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Intelligent Waves Enters Agreement with Signify to Integrate Light-Powered Security Technologies; CSO John Hammes Quoted
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Intelligent Waves Enters Agreement with Signify to Integrate Light-Powered Security Technologies; CSO John Hammes Quoted

Government information technology organization Intelligent Waves has signed a strategic technology agreement with Signify, a company that has developed a LiFi service.

Intelligent Waves said Monday that in partnership, the two companies plan to integrate IW’s cyber-defense platform GRAYPATH with Signify’s LiFi endeavor Trulifi, effectively powering reciprocal wireless data communication with light waves.

John Hammes, IW chief strategy officer, shared that the company is “thrilled” to collaborate with Signify and the organization welcomes its new partner’s innovative offerings.

“Together, we will be able to better serve the most demanding and secure special operators in austere environments,” Hammes continued.

Jointly, the two platforms are intended to serve those in the defense community with a methodology for delivering data from high-risk mission-critical locations, eliminating the possibility of the transmissions being intercepted, tampered with or altered in any way.

The new combination operates by melding GREYPATH’s utilization of the cloud to sort and disseminate data through protected channels with Trulifi’s assigned USB access keys that grant physical security and maintain a fast-acting wireless connection via light. 

Richard Honey, head of sales for Trulifi at Signify, explained that as compared to conventional radio strategies like Wi-Fi and 4G/5G, light-based communication can be engineered within a contained space and doesn’t bleed through walls. Honey also said that the technology is already being adopted by the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines.

As the U.S. Army’s Joe Vano further discussed, “LiFi can enhance the Low Probability of Intercept/Low Probability of Detection attribute on the battlefield. This secures the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) to a higher degree due to its insignificant and largely undetectable RF signature.”

The collaboration with Signify and Trulifi arrives on the heels of Intelligent Waves’ strategic partnership with Horizon3.ai to assist Department of Defense special operations personnel, announced last week. In that agreement, IW will use Horizon3.ai’s NodeZero autonomous penetration testing platform for security enforcement.

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DOD Concludes Two Capacity-Building Competitions in FY 2021
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DOD Concludes Two Capacity-Building Competitions in FY 2021

The Department of Defense has awarded a total of $14.6 million to 23 collaborative teams as part of two capacity-building competitions in fiscal year 2021 designed to increase the research infrastructure at higher education institutions in underutilized states and territories.

DOD said Friday it awarded up to $1 million to two winning teams of the Defense Established Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research program’s capacity building competition to develop the capabilities of higher education establishments to support military-related research.

Executive offices at New Mexico State University and the University of North Dakota will lead the two selected teams.

Finalists in DEPSCoR’s research collaboration competition received $600,000 each to conduct science and engineering research addressing key areas of the National Defense Strategy over a three-year period.

More than 120 white papers were submitted for the competition and 21 collaborative teams led by universities across the U.S. were selected as finalists.

“The Department’s research mission relies on an ecosystem of creative and insightful researchers in every State of the nation. DEPSCoR enhances our science and engineering research capacity both now and in the long term, and increases the number of researchers pursing research in DOD-relevant area,” said Bindu Nair, director of DOD’s Basic Research Office.

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ManTech to Be Acquired for $4.2B by Carlyle; Chairman Kevin Phillips Quoted
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ManTech to Be Acquired for $4.2B by Carlyle; Chairman Kevin Phillips Quoted

ManTech, the leading provider of innovative technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs, announced on Monday that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Carlyle in an all-cash transition worth approximately $4.2 billion.

“Following a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, our Board determined that this transaction is in the best interest of our shareholders and provides them with the most compelling value maximization outcome, offering liquidity at a significant premium,” commented ManTech President and CEO Kevin Phillips, who is also a six-time Wash100 Award recipient.

R.W. Baird & Co. is serving as the financial advisor following ManTech’s board of directors who unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

The transaction will still be voted on by ManTech’s shareholders, who are expected to receive $96 per share in case, which represented a 32 percent premium to ManTech’s unaffected closing share price of $72.82 on February 2, 2022.

Dayne Baird, a Managing Director on Carlyle’s Aerospace & Government Services, explained that MacTech’s unwavering commitment in supporting national security customers, which will help Carlyle to leverage their combined portfolio to accelerate the company’s growth and innovation while also driving greater value for their shareholders, customers and employees.

“We look forward to leveraging Carlyle’s deep knowledge and experience investing in and growing companies, as we deliver stronger outcomes for our customers and increased opportunities for our employees,” Kevin Phillips added.

About ManTech 

ManTech provides mission-focused technology solutions and services for U.S. defense, intelligence and federal civilian agencies. In business for more than 53 years, we excel in full-spectrum cyber, data collection & analytics, enterprise IT, systems engineering and software application development solutions that support national and homeland security.

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Biden to Nominate Laura Taylor-Kale as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
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Biden to Nominate Laura Taylor-Kale as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy

Laura Taylor-Kale, fellow for innovation and economic competitiveness at the Council on Foreign Relations, will be nominated by President Biden to be the assistant secretary for industrial base policy at the Department of Defense.

The White House announced Friday Biden’s intent to nominate Taylor-Kale and other individuals to key leadership roles in his administration.

The CFR fellow has years-long experience in foreign economic policy, international development finance and industrial policy. Her previous work includes time as senior advisor for policy and operations at the Overseas Private Investment Corp. and as deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing at the Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration.

Taylor-Kale also spent nearly a decade at the State Department, where she served as a financial economist and foreign service officer.

In a LinkedIn post, the nominee welcomed the announcement and expressed intent to work with the Senate on the confirmation process’ next steps.

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DOJ, EEOC Release Technical Assistance Documents on AI-Based Recruitment
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DOJ, EEOC Release Technical Assistance Documents on AI-Based Recruitment

New documents from the Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are warning against disability discrimination that may arise from the use of artificial intelligence tools by public and private sector employers.

The technical assistance documents, released Thursday, seek to raise public awareness of AI-based employment screening practices that can violate the rights of people with disabilities when they apply for a job.

“If employers are aware of the ways AI and other technologies can discriminate against persons with disabilities, they can take steps to prevent it,” said EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows.

DOJ outlined the obligations of an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the department’s guide titled “Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Disability Discrimination in Hiring” and advised organizations to consider the possible implications of decision-making support algorithms for disabled candidates.

Meanwhile, the commission recommended possible measures for employers to reduce the likelihood of ADA violations in the applicant screening process.

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Heidi Shyu Vows to Raise Funding for Defense Innovation Unit in FY24 Budget Proposal
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Heidi Shyu Vows to Raise Funding for Defense Innovation Unit in FY24 Budget Proposal

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee’s cyber, innovative technologies and information systems subcommittee Thursday and said she intends to increase funding for the Defense Innovation Unit in the fiscal year 2024 budget request, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

“You got to realize, by the time I came in … [the] budget was pretty much baked two weeks before I came in,” Shyu said in response to a question by Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., during the hearing.

“So my opportunity to influence is this year, in FY24. So you’ll see a much stronger request for funding for FY24,” she added.

DIU Director Mike Brown, a 2022 Wash100 awardee, is retiring in September and Shyu said she intends to find a replacement with experience in the commercial sector and who understands the acquisition process.

“Because that’s where the gap is — a lot of small companies, great ideas, have produced a lot of prototypes — it’s this funnel that’s going down to production,” she said. “And it’s the pull from the acquisition community that we need. So I think that’s what I want to focus on and this is where I think having somebody… with experience on both sides would help.”

Shyu’s office underwent restructuring by redesignating the three directors of defense research and engineering as deputy chief technology officers as part of efforts to help DOD speed up the transition of technologies into capabilities for warfighters.

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DHS Unveils $1.6B in FY22 Preparedness Grant Programs; Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted
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DHS Unveils $1.6B in FY22 Preparedness Grant Programs; Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted

Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a previous Wash100 Award winner, has announced $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2022 grant programs that intend to help state and local government officials prevent, respond and protect against terrorist attacks and other hazards.

Mayorkas said in a statement published Friday the Nonprofit Security Grant Program will see its funding increase by $70 million to $250 million to enable more nonprofit organizations to introduce physical security improvements to help protect against attacks.

“This year, I have designated two new national priority areas for the FY 2022 State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant programs: Community Preparedness and Resilience; and Election Security,” he noted.

UASI will get an allocation of $615 million, while SHSP will receive $415 million in funding. Other preparedness grant programs and their respective FY 2022 allocations are listed below.

  • Emergency Operations Center Grant Program – $49 million 
  • Homeland Security Grant Program: Operation Stonegarden – $90 million 
  • Intercity Bus Security Grant Program – $2 million 
  • Intercity Passenger Rail – $10 million 
  • Port Security Grant Program – $100 million 
  • Transit Security Grant Program – $93 million 
  • Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program – $15 million

 

The department has outlined six national priority areas in the grant cycle for FY 2022: cybersecurity; community preparedness and resilience; election security; soft targets and crowded places; domestic violent extremism; intelligence and information sharing.

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Report: State Department CIO Keith Jones to Rejoin Private Sector
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Report: State Department CIO Keith Jones to Rejoin Private Sector

Keith Jones, chief information officer of the State Department, will step down from his position on June 17 and plans to work again in the private sector, Federal News Network reported Friday.

Jones, who assumed the CIO role in January 2021, oversees departmentwide technology programs worth a combined $2.4 billion.

He returned to the government last year after his more than two-year tenure as a principal at Deep Water Point and as president and CEO at The Edgewater Group, according to his LinkedIn profile.

His 37-year federal service also includes time as principal deputy CIO at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, deputy executive director in the Department of Homeland Security’s Information Technology Services Office and deputy CIO at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The report said Glenn Miller, principal deputy CIO of the State Department, will step in on an acting basis after Jones’ departure.

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Alissa Bookwalter Seeks to Advance Diversity, Inclusion Efforts at Kessel Run
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Alissa Bookwalter Seeks to Advance Diversity, Inclusion Efforts at Kessel Run

Alissa Bookwalter, chief of staff for the All Domain Common Platform team at the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run organization, said she intends to focus on advancing diversity, inclusion and equity in hiring at the software factory.

“It’s important that government services are representative of the people that they actually serve … The military is so diverse,” Bookwalter told FCW in an interview published May 9.

“The American population is so diverse. And that’s something that Kessel Run has really, really made an effort on. And so I want to continue to iterate and help our product line continue to shape that,” she added.

Bookwalter, formerly deputy director for talent management and people operations at the U.S. Digital Service, shared her views on remote hiring at Kessel Run and discussed her role as director of the newly created Federal Military Family Workforce Network.

She noted that she plans to continue to advance collaboration at Kessel Run.

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Deltek Completes Digital Transformation of Qarbon Aerospace IT Infrastructure; CEO Mike Corkery Quoted
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Deltek Completes Digital Transformation of Qarbon Aerospace IT Infrastructure; CEO Mike Corkery Quoted

Deltek, the project software and services company, has assisted Qarbon Aerospace transition their system architecture from a legacy solution SAP to Deltek’s Costpoint platform.

Deltek, the project-based software and services company, has assisted Qarbon Aerospace in transitioning their system architecture from their legacy solution SAP to Deltek’s Costpoint platform.

As part of the ‘Project Bulldozer’ initiative and with the help of Deltek and TIP Technologies, Qarbon Aerospace successfully completed an overhaul of its information technology infrastructure by the organization’s first anniversary, Deltek said Friday.

Mike Corkery, CEO and president of Deltek, attributed the timely and efficient achievement of the project to the three involved companies’ collaboration and synergy.

“The Deltek team is thrilled to support Qarbon Aerospace’s digital transformation efforts and we look forward to partnering with them as they grow their business,” said Corkery, who is also a two-time Wash100 Award recipient.

Implementing Deltek’s platform has enabled Qarbon Aerospace to modernize its accounting, finance and procurement functions, in addition to its manufacturing, supply chain and cybersecurity capabilities. Deltek Costpoint supports the administration of mission-critical processes across the full lifecycle, from proposal to contracts and including material planning, manufacture and billing.

Specifically, Qarbon Aerospace has put in place the Deltek Costpoint GovCon Cloud Moderate program in order to meet FedRAMP Moderate, ITAR and Cybersecurity Maturity Model Level 2 specifications.

Qarbon Aerospace also received a significant boost from the work and portfolio of TIP Technologies, who provided and integrated their TIPQA Quality Management Solution and TIPSFE Shop Floor Execution Solution software for manufacturing needs.

TIP Technologies is a frequent partner of Deltek and their programs are built to integrate seamlessly with Deltek’s.

Qarbon Aerospace CEO Pete Wick congratulated his team for the successful system overhaul and praised Deltek and TIP Technologies for their work.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment that could only be achieved by a world-class group of people,” Wick enthused.

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