December, 2023

article thumbnail

Reading FedEx Ground the RICO Act

Art of Procurement

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO, is usually associated with organized crime. In 1992, it. The post Reading FedEx Ground the RICO Act appeared first on Art of Procurement.

article thumbnail

UN’s first ever resolution on public procurement: what makes it strong and what’s still missing

Open Contracting Partnership

At 2 am on Saturday morning, the day after the 10th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) was meant to end in Atlanta, exhausted negotiators finally adopted a resolution on “ Promoting transparency and integrity in public procurement in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ”. We should pay credit to the remarkable tenacity and leadership from the French government who proposed the resolution and who pushed for the most ambitious and i

professionals

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

CISA seeking comments on its ‘secure by design’ guidance

FedScoop

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is looking for feedback on its “secure by design” white paper, which pushes software manufacturers to follow more stringent security principles in the design and development of all products shipped to customers. CISA initially published its white paper — “ Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk: Principles and Approaches for Secure by Design Software ” — in April but released updated joint guidance with 17 domestic and foreign partners in

IT 142
article thumbnail

Top highlights from AWS worldwide public sector partners at re:Invent 2023

AWS Public Sector

Jeff Kratz, right, and Thomas Siebel, center, listen as Jason Bonci talks during their fireside chat at the AWS Partner Keynote at re:Invent 2023. This week, the city of Las Vegas served as a vibrant hub of energy and creativity during the Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent 2023 conference. This is my 11th year participating in re:Invent and I continue to be awestruck by the innovative ideas and value that AWS Partners bring to our customers.

Education 136
article thumbnail

How to Create a Blueprint for Fleet Resilience

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,

article thumbnail

Budgeting Priorities for Federal Deployment of Zero Trust (E130)

FedInsider

Agencies have matured in their understanding of zero trust. No longer trying to define what it is, focus is now on the affordability within already challenged budgets. In the latest episode of Fed’s At the Edge, we sit down with Brian Dennis, Principal Technologist of the Public Sector for Akamai Technologies. An expert in the deployment of zero trust, Brian will give listeners an overview of the most economical ways agencies can move forward with this crucial cybersecurity strategy.

Budget 134
article thumbnail

Biden Signs $886B FY24 NDAA Into Law

GovCon Wire

President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act that seeks to authorize $886 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2024, Reuters reported. The Senate voted 87-13 to pass the FY 2024 NDAA, which cleared the House in a 310-118 vote.

Finance 128

More Trending

article thumbnail

Revolutionizing public procurement in Uganda: the power of citizen contract monitoring

Open Contracting Partnership

Challenge: Uganda’s public procurement authorities lack adequate resources and manpower to monitor many major contractors across the country’s more than 100 districts, leading to abandoned projects, missing deliverables and time and cost overruns. Open contracting approach : Uganda’s Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) worked collaboratively with civil society and a development partner, the German Development Agency GIZ to build a digital contract monitoring s

article thumbnail

FDA cybersecurity agreement on medical devices needs updating, watchdog finds

FedScoop

Medical devices like heart monitors, which are under the purview of the Food and Drug Administration, have cybersecurity vulnerabilities that aren’t frequently exploited but nevertheless pose risks to hospital networks and patients, according to a recent watchdog report. The Government Accountability Office highlighted that the FDA’s medical device cybersecurity formal agreement is five years old and needs to be updated with the help of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security

article thumbnail

Hitachi Vantara Federal’s Pragyansmita Nayak on AI’s Potential to Achieve Mission Objectives

ExecutiveBiz

Pragyansmita Nayak , chief data scientist at Hitachi Vantara 's federal subsidiary , has outlined strategic steps to integrate artificial intelligence tools into government systems to optimize operations, enhance security and achieve mission objectives. Federal agencies must first establish a data management strategy, focusing on data provenance and lineage, to ensure data quality and prevent the infiltration of "poisoned" data that threat actors may exploit to disrupt AI systems, N

Quality 119
article thumbnail

Budgeting Ideas to Reach a Zero Trust Future

FedInsider

Wednesday, January 10, 2024 | 2:00PM EST | 90 Minutes | Training Certificate Ransomware, malware, phishing, DDoS, social engineering, zero-day exploit, botnets – the list of types of attacks out there is long enough to keep even the most seasoned cybersecurity expert awake at night. And with the increased use of remote computing, the cyber attack surface grows as more edge devices are added to networks.

Budget 131
article thumbnail

JMA’s Rishi Bhaskar on Modernizing Government Communication Systems With Software-Based 5G Networks

GovCon Wire

Rishi Bhaskar, senior vice president and general manager at JMA Wireless, said government agencies looking to modernize their communication systems and meet evolving demands should consider implementing software-based 5G networks. “A 5G software solution provides the flexibility to add network features in response to real-time application and use case requirements.

article thumbnail

With a lot to chase in 2024, fewer federal contractors are chasing an increasing number of federal dollars

Federal News Network

For the big federal contracts on the horizon in 2024, not a whole lot is changing when it comes to what the government plans to buy. But there are still a lot of opportunities for contractors, as agencies re-compete some of their biggest buying vehicles. Those are some of the takeaways from Deltek’s annual list of top contracting opportunities. Ashley Sanderson is a senior research manager at Deltek.

article thumbnail

2024 Federal Tech Trends: Zero Trust, Customer Experience Top the List

FedTech Magazine

Many federal IT priorities have been set by executive order; among them, the move toward zero-trust security and the effort to improve citizens’ digital experience with government. These orders are guiding the technology trends expected for 2024, as agencies work to meet zero-trust deadlines and look forward to metrics by which they’ll be able to measure their progress toward the customer experience goals of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA).

article thumbnail

DHS seeks information for CISA analytics and machine learning project

FedScoop

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking cloud-related information to support an analytics and machine learning research and development project that’s in the works for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The Advanced Analytics Platform for Machine Learning (CAP-M) project, which is being developed by DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate for CISA, is “envisioned to be a multicloud, multi-tenant environment for testing new software and tools, and developing complex mac

Contract 132
article thumbnail

Jacobs’ John Karabias & Adi Karisik Warn of Lack of Operational Tech Cybersecurity in US Water Sector

ExecutiveBiz

The U.S. water sector needs to reform its risk quantification and cybersecurity infrastructure amid rising attacks on critical infrastructure, including the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, wrote Jacobs' cybersecurity executives John Karabias and Adi Karisik. Karabias, vice president of operational technology cybersecurity, and Karisik, OT cybersecurity principal at Jacobs Global Technology, discussed in a recent column the need for operational IT defense in protecting

Utilities 116
article thumbnail

After an Attack: Cyber Recovery Best Practices for State & Local Agencies

FedInsider

Thursday, January 11, 2024 | 2:00PM EST | 1 Hour | Training Certificate Recent headlines have been full of stories about state and local governments and school systems being targeted by malicious actors. And these organizations are likely to face tight budgets and limited manpower to deal with a cyber threat. For many agencies, the reality is it’s a matter of when – not if – they will be attacked.

article thumbnail

Report: ULA Gets Buyout Bids From Blue Origin, Cerberus

GovCon Wire

Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin and private equity firm Cerberus have made bids for United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Bidding 122
article thumbnail

DARPA kicks off its 10-year plan to create a ‘thriving lunar economy’

Federal News Network

A senior leader at the Genderal Services Administration is returning to the private sector. Sonny Hashmi, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at GSA, is leaving after three years. Hashmi’s last day will be December 29. FAS Deputy Commissioner Tom Howder will serve as acting commissioner until a new one is named. Hashmi will be heading back to the private sector, but it is unclear where he will land.

IT 122
article thumbnail

Defense Agencies Turn to Platform Engineering to Accelerate DevSecOps

FedTech Magazine

To deliver cutting-edge capabilities, the military needs to bring new applications to warfighters quickly and effectively. To that end, Department of Defense branches have leaned heavily into DevSecOps, a practice that encourages collaboration among development, security and operations organizations to speed software production. But the talents needed to inform the DevSecOps pipeline aren’t always readily available.

article thumbnail

VOA faces internal backlash over newsroom guidance on use of generative AI to voice news reports

FedScoop

Dozens of journalists and staff at Voice of America are strongly opposed to the state-owned news organization’s plan to use AI-generated synthetic voices, documents obtained by FedScoop show, with employees expressing concerns that the tool could breed mistrust with its audience, cause misinformation to spread and potentially eliminate jobs within the newsroom.

article thumbnail

Swindon Borough Council makes vital public information more accessible using Amazon Bedrock

AWS Public Sector

Emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI ) streamline business processes and allow providers of public services to connect with citizens in new and intuitive ways. For example, local councils can draw on cloud-based AI tools to make content more understandable. This is something we’re focused on at Swindon Borough Council , a local authority in England.

Import 113
article thumbnail

Zero Trust is Needed to Win the Cyber War

FedInsider

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 | 2:00PM EST | 1 Hour | 1 CPE Zero trust revolutionizes network security architecture because it is data-centric and designed to stop data breaches. While that is its primary purpose for government, it also increases agility for modern networks that traditional network designs can’t emulate. It has been almost two years since the Office of Management and Budget issued its federal zero trust architecture strategy, which set out specific goals for agencies to achieve by t

article thumbnail

Rob Silverman Shares Insights Into Booz Allen’s Recent Acquisitions and Going-Forward Strategy

GovCon Wire

Mergers and acquisitions across the government contracting landscape are back on the upswing after a relatively slow year for deals. In an Executive Spotlight interview with Executive Mosaic, Booz Allen Hamilton Executive Vice President Rob Silverman gave us a glimpse into the company’s recent acquisitions and shared insights for M&A moving forward.

article thumbnail

Carahsoft’s Tim Boltz: Observability, Analytics Could Help Schools Meet Education Missions, Advance Student Growth

ExecutiveBiz

Tim Boltz , a sales director at Carahsoft Technology , said implementing analytics, observability and a “secure by design” approach could help schools and universities meet their education missions and personalize the academic learning experience to better support students. In a blog post published Tuesday, Boltz wrote that observability is one of the steps to achieve cybersecurity as educational institutions deal with evolving cyberthreats and advance the adoption of new technologies.

Education 111
article thumbnail

FedRamp modernization & the draft OMB memo

Federal News Network

Townsend Bourne, partner, Sheppard Mullin Townsend Bourne, partner at Sheppard Mullin , joins Off the Shelf for an examination of a series of cyber policies, regulations, and certifications that are in various stages of government review and/or public comment. Bourne provides her insights on many of the key cyber policies and programs that will impact government and industry, and gives her thoughts on FedRAMP modernization and the draft OMB memo laying the vision for future operations.

article thumbnail

Only 3 agencies have hit deadline for cyber event logging standards, GAO finds

FedScoop

Just three of the 23 civilian Chief Financial Officer Act agencies have met the cyber event logging standards called out in President Joe Biden’s 2021 cybersecurity executive order and a subsequent Office of Management and Budget memo, a new Government Accountability Office report found. The Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the Small Business Administration all hit OMB’s August 2023 deadline to reach advanced (tier 3) status for logging, meaning the agencies are ful

article thumbnail

Going Multicloud Is an Easy Way to Control Agency Costs

FedTech Magazine

Many agencies don’t realize that going multicloud is easier than it sounds. It’s another way to control costs and ensure that applications are nimble enough to move anywhere they’re needed. Agencies that already rely on multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) likely made the transition after a major cloud contract expired and built containers with their apps to move from one CSP to another with little difficulty.

Contract 111
article thumbnail

Non-Payment of the Advance on Costs Reversal by the General Assembly of the Dubai Court of Cassation

Kluwer Arbitration

In a recent decision, the General Assembly of the Dubai Court of Cassation (“General Assembly”) decided that non-payment of the advance on arbitration costs does not affect the arbitration clause which remains in force and can continue to be relied upon by the parties. This decision reflects a complete reversal of the prior majority view of the Dubai courts which have consistently declared that non-payment of the advance on costs renders the arbitration clause inoperable and that, as a result, t

article thumbnail

State Department OKs Request for $1B Contract Extension to Train Saudi Arabian Air Force

GovCon Wire

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress of a proposed $1 billion military training contract extension with the government of Saudi Arabia. The move was announced Friday following the State Department’s approval of the foreign military sale, which will require deploying 339 U.S.

Contract 119
article thumbnail

Lockheed, Navy Test Helicopter-Mounted Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare System

ExecutiveBiz

Lockheed Martin has tested an electronic warfare system designed to equip the U.S. Navy's helicopter fleet with electronic surveillance and attack capabilities against anti-ship missile threats. The Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare system demonstrated its ability to perform engagement testing and detect and destroy threats while installed aboard an MH-60R helicopter, Lockheed said Tuesday.

article thumbnail

Why the General Services Administration has a busy year coming up

Federal News Network

An acting commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Services. Two governmentwide acquisition contracts to be awarded and a third launched. Dealing with the FBI relocation mess. The General Services Administration you might say, has a lot on its plate. To dive deeper into what contractors are watching, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen.

Contract 108
article thumbnail

Government not meeting minimum accessibility standards on federal websites, GSA report finds

FedScoop

The General Services Administration on Thursday submitted its latest report on federal website accessibility to Congress, an analysis that represents the next step in the government’s long-running and often-beleaguered effort to ensure that everyone can use its digital resources. Section 508, which was established as a 1998 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act, remains the primary portion of federal law outlining agencies’ responsibilities for digital accessibility.

article thumbnail

Use FinOps to Track and Forecast Cloud Costs

FedTech Magazine

Federal IT managers who move applications to cloud data centers gain a host of benefits, including cost savings — on real estate, utilities, equipment and more. But those savings can be offset by a huge unknown: the monthly bill for cloud services. If applications in cloud data centers are not right-sized and revamped for an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS) environment, costs can quickly get out of control.

Utilities 111
article thumbnail

5 Keys to Cross-Agency Collaboration in 2024

GovLoop

The start of the new year is a great opportunity to make sure that your agency’s software and systems are up to date. Agencies that don’t implement the latest and greatest technology run the risk of falling short of customer and employee expectations and of collecting technical debt. One area where this could happen is collaborative technology. The COVID-19 pandemic may be behind us, but the way it digitally transformed the workplace remains.

article thumbnail

CISA’s Cybersecurity Division Operational Support Services Recompete Becomes Single Award Opportunity

GovCon Wire

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has updated its planned recompetition of the Cybersecurity Division Operational Support Services contract, which was issued under the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services vehicle and is currently held by Deloitte Consulting.

article thumbnail

GovCon Index, From Executive Mosaic, Is Industry’s Flagship Stock Market Compilation

ExecutiveBiz

Executive Mosaic has announced its entrance into stock market reporting with a brand new venture: GovCon Index. This state-of-the-art tracker is the flagship compiler of GovCon stock market information. Carefully sourced and monitored in real time, GovCon Index is an aggregate index concentrating on 30 high-performing publicly traded companies in the GovCon sector.

IT 111