/
Report: White House Prepares for Possible Govt Shutdown With Contingency Plan Guidance
Published on
Report: White House Prepares for Possible Govt Shutdown With Contingency Plan Guidance


Report: White House Prepares for Possible Govt Shutdown With Contingency Plan GuidanceThe White House will provide federal agencies guidance on Friday that details contingency plans in the event of a government shutdown if Congress fails to pass a spending package ahead of the April 28 deadline, The Washington Times reported Wednesday.

S.A. Miller writes White House officials said the Office of Management and Budget will adopt the protocols included in the Obama administration’s July 2016 budget circular.

“One week prior to the expiration of appropriations bills, regardless of whether the enactment of appropriations appears imminent, OMB will convene a meeting or teleconference with agency senior officials to remind agencies of their responsibilities to review and update orderly shutdown plans,” according to the circular obtained by the publication.

The report noted that House and Senate lawmakers have begun negotiations since spring break on the budget package for the remaining months of fiscal 2017 but several provisions remain unsettled such as President Donald Trump’s proposed U.S. border wall with Mexico, increase in defense spending and “cost sharing” payments under Obamacare.

CSG Principal Amanda Starr Joins CMS’ Medicaid IT Architecture Governance Board
Published on
CSG Principal Amanda Starr Joins CMS’ Medicaid IT Architecture Governance Board


CSG Principal Amanda Starr Joins CMS' Medicaid IT Architecture Governance Board
Amanda Starr

Amanda Starr, a principal of the healthcare and human services practice at CSG Government Solutions, has joined the Medicaid Information Technology Architecture Governance Board of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CSG said Monday the board works to ensure that the MITA Framework meets Medicaid regulations, policies and procedures and supports efforts to implement, update and certify Medicaid systems at the state level.

“Amanda’s Medicaid IT, policy, and regulation expertise will help the board continue to achieve its goals,” said Robin Dufresne, director of CSG’s healthcare and human services practice.

Starr previously served as a consultant at Alltech Consulting; a senior business analyst and project manager
at Intuition Systems; and a client relations manager at Xerox‘s EDI Solutions subsidiary.

She has nearly 20 years of experience in IT projects for government healthcare programs.

The MITA initiative seeks to facilitate integrated business and IT transformation across the Medicaid enterprise to optimize the administration of the Medicaid program.

/
NASA Picks 399 Space Tech Proposals Under Small Biz Programs
Published on
NASA Picks 399 Space Tech Proposals Under Small Biz Programs


NASA Picks 399 Space Tech Proposals Under Small Biz ProgramsNASA will award up to $49.9 million in total funds to 399 proposals that seek to research and develop new platforms across space technology, human exploration, aeronautics and science areas.

The space agency said Thursday it selected 338 proposals for the initial phase of the Small Business Innovation Research program and 61 proposals for the Small Business Technology Transfer initiative’s Phase 1 contracts.

NASA will allocate up to $125,000 in maximum funds to each SBIR and STTR proposal.

SBIR contract recipients will perform work over a six-month period, while STTR researchers will conduct research for a year.

Some of the proposals selected include work on superconducting coils for space fusion reaction engines, drilling systems designed for use in extraterrestrial ocean exploration missions and software-based control of multiple drones.

NASA selected the proposals from 277 small businesses and 44 research organizations out of 1,621 submissions based on technical feasibility, work plan and commercial potential.

NASA’s Ames Research Center in California oversees the SBIR program for the agency’s space technology mission directorate.

/
GSA Expands Human Resource Multiple-Award Schedule
Published on
GSA Expands Human Resource Multiple-Award Schedule


GSA Expands Human Resource Multiple-Award ScheduleThe General Services Administration has begun to restructure its multiple-award procurement vehicle for human resource services in an effort to address contract redundancy and simplify the acquisition process for such service offerings.

GSA said Wednesday its Human Resources and Equal Employment Opportunity Multiple Award Schedule 738 X has been renamed Human Capital Management and Administrative Support Services Schedule 738 X and will be fully implemented by the end of April.

The agency updated its MAS 738 X schedule to align with the Office of Personnel Management‘s Federal Human Capital Business Reference Model and added 10 new special item numbers that define specific HR service sub-categories.

Schedule 738 X will offer “less complex and more routine” HR requirements to complement GSA’s new Human Capital and Training Solutions acquisition vehicle, the agency added.

The MAS 738 X schedule is structured as an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle with a five-year base period and three five-year option periods.

GSA said small businesses account for 60 percent of the contract’s vendor pool.

/
Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley: Army Kicks Off Force Review to Identify Mission Needs
Published on
Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley: Army Kicks Off Force Review to Identify Mission Needs


Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley: Army Kicks Off Force Review to Identify Mission NeedsLt. Gen. Robert Ashley, the U.S. Army‘s deputy chief of staff of G-2, has said a review of the entire Army force is underway to explore the service branch’s current capacity and mission requirements, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Jen Judson writes the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command and Intelligence Center of Excellence will run the “bottom-up” review through late summer.

“It’s really targeted on what are the missions that are emerging now that we have not really accounted for and where are we going to be in 2025,” Ashley said at an Association of the U.S. Army breakfast event Wednesday.

He added the review team has collected more than 3,800 responses from a survey of Army capacity and needs and the group currently interviews Army leaders at various commands.

The team will present findings to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and host an industry day on June 29 to discuss its findings, Judson reported.

Ashley said the assessment will cover the areas of open-source intelligence, interrogation, certification process for analysts, counterintelligence, collection management, aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and the integration of cyber, electronic warfare and signals intelligence.

/
VA, VACDC Partner to Build Ambulatory Care Center at Omaha VA Medical Center
Published on
VA, VACDC Partner to Build Ambulatory Care Center at Omaha VA Medical Center


VA, VACDC Partner to Build Ambulatory Care Center at Omaha VA Medical CenterThe Department of Veterans Affairs has forged an agreement with Omaha, Nebraska-based nonprofit Veterans Ambulatory Center Development Corp. to build an ambulatory care center at Omaha VA Medical Center campus.

VA said Wednesday it has chosen to partner with VACDC instead of following through a 2011 plan to construct a $560 million facility.

The department will use $56 million of the original appropriated funds along with VACDC’s approximately $30 million donation to complete the project.

Congress supports the project through the Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016, which authorizes VA to accept real property or construction support donations from non-federal entities through a five-year pilot program.

The future ambulatory care center in Omaha is the first of five projects that will be built under an initiative authorized by the CHIP IN for Vets Act, VA noted.

/
US National Security Adviser HR McMaster Talks to Indian Officials About Bilateral Cooperation
Published on
US National Security Adviser HR McMaster Talks to Indian Officials About Bilateral Cooperation


US National Security Adviser HR McMaster Talks to Indian Officials About Bilateral CooperationNational Security Adviser H.R. McMaster met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss topics such as defense and counterterrorism cooperation between the U.S. and India.

McMaster, a U.S. Army lieutenant general, also spoke with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the U.S. embassy in India said Tuesday.

The Indian officials discussed how both countries could help address regional peace and stability challenges while McMaster shared his opinions on the security situation in Afghanistan, North Korea and West Asia, according to a report published Tuesday on the Indian PM’s website.

McMaster visited India as part of a regional consultation tour that also included stops in Kabul, Afghanistan and Islamabad, Pakistan.

India and the U.S. held discussions in December regarding a deal that could potentially transfer the production of Lockheed Martin– and Boeing-built fighter planes to the latter country.

/
GAO: Congress Should Delay $9B Frigate Block Buy Until More Data Becomes Available on Ship Design, Cost
Published on
GAO: Congress Should Delay $9B Frigate Block Buy Until More Data Becomes Available on Ship Design, Cost


GAO: Congress Should Delay $9B Frigate Block Buy Until More Data Becomes Available on Ship Design, CostThe Government Accountability Office has called on Congress to delay its decision on the U.S. Navy’s authority request for a block purchase of 12 frigates worth approximately $9 billion in fiscal year 2018 until more data is available about the ship’s design, cost and capabilities.

GAO said in a report published Tuesday that Congress should push back funding of the lead frigate ship to FY 2019 in order to have more information on the program’s costs, risks and design for use in the decision-making process.

The frigate is a ship that contains minor alterations to the Littoral Combat Ship design.

The agency also urged the Defense Department to postpone its procurement plans on the frigate program until more information is available.

GAO made the recommendations after it found that the frigate program does not have a formal cost estimate and an industrial base to support a contract award in 2018 since each shipyard has demands for LCS construction that will run through 2021.

/
GSA to Host Collaboration Session on Follow-On Vehicle for Call Center Services in May
Published on
GSA to Host Collaboration Session on Follow-On Vehicle for Call Center Services in May


GSA to Host Collaboration Session on Follow-On Vehicle for Call Center Services in MayThe General Services Administration has asked federal agencies to participate in a focus group to discuss the development of a follow-on contract vehicle for call center technology platforms and services.

GSA said Tuesday it will hold the session on May 18 in Washington with contract specialists and program managers from federal agencies to determine the requirements for another round of the USA Contact indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract.

The agency will hold the event with the Office of Personnel Management’s Innovation Lab.

GSA noted that federal agencies have procured call center services and related technology offerings valued at approximately $1 billion under the current USA Contact vehicle that is set to expire in March 2018.

Interested participants have until May 5 to register for the GSA Contact Center Focus Group.

/
Report: Pentagon Begins AT&L Separation Into 2 Mission Areas
Published on
Report: Pentagon Begins AT&L Separation Into 2 Mission Areas


Report: Pentagon Begins AT&L Separation Into 2 Mission AreasThe Defense Department has begun preliminary work to divide its current acquisition, technology and logistics organization into two offices to comply with a fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act provision, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Scott Maucione writes Congress asked DoD to submit an implementation plan for the AT&L reorganization effort in August and complete the establishment of the new functions by February next year.

The 2017 NDAA requires the department to split the current AT&L office’s responsibilities between an undersecretary for research and engineering and an undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment.

Mary Miller, acting assistant defense secretary for research and engineering, said at a National Defense Industrial Association-hosted forum in Washington the proposed R&E office will manage the allocation of resources, experimentation, prototyping, technology development and transition efforts across DoD.

Miller added the future acquisition and sustainment office will oversee the department’s acquisition policy design, contract administration, industrial base policy, logistics, maintenance, sustainment policy and procurement of goods and services.

DoD assembled a small cross functional team to assess how a reorganized AT&L will align with the chief management office, the report noted.

1 … 2,228 2,229 2,230 2,231 2,232 … 2,607