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Siemens Government Technologies, Network Management Resources Reach Mentor-Protégé Agreement; John Ustica Quoted
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Siemens Government Technologies, Network Management Resources Reach Mentor-Protégé Agreement; John Ustica Quoted

Siemens Government Technologies announced on Thursday that the company has entered into a  Mentor-Protégé agreement with Network Management Resources (NRM) Inc., through the Small Business Administration (SBA), to build NMR’s capability and capacity for new projects supporting federal government customers responsible for vital national security missions.

“NMR has been a highly valued partner to SGT for more than 12 years across multiple task orders in essential energy and infrastructure work for critical missions,” said John Ustica, interim CEO for SGT. 

Through the mentor-protégé relationship, Siemens Government Technologies will provide support and equipment modernization for infrastructure projects, alongside NMR, who will have greater access to a broader portfolio of opportunities through the Siemens installed base of energy products and technologies.

In addition, the two companies can pursue small business and specified set-aside contracts through a joint venture, using NMR’s SDVOSB status under the terms of the mentor-protégé program.

“They’ve shown us, and most importantly our customers, their dedication and commitment to strengthen their capabilities and resources, which is why we’re excited to help them take the next steps in the evolution of their business through this mentor-protégé relationship,” Ustica added. 

SGT helps extend Siemens’ longstanding commitment of supporting small and diverse businesses throughout its supply chain operations, which includes approximately 20 percent of Siemens’ suppliers that qualify as small and diverse-owned businesses.

NMR has more than 25 years’ experience delivering robust solutions for government customers, including comprehensive mechanical and electrical projects for the intelligence community. 

In addition, NMR President Dave Jones highlighted how the partnership with Siemens will benefit the customers from both organizations as well as leverage the synergies developed by both NMR & SGT to bring together people and businesses through their combined unparalleled customer service dedication.

About Siemens Government Technologies 

Siemens Government Technologies is the wholly owned, U.S. subsidiary of Siemens Corporation whose mission it is to secure and modernize the largest infrastructure in the world, the U.S. Federal Government. 

It does so by being the leading integrator of Siemens’ innovative products, technologies, software and services in the areas of digital engineering and modeling, efficient and resilient energy solutions, and smart infrastructure modernization.

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CGI Federal Forensics Lab Accredited by American National Standards Institute; John Owens Quoted
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CGI Federal Forensics Lab Accredited by American National Standards Institute; John Owens Quoted

A forensics lab operated by CGI’s federal business has received approval from the American National Standards Institute to continue and increase its services to national government clientele.

CGI Federal’s Digital Forensics Lab conducts data/evidence gathering, recovery, processing, analysis, reporting, litigation assistance and managed services, the Fairfax, Virginia-based subsidiary said Thursday.

John Owens, senior vice president and consulting and enterprise solutions group lead at CGI Federal, indicated that the lab plays a major role in helping federal agencies pinpoint and follow criminal patterns of digital crimes including fraud and intellectual property theft.

“This accreditation of CGI Federal’s world-class digital forensic investigation lab recognizes our ability to provide state-of-the-art imaging, forensic equipment and decades of forensic case management and court testimony experience,” Owens continued.

The ANSI’s National Accreditation Board bestowed the laboratory with its selective ISO/IEC 17025 forensic accreditation, marking the facility as one of an elite group of private digital forensic laboratories to hold the distinction. The lab is based in Huntsville, Alabama at the company’s Cyber Threat Analysis Center.

The recognition follows CGI Federal’s win of a spot on a $203.5 million Federal Communications Commission contract last week. Under this award, the company will be assigned task orders to carry out duties such as system modernization and cloud migration.

Clay Goldwein, senior vice president of national security and justice at CGI Federal, recently participated in an Executive Spotlight interview with ExecutiveBiz, where discussed the impediments and motivations for promoting persistent cybersecurity policies within the federal government.

“Cyber hygiene has always been a necessity at the federal government. But if it is not a funded priority at an agency, then the critical challenge comes down to balancing the budget with the ability to effectively support and enhance cyber hygiene programs,” Goldwein remarked.

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CISA Signs Cybersecurity Cooperation Agreement With Ukraine; Director Jen Easterly Quoted
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CISA Signs Cybersecurity Cooperation Agreement With Ukraine; Director Jen Easterly Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has agreed to expand collaboration with the technical security and intelligence service of Ukraine to boost the two nations’ cybersecurity capabilities.

CISA said Wednesday it signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Ukrainian State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine and committed to strengthening the sharing of information and best practices on cyber incidents with the agency.

The partnership will also conduct critical infrastructure security technical exchanges and joint cybersecurity training and exercises.

“Cyber threats cross borders and oceans, and so we look forward to building on our existing relationship with SSSCIP to share information and collectively build global resilience against cyber threats,” said Jen Easterly, director of CISA and a 2022 Wash100 Award.

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DOE, HHS Partner to Develop Digital Solar Power Subscription Platform; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE, HHS Partner to Develop Digital Solar Power Subscription Platform; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The departments of Energy and Health and Human Services have partnered to develop a digital subscription platform designed to make solar energy more accessible to households participating in government-run low-income assistance programs.

The Community Solar Subscription Platform is intended to help Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program recipients reduce electricity bills by subscribing to verified cost-saving solar projects, DOE said Wednesday.

The tool will support the DOE National Community Solar Partnership’s goal of using solar energy systems to power 5 million households and provide 20 percent savings on a subscriber’s energy bills.

“Every American community, especially those that face disproportionately higher energy burdens, deserves the economic and health benefits that come with increased access to affordable clean energy,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. will participate in the initial pilot development and provide feedback and data to test platform security, performance and operability.

DOE is also requesting feedback from state and local governments, community solar subscription managers and developers and other industry partners on the structure of the platform.

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GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks Discusses U.S. Quantum Technology Transformation
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GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks Discusses U.S. Quantum Technology Transformation

Chuck Brooks, a highly esteemed cybersecurity leader as well as a significant member of Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Expert program, published a recent feature breaking down the aspects of quantum technologies that are just over the horizon and how the government should invest to ensure their quantum capabilities are properly developed to address the latest national security challenges.

“In the last few years, significant developments have been made that are pushing us beyond classical computing into a new data era called quantum computing,” GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks explained in his latest Forbes feature article.

GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks also explained how quantum technologies have made significant impacts in the critical areas of quantum sensing as well as encryption and the influence that the internet of things (IoT) is having on the future quantum computing power of the U.S. to solve some of the largest and most complex challenges.

“The quantum era is arriving, and it will be transformational! It is important to understand some of the basics, quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum encryption, quantum IoT, and ultimately our quantum future,” Brooks added.

In the area of quantum sensing, Chuck Brooks discussed how quantum measurement and sensing has already been implemented and is being used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and navigational devices, which will also lead to greater expansion of capabilities down the line.

Brooks also touched on the importance of quantum proof and resistant encryption that have current applications and how these capabilities continue to evolve into our new digital economy at the edge and from a data management perspective.

He prefaced the challenge the government is facing to monitor and maintain quality services for scalability and efficiency to handle the implementation of any innovative technology or capability in the future.

“Quantum technology has amazing potential that could revolutionize everything from communications, real-time data analytics, bio tech, genomic sequencing, and catalyze materials science,” GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks emphasized. “It is anticipated that quantum computing will also accelerate us into the future by impacting the landscape of artificial intelligence and the Metaverse.”

During a recent video interview with Executive Mosaic, GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks shared his insights with Summer Myatt about the modernization efforts of federal agencies to drive cybersecurity capabilities as well as the challenge of addressing cyber threats that only seem to be getting more consistent and stronger.

Watch the full video interview with GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks and check out other videos from our previous participants at ExecutiveMosaic.com.

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Senate Bill Aims to Update Federal Tech Contracting Procedures
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Senate Bill Aims to Update Federal Tech Contracting Procedures

A bill introduced in the Senate would require the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate with federal acquisition professionals to identify strategies that can help simplify how agencies buy commercial technology and address barriers to entry that exist within the government contracting space.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, jointly sponsored the AGILE Procurement Act as agencies are increasingly investing in new platforms such as cloud, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, the Senate Homeland Security Committee said Thursday.

The bipartisan legislation would expand a pilot Department of Defense incentive program for 100 percent employee-owned contractors for governmentwide implementation.

Under the bill, OMB and the General Services Administration must also collaborate to offer acquisition training that will center around information and communications technology.

The bill also calls for the creation of a pilot program intended to encourage private sector employees, veterans and military spouses to serve in federal procurement positions.

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Berkeley Lab, Resource Innovations to Modernize Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator
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Berkeley Lab, Resource Innovations to Modernize Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator

Berkeley Lab and Resource Innovations have partnered to modernize an online tool designed to estimate the economic costs of power interruptions in support of utilities, policymakers and other stakeholders looking to enhance the U.S. power system’s reliability and resilience.

The public-private partnership will survey customers of sponsoring utilities, analyze the responses and use that data to fully update and upgrade the publicly available Interruption Cost Estimate Calculator.

The tool currently uses information from over 100,000 U.S. customer responses from 34 utility-sponsored surveys dated from 1989 and 2012. The planned updates will draw data from clients of American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, DTE Energy, Exelon and National Grid, among other sponsoring utilities.

“The ICE Calculator is an important tool that electric companies can utilize as they work with regulators and policymakers to plan the investments needed to provide affordable, reliable, secure and resilient clean electricity to customers,” said Phil Moeller, executive vice president of the business operations group and regulatory affairs at EEI.

He added that modernizing ICE Calculator would help stakeholders conduct better assess,ents of the benefits of energy grid resilience investments.

The tool’s initial development was funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity.

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Johns Hopkins APL Books Air Force Task Order for Sentinel Systems Directorate R&D Services
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Johns Hopkins APL Books Air Force Task Order for Sentinel Systems Directorate R&D Services

Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory will provide the Sentinel Systems Directorate within the U.S. Air Force with research and development services under a one-year, $35.2 million task order from the service branch.

The Department of Defense said Wednesday Johns Hopkins APL will perform the support services in Laurel, Maryland, through July 29, 2023.

The task order was placed against a previously awarded, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, which serves as the contracting activity, is utilizing the Air Force’s fiscal 2022 research, development, test and evaluation funds to cover for the task order.

The directorate is located at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and is mainly responsible for the total life cycle of the LGM-35A Sentinel weapon system, an upcoming replacement for the LGM-30 Minuteman III.

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Report: Air Force Plans to Retire RQ-4 Drone Fleet
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Report: Air Force Plans to Retire RQ-4 Drone Fleet

The U.S. Air Force expects to decommission RQ-4 unmanned aircraft systems in fiscal year 2027 as the military service is eyeing surveillance platforms that offer survivability to future contested environments, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

A USAF spokeswoman confirmed the drone retirement plan after the publication obtained a letter from a contracting officer who recently advised Northrop Grumman, prime contractor for the Global Hawk, on the branch’s life cycle expectations for the fleet.

Congress permitted USAF to start retiring Block 20 and Block 30 models of the remotely piloted aircraft last fiscal year and will make the final decision on whether the branch should also divest the Block 40 system to phase out its entire Global Hawk fleet, according to the report.

The report added USAF is seeking to retire its E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, a move that could leave the remaining RQ-4 vehicles to perform mobile ground force tracking functions until the service deploys a more survivable platform.

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GSA Gives Small Businesses More Time for Polaris IT Bid Submission
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GSA Gives Small Businesses More Time for Polaris IT Bid Submission

The General Services Administration has informed small businesses that it will continue to accept final proposals for a governmentwide information technology procurement vehicle through Aug. 19.

GSA announced on SAM.gov the nine-day bid deadline extension for its Polaris contract, which comprises small business and women-owned small business pools.

The agency first issued solicitations March 25 and paused the request for proposals April 6 due to industry feedback on joint venture assessments under the new IT acquisition program.

GSA restarted at the end of June the bidding process with an Aug, 10 due date.

Federal agencies can acquire commercial offerings in various areas such as cloud computing, data management and cybersecurity through Polaris once the program is ready for business.

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