December 4, 2023

Madison Dearborn buys T2S Solutions, Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager, SSA restructures tech office, NGA Colvo RFP, JADC2 Implementation Act, Hatch Act and Israel Hamas War

December 04, 2023

QUICK HITS

  • Unmanned wingman program could lose ‘a year’ of progress due to budget logjam: CCA was launched 2 years ago to exploit AI.

  • U.S., U.K., Australia sign agreement to jointly operate deep space radar network: Will operate Deep Space Radar Capability sites.

  • Bipartisan house legislation calls for cyberspace workforce expansion: CISA, VA apprenticeship programs would be established.

  • Can feds talk about the Israel-Hamas war at work? Feds face restrictions, but there’s new rules to outline how they can talk about it.

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

The military needs AI to augment human capabilities.

Says AF Sec. Frank Kendall: The U.S. military needs to rapidly adopt artificial intelligence technology to aid in tracking targets, data analysis and managing complex missions. DOD wants to use AI to enhance human intelligence, to help understand the battlefield and empower human judgment through automating tasks like analyzing sensor data. Read more

Lawmakers seek to bolster JADC2 initiative with ‘transformative’ objectives.

New legislation seeks to speed up the Pentagon’s ongoing effort to streamline information-sharing across its military domains, with a specific focus on prioritizing enhanced capabilities across the Indo-Pacific region. The JADC2 Implementation Act would give specific DOD officials “the authority and resources they need to prototype cutting-edge technology and put it straight into the hands of front-line operators.” Read more

Hubble glitch renews talk of private servicing mission.

A problem with the Hubble Space Telescope has renewed discussion about whether and how NASA might approve a private mission to reboost and potentially repair the spacecraft. NASA announced Nov. 29 that Hubble was in a safe mode because of a problem with one of its three operational gyroscopes. Read more

ICYMI:

  • GAO report warns Artemis-3 landing may be delayed to 2027.

  • DIU eyeing Feb-Aug 2025 to field first Replicator systems, wants industry input.

  • NATO's Innovation Accelerator’s first class of startups to get help.

  • Pentagon must train for 'uncertainty' while better sharing data.

  • U.S., Australia eye joint hypersonics experiments in 2024.

  • RFI: PEO EIS Army Data and Analytics Platforms (ARDAP) ADP 2.0.

Defense Contract Awards

Follow the Defense Leaders

Defense Job Openings

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency is hiring Director, Information Technology & CIO.

  • Army Materiel Command is hiring a Director, Operation and Readiness, G3.

  • Army is seeking a Supervisory Human Resources Specialist.

  • Office of the Secretary of Defense is seeking a Director, Resource Analysis and Analysis.

INTEL COMMUNITY

ICYMI:

CIVILIAN

SSA restructures tech shop to center on the CIO.

SSA is renaming the Office of Systems to the Office of the CIO as part of its effort to push for more innovation and modernization. Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of SSA, said the restructuring is a recognition about how technology has evolved over the last decade. She said the reorganization aims to align IT strategy and initiatives with business goals while driving innovation. Read more

Commerce is in better shape to understand cost, benefits of moving to the cloud.

The Commerce Department is going all in with software-as-a-service. It’s not because SaaS is cheaper. It’s because software-as-a-service is better and faster. Commerce also is making progress in modernizing and reducing the number of identity credential and access management (ICAM) tools as well as implementing secure access service edge (SASE) capabilities. Read more

Does the U.S. have what it takes to keep its nuclear edge?

The U.S. lacks the infrastructure it needs to produce the nuclear weapons estimated to keep pace with Russia and China, according to a congressional panel. “I think we have to be very practical. And right now, pretty much everything is behind schedule and over budget,” said Madelyn Creedon, chair of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture. Read more

ICYMI:

Civilian Contracts Awards

  • Protest over OASIS+ pricing data access falls short.

  • Protest dismissed: ODRG-AEIO JV $63M FDA HR support services IDIQ.

  • Contract Award: CGI Federal wins $72M CMS HPMS Website Maintenance and Enhancement Services.

  • 8(a) Mettle Solutions wins CMS Provider Compliance Group Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (PCG FHIR) contract.

  • Steampunk wins $12M USDA Inflation Reduction Act application development contract.

Follow Civilian Leaders

  • DOT adds recent CMS and longtime State Department IT Leader as Associate CIO and CFO.

  • Optiv’s federal arm names new president.

  • PsiQuantum enlists four public sector veterans to comprise new Government Advisory Board.

Civilian Job Openings

M&A CORNER

Madison Dearborn Partners buys T2S Solutions in continued defense and intelligence program support push.

Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity investment firm based in Chicago, announced that funds affiliated with MDP have acquired T2S Solutions, a founder-owned provider of R&D, prototyping, engineering, integration, and technology products to mission-critical providers in DOD, intelligence community, and other government agencies. Read more

Arcfield closes Orion Space Solutions acquisition.

Arcfield, a government technology and mission support provider, announced that it has completed its acquisition of Orion Space Solutions, a Colorado-based development of end-to-end mission capabilities and solutions. Read more

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

Can improving CX restore trust in government?

Surveys show that Americans’ trust in government is at near record lows. This mistrust is the cumulative result of many factors - from the dramatic (wars and scandals) to the more mundane (inefficient services and technology failures) - that have tarnished the government’s brand. So, what can federal agencies do to help rebuild trust? Read more

Ideas: We have China's 'anti-access' challenge exactly backwards.

When one looks across the Pacific, one fundamental strategic truth stands out: the U.S. and every one of our partners in the region - traditional allies such as Japan and Taiwan, off-and-on allies like the Philippines, new and would-be partners like Vietnam and Indonesia - are what are known as “status quo powers.” None is driven by expansionist ambitions; rather, each seeks simply to safeguard their territories. Read more

Do you have what it takes to be a Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager?

In the spring of 2023, Universal Pictures released a film about what happens when a 200-pound Grizzly bear ingests bricks of nose candy in the epic known as “Cocaine Bear.” While that movie was loosely based on a true story about a bear that ingested the drug after a plane crash, such fictional carnage may never have happened if a Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager had been called. Read more

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