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SPACECOM Plans to Establish New Joint Component Command
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SPACECOM Plans to Establish New Joint Component Command

Gen. James Dickinson, commander of U.S. Space Command, has approved the development of a new joint component command as part of a broader effort to reorganize authorities and responsibilities of combatant commands, Breaking Defense reported Monday.

The creation of the Joint Force Space Component Command is intended to consolidate SPACECOM’s mission outlined in the revised version of the Unified Command Plan.

According to the plan, SPACECOM is tasked with providing space-based capabilities, such as missile warning, to other combatant commands and defending the U.S. space assets from adversarial attacks.

The command has the authority to decide who gets to use communications satellites on the battlefield and what targets missile warning and space surveillance sensors should monitor.

The reorganization plan is still in early development, but a draft document shows that JFSCC will be responsible for designing, planning and executing global offensive and defensive space-based operations.

It will combine the Joint Task Force-Space Defense headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado with the Combined Force Space Component Command based at Vandenberg SFB in California.

Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of Space Operations Command, will be tapped to lead the new organization, according to SPACECOM sources familiar with the matter.

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Candy Curtin Named Chief Human Resources Officer for Akima; CEO Bill Monet Quoted
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Candy Curtin Named Chief Human Resources Officer for Akima; CEO Bill Monet Quoted

Akima, a global enterprise with more than 8,000 employees, delivering agile solutions to the federal government, announced on Tuesday that Candy Curtin, formerly of IDEMIA, has been named as the company’s new chief human resources officer (CHRO). 

“Akima is a strong company with the organizational agility to provide talent for a wide range of customers in the federal market,” said Curtin. “I am thrilled to be joining the company at a time of significant growth and as Akima addresses historic shifts in the market.” 

In her new role with Akima, Curtin will lead all aspects of the company’s human resources function, including the company’s employment and talent development programs. Curtin will be reporting directly to Akima President and CEO Bill Monet, who is also a two-time Wash100 Award winner.

Monet described Candy Curtin as a highly-skilled employee relations leader with a strong foundation in managing HR programs for large and diverse employee populations. 

“We are pleased that she is joining our leadership team as we develop transformational programs to support a consistent and rewarding employee experience across our portfolio of companies,” said Monet. 

Prior to joining Akima, Curtin served as the senior human resources executive for Serco North America and IDEMIA. She found great success redesigning benefits and change management programs, recruitment and corporate culture initiatives during her tenure for those organizations.

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Yext Offers Suite of Public Sector AI Search Products, Names 4 New Hires to Sales Team; Laurie Cook Quoted
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Yext Offers Suite of Public Sector AI Search Products, Names 4 New Hires to Sales Team; Laurie Cook Quoted

Yext has released a suite of artificial intelligence search products and hired new executives to its public sector sales team in an organizational shift aimed at helping government agencies reach their modernization goals and expanding the company’s public sector product offerings.

Established in response to the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) and supported by findings from a recent study conducted by Yext, the company has developed AI-powered search technology products for use in public sector organizations, Yext said Tuesday.

This offering builds upon Yext’s previous work implementing AI search technology for the World Health Organization, the U.S. State Department and the states of New Jersey and Alabama as part of their COVID-19 response efforts.

Laurie “LC” Cook, vice president of Yext’s public sector business, said, “Now more than ever, government agencies are looking for technology that will quickly and easily set them up to serve constituents more effectively online.”

In its recent survey, Yext found that constituents are 54 percent more likely to repeatedly seek information or advice from a government agency, versus an independent search engine if provided with an excellent overall website experience.

To address concerns and improve the overall user experience for government agencies’ online services, Yext’s new public sector AI product set includes a self-service portal, a site search feature, reputation management and search engine optimization capabilities.

Yext has also added four new hires to its sales team to support the projected growth of public sector sales. 

Geoffrey Glaser will serve as senior director of Yext’s federal, state & local government and education (SLED) and healthcare sectors. Additionally, Vernon Aldershoff has been named senior director of public sector sales, Christina Day will serve as director of public sector sales and David Hernandez has been selected as director of federal sales.

Cook added, “Our growing team is so excited to show them the potential they can unlock with Yext’s powerful Public Sector AI search solution set, a one-stop shop for all of their CX needs.”

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Mike Rogers Named Chairman of MITRE Board of Trustees; Jason Providakes Quoted
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Mike Rogers Named Chairman of MITRE Board of Trustees; Jason Providakes Quoted

Mike Rogers, former Michigan Congressman and Wash100 Award winner, has been elected chairman of The MITRE Corporation’s board of trustees.

Rogers, who joined the board in 2016 and has served as vice chairman since 2018, will succeed Donald Kerr, who has served as chairman for the last three years, MITRE said Tuesday.

Two-time Wash100 Award recipient Jason Providakes, CEO and president of MITRE, thanked Kerr for his service and welcomed Rogers as the company’s new chairman.

Providakes added, “Mike Rogers’ vast national security expertise and experience helps strengthen MITRE’s whole of nation impact in global strategic competition and our work to help secure our economy, industrial base, borders, climate, and airspace.”

Rogers is a leading national security and cybersecurity expert with extensive experience in data analytics, behavioral modeling and real-time threat assessment.

Previously, Rogers represented Michigan’s eighth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015. During his tenure as congressman, Rogers served on the Energy and Commerce Committee and chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he oversaw a $70 billion budget funding 17 intelligence agencies.

Prior to his congressional career, Rogers served as a U.S. Army officer and a special agent with the FBI.

Currently, Rogers holds advisory and board member roles with IronNet Cybersecurity, Next Century Corporation, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Trident Capital’s Cybersecurity Industry Advisory Council.

Following his departure from public office, he founded the Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence and Global Affairs.

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Jacobs Selected to Continue Architecture, Engineering Support for U.S. State Department’s Overseas Building Operations; Tim Byers Quoted
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Jacobs Selected to Continue Architecture, Engineering Support for U.S. State Department’s Overseas Building Operations; Tim Byers Quoted

Jacobs has received its third consecutive architecture and engineering support services contract from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations.

Under the potential five-year, $250 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, Jacobs will continue its 35 years of support to OBO spanning a range of design, construction management and support services, the company said Tuesday.

“We continue to leverage our capabilities, tools and technology to drive value, increase resiliency and sustainability, lower risk and provide best-in-class stewardship of OBO’s worldwide portfolio,” commented Tim Byers, senior vice president and general manager of federal and environmental solutions at Jacobs.

As part of the contract, Jacobs will provide program-level process- and procedure-improvement support as well as facilities surveys and analyses.

Additionally, the IDIQ covers a range of project-specific support services including master plans, site expansion studies, project phasing analysis, historic structures surveys and security mitigation studies.

Byers added that Jacobs will leverage its global footprint, qualifications and experience to “execute comprehensive professional services” for tasks under the contract.

This contract win follows Jacobs’ recent selection for a spot on the Department of Energy’s $8.3 billion Oak Ridge Reservation Cleanup Contract in October 2021.

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DHS Implements New Cyber Talent Management System; Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted
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DHS Implements New Cyber Talent Management System; Alejandro Mayorkas Quoted

The Department of Homeland Security has rolled out a new system for hiring, developing and retaining federal cybersecurity professionals.

DHS said Monday it aims to screen candidates based on competencies and speed up the recruitment process through the Cybersecurity Talent Management System (CMTS). 

The department plans to initially use CMTS in efforts to help the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Office of the Chief Information Officer fill high-priority roles before expanding the system’s application across the organization in 2022.

“As our nation continues to face an evolving threat landscape, we cannot rely only on traditional hiring tools to fill mission-critical vacancies,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of DHS and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner.

Applicants recruited via CTMS will become part of the DHS Cybersecurity Service, a team of federal employees tasked with protecting U.S. critical infrastructure.

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Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble: Army Eyes Native Data Analytics Capabilities
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Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble: Army Eyes Native Data Analytics Capabilities

Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, deputy chief of staff, G-4, for the U.S. Army, said the service is seeking native data analytics capabilities as it works to update its enterprise resource planning systems in order to gain visibility into supply chain vulnerabilities, FCW reported Monday.

Gamble said the COVID-19 pandemic further advanced the Army’s efforts to implement business intelligence and analytics tools for its existing ERP systems in order to have a platform with “cooked in” prognostics that could enable the military branch’s enterprise, operational, tactical and strategic levels to perform continuous monitoring.

“I believe that using the tools we have today and in some cases the systems we have today — whether they are complex weapons systems or simple other systems — in a different way based on the insights that data gives us I think will lead us to, maybe, cost reduction,” said Gamble.

“Let’s not be surprised by the perfectly predictable,” he added.

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Clare Grason: Space Force in Talks With Companies for Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Service
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Clare Grason: Space Force in Talks With Companies for Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Service

Clare Grason, chief of the U.S. Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communication Office, said the military branch is in discussions with multiple satcom service providers over the possibility of creating a federated network for the Defense Department, SpaceNews reported Monday.

She told the publication that USSF is writing the Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-based Commercial Services solicitation to give vendors an opportunity to propose new technological concepts for DOD.

“The government could essentially acquire its own constellation within a constellation and manage it with a level of autonomy that we haven’t had before with commercial partnerships,” Grason added.

USSF received approximately 20 industry responses to a draft request for proposals and expects to issue the final RFP notice for the upcoming procurement effort in the spring of 2022, according to the report.

Companies that will secure spots on the potential $875 million multiple-award contract for PLEO services will bid for orders over a 10-year period.

Clare Grason: Space Force in Talks With Companies for Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Service

GovCon Wire, sister site of ExecutiveGov, is scheduled to host an event on Jan. 19 to offer the business sector insights on DOD’s procurement and modernization goals in the space domain. Visit the GCW Events page to learn more about the Space Acquisition Forum.

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GSA Uses $150M in COVID-19 Relief Funds to Finance Digital Services Projects; Robin Carnahan Quoted
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GSA Uses $150M in COVID-19 Relief Funds to Finance Digital Services Projects; Robin Carnahan Quoted

The General Services Administration (GSA) will use $150 million to fund 14 projects that aim to provide citizen-facing digital services for pandemic recovery. 

GSA said Monday that it will get these funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which addresses the federal government’s pandemic-driven needs for improved cybersecurity and technology modernization.

The effort aims to augment the transparency, efficiency and security delivered with digital services. Each project will fall under one of the three lines of effort: recovery, rebuild and reimagine.

Projects aiming to support recovery include cloud adoption investments, child tax credit assistance, COVID-19 rental relief and the automation of farmers’ debt relief processes.

Efforts to rebuild from the pandemic-damaged world aim to streamline identity verification, create inclusive design patterns and verify income for public benefits.

GSA also seeks to reimagine the USAGov platform, Wifi access, locating child care services, voter information access, government technologist workforce building and investments under the 10X program.

The agency’s Technology Transformation Services will observe due diligence and other best practices from the 10x program, which aims to produce innovative technologies from raw ideas.

“From making it easier for families to access child care services to helping farmers access debt relief programs, these projects address some of the most pressing issues people face in their daily lives,” said Robin Carnahan, GSA administrator.

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DOJ Seeks National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team Director
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DOJ Seeks National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team Director

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun its search for a trial attorney who will lead an enforcement team focused on investigating and prosecuting crimes involving cryptocurrency and oversee DOJ’s efforts in mitigating the use of the digital currency as a criminal tool.

The director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) will lead a group of prosecutors focused on cryptocurrency cases, establish the team’s strategic priorities for investigations and prosecutions and oversee DOJ’s interactions with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies with regard to cryptocurrency-related regulations, according to a notice posted on USAJobs.

The NCET chief should advise federal prosecutors and law enforcement when it comes to the development of investigative and prosecutorial strategies, promote sharing of evidence and information between law enforcement offices and collaborate with the private sector to advance the criminal enforcement mission.

The candidate should have extensive knowledge about blockchain technology and digital currencies, white-collar and money laundering statutes, experience in investigating criminal matters involving sensitive law enforcement techniques and at least five years of experience as a trial attorney or prosecutor.

The job posting closed on Nov. 4th and DOJ is now reviewing applications.

POC - Digital Currency and National Security Forum

The Potomac Officers Club will hold its Digital Currency and National Security Forum on Jan. 27. Sign up for the virtual event to hear from government and industry leaders as they talk about the implications, risks, opportunities and challenges that digital currencies pose to the future of U.S. economy and national security.Open link in new tabhttps://potomacofficersclub.com/events/poc-digital-currency-and-national-security-forum/

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