News, analysis and other updates from FCW's reporters and editors.
The White House is backing off a pay freeze sought in its budget proposal and endorsing a 2.6% across the board pay increase for federal employees. The increase isn't that far off the 3.1% raise included in a House-passed funding bill. Adam Mazmanian has more.
Federal contract managers are expecting a bump in year-end spending as fiscal 2019 draws to a close – in part because of a raised micropurchase limit at federal agencies. Governmentwide acquisition vehicles like NASA SEWP and NITAAC at the National Institutes of Health are extending business hours in anticipation of a busy September. Mark Rockwell reports.
The Army's C5ISR Center has been operating a facial recognition system that uses a mix of web-based biometrics tools to help identify suspicious actors for Central Command. Lauren C. Williams explains.
Quick Hits
*** Washington Technology's Ross Wilkers reports on what's left of the DOD cloud market now that DEOS has been awarded and JEDI is down to two competitors. His reporting suggests that opportunities in SaaS, PaaS and engineering services will be on the table when the big infrastructure contracts are awarded.
*** The Homeland Security Department's Small Business Innovation Research program awarded a contract to support the interaction of identity management technology and first responder communications systems. Read more in GCN.
*** The Navy is hiring YouTube influencers to make videos showcasing the cool side of life inside the service, according to a report in the Virginian-Pilot.