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GSA’s Laura Stanton: Task Order Awards Under STARS III Contract Vehicle Hit $691M
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GSA’s Laura Stanton: Task Order Awards Under STARS III Contract Vehicle Hit $691M

The General Services Administration has awarded 217 task orders worth $691 million combined to small businesses through the latest iteration of its STARS governmentwide contract for information technology services to date, GSA official Laura Stanton wrote in a blog post published Wednesday.

Stanton, assistant commissioner for the Office of IT Category in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said more than 135 vendors have won orders under the 8(a) STARS III procurement vehicle and more than 40 awards have gone to small disadvantaged entities that are working with GSA for the first time.

A total of 1,110 8(a) contractors are participating in the program that opened for business in July 2021.

Stanton said the agency asked for input from customer agencies to help inform the development of the small business set-aside contract and to simplify the ordering experience for buyers.

She cited the Department of Homeland Security as an 8(a) STARS adopter that uses the program to gain access to emerging technology offerings from vetted companies.

The GSA-run vehicle is included in DHS’ EAGLE Next Generation portfolio of IT services.

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NSF Invests $104M to Establish Additional Engineering Research Centers; Sethuraman Panchanathan Quoted
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NSF Invests $104M to Establish Additional Engineering Research Centers; Sethuraman Panchanathan Quoted

The National Science Foundation has selected four university teams to receive a total of $104 million to create engineering research centers that will focus on food production, human health, manufacturing and urban infrastructure modernization.

Texas Tech University, Ohio State University, Duke University and Columbia University will lead the establishment of the centers under five-year cooperative agreements, the agency said Wednesday.

“For decades, NSF Engineering Research Centers have transformed technologies and fostered innovations in the United States through bold research, collaborative partnerships and a deep commitment to inclusion and broadening participation,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of NSF.

TTU and Duke University secured $26 million each to help mature technologies to generate decarbonized nitrogen-based fertilizers and engineer microbiomes.

Under a $25.9 million grant, Ohio State University and its partners will aim to develop and implement autonomous manufacturing platforms.

Columbia University-led researchers seek to create streetscape applications for smart city development as part of a $26 million contract with NSF.

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Army Plans to Launch Integrated Fires Test Campaign to Field New Capabilities; Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch Quoted
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Army Plans to Launch Integrated Fires Test Campaign to Field New Capabilities; Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch Quoted

The U.S. Army is planning to conduct its first-ever integrated fires test campaign in fiscal year 2023 to advance the deployment of new warfighting capabilities to the battlefield, C4ISRNET reported Wednesday.

Speaking at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium, Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch, program executive officer for missiles and space of the Army, said the service branch is looking to integrate sensor technologies that can support weapon systems like the Army Tactical Missile System, the Precision Guided Munition and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.

The Army’s Project Convergence 2021 exercise held at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona has showcased the effectiveness of integrating sensors with shooters to achieve both offensive and defensive fires missions.

The Project Convergence, also known as the campaign of learning, informs the Army of what capabilities work to meet the service branch’s mission needs, Rasch.

According to Rasch, his office plans to take ideas from the project and tests them as part of the integrated fires test campaign.

“We’re going to get an opportunity to bring these things out on the range that maybe were not initially designed or thought [were] being designed to work together, but actually have them out on the range and either demonstrate, if it’s early, or operationally test, if it is ready to get to materiel release for new capabilities,” Rasch said.

The Army demonstrated 110 new technologies meant to support joint all-domain command and control as part of the second year of Project Convergence, which took place between October and November.

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DOE Seeks Info on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-Funded Program to Boost Critical Materials Production
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DOE Seeks Info on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-Funded Program to Boost Critical Materials Production

The Department of Energy is seeking industry feedback on a new program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to advance the development and commercialization of critical materials needed to manufacture clean energy technologies.

The Biden administration is allocating $675 million for the Critical Materials Research, Development, Demonstration and Commercialization Program to address challenges in the domestic critical materials supply chain and advance the local sourcing and production of critical materials, DOE said Tuesday.

According to the department, critical materials, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare-earth elements, are required to produce batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.

The program will support DOE’s efforts to expand the critical materials supply chain, including through fundamental research and development initiatives, public-private partnerships and technology demonstration projects.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is supporting DOE’s effort to invest in the building blocks of clean energy technologies, which will revitalize America’s manufacturing leadership and bring along the benefits of good paying jobs,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies and other organizations are encouraged to respond to the request for information on the new program. Responses are due Sept. 9.

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Peraton Business Wins $2B DHA Contract for IT Modernization; Tarik Reyes Quoted
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Peraton Business Wins $2B DHA Contract for IT Modernization; Tarik Reyes Quoted

A subsidiary business of public sector technology company Peraton has been awarded a potential 10-year, $2 billion contract to expedite and strengthen the Defense Health Agency’s military health database.

As a result of the single award, firm-fixed-price, blanket purchase agreement, Perspecta Enterprise Solutions will be the official enterprise information technology services integrator for the DHA and will regiment and standardize the organization’s IT processes, Peraton said Wednesday.

“Peraton is proud to continue our support to DHA and the Military Health System by leading the consolidation and transformation of its IT services,” remarked Tarik Reyes, president of the company’s global health and financial solutions sector.

The BPA tasks Perspecta’s team, along with project partner Capgemini Government Solutions, to arrange, synchronize and facilitate digital transformation services for the DHA. This will include making technological functions more efficient and mitigating expenses across the agency’s operations.

Perspecta expects their efforts to allow the DHA to evolve the medical health system to keep pace with the changing technology landscape and to allow for flexibility and future malleability. They also said they intend their modifications and installations to produce “an improved user experience and enhanced mission capabilities,” according to Reyes.

The award from the DHA comes on the heels of Perspecta’s $563 million task order from the Department of Defense in June. Through this contract, their specialists will aid the Cyber Crime Center by conducting digital forensics, multimedia forensics, technical solutions development, cyber analytics and vulnerability sharing support.

Peraton as a whole also landed a $51 million bridge contract from the DHA in May to continue its work helping the Global Service Center. This transition award was given to guarantee a stable progression to Perspecta’s receipt of the enterprise information technology services BPA.

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Lily Zeleke: Information Enterprise Modernization Key to Achieving DOD Missions
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Lily Zeleke: Information Enterprise Modernization Key to Achieving DOD Missions

Lily Zeleke, acting deputy chief information officer for the Information Enterprise, has highlighted the importance of investing in cloud adoption, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and other information enterprise modernization initiatives to achieve the Defense Department’s missions.

Zeleke said during an event hosted by Worldwide Technology and Intel that funding these technologies within the authorized budget is “a balance between cost-effectiveness and mission effectiveness” for the U.S. military, DOD reported Tuesday.

“Our ability to deliver information at resilience and speed, as well as [delivering] secure information to our people, is paramount to staying ahead of adversaries,” she explained.

One of the mission-critical digital initiatives Zeleke mentioned is zero trust, which she says is key to protecting DOD’s vast amount of data.

“Zero trust is sort of like assuming that the adversary might already be in [the network],” Zeleke said.

Information enterprise modernization has ramped up across the U.S. military following the approval of DOD’s Software Modernization Strategy, which lays out the department’s approach to achieving “technology and process transformation that will enable the delivery of resilient software capability at the speed of relevance.”

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AFS CIO Ben Peavy Elected Chairman of Ready to Work Advisory Board in San Antonio; CEO John Goodman Quoted
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AFS CIO Ben Peavy Elected Chairman of Ready to Work Advisory Board in San Antonio; CEO John Goodman Quoted

Ben Peavy, chief information officer of Accenture Federal Services (AFS) as well as the managing director of the company’s San Antonio office, has been elected the chairman of the Ready to Work advisory board in San Antonio.

“I’m thrilled to chair the San Antonio Ready to Work Advisory Board as a representative of one of San Antonio’s leading employers,” Peavy explained. “Accenture Federal Services is proud to champion Ready to Work skills training and apprenticeship programs that improve the quality of life for thousands of San Antonians.”

Ready to Work is an educational and job placement program that will work with the $200 million budget approved by San Antonio voters back in 2020 to offer the city’s residents pathways to high-quality careers.

Through the program, Ready to Work will offer its participants free tuition for associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, as well as career coaching, soft skills training, interview preparation, emergency assistance, and job training.

“Accenture Federal Services is extremely proud that Ben Peavy has been chosen to lead San Antonio’s Ready to Work Advisory Board,” said John Goodman, CEO of Accenture Federal Services and a five-time Wash100 Award winner. “Ben’s leadership role within Ready to Work will directly support thousands of San Antonians in building meaningful careers and better lives for themselves and their families.”

Ben Peavy brings more than  28 years of experience in the information technology field.

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Gary Kurtz Named Navy’s PEO for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault & Special Mission Programs
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Gary Kurtz Named Navy’s PEO for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault & Special Mission Programs

Gary Kurtz, a Naval Air Systems Command veteran, has assumed leadership of the Program Executive Office Air Anti-Submarine Warfare, Assault and Special Mission Programs within the Department of the Navy.

The executive took over from Maj. Gen. Greg Masiello, who will join the anomalous health incidents cross functional team of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, NAVAIR said Tuesday.

Kurtz will lead PEO(A) as it provides the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with development and sustainment services in support of helicopters, special mission aircraft and aviation anti-submarine warfare equipment and aircraft.

“I’m looking forward to supporting our warfighters by being able to provide them advanced capabilities, dependable and available platforms while ensuring they remain affordable,” said Kurtz.

He joined NAVAIR in 1984 as a logistics manager for Navy foreign military sales programs and then progressed to several roles of increasing responsibilities.

Kurtz most recently served as the PEO for Aviation Common Systems and Commercial Services.

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GAO: Navy Should Notify Congress of Rationale for Weapon System Budget Decisions
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GAO: Navy Should Notify Congress of Rationale for Weapon System Budget Decisions

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Department of Defense require the U.S. Navy to submit to congressional defense committees its rationale for budget requests that do not seek funding for procurement quantities listed in multiyear contracts. 

GAO made the recommendation after it found that budget requests for three of the seven reviewed critical weapon system programs in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 had reductions in quantities when compared to multiyear procurement contracts, according to a report published Monday.

Those three weapons programs are DDG 51 destroyers, V-22 aircraft and Virginia-class submarines.

For the DDG 51 program, the FY 2022 budget request included funds to buy one of the two destroyers in the program’s multiyear contracts. The service did not request funds for the second vessel but sought $33 million to pay for the government’s cancellation liability for its decision to reduce its purchase to one destroyer.

Failure to notify Congress of the Navy’s rationale for budget request decisions can “hamper the ability of the committees to oversee programs and make decisions without having to request supplemental information and explanations from the Navy,” the GAO report reads.

State Department Accepting Applications for Intell Bureau CIO Post
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State Department Accepting Applications for Intell Bureau CIO Post

The State Department is looking for applicants to fill the position of chief information officer at a civilian government organization that conducts analysis in support of foreign policymaking efforts.

A USAJobs post discovered by Federal News Network indicates the department will accept applications for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research CIO post until Aug. 17.

The hire will primarily hold the title of office director in the bureau’s Office of Technology and Innovation and will oversee communications technology requirements such as analytic applications and processes.

Some functions under the CIO’s responsibility include IT governance framework development, information systems strategy planning and investment portfolio management.

The new CIO will also lead initiatives to develop, test and implement systems designed to help bureau personnel mine and share data with government authorities.

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