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Incrementium Advisors’ Mike Smith Reflects on Career, Offers Industry Advice
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Incrementium Advisors’ Mike Smith Reflects on Career, Offers Industry Advice

As managing director of Incrementium Advisors, Mike Smith leads the firm’s delivery of strategic and human capital consulting services to defense companies. He began his career in the U.S. Navy and holds over 20 years of private sector experience.

Smith recently participated in an interview with the Potomac Officers Club, in which he discussed his career background, revealed his leadership strategy and shared his advice for those entering the government contracting industry.

In this excerpt from the interview, Smith considers the importance of learning from setbacks:

“When the capture team misses out on a down-select, when the technical solution fails verification and when a colleague makes an honest mistake is the exact time for the leader to step up, step in and embrace those failures. The idea of committing unique failures and learning from them is essential to determining pathways to success. The ones who own the lessons are the same people who now need to be uplifted. They need light, not heat. If leadership’s response causes the team to disengage, I guarantee that the failure will be repeated.”

For more of Smith’s insights, read the full Executive Spotlight interview on the Potomac Officers Club website.

Do you want to participate in your own Executive Spotlight interview? Potomac Officers Club members have exclusive access to this brand-building opportunity and many more benefits. Click here to explore our membership options and discover which one is right for you.

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DARPA Accepting Abstracts for Space-WATCH Program’s Automated Data Fusion Technical Area
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DARPA Accepting Abstracts for Space-WATCH Program’s Automated Data Fusion Technical Area

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting abstracts for the second technical area of the Space-domain Wide Area Tracking and Characterization, or the Space-WATCH program.

Space-WATCH seeks to facilitate real-time persistent tracking of all objects in low Earth orbit to inform ground-based operators of any anomaly and enable them to plan and carry out appropriate actions, DARPA said Wednesday.

Real-Time Automated Data Fusion and Exploitation is the second technical area — TA2 — of the Space-WATCH program and aims to generate alerts on tactically actionable timescales and develop a level of space domain awareness that enables the protection of on-orbit assets in an evolving environment.

DARPA is considering multiple awards in the form of an other transaction authority agreement for the technical area and wants vendors to build data service applications designed to curate, deduce and fuse sensor data collected from data-as-a-service product offerings.

Abstracts are due Feb. 8.

POC - 2024 Space Summit

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Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Amazon Subjected to FTC Inquiry Into AI, Cloud Investments
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Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Amazon Subjected to FTC Inquiry Into AI, Cloud Investments

Five companies received compulsory orders from the Federal Trade Commission as part of an investigation into their direct investments and partnerships with generative artificial intelligence and cloud service providers.

The commission announced Thursday that it launched an inquiry involving Alphabet, the publicly traded entity of Google, as well as Amazon, Anthropic PBC, Microsoft and OpenAI to better understand their relationships with AI companies and their implications.

The FTC unanimously voted to launch the Section 6(b) inquiry in light of multibillion-dollar partnerships between Anthropic and Amazon, Anthropic and Google and Microsoft and OpenAI.

The agency seeks to understand their strategic rationale; practical implications including for products, governance and oversight rights; and competitive dynamics.

The companies have 45 days upon receipt of the order to respond to FTC.

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Barriers to Defense Contracting Persist for Startups
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Barriers to Defense Contracting Persist for Startups

Silicon Valley tech startups have recently grown more interested in federal contracts, but despite significant investments from venture capitalists, many of these companies have struggled to break into the defense contracting ecosystem, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

In fiscal year 2023, startups represented only 1 percent of the $411 billion in contracts issued by the U.S. Department of Defense. This percentage is a modest increase from the year before, during which startups received just half a percent of the department’s total contract spending, according to Govini data.

To confront the barriers making it difficult for startups to do business with the DOD, interested companies have engaged in lobbying efforts and are working to forge relationships with defense officials.

While progress has been slow, the DOD has taken multiple steps designed to open up contract opportunities to nontraditional partners.

Replicator, a drone acquisition project, offers a potential entry point for startups seeking access to the defense market. The DOD has also increased its focus on the Defense Innovation Unit, which is dedicated to accelerating the department’s adoption of industry technologies.

Thomas Browning, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of defense for mission capabilities, acknowledged the challenges of penetrating the existing ecosystem and highlighted the department’s efforts to open it up.

DIU Director Doug Beck expressed a desire for these goals to advance more quickly but noted that the DOD is now “absolutely on the right track.”

Some startups, however, have successfully overcome the challenges of booking federal contracts. Drone startup Skydio secured a $100 million Army award and Epirus, a developer of technology intended to take down drone swarms, received a $66 million Army contract last year.

NOAA, USPTO Agree to Expand Collaboration on Advancing Climate Technology
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NOAA, USPTO Agree to Expand Collaboration on Advancing Climate Technology

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have signed a memorandum of agreement to continue collaborating on advancing climate technology.

Under the partnership, NOAA and USPTO will codify their employee exchange program and strengthen collaborative programs, data-sharing and policies that support climate-related initiatives, NOAA said Wednesday.

As part of the employee exchange program, experts at the USPTO work with the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office to provide intellectual property training for the agency’s scientific workforce

In turn, a NOAA climate expert provides training to USPTO patent examiners who review patent applications for climate and environmental technologies.

“Together with the USPTO we can assure that intellectual property protection of new ideas will enhance the advancements and benefit all of the nation,” said Rick Spinrad, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

“Only by working with climate innovators — such as our incredible colleagues at NOAA — can we protect innovation with intellectual property and attract the investment needed to make a meaningful impact,” said Kathi Vidal, undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO.

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Final GOES-R Series Satellite to Undergo Processing in Florida Ahead of April Launch
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Final GOES-R Series Satellite to Undergo Processing in Florida Ahead of April Launch

The GOES-U spacecraft has arrived in Florida, where it will undergo final processing ahead of its launch — set to take place no earlier than April 30.

The spacecraft was transported by military aircraft to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 23 and was then moved to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, where it will be fueled, mated to a payload adapter and encapsulated in a payload fairing, NASA said Tuesday.

GOES-U is the fourth and final member of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series, the latest in a line of weather observation and environmental monitoring satellites that date back to 1975. Once online, GOES-U is expected to keep the GOES satellite system operationally available until 2036.

At present, only GOES-R and GOES-T are in operation, with GOES-S serving as primary backup to both.

The GOES-R Series satellites are built by Lockheed Martin and operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The primary instrument on the spacecraft, called the Advanced Baseline Imager, and the ground systems are both provided by L3Harris Technologies.

GOES-R Series launches are managed by NASA. For GOES-U, the launch provider is SpaceX.

New DARPA Program to Establish Digital Regulatory Framework for Pharmaceutical Products
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New DARPA Program to Establish Digital Regulatory Framework for Pharmaceutical Products

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program to demonstrate a digital regulatory approval framework for pharmaceutical products produced on a single reprogrammable manufacturing hardware.

DARPA said Wednesday the Establishing Qualification Processes for Agile Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, or EQUIP-A-Pharma, program will support up to four pilot agile pharmaceutical manufacturing sites to produce data necessary to inform the development of a real-time regulatory approval framework.

Vishnu Sundaresan, DARPA’s program manager for EQUIP-A-Pharma, said the initiative aims to bridge the “valley of death” for medical products developed under DARPA’s Battlefield Medicine, Make-It and Accelerated Molecular Discovery programs.

“Our aim is to provide the data necessary to help in the development of a regulatory framework for agile pharmaceutical manufacturing,” said Sundaresan.

DARPA has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to initiate the effort.

A draft solicitation for the program has been posted on SAM.gov and responses are due Feb. 20.

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SEC Seeks to Improve Investor Protection in SPAC IPOs With New Rules; Gary Gensler Quoted
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SEC Seeks to Improve Investor Protection in SPAC IPOs With New Rules; Gary Gensler Quoted

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released new rules and amendments to improve investor protection in initial public offerings, or IPOs, of special purpose acquisition companies and de-SPAC transactions, or merger transactions between target companies and SPACs.

The newly adopted rules will require disclosures about SPAC sponsor compensation, conflicts of interest and dilution, among others, and direct registrants to provide additional data about the target company to help investors make more informed decisions regarding de-SPAC transactions, SEC said Wednesday.

According to SEC, the rules also include disclosure requirements related to projections associated with de-SPAC deals and update guidance on the use of projections in all SEC filings.

“Today’s adoption will help ensure that the rules for SPACs are substantially aligned with those of traditional IPOs, enhancing investor protection through three areas: disclosure, use of projections, and issuer obligations,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

“Taken together, these steps will help protect investors by addressing information asymmetries, misleading information, and conflicts of interest in SPAC and de-SPAC transactions,” added Gensler.

The rules will take effect 125 days after publication in the Federal Register.

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DOJ, GSA, Armed Forces Retirement Home Secure TMF Investments; Clare Martorana Quoted
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DOJ, GSA, Armed Forces Retirement Home Secure TMF Investments; Clare Martorana Quoted

The Technology Modernization Fund has made investments worth about $71.2 million combined in the Department of Justice, General Services Administration and the Armed Forces Retirement Home, or AFRH, to help the agencies improve customer service and deliver secure services to the public.

DOJ’s Antitrust Division will receive $45.5 million in TMF funding to improve its internal information technology service management platform, simplify the public complaints process, enhance its case management systems and acquire and field updated review systems, GSA said Wednesday.

GSA will implement a modernized architecture and address security vulnerabilities facing its eRulemaking Program using TMF investment worth $19.7 million.

AFRH will implement a modernized electronic health record system using $6 million in TMF funding to help improve the delivery of health care services to residents.

“These TMF investments will strengthen cybersecurity, reduce burden for the Federal workforce so they can focus on mission, and improve trust with the millions counting on the DOJ, GSA, and the Armed Forces Retirement Home to deliver government services,” said Clare Martorana, federal chief information officer, board chair of TMF and a previous Wash100 awardee.

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New HHS Cybersecurity Performance Goals Designed to Strengthen Public Health Entities’ IT Infrastructure
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New HHS Cybersecurity Performance Goals Designed to Strengthen Public Health Entities’ IT Infrastructure

The Department of Health and Human Services issued voluntary cybersecurity performance goals and launched a gateway website to guide healthcare and public health organizations in defending their IT infrastructure.

HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response on Wednesday published the performance goals to ensure the implementation of layered protection and other high-impact cybersecurity practices.

The goals are based on standards including the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework, Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices and the National Cybersecurity Strategy and Implementation Plan.

Among the objectives are conducting basic IT defense training, removing departing personnel’s access to apps, setting up e-mail security perimeters and applying network segmentation techniques.

“The actions announced today make it easier for health care organizations to protect patients by prioritizing those key cybersecurity practices upon which they should focus their efforts,” HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell commented.

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