Acquisition

Rising Star: George Nicol

Program Specialist, Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement, NASA

Acquisition

Rising Star: Nicholas Shields

Research Analyst and Data Scientist, Department of the Air Force

Acquisition

Rising Star: Arvin Baroni

Senior Product Manager, Product Lifecycle Management, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Acquisition

VA reports smooth go-live from $16B electronic health record system

The performance of infrastructure, end-user devices exceeded agency expectations on the VA's first go-live on its new electronic health record system.

Acquisition

Cyber and AI investments could trend up in defense spending

Investments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence efforts may increase even with flat defense budgets, but a worsening pandemic could dampen those projections.

Acquisition

Chicago launches a challenge to extend outdoor dining into winter

As COVID-19 continues to upend local economies, the Windy City is getting creative to support the restaurant sector.

Acquisition

COVID-19 made IT modernization a priority

Federal agency mission-oriented responses to COVID-19 have pushed aside lingering doubts about the need to step up IT, a Professional Services Council forecast found.

Acquisition

18 state AGs call to end Trump's crackdown on diversity training

In a letter, 18 state attorneys general and the AG from the District of Columbia say that a recent executive order on diversity training is having "opposite effect" of its stated goal of preventing discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.

Acquisition

Immigration judges union decertified in FLRA ruling

The decision reversed decades of precedent and garnered a strong dissent from one FLRA member, who called the ruling "the antithesis of reasoned decision making."

Acquisition

Making knowledge transfer work virtually

Managers taking over a contract from an incumbent may need to hire new employees, onboard employees from the incumbent company and create cohesive and tight-knit teams – and doing this work in a pandemic environment requires some adjustment.

Acquisition

Virtual industry days are here to stay

Federal agency virtual industry days are probably now a permanent part of the acquisition toolkit, according to practitioners.

Acquisition

Watchdog: DHS needs to keep a closer eye on acquisition qualifications

The Department of Homeland Security needs to be consistent in nominating and designating acquisition oversight officials.

Acquisition

Key questions remain for contractors about diversity training regulations

Although a Department of Labor official says diversity training is still possible for federal contractors under the new policies, confusion over the guidelines has already resulted in cancelled training as agencies and contractors hit pause rather than risk violating a Trump administration executive order.

Acquisition

NITAAC CIO-SP4 on track

Despite the pandemic, the next iteration of one of National Institute of Health's Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center's governmentwide contracts is steadily progressing.

Acquisition

NSA warns contractors on China hacks

The National Security Agency released details on 25 existing vulnerabilities that Chinese state-sponsored threat groups are using to try to penetrate defense industrial base networks.

Acquisition

Real-world CMMC

FCW asked two contract lawyers what vendors really need to know about the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program.

Acquisition

Business groups nationwide complain about diversity training crackdown

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce led a nationwide coalition of trade associations and business groups in a letter opposing the Trump administration's executive order on diversity and inclusion training.

Acquisition

Congratulations to the 2020 Rising Stars

These early-career leaders already are having an outsized impact on government IT.

Acquisition

DISA touts SETI for small business contracts

The Systems Engineering, Technology and Innovation contract vehicle is part of DISA's effort to consolidate its IT services and has a $7.5 billion ceiling with separate tracks for large and small businesses.