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Biden on Confirmation of Steve Dettelbach as ATF Director
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Biden on Confirmation of Steve Dettelbach as ATF Director

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed career prosecutor Steve Dettelbach as director of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

President Joe Biden called the Senate’s move an “important sign” that both political parties can work together to support law enforcement and fight gun violence, the White House said Tuesday.

The upper chamber on Tuesday approved Dettelbach to serve as ATF director in a 48-46 vote, making him the first Senate-confirmed head of the agency in over seven years, according to a report by NPR.

The president said Dettelbach will play a key role in implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and advancing other executive measures to counter crime and save lives.

Dettelbach is former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio during the Obama administration. Since 2016, he has been with BakerHostetler as co-leader of the law firm’s white collar, investigations and securities enforcement and litigation team.

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Bipartisan Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Bill Passes in House, Awaits Action from Senate; Rep. Ro Khanna Quoted
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Bipartisan Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Bill Passes in House, Awaits Action from Senate; Rep. Ro Khanna Quoted

The Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act, a legislative measure aimed to safeguard secure government information in anticipation of the continuing prevalence of quantum computing, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Contained in the bill are mandates to the Office of Management and Budget to work alongside the Chief Information Officers Council and to furnish Congress with updates on the status of the federal government’s movement toward post-quantum cryptography standards, the office of California Representative Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Tuesday.

“It’s not just our personal lives that would be upended in a post-quantum future. Our U.S. national security and government agencies data could be exposed and exploited as well,” Khanna asserted.

Khanna additionally urged the Senate to take the next steps in passing the bill so that it could be signed into law by the President, adding that this would be a crucial move in protecting citizens’ data.

The California congressman spearheaded the bill alongside Virginia Representative Gerry Connelly and South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, in a bipartisan effort. If codified, the coalition argues, the government would be equipped to ably combat bad actors and cybercriminals that utilize emergent quantum computing strategies for malpractice. The bill would also allow Congressional oversight into this undertaking.

Mace underlined the transformative potential of quantum computing and its capacity to “take our civilization forward in leaps and bounds” and “turn our conventional understanding of computing on its head.” But she also stressed the bill’s necessity in putting the proper protections in place so that innovation does not beget powerful and emboldened actions on the part of hackers.

As specified in the bill, the director of OMB would play an instrumental role in advising Congress on how to best strategize and organize against quantum-powered cyber invasions.

“We must be forward thinking to ensure we are an enterprise that guarantees security, builds trust, and improves customer service. Passage of this bill lets us do just that,” shared Connelly.

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Gina Raimondo Offers Update on Semiconductor Funding Bill
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Gina Raimondo Offers Update on Semiconductor Funding Bill

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said there has been progress in the past two weeks with a bill that would provide $52 billion worth of subsidies and incentives to support and boost domestic chip production to address the shortage of semiconductors, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Raimondo said the White House and lawmakers are “closing down issues and finding compromise” with the proposed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which would appropriate funds to advance research and development efforts and build new technologies to maintain the country’s competitive edge over China.

“Yes, it will happen — it’s taking much too long,” Raimondo said of the legislation on Bloomberg Television Monday.

“It isn’t right to play politics with national security, that’s what I think is happening,” she added.

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NREL Becomes Latest DOE National Lab to Join Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute
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NREL Becomes Latest DOE National Lab to Join Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has joined a consortium of public and private institutions that conduct research and development on enhancing the competition, cybersecurity and supply chain management in the U.S. manufacturing industry.

The laboratory will offer its Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems platform and cyber range to support the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute’s foundational tasks, including creating a digital platform for workforce development, the Department of Energy said Tuesday.

NREL is the fourth DOE national laboratory to join the national research institute, which is led by the University of Texas-San Antonio and funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Office.

The laboratory’s participation follows the launch of CyManII’s first public roadmap, which outlines the institute’s five-year plan of priorities and initiatives.

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i-Link Solutions Awarded $100M BPA Contract to Provide ITV&V Support to the DHS, HRSA; Bob Busey Quoted
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i-Link Solutions Awarded $100M BPA Contract to Provide ITV&V Support to the DHS, HRSA; Bob Busey Quoted

i-Link Solutions announced on Wednesday that the company has been awarded a potential five-year, $100 million blanket purchase agreement (BPA) will provide ITV&V services to meet the mission of HRSA for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Health Resources Services and Administration (HRSA)

“i-Link Solutions takes pride in bringing its cutting-edge technology solutions to our US Government customers,” said Bob Busey, i-Link Solutions’ Vice President of Federal Services. “With over 20 years of experience supporting the commercial software market, i-Link Solutions brings significant expertise to bear when it comes to introducing artificial intelligence (AI) driven automation into the software testing process that improves software quality.” 

Through the contract, i-Link Solutions will provide Independent Testing, Verification, and Validation (ITV&V) Services for Information Technology (IT) Systems. The work will be performed predominantly in Herndon, VA. 

“We are excited to leverage our world-class software testing capabilities to support the HRSA and the Office of Information Technology (OIT),” said Bob Busey.

About i-Link Solutions 

i-Link Solutions, Inc. is an enterprise software engineering firm built on the principle of providing accessible, innovative, and cost-effective IT solutions. Our agile methodologies are created to ensure that the technical solutions we provide our clients are designed to meet their goals and needs. 

This approach allows us to create long-lasting and trusted customer-first relationships. Our services are used by key players in many industries and governmental organizations. 

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GSA Awards Air Travel Contracts for 2023 City Pair Program; Sonny Hashmi Quoted
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GSA Awards Air Travel Contracts for 2023 City Pair Program; Sonny Hashmi Quoted

The General Services Administration has awarded contracts to eight U.S. air carriers to help the federal government save more than $1.28 billion in air travel costs for fiscal year 2023.

Through firm-fixed-price agreements with the air carriers, the GSA City Pair Program will provide an estimated 45 percent discount on airfare rates for official government air travel, GSA reported Tuesday.

The awardees are:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Silver Airways
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines

 

The agency selected the air carriers based on the availability of their service, the total number of flights, average elapsed flight time and service price.

“The GSA City Pair Program is a great example of the federal government working together for the common mission, and creating value and cost savings for the taxpayers,” said Sonny Hashmi, commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service as well as a previous Wash100 Award recipient.

The airfares purchased through the program have no cancellation or change fees and are fully refundable.

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Gordian Federal Cloud Achieves FedRAMP Authorization From JAB; President Mark Schiff Quoted
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Gordian Federal Cloud Achieves FedRAMP Authorization From JAB; President Mark Schiff Quoted

Gordian announced on Wednesday that the leading provider of robust technology and services in all phases of the building lifecycle, has achieved the FedRAMP Moderate Provisional-Authority in order to Operate (P-ATO) from the Joint Authorization Board (JAB) for Gordian Federal Cloud.

“Completing the full FedRAMP authorization process is a testament to Gordian’s commitment to our customers in the federal government, who require a highly-regulated, secure environment for cloud-based software,” said Mark Schiff, President at Gordian.

Gordian Federal Cloud, an enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) solution powered by RSMeans data, is a comprehensive suite of modules equipped with the necessary tools to better manage construction and facilities estimates as well as contracts and pricing proposals.

Gordian Federal Cloud is one of approximately 12 cloud products selected by the JAB per year to work with for a JAB P-ATO. The FedRAMP Program Management Office has recognized Gordian Federal Cloud as critical to federal real property assets management.

Mark Schiff also expressed his enthusiasm as well as the honor to help solve the significant challenges federal agencies face in building and managing our nation’s facilities and infrastructure through  the Gordian Federal Cloud.

“Achieving JAB P-ATO ensures Gordian’s government customers that Gordian Federal Cloud meets modern security standards for protecting federal information,” explained Bryan Walter, vice president and general manager of Federal Solutions with Gordian.

In addition, many other agencies can leverage Gordian Federal Cloud’s JAB P-ATO to issue their own authorization to operate.

Federal users interested in Gordian Federal Cloud can find more information on the FedRAMP Marketplace website, or by contacting Gordian directly at fedramp@gordian.com.

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Chenega Unit Wins DHA Contract to Support Tricare Call Center
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Chenega Unit Wins DHA Contract to Support Tricare Call Center

A Chenega business unit has won a potential five-year, $15.8 million contract from the Defense Health Agency to manage contact center services for the U.S. military’s Tricare program.

Chenega Services & Federal Solutions will provide support to the Integrated Referral Management and Appointing Center, which helps beneficiaries navigate medical treatment facilities within the National Capital Region, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

DHA received 21 proposals for the single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract and will finance task orders with operations and maintenance funds for fiscal 2022.

The performance period comprises one base year and four one-year options that would extend work through  July 11, 2028.

White House Creates Process to Govern President’s Intell Priorities Development
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White House Creates Process to Govern President’s Intell Priorities Development

The White House has issued a memorandum that establishes a process governing the development and implementation of the President’s Intelligence Priorities for national security use.

“The PIP should inform the [Intelligence Community’s] budgetary, personnel, and other resource allocations to ensure collection and analysis of intelligence that provides insights, warning, or other illuminating information on the priorities contained therein,” President Biden wrote in the memo published Tuesday.

He instructed the National Security Council Deputies Committee to meet at least every two years to update the PIP and submit the updates to his office for approval.

Biden also directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to work with NSC in efforts to improve the procedures for developing the National Intelligence Priorities Framework, which contains classified information that is used for setting national intelligence priorities and translating them into action.

The President emphasized the importance for IC agencies to coordinate and align their initiatives with the administration’s overall agenda as the country works to address nation-state and transnational threats.

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CIA, University of Florida Partner to Study AI Applications in Cybersecurity
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CIA, University of Florida Partner to Study AI Applications in Cybersecurity

The CIA has teamed up with the University of Florida to examine the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to prevent malicious attempts to access a network.

Researchers at the university-affiliated Florida Institute for National Security will carry out the cybersecurity study under an agreement with the agency, UF said Tuesday.

Dubbed as first of a kind, the collaboration will use a reinforcement learning approach — or trial and error — to initially test AI/ML applications on a simple security challenge and subsequently consider the possibility of scaling up such technology.

It marks the latest effort in the university’s $100 million AI initiative to incorporate the technology into education, research and industry partnerships.

UF said its supercomputing machine, called HiPerGator, supports work at the national security-focused institute.

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