Quick Hits

OMB calls on agencies to rethink their office space needs.

What the future of the federal workplace will look like is a crucial concern that arises when agencies revamp their personnel rules in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The next phase for agencies is to implement and assess if they still require physical office space, a demand that has dramatically decreased for many agencies since the beginning of the pandemic. In a memo dated July 20, the Office of Management and Budget urged agencies to begin thinking more specifically about how much and what kinds of property are required to fully realize their vision for the future of work in the federal sector.
Read more

New Senate bill wants to make it easier for agencies to adopt platforms already in use at other agencies. 

This bill would allow state and local government to adopt the existing federally-built Login.gov identity management platform. The Improving Intergovernmental Cooperation and Reducing Duplication Act of 2022 is anticipated to be taken up by the Senate in the upcoming weeks. The bill would also make it simpler for federal government agencies to use tools and technology created by the General Services Administration and other divisions, if it were to become law.
Read more

GAO thinks State Department needs to be better at measuring its Diversity and Inclusion improvements.

The State Department has to develop better methods for tracking the achievement of its objectives for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The Government Accountability Office indicated in a study dated July 22 that while the department does well in areas like employee involvement and diversity training, there is still much opportunity for improvement in terms of accountability and assessment. Author of the report and GAO Director for International Affairs and Trade Jason Bair stated in an interview  that without tracking progress, it is impossible to determine how the department is doing with regard to its objectives.
Read more

Top Defense & Aerospace

Did someone forward you this email? 
Tell them thanks, buy them a beer, & join the GovBrew Crew! 

Top Intel Community

Lawmakers don’t want the federal government buying troves of personal data from data brokers and government contractors.

Congress is attempting to pass legislation that would severely restrict what information the government can purchase from contractors in light of recent revelations that federal government agencies purchased vast quantities of personal data, including cell phone location data, from dubious data brokers and contractors. Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published thousands of pages of previously unreleased documents describing how the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other divisions acquired from contractors vast amounts of data on people’s cell phone locations that were secretly obtained from smartphone apps. Contractors who offer IT and data solutions to intelligence organizations are concerned about how the legislation could unintentionally hinder the government’s capacity to deal with delicate national security matters.
Read more

White House reviewing a Trump era cyber policy.

According to a top cyber official, the White House is evaluating a crucial cyber operations policy in an effort to improve it so that the use of offensive cyber operations  “fits within our foreign policy goal.” Anne Neuberger, the National Security Council’s deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, said the White House’s is reviewing a policy put in place by the Trump administration in 2018—commonly referred to as National Security Presidential Memorandum-13. The evaluation has drawn criticism because it might result in changes to policy that will impede offensive cyber operations.
Read more

IARPA to host SINTRA Proposer’s Day.

A Proposer’s Day for the Space Debris Identification and Tracking (SINTRA) Program will be held, according to plans made public by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) on July 20. On August 10, 2022, from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm EDT, there will be a conference for potential proposers of the SINTRA program to learn more about the program’s goals and technical specifications. The registration deadline is Friday, August 5, 2022 at 12:00 EDT. The IARPA SINTRA program aims to advance the state-of-the-art for the detection, tracking, and characterization of dangerous non-trackable orbital space debris. It also investigates how orbital debris interacts with the surrounding space environment. All space missions, including those of the Intelligence Community, are at risk from space debris (IC).
Read more

Top Civilian

OPM Director is still very pro-telework.

Top personnel and management officials from the Biden administration testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee’s government operations subcommittee that telework has raised employee engagement and improved the federal government’s appeal to potential candidates. Kiran Ahuja, director of the Office of Personnel Management, stated that many federal workers now demand the flexibility in work-life that telework offers, and that agency employees are leaving agencies that are imposing stringent office reentry standards – if not leaving government entirely.
Read more

Labor and Commerce are running a 120-day cybersecurity apprenticeship sprint.

The 120-Day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint was unveiled by Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at the National Cyber Workforce and Education Summit at the White House. The initiative supports the use of Registered Apprenticeships by numerous industries to develop and train a skilled and diverse cybersecurity workforce. The 120-Day Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Sprint backs the Biden-Harris administration’s pledge to increase Registered Apprenticeships in order to meet the labor market’s need for skilled workers and give underserved communities access to rewarding employment opportunities.
Read more

VA has a new top medical leader.

The Department of Veterans Affairs now has a Senate-confirmed official overseeing its healthcare operations once more, more than five years after the previous director left. Dr. Shereef Elnahal was confirmed as the next VA under secretary for health on Thursday by a vote of 66 to 23 in Congress.
Read more

GovCon M&A Corner

AE Industrial & Boeing unveil a second venture fund.

GovCon focused investment firm AE Industrial Partners and Boeing are starting a second venture fund with the same idea of backing promising startups in the mobility, space, sustainability, digital enterprise applications, networks and security areas. Boeing has committed $50 million to the second venture fund of AEI HorizonX, which has set a goal of raising $250 million for investing in emerging companies whose technology is of promise to the industry and customers.
Read More

Employee Moves

• Percy Mahatan joins BlackSea Technologies as VP.
• Leslie Hubbard-Darr joins T-Rex as VP of National Security.
• Michael F. Paul named Assistant Director of FBI’s Operational Technology Division.
• Shailen Bhatt nominated to lead Federal Highway Administration

Contract Awards

GDIT wins $65M CMS Cloud Migration Support Contract.

Under a prospective five-year, $65 million deal, General Dynamics’ information technology division will assist the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with data integration and cloud migration. GDIT said on Thursday that it will provide Agile development and transformation services to support CMS’ Integrated Data Repository as well as provide operations and maintenance for the organization’s cloud and on-premise platforms. IDR is a data warehouse that combines beneficiary, claims, and provider data sources to support Medicare and Medicaid systems. It can be used to shed light on medical trends, healthcare spending, and fraud.
Read more

11 companies win spots on EPA Air Pollution, Radiation Control Services Contract.

Eleven companies have been selected by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a five-year, $5.7 billion contract program to assist EPA in creating controls for radiation exposure and air pollution. The Environmental, Analytical, Research, Technical and Hybrid contract covers five professional service areas: data analysis and modeling; testing and quality assurance for environmental science; research and documentation; policy and regulation assistance; and operations and communications.
Read more

Amentum-Owned PAE Wins $137M Contract to Help Maintain USAF Aerial Targets.

Under a seven-year, $136.6 million deal, PAE, which is now a part of Amentum, will assist the U.S. Air Force in operating and maintaining aerial targets. The Department of Defense announced Thursday that the service will collaborate with PAE’s aviation and technical services division to test the lethality of important military weapons and ammunition systems. For the firm-fixed-price, performance-incentive, award-fee contract with cost-reimbursable line items, Headquarters Air Combat Command received five offers.
Read more

See what’s brewing in GovCon throughout the day.  
Follow GovBrew on social media. 

Share GovBrew

Join the program and Unlock Rewards by Sharing.

You’re only a few referrals away from unlocking our
Exclusive Weekly Opportunities Email.