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GSA to Release RFPs for Alliant 2, Small Business Track in June
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GSA to Release RFPs for Alliant 2, Small Business Track in June


GSAThe General Services Administration plans to release the request for proposals regarding the Alliant 2 governmentwide acquisition contract and its small business component sometime in the second half of June.

GSA said Thursday that Alliant 2 and Alliant 2 Small Business contracting officers could also release two separate presolicitation announcements on the Federal Business Opportunities website at least 15 calendar days before the RFPs’ release.

The unofficial statement on the program schedule seeks to facilitate transparency in communication with industry and other interested parties and respond to various questions regarding the pending procurement.

Both GWACs are currently going through a review process as required following the release of the most recent draft RFP in October 2015, GSA said.

GSA notes that seven requests for information and two draft RFPs have been issued throughout the three-year procurement program along with market research, industry trade group appearances, face-to-face and one-on-one meetings, email questions and answers and other discussions.

He indicates further question-and-answer opportunities for industry will follow after the release of the official RFPs and before the receipt of submitted proposals.

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Joe Dunford: US Should Update C2 Strategies Amid Changed ‘Character’ of War
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Joe Dunford: US Should Update C2 Strategies Amid Changed ‘Character’ of War


Marine Corps Gen_Joe DunfordThe chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said the U.S. military should address the emergence of cyber, space and ballistic intercontinental missiles as factors that changed the “character” of war, DoD News reported Sunday.

Jim Garamone writes that U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford suggested updates in the Defense Department‘s current command-and-control strategy to be able to confront the changes.

“[War] changed because of cyber capabilities, space capabilities, ballistic missile capabilities, intercontinental missile capabilities,” said Dunford.

“The character of war has changed so we should adapt to the character of war, and by changing the organizational construct of the Joint Staff,” he added.

Dunford also noted that there are certain areas in which the defense secretary can delegate responsibility for joint integration to the CJCS.

The defense secretary holds responsibility for joint integration and the authorities to integrate the combatant commands under the current system, the report said.

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Sutherland’s Teresa Weipert: Cultural Adaptation Key for Customer-Focused Agencies
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Sutherland’s Teresa Weipert: Cultural Adaptation Key for Customer-Focused Agencies


Teresa Weipert
Teresa Weipert

Teresa Weipert, senior vice president of the government solutions business at Sutherland Global Services, has said she believes cultural adaptation is essential for agencies that aim to transform their delivery of public services.

She wrote in a guest piece published Friday on Nextgov that agencies should adopt a citizen engagement strategy that will cover technology, policies, best practices, feedback mechanisms and intra-agency and interagency cooperation.

“If agencies are to focus on the ‘new’ customer service, all employees must be engaged and committed, because it is a reflection on the department or agency,” she added.

According to Weipert, the Office of Management and Budget is working on a customer service playbook that can help government organizations to deliver services with digital technology.

She also urged agencies to consider adoption of avatar-based customer support technology and other call-avoidance methods that Weipert says can help government contact centers to save money.

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Lawmakers Seek to Address Federal Duplication Through Bipartisan Bill
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Lawmakers Seek to Address Federal Duplication Through Bipartisan Bill


CongressHouse and Senate lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that would require federal agency executives to address redundancies uncovered by the Government Accountability Office, Federal Times reported Thursday.

Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) cosponsored the Getting Results through Enhanced Accountability and Transparency Act of 2016 with Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.), Carten Cordell writes.

The GREAT Act would also require agencies to inform the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on how they would address duplication and coordinate resources.

The proposed legislation comes a week after GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro released a report that detailed 92 actions and 37 areas where agencies could reduce duplication and eliminate waste, Cordell reports.

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NASA Eyes ‘Quiet’ Supersonic X-Plane Demonstration in 2020
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NASA Eyes ‘Quiet’ Supersonic X-Plane Demonstration in 2020


QueSSTNASA aims to build a supersonic aircraft that can generate a thump-like sound rather than a boom and begin flight tests of that technology by 2020.

The agency said Friday it also seeks to demonstrate what it calls a “three-legged stool” of aviation research through the Quiet Supersonic Transport X-plane development project.

An industry team led by Lockheed Martin was awarded the preliminary QueSST design contract in late February as part of NASA’s New Aviation Horizons initiative.

NASA launched the program to create and fly multiple X-planes over the next decade in a move to help aviation companies accelerate their adoption of green technologies.

“If we can build some of these X-planes and demonstrate some of these technologies, we expect that will make it much easier and faster for U.S. industry to pick them up and roll them out into the marketplace,” noted Ed Waggoner, integrated aviation systems program director at NASA.

The agency also seeks to provide QueSST flight data to the Federal Aviation Administration and its foreign counterparts so they can use the information to establish noise-related policies for commercial supersonic airliners.

NIH Review Aims to Address Quality Control Concerns Over Clinical Drug Production
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NIH Review Aims to Address Quality Control Concerns Over Clinical Drug Production


HealthThe National Institutes of Health has partnered with two companies to evaluate agency facilities that produce sterile or infused medicines for clinical research use.

NIH said Tuesday preliminary findings of the assessment identified quality and safety compliance problems at a cell-therapy production laboratory and a radiopharmaceutical compound production facility.

The agency suspended operations at the facilities and halted enrollment of patients for clinical trials of the affected experimental drugs.

NIH formed a working group in December to develop management strategies for the agency’s Clinical Center Pharmaceutical Development Section and its affiliated labs and production hubs after the Food and Drug Administration found serious quality-control problems within PDS.

The Clinical Center Working Group was scheduled Thursday to submit its recommendations to NIH.

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Report: HASC to Consider Potential Elevation of Cybercom to Unified Command Structure
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Report: HASC to Consider Potential Elevation of Cybercom to Unified Command Structure


CyberStockThe House Armed Services Committee could tackle the possibility of elevating the status of the U.S. Cyber Command to a unified combatant command level as part of the panel’s markup of the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization bill, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Colin Clark and Sydney Freedberg Jr. write the committee also plans to ask the Defense Department to study if it is feasible for Cybercom and the National Security Agency to have separate leaders.

Lt. Gen. James McLaughlin, deputy commander of Cybercom, told Breaking Defense last week the organization currently uses a centralized approach to manage operations of the DoD Information Network and that existing combatant commands have cyber defense tools.

“We are now working specifically…. to clarify how we actually [work with] the combatant commands and how our command integrates directly into those commands,” he added, the publication reports.

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John Hickey: DISA Aims to Attract Silicon Valley Startups
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John Hickey: DISA Aims to Attract Silicon Valley Startups


Defense Information Systems Agency DISAThe Defense Information Systems Agency is looking for ways to have Silicon Valley startup businesses engage in DISA’s procurement processes despite their short venture capital investment cycles, Fedscoop reported Friday.

John Hickey, DISA chief information officer, told a media roundtable the agency seeks to harness the potential of startups but the requirement for these companies to show profit over short periods of time is a challenge, Billy Mitchell writes.

Other senior officials also told the roundtable that industry partners could serve as sponsors and be a key tool to employ the help of startups, Fedscoop said.

Lawmakers Want DoD Innovation Hub Report Prior to Full Funding Release
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Lawmakers Want DoD Innovation Hub Report Prior to Full Funding Release


BudgetThe House Armed Services Committee’s emerging threats and capabilities panel wants the Defense Department to submit a series of reports on its new innovation center before releasing the hub’s full funding, Defense News reported Tuesday.

Joe Gould writes the House subcommittee released its portion of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which seeks to limit funds for the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental’s expansion until DoD completes the required plans and reports.

DoD would have access to 80 percent of the $45 million President Barack Obama allocated for DIUx under the fiscal 2017 budget request until the department hands the charter report to the congressional defense committees, Gould adds.

Lawmakers have also expressed concerns on what they say is the focus on a particular geographic region, Nextgov reported Friday.

DIUx serves as Pentagon’s key Silicon Valley outreach effort and was established in 2015 as part of an effort to tap nontraditional companies for emerging technologies, Jack Moore reports.

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Rep. Jim Langevin Backs FDA Strategy to Secure Medical Devices
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Rep. Jim Langevin Backs FDA Strategy to Secure Medical Devices


cybersecurityRep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) has voiced support for the Food and Drug Administration‘s draft guidance for manufacturers to protect medical technology products against cybersecurity threats.

Langevin, co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, said Thursday he believes the guidance FDA issued in January can serve as a tool for the safe implementation of networked medical devices.

“It is critical that medical device manufacturers do everything possible to address vulnerabilities and protect patients, and I applaud the FDA for tackling a complex challenge that will affect the health care industry now and well into the future,” he noted.

“I look forward to continuing to work with agencies to develop strategies to address cyber safety issues.”

FDA released a set of medical device cybersecurity guidelines earlier this year in an effort to help vendors manage threats through a risk-based strategy.

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