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Air Combat Command, Kessel Run Sign Agreement to Formalize Partnership; Jacquelynn Torson Quoted
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Air Combat Command, Kessel Run Sign Agreement to Formalize Partnership; Jacquelynn Torson Quoted

Air Combat Command (ACC) has signed a user agreement that strengthens its partnership with the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run software development team.

The agreement, signed on Sept. 30th, defines how Kessel Run will operationally support ACC and formalizes the existing partnership between the two, the software development team said Wednesday.

Kessel Run is helping ACC modernize the Air Operation Center Weapon System, an effort aligned with by the agreement.

“We now have the foundation for pushing out war-winning capability to joint force commanders at the speed of need,” said Jacquelynn Torson, Kessel Run’s test and integration chief.

She added that Kessel Run will involve ACC in every step of delivering capabilities needed by the latter.

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AFRL, UK Test ML Algorithms to Support Warfighters of Both Nations
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AFRL, UK Test ML Algorithms to Support Warfighters of Both Nations

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and its U.K.-based counterpart jointly created and tested machine learning algorithms designed to support both countries. 

AFRL’s Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., virtually hosted the algorithms’ demonstration with the U.K.’s defense science and technology laboratory in Salisbury, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.

The event, which took place on Monday, demonstrated how the two nations can develop, share and deploy data and algorithms via a common platform.

Research under effort aimed to boost situational awareness, better inform decision making, improve operational tempo and reduce life risks of U.S. and U.K. warfighters.  

The two nations formed an artificial intelligence-focused partnership in December 2020, leading to the recent demonstration.

The four-year Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Partnership Agreement supports AI research and development and all-domain experiments between the two countries.

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FedRAMP Updates Authorization Playbook to Disseminate Program Changes
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FedRAMP Updates Authorization Playbook to Disseminate Program Changes

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) has updated a playbook that features best practices and other forms of guidance to help agencies conduct or reuse FedRAMP authorizations. 

The action aims to inform agencies about changes in the FedRAMP authorization process since the program’s initial run, FedRAMP said Wednesday.

Updates in the content cover using the FedRAMP Marketplace, reusing FedRAMP authorizations, collaborative continuous monitoring and the FedRAMP Agency Liaison program.

The updated document also tackles the process that the FedRAMP Program Management Office uses to review agency authorizations.

FedRAMP also intends for the updated playbook to support the information needs of other program stakeholders aside from federal agencies looking into the authorization process. The program aims to standardize the security of cloud products used by the federal government.

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Palo Alto Networks IoT Security Report Provides Insights Into IoT Adoption, Public Sector SVP Dana Barnes Quoted
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Palo Alto Networks IoT Security Report Provides Insights Into IoT Adoption, Public Sector SVP Dana Barnes Quoted
Palo Alto Networks IoT Security Report Provides Insights Into IoT Adoption, Public Sector SVP Dana Barnes Quoted
Dana Barnes, SVP of Public Sector Sales With Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks announced on Wednesday that the company had released its latest IoT Security Report detailing the responses and results from 1,900 IT leaders across a wide range of organizations across 18 countries in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East on the latest internet of things (IoT) trends and major security issues as a result of the recent pandemic.

“As government agencies prepare remote and hybrid work plans for 2022, the line is fading between home and agency network environments, said Dana Barnes, senior vice president of Public Sector Sales for Palo Alto Networks and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient. “The Palo Alto Networks IoT Security report is a stark warning that agency cybersecurity postures must extend to the home office and personal devices of all kinds.”

One of the key insights from the report showed that 78 percent of information technology decision-makers saw an increase in the number of IoT security incidents driven by the transition to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 96 percent of respondents said they believe their organization’s IoT security approach needs improvement.

“IoT adoption is growing rapidly with 78% of IT decision-makers reporting an increase of personal devices connecting to their enterprise networks,” Barnes added. “Under the Biden administration’s recent executive order, federal agencies need a proactive approach, moving to a Zero Trust architecture that verifies approved devices and only allows users to access what is necessary.”

With telework capabilities and hybrid workforces becoming a mainstay following the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barnes argued that the report also demonstrated that federal agencies need to be prepared with the best practices and tools for cybersecurity and other security measures to ensure home protection for federal employees the same way they’ve been protected at the office.

Visit PaloAltoNetworks.com to read the full Connected Enterprise: IoT Security Report 2021 for yourself to learn from the invaluable insights the report provides and gain a deeper understanding of the impact the pandemic has had and the crucial steps to take to protect your information.

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DHS Secretary Mayorkas, GSA Administrator Carnahan, Senator Carper Urge Funding to Complete Ongoing St. Elizabeths DHS HQ Project
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DHS Secretary Mayorkas, GSA Administrator Carnahan, Senator Carper Urge Funding to Complete Ongoing St. Elizabeths DHS HQ Project

On Monday, 2021 Wash100 Award winner Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) toured the St. Elizabeths West Campus in Washington, D.C. to oversee progress and urge funding on the GSA’s ongoing project to consolidate DHS components onto the campus. 

The St. Elizabeths DHS headquarters project is expected to reduce DHS’ physical footprint by over one half million square feet, saving the government $475 million over 30 years, GSA said Tuesday.

However, the project, which broke ground in September 2009, has faced completion challenges due to what Sen. Carper called “inadequate and inconsistent funding from Congress.”

As outlined in the Biden administration’s FY22 budget, the St. Elizabeths DHS project is now requesting over $392.8 million to achieve completion. 

The funds will cover campus infrastructure investments and historic preservation efforts along with the design and construction of new headquarters for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“Funding to complete DHS’s consolidation at St. Elizabeths Campus is critical: not only will this project improve DHS operations, it will do so while saving taxpayer money, creating jobs, and demonstrating what building sustainability looks like,” Carnahan said.

The project has created over 2,000 jobs to date, with future expectations of expanded economic opportunities for families and businesses in D.C.’s Ward 8 and surrounding areas.

Secretary Mayorkas said DHS plans to co-locate more of the agency’s components onto the campus over the next few years.

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Blue Delta Names GovCon Vet Mac Curtis as Venture Fellow; Phil Nolan, Jim Garrettson Quoted
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Blue Delta Names GovCon Vet Mac Curtis as Venture Fellow; Phil Nolan, Jim Garrettson Quoted

Blue Delta Capital Partners has appointed Mac Curtis, former chairman of the board, president and CEO of Perspecta and seven-time Wash100 Award recipient, as a venture fellow who will join some of the boards of the McLean, Virginia-based growth equity firm’s portfolio companies and support their growth initiatives.

“Mac will [also] help us see new investment opportunities, assist our companies in scaling both through organic growth and occasional tuck-in acquisitions, and help us continue to assimilate the best talent in the market into the companies that we have backed,” Phil Nolan, a general partner at Blue Delta, said in a statement published Wednesday.

Commenting on his appointment, Curtis told Executive Mosaic, “I have been fortunate throughout my entire career to have worked with some of the most elite teams in the GovCon industry. Joining the proven all star team of executives at Blue Delta is the continuity of achievement only fortunate executives could realize as they build on the foundation of many significant team successes.”

Curtis will collaborate with the chief executives of Blue Delta’s portfolio companies and with its advisory board that includes Donna Morea, chair of the board of directors at Science Applications International Corp., and Mike Daniels, board chair at CACI International.

The appointee brings to Blue Delta Capital Partners decades-long experience in government contracting. Under his leadership, Perspecta, which now operates as part of Peraton, grew into a $7.1 billion company that was acquired by Veritas Capital. He is a consistent recipient of Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 Award that recognized the contributions of GovCon leaders.

“Mac Curtis’ long list of achievements has been documented in a chronology of his career, which was published in Executive Mosaic recently,” said Jim Garrettson, founder and CEO of Executive Mosaic.

“Mac enjoys the luxury of one of the best personal executive brands in our industry. [His] achievements have been recognized across the industry by a vast array of awards including the achievement of seven Wash100 leadership awards. This enviable recognition has been equaled by only a handful of industry executives,” Garrettson added.

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AT&T FirstNet-O2X Partnership Brings Health & Wellness Training Workshops to First Responders
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AT&T FirstNet-O2X Partnership Brings Health & Wellness Training Workshops to First Responders

AT&T’s FirstNet is collaborating with O2X Human Performance in a program that brings health, wellness and resilience training to first responders through a series of workshops across 5 cities in Colorado, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida.

O2X, a Navy SEAL-founded training and education company, will lead three-day tactical athletic training-based performance workshops designed to optimize occupational physical performance and support mental health for first responders and public safety personnel, the company said Thursday.

The workshops will include specifically designed education across a range of topics such as injury prevention, stress management, nutrition and movement foundation from a team of professionals that include U.S. Special Operations veterans, sleep scientists, mental performance experts and strength and conditioning specialists.

“This program has proven successful and we’re hoping our collaboration will allow more first responders to feel equipped both mentally and physically to handle their jobs,” said Dr. Anna Courie, DPN, RN, PHNA-BC and director of responder wellness for AT&T’s FirstNet program.

The collaboration aligns with FirstNet Health and Wellness Coalition’s strategic priorities to integrate community, industry and academic capabilities in support of first responders’ health, wellness, resilience and readiness.

AT&T’s FirstNet was recently selected to provide its first responder communications platform to 15 U.S. Air Force bases across the country.

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Army Unveils Digital Transformation Strategy; CIO Raj Iyer Quoted
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Army Unveils Digital Transformation Strategy; CIO Raj Iyer Quoted

The U.S. Army has issued a new strategy that seeks to advance the use of innovative technologies to help establish conditions for a digital Army to maintain overmatch across land, sea, space, air and cyberspace domains.

The Army Digital Transformation Strategy sets the vision for how the service can achieve Waypoint 2028 with the aid of digital modernization and has three objectives: modernization and readiness, reform and people and partnerships, the Army said Wednesday. Waypoint 2028 is the Army’s holistic approach to fight and win in multi-domain operations.

Each objective comes with several lines of effort. For the modernization and readiness aspect, lines of effort include accelerating cloud-native adoption by unifying the Army’s enterprise and tactical clouds, leveraging data as a strategic asset to achieve interoperability and data for decision-making and elevating the military branch’s cybersecurity posture by defining zero-trust principles for both information technology and operational technology assets.

“Going digital is a mindset, it’s culture change,” said Raj Iyer, chief information officer of the Army and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner. “It’s about how we can fundamentally change how we operate as an Army through transformative digital technologies, empowering our workforce, and re-engineering our rigid institutional processes to be more agile,” added Iyer.

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Commerce to Impose Export Controls on Certain Cybersecurity Items; Gina Raimondo Quoted
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Commerce to Impose Export Controls on Certain Cybersecurity Items; Gina Raimondo Quoted

The Department of Commerce is seeking public comments on an interim final rule that seeks to establish controls on the export, transfer or re-export of certain products that can be used in malicious cyber activities.

The rule introduced by the bureau of industry and security intends to establish a License Exception Authorized Cybersecurity Exports that would permit the export of cybersecurity items to most destinations and keep a license requirement for exports to countries of national security concern, the department said Wednesday.

License Exception ACE would require a license for nations subject to a U.S. arms embargo and  “impose an end-use restriction in circumstances where the exporter, re-exporter, or transferor knows or has reason to know … that the ‘cybersecurity item’ will be used to affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information or information systems, without authorization by the owner, operator or administrator of the information system (including the information and processes within such systems),” the rule reads.

“The Commerce Department’s interim final rule imposing export controls on certain cybersecurity items is an appropriately tailored approach that protects America’s national security against malicious cyber actors while ensuring legitimate cybersecurity activities,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Public comments are due Dec. 6th. The rule will take effect on Jan. 19th.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations

ExecutiveBiz, sister site of GovConDaily and part of the Executive Mosaic digital media umbrella, will host a virtual event about securing the supply chain on Oct. 26. Visit ExecutiveBiz.com to sign up for the “Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations” event.

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USCENTCOM Cyber-Electromagnetic Team Holds Counter-UAS Class in Kuwait
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USCENTCOM Cyber-Electromagnetic Team Holds Counter-UAS Class in Kuwait

A U.S. Central Command electromagnetic team in Kuwait taught from Oct. 4th to 8th the first-ever class using a curriculum it developed for providing education on counter-unmanned aerial systems technologies.

The Task Force Phoenix’s (TFP) Cyberspace Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) Cell gave its first students from Camp Buehring lessons on the risk posed by rogue drones and the platforms used to defeat such threats, the U.S. Army said Monday.

During the five-day event, 16 Army and U.S. Air Force active and reserve personnel received briefings, as well as hands-on and virtual training, on various counter-drone systems used by the military from the CEMA cell and representatives from defense contractor Raytheon Technologies.

In creating the course, Capt. Jesse Rodeheaver, officer-in-charge for the Army Central Command Readiness Training Center, shared that the military training organization provided an audience and platform in which CEMA can distribute its expertise on CUAS and electronic warfare.

The TFP team will start the next class for counter-drone operations on Nov. 8th at Camp Buehring.

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