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Tom Sharpe: GSA Seeks to Update Multiple Award Schedules Program Through Transactional Data Reporting Rule
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Tom Sharpe: GSA Seeks to Update Multiple Award Schedules Program Through Transactional Data Reporting Rule


Tom Sharpe
Tom Sharpe

The General Services Administration has published a final rule that would require federal contractors to report transactional acquisition data as well as eliminate price reduction clause and commercial sales practices disclosure requirements for contractors.

Tom Sharpe, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday, the Transactional Data Reporting rule is part of the agency’s effort to update the Multiple Award Schedules program and adopt the category management business model.

FAS has worked with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to implement the TDR rule for Federal Supply Schedules contracts, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts and government-wide acquisition contracts.

GSA has begun to implement TDR in phases for FSS contracts starting with a pilot program for certain schedules and special item numbers, Sharpe said.

He noted that category managers will use the collected transactional data to analyze demand management and develop purchasing strategies.

GSA expects its contracting officers to use the data sets in the future to assess and negotiate contracts in compliance with “policies to ensure that MAS continues to focus on value, not low price, at the contract level,” Sharpe said.

“Down the road, ordering activity COs will be able to consider the data analytics and pricing trends when placing orders,” he added.

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Navy Times: Donald Trump Seeks to Increase Navy’s Fleet Size to 350 Ships
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Navy Times: Donald Trump Seeks to Increase Navy’s Fleet Size to 350 Ships


arleigh-burke-class-destroyerPresident-elect Donald Trump has proposed to increase the U.S. Navy’s fleet of 272 ships to 350 as part of his plan to generate jobs and help the government deter conflicts and fight potential adversaries, the Navy Times reported Tuesday.

According to an October campaign memo, Trump has vowed to fund modernization work on the service branch’s Ticonderoga-class cruisers and make investments in Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and submarines, David B. Larter writes.

The incoming administration also plans to build up shipyards, support the maintenance of warships and create a training pipeline for shipyard workers, the report said.

“Mr. Trump’s plan will require a significant partnership with a defense industrial base that has been strained by years of significant cuts to shipbuilding and ship repair,” according to the memo.

Bryan Clark, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the incoming administration could reach its fleet size target of 350 ships and increase the number of sailors to at least 380,000 by the 2030s, according to the report.

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Reports: EU Raises European Defense Agency’s Fiscal 2017 Budget, Considers New Defense & Security Commissioner Post
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Reports: EU Raises European Defense Agency’s Fiscal 2017 Budget, Considers New Defense & Security Commissioner Post


army stock photoThe European Union on Tuesday decided to increase the fiscal 2017 budget of the European Defense Agency by 1.6 percent to approximately $33 million, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Robin Emmott writes the decision marks the first time since 2010 that the U.K. has not opposed a budget hike at the EDA, which helps member countries build aircraft and other military assets, and comes a day after the EU agreed on a new defense plan that seeks to reduce reliance on U.S. military support.

EU officials said the budget increase suggests that the U.K., which decided to leave the EU, may continue to collaborate with the EU on defense matters amid security threats posed by Russia and the Islamic State militant organization, the report added.

Urmas Paet, an Estonian liberal and member of the European Parliament, has called on the EU to designate a defense and security commissioner within the European Commission in an effort to reduce the responsibilities of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, according to a report by Nikolaj Nielsen for EUobserver.

Mogherini “is doing everything, the whole world, all the foreign policy, all the conflicts, all the defense, security and so on,” Paet told reporters in Brussels Wednesday.

Paet, who is also former minister of foreign affairs in Estonia, proposed the new defense commissioner post in a report that aims to form a European defense union in an effort to advance research efforts, raise defense spending and lift administrative hurdles on troop movements, Nielsen reports.

Profile: Richard Hale, DoD Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity
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Profile: Richard Hale, DoD Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity


headshot-richard-hale
Richard Hale

Richard Hale serves as deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity at the Defense Department.

In this capacity, he oversees DoD’s cybersecurity program and coordinates with other federal agencies, coalition partners and companies to develop cybersecurity standards, policies and procedures.

Hale previously worked at the Defense Information Systems Agency as chief information assurance executive with responsibility over DISA’s information assurance activities, including the security of the DISA managed portion of the department’s information infrastructure.

He also led the development of DoD-wide cybersecurity standards, layered defense approach and shared cyber defenses during his time at DISA.

Hale spent 17 years at the Naval Research Laboratory, where helped design, analyze and build various U.S. Navy and DoD information and communication systems.

At NRL, he also led a team of professionals who worked to create high-assurance systems, secure internet protocols, command-and-control cybersecurity and core security standards.

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Ron Ross: NIST Systems Security Engineering Guideline Details Cyber’s ‘Complexity’
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Ron Ross: NIST Systems Security Engineering Guideline Details Cyber’s ‘Complexity’


cybersecurityThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued a security guideline that works to address ways to engineer systems that can operate continuously amid various disruptions, threats and hazards.

NIST Fellow Ron Ross wrote in a blog post published Tuesday the Special Publication 800-160 Systems Security Engineering guide was developed after four years of research and development.

“Our fundamental cybersecurity problem can be summed up in three words—too much complexity,” Ross wrote.

“There are simply too many bases—all the software, firmware, and hardware components that we rely on to run our critical infrastructure, business, and industrial systems—for us to cover as it is, and we’re adding to the number of bases all the time,” he added.

Ross noted increased complexity gives adversaries “limitless opportunity” to attack vulnerabilities in underlying systems.

Fundamental weaknesses in system architecture and design can be mitigated through a “holistic approach” based on systems security engineering techniques and design principles, according to Ross.

The security engineering approach is designed to help systems block penetration; limit damage from disruptions, hazards and threats; and continue to support missions and business operations after security incidents, Ross stated.

Organizations should integrate engineering-based security design principles at physical and virtual levels to address vulnerabilities, Ross said.

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Adm. Michael Rogers: ‘Arbitrary Lines’ Between Private, Public Property Hamper Govt-Industry Collaboration Against Cyber Attacks
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Adm. Michael Rogers: ‘Arbitrary Lines’ Between Private, Public Property Hamper Govt-Industry Collaboration Against Cyber Attacks


Michael Rogers
Michael Rogers

Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, has said the “arbitrary lines” between public and private property have resulted in “uneven” cooperation between the private sector and government in the campaign against cyber attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Rogers told attendees at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council that approximately two-thirds of cyber hackers are criminal groups that seek financial gain through data theft while the rest are state-sponsored network threat actors, the Journal’s Alan Cullison wrote.

“My point is that cyber does not recognize these arbitrary lines that we have drawn — it doesn’t recognize the geography,” Rogers said.

“Network structures in the world wide web [are] not organized that way. Our adversaries don’t work that way,” he added.

Rogers, who is also chief of the Cyber Command, called on company executives to get involved in cybersecurity and urged U.S. firms to provide the government access to their networks in order to defend data infrastructure from cyber threats, the report said.

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Air Force Officers Stephen Clark, Peter Gersten Appointed to New Roles
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Air Force Officers Stephen Clark, Peter Gersten Appointed to New Roles


Air Force logoU.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Clark, special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, and Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten, deputy assistant secretary for programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary, have been assigned to new roles within the Defense Department.

DoD said Tuesday Clark will serve as the deputy assistant secretary of programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller.

Clark previously held roles under the Special Operations Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, National Counterterrorism Center, Joint Special Operations Command, 4th Special Operations Squadron and the 27th Special Operations Wing.

Gersten, former Central Command deputy commander of operations and intelligence, has been appointed as the director of strategic plans at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Requirements, DoD noted.

Gersten previously served in roles with the 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force-Levant, Air Combat Command, Joint Staff and the Interagency Counter Terrorism Task Force.

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DHS Unveils Set of IoT Security Principles
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DHS Unveils Set of IoT Security Principles


DHS - ExecutiveMosaicThe Department of Homeland Security has released a set of principles to detail new approaches and suggested practices on how to secure technologies associated with the Internet of Things.

DHS said Tuesday the principles were established to guide stakeholders on risk-based security decisions such as the design, manufacture and use of internet-connected devices and systems.

“Securing the Internet of Things has become a matter of homeland security,” said Jeh Johnson, secretary of homeland security.

“We increasingly rely on functional networks to advance life-sustaining activities, from self-driving cars to the control systems that deliver water and power to our homes.

DHS noted the principles focus on areas such as security at the design phase, security updates and vulnerability management, security practices, transparency across the IOT ecosystem and careful and deliberate connection.

The principles were also established to provide stakeholders with tools to help account for security as organizations develop, manufacture, implement or utilize network-connected devices.

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Pacific Command Sends Guided Missile Destroyer to Support New Zealand Earthquake Recovery Efforts
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Pacific Command Sends Guided Missile Destroyer to Support New Zealand Earthquake Recovery Efforts


missile guided destroyerThe U.S. Pacific Command has deployed a guided missile destroyer to New Zealand to support recovery efforts after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit the country, DoD News reported Tuesday.

Jim Garamone writes U.S. Navy Adm. Harry Harris, Pacom commander, told the Defense One Summit that USS Sampson carries two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.

USS Sampson will also represent the Navy at the New Zealand International Naval Review in Auckland which marks the 75th founding anniversary of New Zealand’s navy, Garamone reported.

The Navy has also sent P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft to New Zealand, the report stated.

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GSA Hosts Industry Day for Agriculture Dept’s Cotton Annex Property
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GSA Hosts Industry Day for Agriculture Dept’s Cotton Annex Property


GSAThe U.S. General Services Administration held an industry day to discuss plans on the sale of the 188,000-square-foot Agriculture Department Cotton Annex located in Washington, D.C.

GSAsaid Tuesday it hosted the industry day in an effort to inform interested parties on the building and the GSA auction process.

“This event reinforces GSA’s aggressive commitment to repositioning underutilized assets in its real estate portfolio to put them to more productive use,” said Tim Sheckler, director of GSA’s real property utilization and disposal division.

The six-story Cotton Annex was built in 1937 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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