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Jason Rathje: DOD Strategic Capital Office Polishes Investment Strategy for Critical Tech Areas
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Jason Rathje: DOD Strategic Capital Office Polishes Investment Strategy for Critical Tech Areas

Jason Rathje, director of the Department of Defense Office of Strategic Capital, said that OSC is prioritizing semiconductors and other commercial technology areas that are likely to maximize the value of their loan guarantees to venture capitalists, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

OSC, which was established in December, was ordered by Defense Secretary and Wash100 awardee Lloyd Austin to select 14 technology areas for investment to enhance DOD’s capabilities.

The office is looking into artificial intelligence, quantum science, advanced materials, biotechnology and space and integrated networks, which are all already at the top of DOD’s list.

OSC’s strategic advisory council will convene for the first time this month to review its investment strategy, assess its progress and discuss potential partnerships with other federal agencies that have experience using government-backed loan programs.

“As we learn more about what these technology areas can actually provide, even though they are commercially enabling technologies, those capabilities need to be included in requirements, planning decisions and programming decisions because we’ll learn more about what is available in the commercial market,” Rathje explained.

Lawmakers Propose Legislation to Prevent Government Shutdowns
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Lawmakers Propose Legislation to Prevent Government Shutdowns

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., have introduced legislation meant to prevent government shutdowns and alleviate their impact on federal employees, government contractors and the U.S. public.

The End Shutdowns Act would initiate an automatic continuing resolution if no full-year appropriations bill is passed by Oct. 1 and prohibit consideration of other legislation in the Senate during a lapse in appropriations, Kaine’s office said Wednesday.

“Government shutdowns have disastrous consequences for federal employees and government contractors and slow down critical government services that millions of Americans rely on like getting replacement Social Security cards and food inspections. But politicians continue to use or threaten to use government shutdowns as a negotiating tactic,” Kaine said.

Beyer added that shutting down the government would cause “lasting damage to our economy” and uncertainty for civil servants and their families.

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MITRE Seeks to Improve Airport Surface Safety With 2 Prototype Apps
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MITRE Seeks to Improve Airport Surface Safety With 2 Prototype Apps

MITRE has built two prototypes designed to help the Federal Aviation Administration improve safety on the airport surface by mitigating runway incursions through aircraft movement monitoring and issuance of alerts to air traffic controllers and pilots.

One of the technologies is an application that works on a tablet computer and could provide pilots with turn-by-turn guidance, MITRE said Wednesday.

The app prototype is part of a set of cognitive assistance systems for pilots and could issue alerts if pilots get off course.

The other beta program, called Argus, is designed to help air traffic controllers monitor the airport surface.

“Argus can monitor for conformance with the assigned taxi route and alert the controller if the pilot deviates from it,” said John Helleberg, group leader for the transportation human-centered experimentation at MITRE.

“Our prototype works using only an iPad and a low-cost, commercially available receiver called Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast, or ADS-B. That device picks up the position information aircraft broadcast using similar equipment,” Helleberg noted.

With Argus, controllers can see a map of the airport surface and aircraft positions on their iPad screens and digitally produce taxi routes in various ways.

Unanet Report Highlights Positive Trends in GovCon Landscape; GovCon Expert Kim Koster Quoted
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Unanet Report Highlights Positive Trends in GovCon Landscape; GovCon Expert Kim Koster Quoted

Unanet’s annual GAUGE Report has illuminated “growing optimism” within the government contracting community.

Created in collaboration with CohnReznick LLP, this 7th iteration of the report focused on the impact of accurate forecasting on business success, Unanet announced from its Dulles, Virginia headquarters on Thursday.

“The GAUGE Report gives our industry unique insights into what keeps GovCons up at night, and increasingly we’re finding they need better predictions about the future so they can plan how and where to deploy their resources, talent and energy,” explained Unanet Vice President of GovCon Strategy Kim Koster, who co-authored the report and is also one of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Experts.

This year, the report found that 72 percent of respondents felt positively about the current GovCon business landscape, an increase from the previous year. Complementing this figure is the significant number of firms that experienced growth, which was reported by 70 percent of respondents. More than one third of respondents noted expansion through mergers and acquisitions as a major focus area for their companies.

To leverage these trends, GovCon organizations are looking to improve their resource management and forecasting capabilities, the report found. One way they are doing so is by implementing a centralized project management office model.

Koster said these findings demonstrate that project-based enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management tools that promote compliance, security and advanced accounting can boost business performance for GovCon organizations.

“We can see the improvements GovCons reap, and the wins they achieve, after implementing modern technology tools,” she said.

Unanet Report Highlights Positive Trends in GovCon Landscape; GovCon Expert Kim Koster Quoted

Unanet is sponsoring GovCon Wire’s Fireside Chat With the DCMA on Nov. 1. During the event, Koster will come together with Lt. Gen. David Bassett, director of the Defense Contract Management Agency, to discuss the organization’s role in the increasingly important government contracting space. To learn more and register to attend the event, click here.

It’s Time to Know Altamira’s Leaders, Founders, Execs: Who Are They?
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It’s Time to Know Altamira’s Leaders, Founders, Execs: Who Are They?

Altamira Technologies Corporation, known to many as Altamira Technologies, boasts an exceptional leadership team working together to advance national security missions. The company’s executives grow along with the business. Meet Altamira’s leaders, founders, & execs who support the nation’s security objectives with space-based, cyber, operations, and intelligence tradecraft solutions.

 

Altamira’s Leaders, Founders, Execs: Who Are They?

Get to know Altamira’s leaders, founders, & execs below and see why they qualify in such positions.

 

Jane Chappell, Chief Executive Officer

Jane Chappell, Chief Executive Officer

Jane Chappell is Altamira Technologies’ CEO. She ensures that the company delivers important solutions to their current customers. Hence, expanding its capabilities for new customers and critical programs. Ms. Chappell has worked in various engineering and management positions and joined Altamira after 39 years of career in the aerospace and defense industry.

Before becoming Altamira’s CEO, Chapell was Raytheon’s Vice President of the Global Intelligence Solutions (GSIS) mission area. She served on the Board of Directors of Raytheon Australia Pty Ltd. from 2015 to 2019 and Raytheon Systems Ltd. from 2008 to 2011.

 

Adam Omar, Chief Financial Officer

Adam Omar, Chief Financial Officer

As the CFO, Omar oversees the company’s finances, accounting, treasury, tax, contracts, and compliance. Under Omar’s leadership, Altamira has become more resilient, agile, and stronger. He has over 25 years of  financial management and business operations experience in both government and commercial markets.

As a Certified Public Accountant, he held CFO positions at CyberCore Technologies, PlanetRisk, and Orchestro. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a record of developing and implementing business strategies, managing finances, and leading mergers and acquisitions for various segments.

 

Blaine Worthington, Chief Operating Officer

Blaine Worthington, Chief Operating Officer

As the COO, Blaine Worthington oversees the company’s intelligence business operations. He drives the overall business results and ensures everything runs smoothly from advancing major pursuits, to identifying new task order opportunities. 

Worthington joined Altamira in 2013 as VP for procurement and delivery lifecycle for contracts, and promoted to SVP, focusing on the company’s defense portfolio. He managed large acquisition programs worth millions of dollars and skilled at building and leading high-performing teams. He helped expand the Ohio office from 10 employees to a team of 225.

 

Jay Hebert, Senior Executive

Jay Hebert, Senior Executive

Jay Hebert is Altamira Technologies Corp.’s Senior Executive. He is responsible for combining the Virginia Systems and Technology (VaST) Portfolio with Altamira’s operations. Previously, Herbert was the President and Chief Executive Officer of VaST for 23 years. 

VaST is a company he co-founded in 1999 that became a top establishment dealing with SIGINT and COMINT Mission Operations and has over 200 employees. In March 2023, VaST was acquired by Altamira Technologies. 

 

 

Richard Campos, Senior Vice President of Business Development

Richard Campos, SVP for Business Development

Richard Campos is the SVP for Business Development. He communicates Altamira’s growth strategy effectively and delivers value to shareholders. With an engineering and program management background, he leads with a growth mindset.

Campos is focused on building strong customer relationships and achieving mission success, making him a valuable asset to the leadership team. He spent 20 years at Raytheon, starting as a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead before becoming the Director of a billion-dollar National Cyber Program.

 

Zachary Jones, Chief Technology Officer

Zachary Jones, Chief Technology Officer

Zachary Jones is the company’s CTO, bringing a wealth of experience in the defense intelligence community. He has worked in various engineering roles for over two decades. Before Altamira, he spent 14 years at Virginia Systems and Technology, Inc. (VaST), as the first software engineer in 2009. 

During this time, Jones led a team of 70 engineers as the Director of Mission Engineering and served on the VaST Board of Directors. Jones’ focus is creating mission-based government solutions that are user-friendly and accessible to any government hosting environment. 

 

 

Caroline McConnell, Chief Human Capital Officer

Caroline McConnell, Chief Human Capital Officer

Caroline McConnell is the Chief Human Capital Officer of Altamira Technologies, responsible for helping employees succeed in their careers. She develops and guides Altamira’s ideas on how to manage and keep talented employees.

This includes company’s benefits, rewards for excellent work, training, and opportunities for promotion. McConnell has over 30 years of experience managing human resources and has held positions at different government contractors in Washington, D.C., such as LabCorp and Metamor-PSINet. 

 

 

(Above Executive Photos from Altamira Technologies Corporation’s Official Website)

 

Customers of Altamira Technologies Corporation

Customers of Altamira Technologies Corporation
Photo by Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock

Virginia-based Altamira Technologies’ keen focus on government contracts has served the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense customers for over two decades. Here are some of the federal agencies that Altamira Technologies Corporation serve:

National Air & Space Intelligence Center (NASIC)

Altamira supports NASIC by bringing new ideas and technology to improve analytics, software development, and scientific demonstrations. As NASIC’s missions progress and continue to work to safeguard the country, Altamira provides innovative methods to gather intelligence and share it with NASIC and its partners.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

The NGA awarded a contract to Altamira to survey the ocean and detect illegal activities related to maritime traffic in the Southern Command area. Altamira is among the four prime contractors on the VOXGLO II. 

This is a contract with the National Security Agency’s Research Directorate (NSA RD) at Fort Meade, Maryland. It had a contract ceiling of $375 million and a period of performance out to October 2020.

National Security Agency (NSA)

Altamira supports the NSA with its various mission programs. The company was one of the four prime awardees for the VOXGLO II contract worth $375 million with the NSA RD at Fort Meade, Maryland.

U.S. Space Force

Altamira was awarded an $8.5 million contract by the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) for the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) Mission Data Processing Applications Provider (MDPAP). 

Altamira developed a prototype of mission data processing capabilities through the contract for a new ground control system supporting the current Space Based Infrared System and future Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) missile warning satellite constellation.

U.S. Army

Altamira has been delivering C4ISR solutions to the U.S. Army since 2008. Altamira was a prime contractor for the U.S. Army’s Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) IDIQ contract, worth $37.4 billion over ten years. 

The contract allowed government programs to access Altamira’s expertise in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities.

U.S. Air Force

Altamira was a prime contractor for the U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, Administrative Assistant’s Concept, Development, and Management Office (SAF/CDM) Analytical and Technical (A&T) Services Contract. The contract was worth $950 million over ten years. 

Altamira’s expertise in advanced analytics and research and development contributes to the Secretary of the Air Force’s mission to innovate and create opportunities within the Department of Defense.

U.S. Navy

Altamira won a prime contract worth $6 million to maintain and sustain the Geographic Information System (GIS) and GeoReadiness Explorer (GRX) for the U.S. Naval Facilities Command (NAVFAC) Southeast. The multi-year contract involved providing onsite technical support for the GEOINT systems.

The aim is to improve decision-making and facilities management across the U.S. Navy’s Installation and Environment domain. Altamira’s partnership with NAVFAC allowed the company to utilize its mission-centric GEOINT capabilities to benefit stakeholders within the national security community.

 

Read more about Altamira Technologies Corp.’s latest government contracting wins here

 

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NIST Fields Input on Proposed National Emerging Tech Standards Strategy
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NIST Fields Input on Proposed National Emerging Tech Standards Strategy

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking industry input regarding its plan to implement the United States Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology.

In a request for information issued Thursday, NIST invited external feedback on the potential risks and benefits of U.S. participation in developing standards for CET, and how the government can use its research and development budget to aid such activities.

USGNSSCET encompasses communication and networks, semiconductors and microelectronics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, biotechnologies and quantum computing. It also covers positioning, navigating and timing systems, digital identity infrastructure and clean energy generation and storage.

The strategy aims to enforce transparency, impartiality, effectiveness, relevance and coherence in the industry. It will build on existing CET standards in the private sector, such as the American National Standards Institute United States Standards Strategy.

The RFI will close in 60 days.

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CISA Releases Guidance to Help Mitigate DDoS Attacks Against Web Services
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CISA Releases Guidance to Help Mitigate DDoS Attacks Against Web Services

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has released guidance for evaluating and mitigating the risk of distributed denial-of-service attacks against various agency websites and web services.

The Capacity Enhancement Guide: Volumetric DDoS Against Web Services Technical Guidance aims to help agencies prioritize DDoS mitigations based on mission impact and make risk-informed decisions on using available resources most effectively, CISA said Wednesday.

CISA recommends that agencies use the document as a reference when conducting an impact analysis to inform the prioritization of protections for agency assets and choosing the appropriate security controls to address the risks to organizational operations.

Federal civilian executive branch agencies are encouraged to review the guidance and apply the recommendations to protect their websites and web services against DDoS attacks.

NTIA Wants Industry Perspective on Federal Spectrum Data System Modernization
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NTIA Wants Industry Perspective on Federal Spectrum Data System Modernization

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has begun seeking information on potential industry sources to modernize NTIA’s software systems used to manage radio frequency spectrum use of federal agencies.

A notice posted Wednesday on SAM.gov states that NTIA aims to develop a modernized Federal Spectrum Data System composed of user-capability areas to reduce manual manipulations and automate the decision-making process for spectrum management.

NTIA’s current systems are inadequate to meet the demands of advanced technologies, such as deploying 5G, advancing space commerce and securing spectrum-dependent government missions, according to the request for information.

“We can meet these and future spectrum demands by upgrading our systems to the latest technical platforms; improving the security and scalability of NTIA spectrum systems; improving accessibility of spectrum data; and developing advanced analytical tools and engineering models; and automating workflows,” the RFI reads.

The FSDS must be secure and include updated optimization and assessment applications to promote the effectiveness of spectrum use across the federal government.

Interested parties have until Oct. 5 to respond to the RFI.

Lt. Gen. James Slife Nominated as Air Force Vice Chief of Staff
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Lt. Gen. James Slife Nominated as Air Force Vice Chief of Staff

President Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. James Slife, deputy chief of staff for operations of the U.S. Air Force, for assignment as the service branch’s next vice chief of staff and promotion to the rank of general, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Wednesday.

If confirmed, Slife would succeed Gen. David Allvin, who was nominated to replace Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as chief of staff of the Air Force.

Slife’s special operations aviation assignments include commander of Air Force Special Operations Command; chief of staff and vice commander of U.S. Special Operations Command; and vice director of strategy, plans and policy of U.S. Central Command.

As a command pilot, Slife has logged over 3,100 flying hours in aircraft models, including the MH-53 combat search and rescue helicopter and the MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft.

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Maj. Gens. David Miller, Sean Farrell Nominated to Space Operations Command, USSOCOM Leadership Roles
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Maj. Gens. David Miller, Sean Farrell Nominated to Space Operations Command, USSOCOM Leadership Roles

President Joe Biden has nominated Maj. Gen. David Miller to lead Space Operations Command and Maj. Gen. Sean Farrell to serve as deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

The administration also pushed for the promotion of Miller and Farrell to the rank of lieutenant general, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Miller is special assistant to the vice chief of space operations within the U.S. Space Force. 

Prior to this role, he was director of operations, training and force development, J3, within Space Command at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado. He previously served as assistant deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear and senior military assistant to the secretary of the Air Force.

Farrell currently serves as deputy commanding general of Joint Special Operations Command.

He previously directed force structure, requirements, resources and strategic assessments at USSOCOM and was head of the Air Force’s security assistance and cooperation directorate.

Farrell additionally commanded the 1st Special Operations Wing, 27th Special Operations Group and the 16th Special Operations Squadron.

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