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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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Over 35 Federal & Private Organizations Come Together for National AI Research Resource Pilot
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Over 35 Federal & Private Organizations Come Together for National AI Research Resource Pilot

The National Science Foundation is leading the launch of a pilot program aimed at giving U.S.-based researchers and educators access to artificial intelligence technologies, training and user support.

The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot involves NSF and 10 other federal agencies, as well as 25 organizations from the private sector and nonprofit and philanthropic backgrounds, the foundation said Wednesday.

NAIRR will foster AI discovery and innovation by facilitating data access and bridging R&D professionals, NSF stated. Arati Prabhakar, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology and Wash100 inductee, explained that the pilot “will give researchers access to critical data and compute, catalyzing action to achieve America’s great aspirations.”

“The pilot program is a critical step in driving usage of HW & SW with AI Technologies. Intel is looking forward to sharing deep technical knowledge on the usage of Intel platforms (CPU, GPU, accelerators, and other ecosystem ingredients), software tools, and optimization support which are critical for NAIRR initiatives,” remarked Steve Orrin, chief technology officer of Intel‘s federal business, one of the partners in the pilot program.

Kathleen Fisher, director of the Information Innovation Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also shared DARPA’s role as a pilot partner. “National security applications of AI will require high levels of trust and proficiency. By providing the NAIRR pilot datasets cultivated through DARPA programs, we aim to accelerate research in critical areas of interest to the Department of Defense, such as AI theory, AI engineering and human-AI teaming,” said Fisher, who will be one of the speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit.

The summit, which aims to address the increasing adoption of AI in the federal sector, will take place on March 21 in Falls Church, Virginia. Register now to be part of the event.

POC - 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit
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Pentagon Awards 2 Contracts to Help Enhance Semiconductor Packaging Capabilities
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Pentagon Awards 2 Contracts to Help Enhance Semiconductor Packaging Capabilities

The Department of Defense has awarded two contracts worth $49 million combined to Micross Components and the government of Osceola County in Florida to improve packaging capacity and capabilities for semiconductors used in defense operations.

DOD said Wednesday it made the awards through IBAS, or the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, and as part of the Re-shore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics, or RESHAPE initiative.

“Revitalizing a semiconductor advanced packaging manufacturing ecosystem in the U.S. is critical to enabling the Department’s weapon system development and manufacturing partners across industry to support our warfighters,” said Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary for industrial base policy at DOD.

“It will also enable lower volume manufacturing commercial markets across the U.S. to advance their products and to assist in sustaining these critical manufacturing capabilities,” added Kale.

The department said the contracts focus on high-mix or low-volume production of 2.5 and 3D advanced packaging platforms for semiconductors and support the National Defense Industrial Strategy’s priority to develop resilient supply chains.

New Biden Administration Actions Aim to Help Small Businesses Access Government Contracts
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New Biden Administration Actions Aim to Help Small Businesses Access Government Contracts

The Biden administration has taken steps to make major government contracts more accessible for small businesses.

These actions include the introduction of new guidance from the Office of Management and Budget and a Small Business Administration effort to enhance a technical assistance program, the White House said Thursday.

OMB’s guidance is intended to push federal agencies to embrace strategies that would help small businesses to take part in multiple-award contracts, which account for almost 20 percent, or $160 billion, of government contract funds.

The office suggests three ways agencies can open up small business opportunities, which include engaging and planning for multiple-award contracts earlier; expanding the consideration of “on-ramps” to enable the admittance of new companies during a contract’s performance period; and leveraging small business set aside orders.

To diversify technical assistance opportunities for these organizations, the SBA will optimize its Empower to Grow, or E2G, program, which is open to small disadvantaged businesses in low income or high unemployment areas.

Upgrades will include a customizable one-on-one training offering that will lead small businesses through the contract bidding process and host networking and matchmaking events between government organizations and prime contractors.

Last fiscal year, the E2G program supported 6,000 small businesses and assisted 2,000 small businesses that sought to cultivate their presence in federal contracting. On average, small businesses that participated in the program saw their annual revenue grow by 45 percent.

These steps forward follow multiple small business-focused actions taken by the Biden administration in 2023, including the expansion of the SBA’s Small Business Lending Company program and the Department of the Treasury’s State Small Business Initiative, among other efforts.

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