2023

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How Federal Agencies Can Leverage the Cloud for Application Modernization

FedTech Magazine

While federal agencies face hurdles to digital transformation and using technology to improve processes and the citizen experience, they are making steady progress. Modernizing legacy, monolithic applications that have resided on on-premises hardware and adapting them to more modern, cloud-based environments is an ongoing project across government. Modernized apps run faster and more efficiently and are also less costly to operate.

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ASBCA Issues Annual Report, Providing Data on How Often Contractors Prevail

Inside Government Contracts

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has issued its annual report for FY 2023, shedding light on how often contractor appeals reach a successful result, and what agencies are most frequently involved in contract litigation. The report shows that the Board disposed of 132 contractor appeals on the merits, and in 67% of these dispositions the Board found that the appeal had merit in whole or in part.

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New Guidance Clarifies Facility Clearance Eligibility Determination Requirements for Joint Ventures

GovCon & Trade

On October 5, the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) issued a joint notice (Joint Notice) with the Small Business Association (SBA) and in coordination with the Department of Defense (DOD) clarifying that the Cognizant Security Agency (CSA) is responsible for determining which entities are required to hold an Entity Eligibility Determination (EED), also known as a Facility Clearance (FCL), and providing specific guidance as to which entities must possess EED in different scenarios.

Contract 277
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Upcoming workshop on sustainable procurement this Thursday

Telles.eu

This coming Thursday I will be doing a workshop at the Lisbon Environmental Law cluster from the University of Lisbon. It will be a homecoming of sorts for me as it is the first time I will be delivering a session in person at my alma mater exactly 20 years after leaving. The session will be composed of two parts: my talk and then a discussion with my good friend Miguel Assis Raimundo, sure to be lively and an opportunity for all to learn, including myself.

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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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New Documentary Centers Reality Winner in the Telling of Her Story

Whistleblower Network News

“My name is Reality Winner. I’m an airman, a veteran, and I was convicted under the Espionage Act.” With these opening lines, delivered straight to camera by Winner centered in close-up, the documentary Reality Winner establishes why it is being re-released in a revised form: Reality’s voice can now be centered in the telling of her story. Reality Winner , directed by Sonia Kennebecker, was previously released in 2021 in an earlier form and was then titled United States vs.

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Cyber Attacks are Just as Damaging as Natural Disasters

FedInsider

Wednesday, October 25, 2023 | 2PM EDT | 90 Minutes | 1.5 Training Certificates It has been almost seven years since the White House issued Presidential Policy Directive 40, setting out the federal continuity policy “to maintain a comprehensive and effective continuity capability through Continuity of Operations (COOP), Continuity of Government (COG), and Enduring Constitutional Government (ECG) programs, ensuring the resilience and preservation of government structure under the United States Con

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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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GovCon Expert Chuck Brooks Enumerates Fed Civ Sector Advantages of Using Proven DOD Cybersecurity Technologies & Services

GovCon Wire

By Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International With its broad national security role, the DOD has been a pioneer in the development of numerous innovative cybersecurity solutions.

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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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Technology Is Turning Conference Rooms into Hubs for Seamless Collaboration

FedTech Magazine

With the opening of its Workplace Innovation Lab, the General Services Administration seeks to better understand how hybrid work and the deployment of communication technologies will impact its employees. Located in Washington, D.C., the WIL takes up 25,000 square feet inside GSA headquarters and is equipped with access control and onsite security personnel.

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Key Steps Contractors Should Consider When Facing a Government Shutdown

Inside Government Contracts

Although Congress averted a Government shutdown on October 1 by passing a temporary spending bill, we may be headed toward a shutdown next month. As many Federal Government contractors have experienced during prior Government shutdowns, some portions of the Government — primarily those not funded through annual appropriations bills or that provide “essential services” — may continue to operate (often without pay or access to certain resources), while others shut down immediately, leaving contra

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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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AT&T’s Lance Spencer Shares Insights on 5G Potential, Challenges & Use Cases in the DOD

ExecutiveBiz

Lance Spencer , client executive vice president for defense at AT&T , leads the company’s efforts to help the Department of Defense modernize its operations with 5G offerings. Spencer recently sat down with ExecutiveBiz for an Executive Spotlight interview, during which he discussed the immense potential of 5G, its ability to transform the way the military uses technology and the challenges that may be faced in its development and deployment.

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Talk(ing) about blockchain and smart contracts in public procurement

Telles.eu

Tomorrow I will be participating in the 2023 EPCO public procurement conference, sadly not in person but only online. The title of my presentation is "The limited scope for using blockchain and smart contracts in public procurement" and it is an evolution of my paper from last year on the use cases for blockchain in public procuremen t. It is fair to say not much has changed in an year, so I still see a very limited role the technology in procurement.

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Generative AI in Government

FedInsider

Tuesday, November 7, 2023 | 2:00PM EST | 1 Hour | Training Certificate It is hard to believe that ChatGPT isn’t even a year old yet, when you look at the tidal wave of new apps that have been released in its wake. After decades where the phrase “artificial intelligence” was sufficient, commentary in the public sphere has already moved to the next level – generative AI.

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US and UK release guidelines for secure AI development

FedScoop

Washington and London want developers and users of machine learning tools to devote more resources toward security.

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Buyer Power Score – Pest Control Services

Art of Procurement

The AOP Buyer Power Score is a content offering created in partnership with ProcurementIQ that rates the balance of power. The post Buyer Power Score – Pest Control Services appeared first on Art of Procurement.

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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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DHS lays out new ‘cybersecurity readiness’ metrics for contractors

Federal News Network

The Department of Homeland Security will use a “cybersecurity readiness” assessment to evaluate whether contractors have appropriate cyber defenses in place prior to making contract awards. DHS published the details of the new “cybersecurity readiness evaluation factor” in a Nov. 1 notice signed by Kenneth Bible, DHS’ chief information security officer, and Sarah Todd, DHS’ executive director of acquisition policy and legislation.

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AWS selects 13 startups to innovate public safety solutions through the GovTech Accelerator

AWS Public Sector

Pictured: The AWS 2023 Justice and Public Safety GovTech Accelerator cohort at Amazon’s HQ2 for Week Zero, a three-day onboarding event to kick off the accelerator. Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced 13 startup companies selected to participate in the inaugural AWS GovTech Accelerator. Launched in June at the AWS Summit in Washington, D.C., the Accelerator supports government technology (GovTech) startups as they develop innovative solutions enabling justice and public safety agencies to

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Pandemic-Tested Telehealth Technology Expands into Mainstream Care

FedTech Magazine

In a pilot physical therapy program run by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Asheville, N.C., veterans work to save a medieval village from a fire-breathing dragon. “While they’re tracking the dragon, they have to keep it in their line of sight,” says Caitlin Rawlins, deputy director of clinical tech innovation in the VA’s Office of Healthcare, Innovation and Learning.

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Key Cyber Security and Software Security Provisions of the House and Senate Versions of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Inside Government Contracts

Following our recent overview of topics to watch in the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2024, available here , we continue our coverage with a “deep dive” into NDAA provisions related to cybersecurity and software security in each of the Senate and House bills. For the past three years, the NDAA has dedicated a separate Title to cyber and cybersecurity, reflecting the increased importance of these issues in Department of Defense (“DoD”) operations.

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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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WNN Exclusive: Fish and Wildlife Service Whistleblower Awards Remain Severely Underutilized

Whistleblower Network News

This is part of a series of WNN exclusives on whistleblower awards paid out by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to wildlife whistleblowers. From late 2019 through 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued twenty-one whistleblower awards to individuals who provided high-quality information about wildlife crime. The existence of these awards has not been previously made public and details about them were made available to Whistleblower Network News in response to a Freedom o

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DISA Adds 4 Contractors to Proliferated LEO Satellite-Based Services Program

GovCon Wire

The Defense Information Systems Agency has added four companies to a multiple-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide satellite-based services and capabilities to the U.S. Space Force.

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5G: The Transformation of Defense Networks

FedInsider

Friday, October 13, 2023 | 2:00PM EDT | 1 Hour | 1 CPE In 2022, the Department of Defense created a cross-functional team to accelerate the adoption of 5G and future-generation wireless networking technologies, laying the foundation for new opportunities to implement innovative solutions to military needs. The potential is there for 5G (and beyond) to remake the integration and interoperability of the different DoD domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyber – as envisioned in DoD’s Joint All-Dom

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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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A Look at the Current State of Procurement Recruiting

Art of Procurement

The last few years in procurement recruiting have been wild – just like the external conditions procurement professionals have been. The post A Look at the Current State of Procurement Recruiting appeared first on Art of Procurement.

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NASPO Law Institute – Framework Agreements – New Orleans

Public Procurement Intl

Gian Luigi Albano Gian Luigi Albano of Italy’s centralized purchasing agency, CONSIP, joined Keith McCook (a senior procurement attorney in South Carolina government) and GW Law’s Christopher Yukins on November 10, 2023 to discuss the law-and-economics of framework agreements (which in the U.S. system are known as “indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity” contracts).

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Episode 3: Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) Penalties and Intersection with Federal Tax Law

Coleman Jackson, P.C.

Legal Thoughts – Episode 3 of the Corporate Transparency Act COLEMAN JACKSON, ATTORNEY & COUNSELOR AT LAW | Transcript of Legal Thoughts Published September 25, 2023 Topic: : “Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) Penalties and Intersection with Federal Tax Law” ATTORNEY INTRODUCTION: Welcome to Legal Thoughts! My name is Coleman Jackson and I am an attorney at […] The post Episode 3: Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) Penalties and Intersection with Federal Tax Law appeared first on

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Improving public health through data exchange

AWS Public Sector

As public health resources shift away from the pandemic response, jurisdictions now seek ways to modernize their public health infrastructure to avoid previous challenges such as data fragmentation, incompleteness of health data, and lack of interoperability. Agencies, community leaders, and health professionals look to lessons learned and best practices from the COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point.

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HPE and Department of Energy Prepare for the Second Phase of Newest Supercomputer

FedTech Magazine

Kestrel, the Department of Energy’s newest supercomputer, has taken flight. The impressive machine would have never left the nest without Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the prime contractor responsible for bringing it to life. DOE tapped HPE in late 2021 to build the new platform to tackle ongoing renewable energy and energy-efficiency research. Kestrel will deliver more than five times faster performance, with 44 petaflops of computing power.

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Third-Party Funding and the Constitutionality of Qui Tam Suits After Polansky

Inside Government Contracts

The Supreme Court’s decision in United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. , 143 S. Ct. 1720 (2023), has increased attention on arguments that the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions may be unconstitutional. Although the majority’s opinion in the case did not address the issue, the dissent by Justice Thomas—joined in this regard by Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett—stated that “[t]here are substantial arguments that the qui tam device is inconsistent with Article II and t

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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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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.