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GDIT’s Defense SVP Leigh Palmer Talks Adaptability, IT Foundations & Leadership With Potomac Officers Club
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GDIT’s Defense SVP Leigh Palmer Talks Adaptability, IT Foundations & Leadership With Potomac Officers Club

Leigh Palmer, senior vice president of defense for General Dynamics Information Technology, was recently featured in an Executive Spotlight interview with the Potomac Officers Club. Palmer remarked on what she’s learned as a leader through the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of diversity in company cultures and how to remain agile and adaptable in the face of uncertainty.

In this excerpt from the interview, Palmer discusses how bringing in multiple perspectives and better connecting organizational ecosystems can drive collaboration and deliver more robust technological capabilities to customers.

“We must do a better job of leveraging existing capabilities. We have access to so much technology in the federal landscape, but we are not making optimal use of all that is available to us. We have to start with the mindset that warfighter needs come first, and work from there to identify and bring proven solutions to the mission. 

Above all, we can’t fight our wars without a strong IT foundation. Technology is fundamental to the warfighter, and the speed of information exchange, secure collaboration, and getting intelligence to the edge are strategic differentiators on the battlefield. We’ve seen the significance of IT during COVID, and we can’t lose sight of its importance.”

Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to read the full Executive Spotlight interview with GDIT’s Leigh Palmer and learn more about the platform’s membership options and benefits.

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White House Guidance Directs Federal Agencies to Set Up COVID-19 Testing Programs by February
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White House Guidance Directs Federal Agencies to Set Up COVID-19 Testing Programs by February

The White House has issued new guidance directing federal agencies to establish testing programs by Feb. 15, to facilitate COVID-19 screening of certain unvaccinated federal personnel and onsite contractor employees, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

An updated guidance from the Biden administration’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force states that agencies should subject to weekly testing unvaccinated employees who go to a federal facility or interact with the members of the public.

“For certain roles, functions, or work environments, an agency may determine that it is necessary that certain onsite contractor employees, certain employees regardless of their vaccination status, or certain employees and certain onsite contractor employees regardless of their vaccination status must participate in screening testing, given operational or administrative considerations associated with conducting screening testing for those roles, functions, or work environments,” the notice reads. 

The task force said agencies may use antigen tests and other Food and Drug Administration-authorized viral tests and may opt to do the screening through drive-through or in-store testing, swab-testing capabilities and over-the-counter tests.

“Agencies should establish a means of verifying the date and result of a test—the test should not be both self-administered and self-read by the employee unless observed by the agency or an authorized onsite or telehealth provider,” the notice states.

An agency may impose disciplinary action if a federal employee enrolled in the testing program declines to take a COVID-19 test.

The task force also noted that the screening protocols will not apply to unvaccinated employees who are working remotely or those on maximum telework. However, if they need to go to an agency facility, they should be screened in advance and present proof of a negative test result.

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NASAA: Securities Regulators Consider Investments Tied to Crypto as Top Investor Threat
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NASAA: Securities Regulators Consider Investments Tied to Crypto as Top Investor Threat

An annual survey of state and provincial securities regulators conducted by the North American Securities Administrators Association shows that investments linked to cryptocurrencies and digital assets topped the list of investor threats.

“Stories of ‘crypto millionaires’ attracted some investors to try their hand at investing in cryptocurrencies or crypto-related investments this year, and with them, many stories of those who bet big and lost big began appearing, and they will continue to appear in 2022,” Joseph Borg, director of the Alabama Securities Commission and co-chair of NASAA’s enforcement section committee, said in a statement published Monday.

NASAA said promoters of digital assets may easily deceive the public since such products “do not fall neatly into the existing investor regulatory framework” and that investors should practice caution before buying “volatile unregulated investments.”

“Before you jump into the crypto craze, be mindful that cryptocurrencies and related financial products may be nothing more than public facing fronts for Ponzi schemes and other frauds,” said Joseph Rotunda, director of the Texas State Securities Board Enforcement Division and vice chair of NASAA’ enforcement section committee.

The other investor threats on NASAA’s annual list were fraud offerings associated with promissory notes; money scams offered via social media and internet investment schemes; and financial schemes linked to self-directed individual retirement accounts.

POC - Digital Currency and National Security Forum

On Jan. 27, the Potomac Officers Club will bring together distinguished government and industry leaders to discuss the national security aspect of digital currencies. National Cyber Director Chris Inglis will deliver the keynote speech at POC’s Digital Currency and National Security Forum. 

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ICT Supply Chain Task Force Adds 3 Members, Forms New Working Group; Bob Kolasky Quoted
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ICT Supply Chain Task Force Adds 3 Members, Forms New Working Group; Bob Kolasky Quoted

The Information and Communications Technology Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force (ICT SCRM) has announced the Small Business Administration (SBA), National Association of State Chief Information Officers and the National Association of State Procurement Officials as its new members.

The new members “will bring a fresh perspective to our work and help connect efforts with a broader community,” Bob Kolasky, an assistant director at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and an ICT SCRM Task Force co-chair, said in a statement published Tuesday.

SBA and the two national organizations will help come up with actionable measures to improve the resilience of the ICT supply chain.

The task force, which was extended to July 31, 2023, voted to continue the efforts of the small and medium-sized businesses and product marketing groups and approve the formation of the hardware bill of materials working group, which will collect data to inform the development of a template for the hardware bill of materials that organizations can use to buy or field ICT products.

Other plans include promoting the use of software bill of materials and software assurance across the ICT supply chain and expansion of partnerships with other sectors and international organizations.

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Amentum Receives $462M Navy Contract to Provide Atlantic Undersea Range Services; CEO John Vollmer Quoted
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Amentum Receives $462M Navy Contract to Provide Atlantic Undersea Range Services; CEO John Vollmer Quoted

Amentum has been awarded a 10-year, potential $462 million contract by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center for range operations and maintenance support services.

The contract will fund work with the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), a large-area, deep-water range owned by the Navy, the Germantown, Maryland-based defense contractor reported Tuesday.

John Vollmer, CEO of Amentum and a five-time Wash100 award winner, expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity to partner with the Navy in support of AUTEC, citing the range as “unique,” and looking ahead to a successful test and training mission.

Amentum’s responsibilities will include providing AUTEC with program management and business operations services, security, and program documentation. They will also offer safety and environmental support, public works and base services, and logistics support.

In addition, Amentum will perform air and marine services and data acquisition, processing and analysis at the range.

The AUTEC checkpoints where the work will take place are Andros Island, Commonwealth of the Bahamas and West Palm Beach, Florida. Among the activities typically carried out at AUTEC are underwater research, testing and evaluation of anti-submarine weapons and sonar tracking and communications.

Amentum’s AUTEC contract was first announced in Dec. 2021. It recently won a potential $147 million contract from the U.S. Air Forces in Europe to implement global prepositioned material services.

Under the latter contract, Amentum is expected to help store, maintain, reconstitute and outload equipment and execute contingency logistics support work.

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CGI Receives Task Order to Create Data Management Environment for Department of Interior
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CGI Receives Task Order to Create Data Management Environment for Department of Interior

CGI has received a three-year, $3.3 million task order from the Department of the Interior to create a modernized data management environment (DME) for the collection and disbursement of federal and Indian royalties. If all options are exercised, the task order could amount to $12.9 million.

The new DME intends to allow the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, the arm of the DoI providing the task order, to aid the department’s management of oil, gas and other natural resources, the information technology and business consulting firm announced Tuesday.

“We will leverage a proven, innovative and secure cloud-based data management environment solution that supports ONRR in its mission of ensuring the full and fair collection and disbursement of federal and Indian royalties for use of public and renewable energy and mineral resources,” said CGI Senior Vice President Stefan Becker.

Under the task order, CGI is expected to facilitate large-scale data ingestion, consolidation and dissemination by utilizing Amazon Web Services native tools and Snowflake’s platform-as-a-service solution.

Users of the DME are expected to benefit from self-service data access as well as user-generated reports and improved data quality, access and transparency.

In Nov. 2021, CGI was tapped to modernize the General Services Administration’s acquisition process by developing the Common Catalog Program, replacing the desktop-based Schedule Input Program.

They will perform this work via another cloud-based system, DevSecOps, and the process will similarly revolve around data management.

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New AFVentures Director Amanda Rebhi to Retain Current Processes
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New AFVentures Director Amanda Rebhi to Retain Current Processes

Amanda Rebhi, the new director of the U.S. Air Force’s AFVentures office, told Fedscoop she intends to improve her organization’s current processes instead of making big changes.

Rebhi said she has witnessed AFVentures’ success over the past three years as small business investments continue to grow, Fedscoop reported Monday.

AFVentures, part of the AFWERX innovation effort, manages a contracting vehicle that supports grants under the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

A 2020 report reveals that over 1,400 small companies have received a total of $710 million from AFVentures since 2018. Rebhi formerly served as a transfer acquisition manager under the leadership of Maj. Jason Rathje, the outgoing director of AFVentures.

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NASA Names Earth Expert Katherine Calvin as Chief Scientist, Senior Climate Adviser
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NASA Names Earth Expert Katherine Calvin as Chief Scientist, Senior Climate Adviser

NASA has appointed Katherine Calvin, a former Earth scientist at Joint Global Change Research Institute in Maryland, to serve as both its chief scientist and senior climate adviser.

The agency said Tuesday the newly appointed official will support its science programs, strategic planning and policy, as well as act as its representative in U.S. and international science communities.

She replaced Jim Green, the former NASA chief scientist who retired on Jan. 1., and Gavin Schmidt, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies director which served as interim climate adviser.

She brings to the role experience working on a model for analyzing human and Earthy systems and their relationships for both the Maryland-based institute and the Department of Energy.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Kate to the NASA family, where she will bring her expertise in integrated human-Earth system modeling to help ensure the Biden Administration has the data needed to achieve the critical goal of protecting our planet,” shared Bill Nelson, the agency administrator.

NASA Names Earth Expert Katherine Calvin as Chief Scientist, Senior Climate Adviser

If you’re interested in climate change discussions, check out an upcoming fireside chat session to be hosted by ExecutiveGov’s sister site GovCon Wire. The virtual event will feature Kevin Welsh, executive director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Environment and Energy.

Register now to join the “FAA: Climate Change Priorities Fireside Chat” on Jan. 26.

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Air Force Uses Cloud-Based System to Track All Logistics
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Air Force Uses Cloud-Based System to Track All Logistics

The U.S. Air Force employs a modern cloud-based logistics system to track assets across active-duty, reserve and National Guard inventories.

The Integrated Logistics System – Supply or ILS-S, built on Amazon Web Services GovCloud, features 120 interface agreements to serve 18,000 end-users and more than 100,000 information consumers at 250 military installations, USAF said Sunday.

ILS-S encompasses ordering, storage, receipt, distribution, supply movement, tracking, account management, financial reporting and maintenance functions for assets including aircraft, missiles, engines and mobile technologies.

These 35 million assets tracked by ILS-S hold a cumulative value of $18 billion and are distributed across 1.7 million warehouse points.

The system’s features include automatic sourcing, Agile delivery, excess redistribution, mobility management, financial improvement and audit readiness.

“Our goal as a digital Air and Space Force is to continuously innovate not only ILS-S but all of our enterprise logistics systems by adopting new technologies that will amplify our mission readiness while driving down operational costs,” said Herbert Hunter, enterprise logistics portfolio manager at USAF’s Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate.

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Government’s First Pulse Survey Gathered Preliminary Input From Over 2M Federal Employees; Pam Coleman Quoted
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Government’s First Pulse Survey Gathered Preliminary Input From Over 2M Federal Employees; Pam Coleman Quoted

Pam Coleman, associate director of performance and personnel management at the Office of Management and Budget, said the government’s first pulse survey gathered workforce-related input from about two million civilian respondents across 24 federal agencies.

The survey, conducted in October, focused on pandemic and safety efforts, workforce equity and inclusion and employee engagement, she wrote in a piece published Friday on the performance.gov website.

The President’s Management Council worked with the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management and the OMB to conduct the survey, which is intended to inform government leaders about the status and needs of federal employees.

Gathered input can help leaders make decisions that support and strengthen the federal workforce. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley’s The People Lab provided topics for the survey.

The government will complete second and third pulse surveys to build on the preliminary data gathered through the first one.

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