Industry experts and former White House officials have urged government contractors to start discussing the effects of a potential federal shutdown in October with contracting officers, Government Executive reported Monday.

David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, said Monday at a PSC-hosted event in Virginia that GovCon companies should maintain relationships with agency employees to continue to seek information from them in the event of a shutdown if Congress fails to approve a spending package for fiscal 2018.

Industry experts said contractors should consider several factors in the wake of a shutdown, such as the need to notify employees of a stop work order and capacity to pay staff if companies fail to receive reimbursements from agencies.

“Now is the right time to understand the nature of your contract,” said Alan Chvotkin, an executive vice president and counsel at PSC.

The panelists also advised GovCon firms to take into account their expenses related to stop work orders and renewal option on their contracts, the report added.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded grants to 21 state and local economic development entities, small business development centers, colleges and universities in support of efforts to foster small business innovation.

SBA said Monday that it issued one-year grants worth up to $125,000 in fiscal 2017 for 16 recipients under the Federal and State Technology partnership program which aims to stimulate economic development through outreach and technical assistance for small businesses.

The FAST program also helps partners compete for Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

SBA noted that the FAST grant recipients will look to help commercialize technology through SBIR grants, assist small business R&D efforts, transfer technology from universities to small businesses, develop proposals for small businesses and support technological innovation.

The agency also awarded grants up to $200,000 to five Small Business Technology Development Centers that aid technology-driven small businesses.

“SBA is looking forward to working with these organizations to increase the understanding of the SBIR/STTR programs,” said Linda McMahon, SBA administrator.

The Government Accountability Office has urged the Office of Management and Budget to fully implement the process used to accelerate reporting requirements.

GAO said in a report published Monday that it recommended OMB to reference report modification proposals on the President’s annual budget as required under the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010.

The government watchdog also directed OMB to email instructions to agencies regarding the submission of proposals to eliminate or modify reports in accordance with guidance on GPRAMA and the Circular A-11 directive.

OMB published three lists which contained 523 proposals in total since the passage of GPRAMA in 2010.

The agency cited the relatively static nature of reporting requirements as a cause for only implementing the report modification process every other year.

The government watchdog also discovered that the OMB has published agencies’ proposals on the Performance.gov website and not on the mandated President’s annual budget.

The State Department has formed a new cybersecurity office within the Diplomatic Security Service in May to help address cyber threats, The Hill reported Monday.

A department official told the publication that the new Cyber and Technology Security directorate will deliver cyber threat analysis, incident detection and response, cyber investigation and emerging technology support.

The office will also help the department’s chief information officer ensure that embassies, consulates and foreign affairs officers meet cybersecurity requirements, the report noted.

The establishment of CTS follows reports of a planned cybersecurity reorganization at the State Department.

Norway’s Space Center has landed a potential five-year, $43.8 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract from NASA to provide combined data support services for the Joint Polar Satellite System program and other collaborative international missions.

Work under the international agreement will occur at the Svalbard Ground Station in Norway and the Antarctica-based Troll Ground Station through Aug. 13, 2022, NASA said Tuesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-managed JPSS missions offer global environmental data in low-Earth polar orbit.

NASA also partnered with the Norwegian Mapping Authority in efforts to create satellite laser ranging station located 650 miles from the North Pole which will track changes in ice sheets as well as support marine transportation and agriculture.