December, 2023

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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.

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New Rule Seeks to Streamline DoD Commercial Product and Service Procurements

GovCon & Trade

On November 17, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule , implementing Section 874 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), clarifying that certain DoD-unique statutes and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clauses are inapplicable to DoD commercial item procurements, including acquisitions of commercial off-the-shelf items and commercial services.

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Tick-tock, the Court Starts the Clock: Deconflicting the FCA and Rule 4(m) of the FRCP

Inside Government Contracts

In keeping with the trend of increased attention on the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) qui tam provisions, the Second Circuit recently weighed in on a seeming conflict between the statute and the relator’s obligations under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FCRP”). Under Rule 4(m) of the FRCP, the court generally must dismiss a complaint if the plaintiff fails to serve the defendant with a complaint and summons within 90 days of filing.

Balance 147
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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 143
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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,

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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.

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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

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New Requirements for Government Contractors and Joint Ventures

GovCon & Trade

I recently authored an article for Law360’s Expert Analysis column outlining a joint notice issued by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), which offers guidance to government contractors regarding entity eligibility determination (EED) requirements for joint ventures. Separate decisions from the Small Business Administration and the Government Accountability Office created confusion about whether the joint venture itself or the individual entities must hold an Entity Eligibility D

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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 137
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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

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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
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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

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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 286
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FCPA Enforcement Update: Commodities Trader Agrees to Almost $100 Million Fine

GovCon & Trade

On December 14, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Freepoint Commodities LLC, a Connecticut-based commodities trader, had agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) to resolve a DOJ investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). In addition to the DPA, Freepoint agreed to pay over $98 million in penalties.

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BARDA Announces New Solicitation Opportunities for 2024

Inside Government Contracts

Since its creation in 2006, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has funded the development of medical countermeasures for pandemic influenza, anthrax, smallpox, Ebola virus disease, Zika virus, and, of course, COVID-19. In just the last year, BARDA has made more than 35 new awards to partners, assisted its partners in achieving 20 FDA approvals of their products, and launched Project NextGen, a $5 billion program it leads alongside the National Institute of Allergy and In

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Bipartisan House legislation calls for two new federal cybersecurity training programs

FedScoop

A new bipartisan House bill aims to bolster the U.S. cybersecurity workforce by creating two training programs within the federal government, building on companion legislation introduced in the Senate earlier this year. The Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act , co-sponsored by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., would establish a cybersecurity registered apprenticeship program in the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and a Department of Veterans Af

Education 135
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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
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New Report Calls for More Whistleblower Award Programs Like the SEC’s

Whistleblower Network News

On December 7, Better Markets , a nonprofit organization which promotes the public interest in the financial markets, published a new report on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program. The 12-page report documents the program’s immense success and calls for other agencies to adopt similar whistleblower award programs.

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How the Air Force’s P1 Uses Platform Engineering to Support DevSecOps

FedTech Magazine

Software factories have proved to be a speedy way to create and deploy new software applications. DevSecOps helps software factories develop and implement new digital capabilities more rapidly. Now, many federal agencies are taking the next step in DevSecOps by deploying platform engineering, which helps create a foundation that underpins the factory model.

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Bid Protest Minute: The High Bar to Proving Contract Officer Bias

GovCon & Trade

By: Richard Arnholt On November 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest that asserted the Veteran Administration’s (VA) evaluation of Texas Waste Company’s past performance was unreasonable and reflected the Contracting Officer’s (CO) bias. The GAO decision provides an in-depth look at the high evidentiary bar associated with proving governmental bias in bid protests and the need to have definitive evidence before making such a claim.

Bidding 147
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Whose Site Is It Anyway: Trade Groups Challenge DOL’s Prevailing Wage Calculation and Expanded Definition of the Site of Work Under the Davis-Bacon Act

Inside Government Contracts

The requirement to pay “prevailing wages” to covered workers is a perennial aspect of many types of government contracting, including construction contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (“DBA”) and certain related laws (collectively referred to as the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts or “DBRA”). In recent years, Congress has also expanded the reach of prevailing wage requirements to new industries: clean energy projects seeking to take advantage of federal tax credits under the Inflation Reductio

IT 130
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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 131
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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
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Senator Grassley Calls on Courts to Preserve False Claims Act

Whistleblower Network News

On December 22, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wrote an op-ed calling on courts to uphold precedent and preserve the False Claims Act (FCA) in light of recent attacks on the law’s qui tam whistleblower provisions. “The FCA is our nation’s primary weapon against fraud, and it has been amended by Congress and reaffirmed by the courts throughout our history,” writes Grassley.

Import 123
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What the Recent Memo on FedRAMP Modernization Means for Agencies

FedTech Magazine

Cloud vendors support the White House’s proposed updates to the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program as essential to its modernization. The updates would scale the program, strengthen its security review process, and expedite agencies’ adoption of cloud products and services. FedRAMP empowers agencies to securely use modern cloud technologies, and the White House released a draft memo Oct. 27 outlining desired changes to the program’s vision, scope and structure.

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Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Update: Considerations Around Voluntary Disclosures

GovCon & Trade

In September 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco outlined the Department of Justice (DOJ) approach to enforcing corporate misconduct and directed agencies to review existing voluntary self-disclosure policies or, if none exist, draft new ones. Two recently announced Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) settlements involving reinsurance companies demonstrate what happens when the rubber hits the road.

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Department of Energy Office of Inspector General Management Challenges Report: Key Findings and Insights

Inside Government Contracts

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”) and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) has awarded billions of dollars to a series of new infrastructure and clean energy programs. The scope and size of these programs have, in turn, attracted scrutiny from the DOE’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”), as evidenced most recently by an OIG Special Report (“Report”) detailing what the OIG characterized as “Management Challenges” at DOE.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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DoDIIS 2023: IT Community Looks to Leverage New Technologies for Major Events

FedTech Magazine

Now in its 20th year, the Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Worldwide Conference is the largest IT gathering focused on the defense and intelligence communities. DoDIIS, sponsored by the Defense Intelligence Agency, takes place in Portland, Ore., from Dec. 12-14. This year’s theme — Chaos to Clarity: Leveraging Emerging Technologies — highlights the ways these agencies have used technology to respond to unexpected, world-changing events.

IT 276
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International Trade Enforcement Roundup – November 2023 Update

GovCon & Trade

You are reading the November 2023 Update of the Bass, Berry & Sims Enforcement Roundup, where we bring notable enforcement actions, policy changes, interesting news articles, and a bit of our insight to your inbox. To stay up to date, subscribe to our GovCon & Trade blog. If you have questions about any actions addressed in the Roundup, please contact the international trade team.

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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.

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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.

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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
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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
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Agencies Find Platform Engineering the ‘Natural Evolution’ of DevOps

FedTech Magazine

The advent of DevOps processes created an entirely new paradigm for application development by integrating the work of software developers and IT operations professionals. While the merger greatly improved the speed and quality of the software development life cycle, DevOps is not without its challenges. Agencies run into some common obstacles that slow down development and frustrate developers, as they begin to deploy this approach.