/
Baird 2022 Government & Defense Conference Speakers Unveiled
Published on
Baird 2022 Government & Defense Conference Speakers Unveiled

The speaker roster for financial services company Baird’s upcoming 2022 Government & Defense Conference has been released and it is stocked with some of the biggest names in government contracting and the federal sector.

The Nov. 17 gathering includes detailed information sessions and expansive panel discussions centered on space, the U.S. Intelligence Community and defense technology innovation, among other focus areas. It will also, of course, feature opportunities for those in attendance to network and convene regarding the day’s topics and career opportunities.

Wash100 Award winners John Mengucci of CACI International, Byron Bright of KBR and Jonathan Moneymaker of Blue Halo, as well as Baird’s own Jean Stack and John Song, are among the marquee attractions in the Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner-hosted event’s itinerary.

Song, a managing director at Baird, will commence the day’s offerings, followed by Stack shortly thereafter speaking on issues of government and defense mergers and acquisitions while providing observations about the state of the market.

Both executives will go on to moderate multiple other dialogues, including a one-on-one breakdown of the 2022 national defense strategy between Song and Michael McCord, Undersecretary of Defense (Comptroller) and chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Defense.

After lunch, Stack will engage in an overview of autonomous systems company Shield AI’s company outlook with its co-founder and CEO, Ryan Tseng. Toward the end of the day, Song will lead a talk that assembles three major figures in the GovCon industry: DMI CEO and founder Sunny Bajaj, Unison CEO and President Reid Jackson and Systems Planning and Analysis CEO and President William Vantine.

Prior to the latter discussion, which will primarily examine lessons gleaned from M&A deals, the aforementioned Bright will join his KBR colleague, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mark Sopp in a conversation about the most recent wins and progress made by their company. Directly after, in the same space, Moneymaker is slated to speak with Raytheon executive James Moreland and DOD leader Chris O’Donnell about the joint force as it relates to optimizing missions.

Closing out the forum, Mengucci will speak about recent developments at CACI, before two culminating panels moderated by Baird figureheads.

If you would like to register for the 2022 Baird Government & Defense Conference, click here.

//
Five GovCon Leaders Offer Advice for Industry Success
Published on
Five GovCon Leaders Offer Advice for Industry Success

Alongside the immense growth defining the current state of the government contracting industry, competition between companies has become more intense than ever.

Executive Mosaic compiled advice from five industry leaders, all Wash100 Award winners, in a new video. Their answers offer important insight on ways to succeed in this increasingly competitive field.

The video features Peraton CEO Stu Shea, AT&T Public Sector Vice President of Defense and National Security Jill Singer, QinetiQ U.S. CEO Shawn Purvis, SAIC CEO Nazzic Keene and Constellis CEO Terry Ryan.

Shea, Purvis and Keene stressed the importance of creating and continuously building a wide network while maintaining respect for others, even when they are direct competitors.

“I always encourage folks to create a network of mentors and advisors,” said Keene. She described these connections as a way for those established in the industry to “give back” and for newcomers to receive guidance as they begin their journey.

Singer emphasized the importance of constantly evaluating and updating industry knowledge, while Ryan discussed the necessity of understanding each customer’s priorities and regulations.

“The pace is difficult to keep up with,” Singer said. “Be committed to your ongoing education.”

Click here for even more advice and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

/
ECS Secures $430M AESS Recompete by Army Cyber Command; President John Heneghan Quoted
Published on
ECS Secures $430M AESS Recompete by Army Cyber Command; President John Heneghan Quoted

ECS announced on Thursday that the company has secured a potential five-year, $430 million recompete contract from the U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) to support the next generation of the Army Endpoint Security Solution (AESS) platform.

 “AESS 2.0 will not only improve the security of Army networks, but also enhance the Army’s threat intelligence capabilities by enabling the solution to integrate with the Army’s big data platform, GABRIEL NIMBUS, as well as other Department of Defense (DoD) data platforms,” John Heneghan, president of ECS and a 2022 Wash100 Award.

ECS will expand the system’s endpoint detection and response capabilities and create a unified asset management system providing increased visibility and management of all network devices managing the Comply to Connect (C2C) systems.

AESS protects up to 800K endpoints across the Army unclassified and classified networks. AESS 2.0 will provide the Army unified visibility and reporting across the enterprise networks to better optimize compliance, threat detection, investigation, and response.

John Heneghan emphasized how ECS has provided ARCYBER with industry-leading managed IT and cybersecurity services for the last six years. Meanwhile, ECS DoD Cybersecurity Vice President Mark Maglin discussed how the company’s open architecture allows for continuous innovation and integration in collaboration and partnership with ARCYBER and NETCOM.

“Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, and with AESS 2.0, ECS is collaborating with ARCYBER and the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) to deliver a zero-trust solution to help the Army defend its unified networks against these emerging threats,” said Maglin.

As the AESS managed services provider (MSP), ECS provides the Army with traditional and advanced protections (such as data loss prevention, extended detection and response, and machine learning), threat prevention, web control, firewall, and adaptive threat protection.

About ECS 

ECS, ASGN’s federal government segment, delivers advanced solutions in cybersecurity, data and artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, application and IT modernization, science, and engineering.

The company solves critical, complex challenges for customers across the U.S. public sector, defense, intelligence, and commercial industries. ECS maintains partnerships with leading cloud, cybersecurity, and AI/ML providers and holds specialized certifications in their technologies.

//
Andrew Manos Joins True Zero Technologies as Director of Commercial and SLED Services; Mike Fluharty Quoted
Published on
Andrew Manos Joins True Zero Technologies as Director of Commercial and SLED Services; Mike Fluharty Quoted

Andrew Manos has joined cybersecurity consulting firm True Zero Technologies as its director of commercial and SLED services.

In this new role, Manos will guide the development, management and go-to-market strategy of the veteran-owned company’s commercial business, SLED business, and OEM partnerships, the Annandale, Virginia-based company announced on Thursday.

“Andrew’s extensive experience spans a broad range of professional and managed services customer success journeys, including technical enablement, cloud security model development, and cybersecurity technology management,” said True Zero Technologies President Mike Fluharty.

He emphasized Manos’ proven performance in leading strategic innovation and programmatic revisions in both commercial and SLED areas.

Throughout his two decades in the industry, Manos has held numerous leadership positions. Most recently, he served as vice president of public sector customer engagement at Tanium, during which he led a team responsible for $120 million in recurring annual contract value.

He also participated in the company’s organization’s Manager Accelerator program to further expand his management expertise during his time with the company.

Before joining Tanium, Manos supervised worldwide technical sales for IBM’s Watson Customer Engagement department. Other previous roles include an enterprise architect role at USinternetworking, during which he grew to guide its enterprise applications technical pre-sales team in supporting Global 2000 companies and his first career position as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse, where he directed company IT implementations for its customers.

Additionally, he worked with Kronos, which has since been acquired by UKG, for 10 years, beginning as a practice director and moving to director of cloud services and then with Social Solutions, a company focused on providing cloud technology to social service organizations, as vice president of professional services.

True Zero CTO Jon Cooper emphasized the organization’s excitement in bringing Manos on board.

“His impact enabling tailored, strategic initiatives continues to enforce our commitment to cybersecurity enablement and innovation for our customers and their missions,” Cooper said.

/
Report: GSA Plans New Contract Vehicle for Small Business Tech Procurement
Published on
Report: GSA Plans New Contract Vehicle for Small Business Tech Procurement

Jim Ghiloni, a group manager at the General Services Administration’s FedSIM program, said the agency is planning to create a new contract vehicle that would enable federal agencies to access new technologies developed through the Small Business Innovation Research program, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

He said the proposed Research, Innovation and Outcomes contract would serve as a vehicle for small businesses to market their SBIR products to agencies with requirements that match their capabilities.

Through the envisioned contract, agencies can issue a task order or make direct awards to companies that have completed Phase III of the SBIR program.

“If agency has a legitimate requirement, we can very quickly execute a contract for them and they can go out and get that task order and get going. It’s not going to be something that’s one and done every 10 years,” Ghiloni said.

GSA issued a request for information on the potential contract vehicle in July.

/
DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office Seeks Info on Commercial Tech Development
Published on
DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office Seeks Info on Commercial Tech Development

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Strategic Technology Office has begun seeking information from industry partners capable of developing new systems and concepts designed to deliver enhanced defense capabilities.

STO is looking to develop technologies in five research areas, which are advanced active and passive sensing; battlefield effects; command, control and communications; empowered human decision-making; and system of autonomous systems, according to a notice posted Tuesday on SAM.gov.

The office wants to utilize commercial advancements in advanced microelectronics, applied machine learning and artificial intelligence, computing devices, distributed autonomy and teaming and other emerging technologies.

Interested parties from academia, the private sector and government have until Jan. 20 to respond to the request for information.

Rep. Michael McCaul Requires Information on BIS’ Semiconductor Export Rules
Published on
Rep. Michael McCaul Requires Information on BIS’ Semiconductor Export Rules

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, has requested the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security to provide information on its recently issued export controls on certain advanced computing semiconductor equipment.

McCaul, a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the licensing data will enable Congress to assess how BIS is implementing the controls and determine the effectiveness of the rule enforcement in preventing China from misappropriating U.S. critical technology.

“By receiving this information, we can assess whether the spirit of these rules is being implemented effectively or undermined by an overly lax licensing process,” McCaul said.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, McCaul said the rules “appear aimed at addressing long-standing gaps in U.S. export controls” that Chinese entities have been exploiting to obtain U.S.-made technology to build out China’s high-performance computing sector.

McCaul has given BIS until Nov. 15 to submit the requested information.

/
GAO: Bid Protests Dropped 12% in FY 2022
Published on
GAO: Bid Protests Dropped 12% in FY 2022

The Government Accountability Office reported that the total number of protests filed with the agency to dispute federal contract awards reached 1,658 in fiscal year 2022, reflecting a 12 percent drop from the 1,897 cases recorded in the previous fiscal year.

GAO told congressional committees in a letter dated Tuesday that contractors filed 1,595 bid protests, 20 reconsideration requests and 43 cost claims in FY 2022.

According to the report, the congressional watchdog closed 1,655 bid protest cases and 344 of those cases were associated with GAO’s jurisdiction over task orders. 

GAO said it sustained 13 percent of protests resolved on merit in the previous fiscal year due to unreasonable technical assessments and flawed solicitations and selection decisions.

Nextgov reported GAO data shows that FY 2022 was the fourth consecutive year challenges to contract awards declined. The FY 2022 figure reflects a 36 percent drop in annual bid protests filed compared with the 2,607 cases reported in fiscal 2018.

/
Brendan Carr Urges CFIUS to Take Action Against TikTok Over Data Security Concerns
Published on
Brendan Carr Urges CFIUS to Take Action Against TikTok Over Data Security Concerns

Brendan Carr, a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, said the Council on Foreign Investment in the United States should initiate action to ban the social media platform TikTok due to concerns over the security of data of U.S. users, Axios reported Wednesday.

He told Axios in an interview about the potential for China to gain access to U.S. data and the risk of influencing U.S. political processes by a state actor through the video-hosting service.

“I don’t believe there is a path forward for anything other than a ban,” Carr told the publication.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is in talks with CFIUS to determine whether it can keep operating in the U.S. through a potential divestiture to a U.S. company.

“We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the U.S. Government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns,” a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement to Axios.

In September, a Senate panel held a hearing over the video platform’s access to U.S. user data and links to the Chinese government.

//
Gen. Chance Saltzman Takes Over as Chief of Space Operations
Published on
Gen. Chance Saltzman Takes Over as Chief of Space Operations

U.S. Space Force Gen. B. Chance Saltzman officially succeeded the retiring Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, a three-time Wash100 awardee, as chief of space operations during the transition ceremony held Wednesday at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

In his remarks, Saltzman pledged to “work relentlessly” to ensure a combat-ready and resilient Space Force amid rising challenges in maintaining U.S. national security interests in space, the service branch said Wednesday.

“Without the space capabilities you are designing, building, protecting, and operating, the Joint Force will not be capable of accomplishing its missions,” he said in his speech.

“A resilient, ready, and combat-credible Space Force is indispensable to deterrence today, tomorrow, and every day after that. In the worst case, if deterrence fails, the Space Force will be an indispensable component of our joint force at war,” Saltzman added.

Saltzman, most recently deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear, assumes the CSO role as the Space Force transitions into a phase that focuses on meeting the operational imperatives of the Department of the Air Force.

During his Senate nomination hearing in September, Saltzman said he would prioritize the development and deployment of space capabilities and ensure the training of guardians to enable them to counter the threats posed by strategic competitors.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Raymond and Saltzman during the ceremony.

Austin, Kendall and Milley are all previous Wash100 Award winners. 

1 … 693 694 695 696 697 … 2,617