. Special Operations Command during his tenure.

He would succeed Gen. Mark Milley as Army chief of staff upon confirmation. Milley was nominated to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents Craig Abod, President of Carahsoft, His Fifth Wash100 Award
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Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents Craig Abod, President of Carahsoft, His Fifth Wash100 Award


Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents Craig Abod, President of Carahsoft, His Fifth Wash100 Award

Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic, presented Craig Abod, president of Carahsoft Technology Corp., with his fifth Wash100 Award win on Tuesday.

Executive Mosaic recognizes Abod for delivering IT platforms and expanding opportunities in the federal marketplace. We are pleased to present the most coveted award in government contracting to Abod.

Abod has served Carahsoft as president since January 2004. He leads the company’s efforts to provide technology support to more than 3,000 prime contractors, value-added re-sellers, system integrators and other channel partners. Previously, Abod served as president of DLT Solutions, Inc. between 1994 and 2004.

Abod received numerous awards, including the 2013 Greater Washington Award Finalist and the 2013 Federal Partner of the Year Award. He was also named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015. Abod also served on the advisory board of Potomac Bank of Virginia.

The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 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 2019.

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Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents David Levy, VP of the Federal Government with Amazon Web Services, His Second Consecutive Wash100 Award
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Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents David Levy, VP of the Federal Government with Amazon Web Services, His Second Consecutive Wash100 Award


Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic, Presents David Levy, VP of the Federal Government with Amazon Web Services, His Second Consecutive Wash100 Award

Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic, presented David Levy, vice president of the federal government at Amazon Web Services, with his second consecutive Wash100 Award on Wednesday. Executive Mosaic is ecstatic to present the most coveted award in government contracting recognizing Levy for leading Amazon and cloud adoption initiatives for federal agencies.

Levy joined Amazon in his current role in May 2017. He leads the company’s business with government, enterprise and nonprofit customers to maximize the potential of emerging technologies enabling them to transform their organizations and fulfill their missions. Previously, Levy spent 12 years with Apple as the head of U.S. government sales, assisting the government with mobile technology modernization between 2005 and 2017.

In addition, Levy co-founded Sulla Technology Group and helped build a successful data center services company focused on higher education clients, state and local governments. He also started Empire Capital Management which focuses on investment needs for mid-market institutional clients. Levy earned his bachelor’s degree in international economics from Texas Tech University in 1992.

The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 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 2019.

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Ellen Lord: DoD to Begin 5G Experiments in 2019
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Ellen Lord: DoD to Begin 5G Experiments in 2019


Ellen Lord: DoD to Begin 5G Experiments in 2019

Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and 2019 Wash100 Award winner, told attendees at a recent Atlantic Council event that the Department of Defense will conduct a series of experiments on 5G communications technology, Defense One reported Monday.

The DoD’s research and engineering arm will oversee the experiments scheduled for later this year. Discoveries may help the Pentagon’s advisory boards develop policy recommendations in line with 5G implementation. According to Lord, the department’s 5G research and development activities will focus on latency, interference and related equipment.

“5G is a national security issue for us, especially because we have to rethink our industry base as we move forward,” she noted.

Previously, Lord and other defense officials expressed concerns over Chinese telecommunications companies such as Huawei using their products to obtain U.S. data.

The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 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 2019.

DHS Uses New Staffing Models to Improve Workforce Management
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DHS Uses New Staffing Models to Improve Workforce Management


DHS Uses New Staffing Models to Improve Workforce Management

The Department of Homeland Security is using new workforce staffing models to address challenges in aligning operations with employment needs, Federal News Network reported Monday.

Sidney Evans, assistant director of program analysis and evaluation for manpower and organization at DHS, said many civilian agency leaders previously found it difficult to organize personnel to work on their agencies’ requirements due to lack of a “manning document.”

The official said the new staffing models now cover 64 percent of all positions at DHS and 92 percent of law enforcement positions at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secret Service.

Immigration officials use the model to track and project the number of employees needed to adjudicate applications and process  forms for the next 10 years. The Transportation Security Administration is using its own staffing models to monitor changes in its workload as well as airport checkpoints and terminals.

DHS plans to expand the use of the models to manage all of its civilian employees in the future.

FirstNet Follows Strict Certification Process for Apps
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FirstNet Follows Strict Certification Process for Apps


FirstNet Follows Strict Certification Process for Apps

Mark Golaszewski, executive director of technology and innovation for the First Responder Network Authority, said the vetting process for FirstNet’s application catalog is stricter than that for commercial apps, GovTech reported Monday.

Golaszewski added that apps need to be more secure, reliable, resilient and scalable than commercial apps in order to be certified for inclusion in the catalog of digital tools for public safety operations. AT&T handles security validation and evaluation procedures for the catalog. A team including members from both FirstNet and AT&T conducts final assessments before an app is certified for inclusion.

The app catalog, launched in 2017, covers technical areas such as communications, cloud technology, connectivity and device security.

The catalog currently includes apps like ESChat, which focuses on file exchange between first responders, the situational awareness app Intrepid Response and the 10-21 Video livestreaming app.

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