Whistleblower Network News

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

On November 20, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, business associate Cyril Cabanes, and other senior business executives in connection with an alleged $250 million bribery scheme. According to the U.S. authorities, Adani and his business associates orchestrated a bribery scheme to enable their two renewable energy companies, Adani Green Energy and Azure Power Global,

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AWS Public Sector

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Government procurement professionals are tasked with balancing the need for innovation while adhering to strict regulations. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, such as generative AI, presents both opportunities and challenges in this delicate equilibrium. This post provides guidance on how procurement can play a pivotal role in enabling the responsible use of AI within the public sector.

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SmallGovCon

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

As we look forward to fall traditions like turkey and mashed potatoes, pumpkin spice, and leaf peeping, don’t sleep on another fall tradition, the GAO bid protest report. This report is GAO’s summary of bid protests for the previous fiscal year. It contains some important insights for how GAO bid protest numbers have changed from prior years. Of course, many bid protests are filed at the Court of Federal Claims, so this is only one part of the picture.

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The Coalition for Government Procurement

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Coalition for Government Procurement would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in this week’s Fall Training Conference – The 2025 Federal Market: What’s Next? We were thrilled to explore the key issues impacting the federal procurement landscape, including agency programs and initiatives, the budget and policy outlook post-election, and what lies ahead for 2025 and beyond.

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Speaker: Jeff Dickinson - President and CEO of Railgistixs Transport, Supply Chain and Logistics Thought Leader

Despite the ongoing transformation of the supply chain and logistics landscape, the steadfast importance of carrier safety remains a core principle. From prioritizing preventative maintenance to optimizing fleet utilization, the fundamentals persist. If you’re overlooking and neglecting essential safety precautions today, this could result in expensive repairs and potential safety hazards in the future. 🚧 Join Jeff Dickinson for a conversation on how to mitigate risk, enforce compliance,

Logistics

FedTech Magazine

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Department of Defense is exploring how it can employ a user-centric model to increase its IT capabilities, much like private enterprises pursue digital transformations to improve their employee and customer experiences. “There were times when I was a young captain working in the [Office of the DOD CIO], and I would think about interoperability,” said Leslie Beavers, acting CIO at the Department of Defense, at the AFCEA TechNet Cyber 2024 conference in June.

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FedInsider

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

This week on Feds-At-The Edge we explore AI used as a strategic tool, focused on risk mitigation, applications, and continuous user feedback. Risk Mitigation: Risks vary by application. Luke Keller, Chief Innovation Officer at US Census bureau, highlighted using NIST guidelines, including bias reduction frameworks, to ensure ethical and accurate AI deployment.

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Kluwer Arbitration

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Building on Part I of this post, Part II explains the serious practical disfunctions that would derive from the adoption by Working Group V (“WG V”) at UNCITRAL of the current proposal to subject all the effects of insolvency in arbitration to the law of the State in which insolvency proceedings have been opened (the lex fori concursus ). The Risk of Abuse Practice shows that the ability of one party to an ongoing dispute resolution process to trigger insolvency proceedings in their home jurisdi

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GovCon Wire

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

SpaceX has received a NASA contract worth approximately $256.6 million to provide launch services for the Dragonfly rotorcraft lander mission meant to explore Saturn’s largest moon Titan by sampling materials and determining surface composition in various geologic settings.

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Kluwer Arbitration

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Since 2019, Working Group (“WG”) V of UNCITRAL has been working on the adoption of a choice of law instrument that regulates the law applicable to the international effects of insolvency proceedings. The project seeks to include a rule on the law governing the impact of insolvency in arbitration. Part I of this post examines the various regulatory models considered by WG V to govern this issue and argues that the recent change of direction in favour of an absolute rule in favour of the law of th

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GovCon Wire

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Elizabeth Mannshardt was appointed as vice president and director of statistics and data science at Rockville, Maryland-based research and professional services provider Westat. The company said Mannshardt most recently worked as director of the Statistics, Methods and Innovation Program at the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

An ex-Chicago alderman who wore a wire to meetings with former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was back on the stand Monday describing how he arranged a meeting with developers of a Chicago apartment building at Madigan's law office, with jurors hearing a call in which Madigan said to "go ahead and process" a zoning change for that project after the alderman asked if the developer gave him legal work.

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WashngtonExec

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

SOSi has appointed Jeffrey Mounts as a senior account executive for the federal civilian sector. Mounts brings 30 years of experience at the State Department to the role. He will be responsible for developing and managing customer and partner relationships to advise business units and sales teams. “Jeff possesses extensive experience and brings an intimate [.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Moving company Suddath has disputed a $20 billion dollar contract to manage moving services for the U.S. Department of Defense, arguing U.S. Transportation Command significantly altered contractual terms after award and should have reopened the deal to competition.

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Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

A recent bid protest at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) reinforces the idea that there is a big difference between evaluation criteria in a solicitation, and instructions in the solicitation on how to prepare an offer. Tech Systems, Inc., B-421838.3, & 4, June 4, 2024. The Army issued a solicitation for logistics support services at Schofield Barracks, HI.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Federal Highway Administration defended a new rule calling on states to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects, telling the Fifth Circuit in a Friday brief the rule doesn't actually compel states to lower their emissions.

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AWS Public Sector

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

In July 2024, the Pentagon conducted a study that revealed a sobering statistic: US soldiers are nine times more likely to die by suicide than in combat, leading to suicide being the number one cause of death for US soldiers. Suicide rates among veterans continued to climb from 2001 to 2018 before dipping back for 2019 and 2020. The suicide rate among veterans is still 1.5 times higher than that of the general population.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Plakin has rebuffed attacks from businessman George Norcross and others charged in his office's sprawling racketeering case in a pair of opposition filings, accusing the defendants of attempting to try the case in the press and contending that their argument to toss the case is out of place.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Anduril Rocket Motor Systems has achieved a new milestone in its development of the Denali hypersonic booster. The company said Saturday that the 18-inch propulsion system underwent a static test firing at its facility in McHenry, Mississippi. The rocket maker posted a short video of Denali’s static test firing on LinkedIn.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

In Kousisis v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court should reject the sweeping legal theory that breaches of contract can satisfy the property element of the mail and wire fraud statutes, which, if validated, would criminalize an array of ordinary conduct and violate basic constitutional principles, say attorneys at Norton Law.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

GE Aerospace recently tested a 1-MW hybrid electric propulsion system for the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Applied Research Collaborative Systematic Turboshaft Electrification Project.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Ninth Circuit backed the dismissal of a Seattle convention center operator's suit seeking coverage for pandemic-related losses, saying Monday that COVID-19 and resulting government shutdown orders did not cause the requisite physical loss or damage to the center to trigger coverage.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Lockheed Martin Ventures, Kindred Ventures and Y Combinator participated in the Series A funding round of Inversion Space, during which the space-based logistics startup raised $44 million.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

A Philadelphia man has been acquitted by a New Jersey federal jury of charges related to a $34 million medication kickback scheme involving three other pharmacy executives accused of paying marketers referral fees.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

James Owen has been named president of Fuse Federal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of nuclear fusion company Fuse. The San Leandro, California-based nuclear fusion company said Thursday Owen will lead efforts in developing and deploying products and services for sustainable, clean and reliable energy.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Federal prosecutors have told the D.C. Circuit to reject an ex-Federal Bureau of Investigation agent's appeal of his bribery convictions, arguing that the convictions for a property buying scheme is based on "sufficient evidence.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

SAIC has appointed John Tien Jr., a U.S. Army veteran and former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, to its board of directors, effective Dec. 2. Tien will join the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee and his appointment will increase the board’s membership to 12, the company said Friday.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Romanian government, in an effort to bolster the capabilities of its air force, has agreed to purchase 32 stealth fighter jets for $7.2 billion from manufacturer Lockheed Martin, according to multiple statements.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Tetra Tech a potential $66 million contract to provide technical assistance services to the Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team, or START, assigned to implement EPA’s National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan responsibilities in the agency’s Region 5 division. A notice posted on Thursday on SAM.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal by a company that owns a background check patent invalidated for claiming only an abstract idea and that argued it was deprived of a fair hearing at the Federal Circuit due to the suspension of Judge Pauline Newman.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Venture capital firm Marlinspike has appointed three defense and intelligence leaders to the newly created advisory board for its second growth fund to provide strategic guidance and insights as it invests in early-stage companies focused on developing dual-use technologies. The Washington, D.C.

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Government Contracts

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the bribery convictions of a former attorney who solicited and accepted payments from an environmental contractor to influence three Puerto Rican mayors and helped the contractor secure government contracts worth millions of dollars.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Patent landscape analysis can help drive an organization’s growth because it can “uncover what isn’t immediately apparent,” according to Keegan Caldwell, a global managing partner at law firm Caldwell. The process is particularly valuable when it comes to research and development, Caldwell said in an article posted Nov. 19 on his firm’s website.

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Government Contracts & Global Trade

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced that it will increase patent fees effective January 19, 2025. The USPTO will raise almost all existing patent fees. Although the USPTO made a few exceptions for policy reasons, existing patent fees will generally be about 7.5 percent higher across the board. The USPTO will also add new types of patent fees.

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ExecutiveBiz

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index is starting to make a comeback from its worst weekly performance after increasing 1.05% for the week and ending at an average of $5,212.93. GovCon Index records stock market data from 30 major government contracting organizations and presents it in real-time to site visitors.

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GovCon Wire

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

The Department of Commerce is investing up to $300 million to accelerate the development of technologies to boost the semiconductor industry. The department said Thursday the three entities receiving up to $100 million in federal funding each will conduct advanced packaging research projects meant to boost innovation in semiconductor research, development and manufacturing.

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FedInsider

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Tuesday, December 17, 2024 | 2:00PM EST | 1 Hour | 1 CPE The biggest challenge federal government stakeholders currently face is managing their workforce effectively across myriad sites, including fully remote work, hybrid work and multiple office locations. Caught between a competitive job market and a dearth of talent, leaders must think through the psychology of return-to-work policies and consider the experience for their employees.

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