Weekly Insider
In This Issue: February 10, 2014

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DEA FEBRUARY 19:  MICHELE LEONHARDT, DEA

Join the Government Technology & Services Coalition to hear about the mission, challenges and priorities for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.  

 
First time experiencing GTSC?  Join us as our guest!
 
Guest Speaker:
Michele Leonhardt
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency  
February 19, 2014
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM 

REGISTER

 

BESTPRACTICECAPACITY BUILDING FEB. 21:  Best Practices in Contracting for DHS & DOD

Join GTSC for a Capacity Building session focused on assuring you don't learn the hard lessons on your own skin!  Repeated project delays and cost overruns in Government contracts have turned the spotlight onto core issues of supplier selection, supplier integrity and supplier competence. Increasingly, Government agencies will test for a supplier's capability to define and meet their contracted commitments - and this will include the need to demonstrate a robust commercial assurance and contract management process. For suppliers, this represents an opportunity to pro-actively demonstrate capability. This session will discuss the steps your organization could take to establish competitive advantage.

 

After years of practice and experience, the IACCM has brought together best practices in government contracting from around the globe.  Paired with the former procurement officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, this session will combine what best practices can be applied toward contracting with DHS and the Defense Department.

 

Guest Speakers:

 

 

Tim Cummins

President & CEO
IACCM
Strategic Partner, GTSC 

 

 

Tom Essig  

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! 

Former Chief Procurement Officer, Department of Homeland Security  

Owner, TWE, LLC

Strategic Advisor, GTSC

 

 

REGISTER

 

GTSCBLOGGTSC BLOG: DoD-GSA Recommendations to Improve Cyber-Security and Resilience Through Acquisition  
By Contributing Blog Author: Emile Monette GTSC Blog
I always start out any discussion of cybersecurity by emphasizing the context of the problem.  In our increasingly hyper-connected world, cyber risks affect us all - governments, private sector organizations, and individuals.  Cybersecurity events have become commonplace, almost daily occurrences, and with the advent of the "internet of things," they are only going to increase in frequency and magnitude.  It is a shared problem.  And it demands a shared solution.  We have an obligation to take actions in our personal and professional lives to help provide for our personal, national and economic security.  Changing how the federal government buys things using our tax dollars is an important part of the solution.  Read the Blog.

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, FOR A FEW
By Contributing Blog Author Earl S. Holland
The year 2013 presented its share of challenges to the federal government, IT federal contracting community as well as, Congress and its budget process. Going into 2014 the sequestration as we have come to know it has taken a back seat to more forward thinking leadership from our political leaders. Read the Blog.

 

dhsnewsDEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS
SECRET SERVICE URGES MORE ACTION ON CYBER CRIME

William Noonan, a top agent with the Secret Service's cyber operations branch urged U.S. lawmakers to do more to prevent the types of cyber thefts of consumer information that recently have hit Target Corp and other major retailers. Noonan testified at a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on safeguarding consumer financial data, the first of a series of panels scheduled in response to the Target breach and other incidents. While the Secret Service has been the lead player in the Target investigation, Noonan discussed its information-sharing efforts on cyber crime with other federal agencies as well as international law enforcement bodies such as Interpol. See more about the hearing here.

 

GAO: DHS NEEDS TO STRENGTHEN EFFORTS TO MODERNIZE BORDER SECURITY

(See original story in GTSC's Weekly Insider 1/13)  DHS's border enforcement system, known as TECS, is the primary system for determining admissibility of persons to the United States. It is used to prevent terrorism, and provide border security and law enforcement, case management, and intelligence functions for multiple federal, state, and local agencies. It has become increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain and is unable to support new mission requirements. In 2008, DHS began an effort to modernize the system. It is being managed as two separate programs by CBP and ICE.GAO found that DHS's governance bodies have taken actions to oversee the two TECS Mod programs that are generally aligned with leading practices. Specifically, they have monitored TECS Mod performance and progress and have ensured that corrective actions have been identified and tracked. However, a lack of complete, timely, and accurate data have affected the ability of these governance bodies to make informed and timely decisions, thus limiting their effectiveness. Until these governance bodies base their performance reviews on timely, complete, and accurate data, they will be constrained in their ability to effectively provide oversight. GAO recommended that DHS improve its efforts to manage requirements and risk, as well as its governance of the TECS Mod programs. 

Read the publicly released report here.

 

CYBER SECURITY AT FEDERAL AGENCY INSUFFICIENT 
Basic cybersecurity measures such as patching, anti-virus software updates and password management are insufficient at federal agencies, leaving government networks vulnerable to even non-sophisticated cyber intrusions, finds a Feb. 4 report. The report published by the Republican staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, draws on more than 40 audits by agency inspectors general and the Government Accountability Office, rather than any new investigations. The report focuses on cybersecurity failures at six agencies: the Departments of Education, Energy, Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Report authors say they focused on those agencies because of their roles in critical infrastructure protection or due to the amount of sensitive personal information they hold on citizens. Read the full report here.
 
FTC SAYS THEY NEED MORE CYBERSECURITY ENFORCEMENT TOOLS 
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) needs "more tools" to deter private sector consumer data breaches, said Jessica Rich, director of the agency's bureau of consumer protection, during a Feb. 3 Senate hearing.The FTC today has authority to bring data-breach related actions only if a company is engaged in deceptive or unfair practices, such as by wrongly asserting or implying high levels of data protection.  "We use our deception authority to look at not just what's stated in the privacy policy but what the company may claim in the context of its interaction with consumers, including implied claims such as a seal," Rich told a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs subcommittee. Before bringing a case under its unfairness authority, the FTC must subject it to a three-pronged test that includes whether consumers suffered substantial injury. Read the testimony here.

STUDY: COMPANIES ADJUST SECURITY PROCEDURES DUE TO SNOWDEN  
Leaks of national secrets by former federal contractor Edward Snowden drove 75 percent of U.S. defense company executives to adjust information security procedures, mostly by increasing employee training and going on high alert for deviant behavior, according to a new study. The poll of information technology managers was conducted last month by market research firm Opinion Matters on behalf of consultancy ThreatTrack. Most of the 100 contractors surveyed are taking a manual approach to the crackdown on data seepage, rather than using automated mechanisms to block personnel from disclosing information, according to the study's data points. Among businesses with an IT budget of more than $10 million, 44 percent are restricting user access. Of the firms storing or accessing confidential information for the government, 34 percent have scaled back system administrator privileges. Sixty percent of the companies in those same two categories are subjecting employees to more cyber awareness education. Read the study here. 

ALERTS TO RUSSIA: LOOK OUT FOR TOOHPASTE 
U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism agencies have been advising airlines flying to Russia to be aware of the possibility that explosive materials could be concealed in toothpaste or cosmetic tubes. DHS issued a bulletin to airlines flying into Russia alerting them to the potential threat. The new concern about explosive toothpaste tubes notwithstanding, the biggest worry is still Islamist groups based in southern Russia's Caucasus region.  Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Wednesday that DHS issued a bulletin to airlines flying into Russia alerting them to the potential threat. McCaul said the bulletin indicated that officials believed the explosives might be used during flights or smuggled into the city of Sochi. Read CNN's Coverage here.

NEW CYBERSECURITY SOFTWARE RESOURCE AVAILABLE FOR COMPANIES 
Supported by a $23.4 million grant from DHS's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the Software Assurance Marketplace, or SWAMP, provides a state-of-the-art facility that serves as an open resource for software developers, software assurance tool developers, and software researchers who wish to collaborate and improve software assurance activities in a safe, secure environment. Researchers from Indiana University's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research (CACR) and University Information Technology Services'Research Technologies Division have contributed to the development of a new tool designed to help software developers close critical security holes in their products. From the very early stages of a project and throughout its entire life cycle, the SWAMPoffers continuous, automated access to a rich and evolving set of assessment capabilities.Read more here.

 

SEQUESTRATION CAUSED DECLINE IN COAST GUARD DRUG PATROLS
Testifying Feb. 5 before the House Homeland Security subcommittee on border and maritime security, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp said the lessened Coast Guard presence in maritime routes between South and Central America resulted in about a 30 percent reduction in drug interdiction. On the brighter side, Papp noted the service is doing well when it comes to coastal defense.  Assets for deep water - where the Coast Guard is the most effective at intercepting bad actors - continue to be a problem, however, he said.  "We can't continue to run the old ships," Papp said. The average age of Coast Guard medium endurance cutters is 46 years, and three required emergency dry dock repairs for their failing hulls this past year.  The acquisition program for the Offshore Patrol Cutters meant to replace the medium endurance cutters is close to making a downselect to three finalists for the design competition, Papp added. Read more here.  
DODNEWSDEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NEWS
U.S. CHEMICAL & DEFENSE COMPANIES SUBECT TO CHINESE CYBER ATTACKS  cyber

Chemical and defense companies are increasingly becoming the targets of hackers who engage in industrial espionage to collect intellectual property for competitive advantage.  Dubbed "Nitro attacks," the malware infections are part of a series of high-level cyber attacks that security experts attribute to government-backed hackers. The Times of India reports that in late 2011, about forty-eight chemical and defense firms were attacked by a Chinese hacker via his virtual private server (VPS) in the United States, according to a report from Symantec Corp. Computers belonging to the firms which were attacked were infected with malicious software known as PoisonIvy, a Remote Access Tool (RAT) installed on computer systems to steal information.

Read Homeland Security News Wire's Coverage here. 

  

DOD INVESTIGATING CHEATING BY NAVY NUCLEAR PERSONNEL  

A number of United States Navy sailors have been suspended and are under investigation for allegations that they cheated on qualifying exams to teach and train nuclear propulsion team members. About 30 engineering watch supervisors have had the access to the site removed, a Navy official said. The nuclear propulsion program is responsible for running and maintaining the nuclear reactors that power the Navy's submarines and aircraft carriers. The tests are not related to nuclear weapons and so far there is only evidence of cheating among the staff, not the students.Last week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James announced that 92 Air Force officers in charge of nuclear missiles had their access revoked for cheating on proficiency exams, or knowing about it and not reporting it.  See the Pentagon briefing here.     

 

GAO: ACTIONS NEEDED TO MITIGATE RISKS IN COMMERCIAL ITEM TEST PROGRAM  
Federal agencies rely on the commercial marketplace for a range of goods and services. In 1996, Congress authorized the use of simplified acquisition procedures for commercial items now valued up to $6.5 million under the Test Program for Certain Commercial Items. The test program is currently authorized until January 2015. However, due to a lack of reliable data, Congress has had limited insights into the actual use and benefits of the test program.  The report addresses (1) the extent to which federal agencies have used the test program, and (2) its benefits and risks, if any. GAO found that the test program reduced contracting lead time and administrative burdens and generally did not incur additional risks above those on other federal acquisition efforts for those contracts GAO reviewed. GAO found that contracting officers generally documented their efforts to identify commercial sources, but 16 of the 26 test program contracts GAO reviewed were awarded non-competitively. While these awards were justified and approved in accordance with federal regulations when required, GAO and others have found that noncompetitive contracting poses risks of not getting the best value because these awards lack a direct market mechanism to help establish pricing. GAO recommends that (1) DOD, DHS, and DOI collect and assess data to evaluate program use; and (2) DHS and DOI require a commercial item determination for certain acquisitions to better manage risk. DOD concurred, but DHS and DOI did not, stating that current procedures were adequate. GAO maintains that both recommended actions are still warranted for DHS and DOI.  Read the report here.

 

DOD CALLS FOR DATA MINING MECHANISMS
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued a solicitation for a new project called "Big Mechanism", which callsfor methods of essentially finding causal connections and overarching patterns. The solicitation emphasizes that DARPA is looking for a breakthrough and improvements to existing practices are "specifically excluded."DARPA describes a Big Mechanism as an explanatory model of complicated systems in which interactions have causal effects. DARPA says Big Mechanism will likely be built on a combination of technologies, including machine reading and natural language processing, ontology, various analytics and reasoning processes, visualization, simulation and statistical models, and some of those technologies will have to be improved. The initial focus of the program is to study is cancer biology and signal pathways for cancer cells, but DARPA said the overall goal is "a new kind of science in which research is integrated more or less immediately - automatically or semi-automatically - into causal, explanatory models of unprecedented completeness and consistency."  The program is designed to last 42 months, broken up into three phases. Each phase will focus on the four aspects on a Big Mechanism-reading, assembly of fragments into a Big Mechanism, explanation and integration. Read the solicitation here.

  

DARPA MAKES SOFTWARE AVAILABLE TO R&D COMMUNITY    

DARPA has invested in many programs that sponsor fundamental and applied research in areas of computer science, which have led to new advances in theory as well as practical software. The R&D community has asked about the availability of results, and now DARPA has responded by creating the DARPA Open Catalog, a place for organizing and sharing those results in the form of software, publications, data and experimental details.The initial offerings in the DARPA Open Catalog include software toolkits and peer-reviewed publications from the XDATA program in the agency's Information Innovation Office (I2O). The partially funded toolkits are designed to encourage flexible development of software that may enable users of targeted defense applications to process large volumes of data in a timely manner to meet their mission requirements.  Read more here.  

 

U.S. SLOWS DRONE STRIKES IN PAKISTAN 

For the first time in several years, there were no U.S. drone strikes reported in Pakistan for an entire month. The Washington Post reports that U.S. officials have temporarily halted drone strikes in Pakistan at the request of the Pakistani government. According to the Post, the Pakistanis asked for the hiatus to help their negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban. U.S. officials have denied any official deal was brokered, and said that they will not hesitate to use a drone strike on a senior Al-Qaeda target should such a target present itself. This hiatus is part of an overall drop in the use of drone strikes in Pakistan over the last several years. Read the Post's coverage here.

 

ARMY RECRUITERS DEFRAUD MILITARY OF $29 MILLION 

Recruiters under contract with the Army National Guard defrauded the military of amounts totaling at least $29 million in a program designed to boost troop strength during the Iraq war and after Hurricane Katrina, a Senate panel learned on Tuesday.  The state-administered Guard Recruiting Assistance Program, or G-RAP, launched in 2005 but cancelled in 2012 when the fraud came to light, paid thousands of dollars in fees to National Guard members, retirees, and civilians to recruit friends and family, and was considered successful enough to use in Army and Army Reserve recruiting.While the military is grateful for all recruits, professional recruiters, family members or anyone with access to a potential recruit's personal information - such as career goals - are not eligible to receive a fee. Read the hearing testimony here.

 

U.S. CONDUCTS SUCCESSFUL TEST OF AN UPDATED B61 NUCLEAR BOMB

The United States on Tuesday said it "successfully" carried out an early performance analysis of a revamped nuclear gravity bomb. The "full-system mechanical environment test" was the first assessment intended to verify how the B-61 bomb's new variant would behave under routine conditions or accident scenarios, the National Nuclear Security Administration said in a statement. The review included use of an Air Force-developed "tail kit" intended to improve targeting accuracy for the updated bomb, which is to eventually stand in for several earlier versions. Read the statement here.

 

odninewsINTELLIGENCE NEWS
TECH FIRMS CRITICIZE NSA TRANSPARENCY 

Big tech firms are shedding some light on the secret data requests they receive from the U.S. government on national security matters. Google, Fortune, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Yahoo posted data for the first time on the volume of requests made under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which allows the government to secretly obtain data on user accounts and communications in cases related to national security."Today, for the first time, our report on government requests for user information encompasses all of the requests we receive," Google lawyer Richard Salgado wrote in a blog post.The companies are permitted only to release ranges, rather than precise numbers, for the amount of FISA requests they receive from the government and the number of accounts affected. They can't discuss details of the requests or the identities of the users involved. Google's figures showed it received fewer than 1,000 FISA requests between July and December of 2012 covering between 12,000 and 12,999 accounts. In its most recent reporting period, January to June 2013, the company received under 1,000 FISA requests affecting between 9,000 and 9,999 accounts. Read Google's Post here.

 

BUSINESS OR NATIONAL SECURITY?  TECH FIRMS HIRE LOBBYISTS

Apple, Google, Facebook and 5 other technology giants have hired lobbyists to push for surveillance reform.  As individual companies, many of the companies have already been ramping up their lobbying efforts -- Thursday February 6th, they formally filed the "Reform Government Surveillance" Coalition to increase transparency and limits on what information the government collects as individual companies, Thursday February 6th they made the formal "Coalition" public. According to Politico, Apple, LinkedIn and other tech companies have increased their lobbying presence, working to distance themselves from the NSA data collection efforts.  The companies are using "transparency" arguments against data collection in part due to criticism and talk in Europe of new privacy rules that would increase their cost of business.  Read more.

 
ODNI SEEKS METADATA STORAGE SOLUTION 

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence wants to gather industry input regarding how the government can continue to collect bulk telephone records metadata without actually storing the information.ODNI issued a request for information on Feb. 5 that seeks suggestions on how to keep the telephone metadata accessible to the government under Section 215 of the Patriot Act without the use of government facilities to hold or maintain it. ODNI says possible solutions include: 

  • Near-real-time access to data from the original source.
  • Correlation of data with varying provider data formats.
  • Simultaneous or near-simultaneous real-time access to data across multiple provider-stored datasets.
  • Secure storage of and access to U.S. telephone metadata records for a sufficient period of time.
  • Compliance with rigorous security and auditability standards to ensure that no queries take place without appropriate authorization and no data is provided to the government unless in response to an authorized query while maintaining 99.9 percent availability.
Read more here.
 
mentorSHOW THE LOVE!  DEADLINE FOR MENTOR NOMINATIONS CLOSES FEBRUARY 14!

The Government Technology & Services Coalition and Government Contracting Weekly have partnered to recognize exceptional mentors in the government contracting community.  

 

"The Mentors" awards program recognizes and salutes government contractors for their leadership and concrete actions in assisting small government contracting firms through mentoring, training, inspiration, teaming and cooperation.  Large firms that mentor small companies play a critical role in saving their Federal clients money and time, commit to putting action behind the mantra of bringing "innovation and creativity" to the Federal mission and bring a higher level of professionalism to the contracting community.  Join us and nominate your mentor today!


fedcornerFED CORNER:  RICHARD T. GINMAN 

Richard T. Ginman

Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DOD) 

Mr. Richard T. Ginman assumed the position of Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) in June of 2011. In that capacity he is responsible for domestic, international, and contingency contract policy, Acquisition policy and oversight of DoD 5000.1 and 2, oversight of the DFARS and the DoD member of the FAR council, as well as Program Development and Implementation with regard to E-Business, and finally oversight of the Purchase card program. He also serves as co-leader and proponent of the Pricing and Contracting Community within the Department of Defense.

 

He assumed the position of Deputy Director Contingency Contracting and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) in March, 2010. In February 2008 he assumed the position of Principal Deputy to the Director of DPAP. In that capacity, he is the principal advisor to the Director for all contracting and procurement policy areas including program acquisition strategies, incentives, program execution, Peer reviews, contingency contracting and acquisition policy.  Read Mr. Ginman's Full Bio here.

newsofnoteNEWS OF NOTE


CONGRESS ANNOUNCES HOUSE APP CHALLENGE
This new competition is designed to engage student's creativity and encourage their participation in STEM education fields.  Established by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, this competition is a
nationwide event that allows high school students from across the country to compete by creating and exhibiting their software application, or "app," for mobile, tablet,
or computer devices on a platform of their choice. Read more here. 
 

  

 

HEALTHCARE.GOV CAN'T HANDLE ERRORS

Tens of thousands of people who discovered that HealthCare.gov made mistakes as they were signing up for a health plan are confronting a new roadblock: The government cannot yet fix the errors.

Roughly 22,000 Americans have filed appeals with the government to try to get mistakes corrected, according to internal government data obtained by The Washington Post. For now, the appeals are
sitting, untouched, inside a government
computer.

Read the Washington Post's Coverage here. 

   

 

FEDERAL EMPLOYEE VIOLATES HATCH ACT WITH TWEETS 

The U.S. government has opted not to prosecute a federal employee who violated the Hatch Act by tweeting about partisan political contests while on the job, the Office of Special Counsel said Tuesday. The employee allegedly also urged Twitter followers to contribute to a candidate's campaign.

The law allows some federal employees to support candidates on social media when they're not on the clock but does not allow them to urge other people to donate to those candidates.

The Office of Special Counsel decided not to prosecute the partisan tweeter after the employee resigned in December, the office said in a press release.

TARGET EXECUTIVE APOLOGIZES 

Target CFO John Mulligan told U.S. lawmakers the retailer was "deeply sorry" for the massive data breach it suffered over the holiday shopping period, and said it was determined to win back customers' trust.

Target confirmed that criminals had infiltrated its system through the use of malware and had potentially stolen payment card data, Mulligan said. On the same day, Target removed the malware from virtually all its U.S. sales registers. Read the testimony here.

ICE, CHERTOFF GROUP & OTHERS HONORED BY GTSC

The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC), the premier organization for small and mid-sized companies in homeland and national security yesterday recognized numerous public and private sector leaders and innovators in homeland and national security at its Annual Awards. 

Read more about the award winners here.

 

 

 

AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS ADOPTS DOD ENTERPRISE EMAIL SERVICE
Air Force Headquarters has completed the transition to Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Email (DEE) - the department's secure, cloud-based email solution.Approximately 7,800 unclassified email accounts and an additional 1,300 mobile devices were transitioned from Air Force-managed email accounts to DEE over the course of 60 days. Read more here.

 

ATTACK ON POWER STATION RAISES CONCERNS 

Security experts are concerned that last year's unsolved attack on an electrical-power substation in San Jose, California, is but a prologue to similar attacks which, if executed simultaneously and in a coordinated fashion against several such substations, could cripple the U.S. power grid. The transformers at the substation, vital for regional power distribution, were shot at by several gunmen and disabled for twenty-seven days. The attack appeared to have been carried out by people with some training, although the FBI said the agency does not think it was the act of terrorists.

Read WashPo's coverage 
here.
 
CITIZEN SATISFACTION WITH GOVERNMENT SITES FALLS 
Americans are less satisfied with services provided by the U.S. federal government in 2013, according to a report released this week Results show that citizen satisfaction with federal government services drops 3.4%  as compared with the prior year. The decline, which erases two years of consecutive gains, occurs amid widespread downturns in satisfaction with federal government websites, including the widely publicized problems with the rollout of Healthcare.gov.  
Read report here.

  

  


HAGEL RECOGNIZES AUDIT PROGRESS 

Generations of defense secretaries have pushed an unwieldy and confusing financial system closer to a clean audit, and today Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recognized DOD organizations that are at the forefront of this charge.

The Marine Corps and nine other defense agencies are leading the Defense Department in this effort. The Corps is the first military service to clear a financial audit; the other services expect to clear this hurdle later this year. Read more here.

 

 

 

 

BENEFITS WEBSITE SCAM TARGETS SOLIDERS 

The Army is warning about a new website scam that targets soldiers and their families. The site called "My Army Benefits" has no affiliation with the Army and mimics a similar DOD site with a similar name that provides benefits support to soldiers and families. The site is operated by the Retirement Services Department of the Army. Read more here.

 
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SPEED UP VA CLAIMS 
The Defense Department has made troops' health records electronically available to the Veterans Affairs Department to speed up the adjudication of disability claims, a DOD health information technology official said.Now in place for service members who have separated or discharged from the military since Jan. 1, the Health Artifact and Image Management Solution, or HAIMS, electronic system makes certified military service treatment records automatically available to VA to determine disability benefits when a claim is filed, said David M. Bowen, director of health information technology at the Defense Health Agency. Read more here. 

 

 

 
FISC APPROVES GOV REQUEST TO MODIFY DATA COLLECTION 
To put the changes President Obama requested into effect, the Department of Justice filed a motion with the FISC to amend its most recent Jan. 3, 2014, primary order approving the production of telephony metadata collection under Section 215. The FISC this week granted the government's motion. In addition, the FISC ordered the government to do a classification review by Feb. 17, 2014, of the Jan. 3 primary order, the government's motion to amend that order, and the order granting
the motion.
Read more here.


quoteQUOTE OF THE WEEK:  

 

It's About the Mission. The Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6), non-partisan association of innovative, agile small and midsized company CEOs that create, develop, and implement solutions for the Federal homeland and national security sector. These companies founded the Coalition to band together to work with their Federal partners to achieve their mission despite significant budget challenges by bringing the innovation, creativity and exceptionalism of successful small businesses to the homeland and national security mission. 
 
Our vision is to provide an ethical, effective platform for information exchange between the public and private sector on homeland and national security ideas, technologies and innovations.
 
Our mission is to provide exceptional advocacy, capacity building, partnership opportunities and marketing in the Federal security space for small and mid-sized companies, and to support and assist our government partners achieve their critical missions with the highest integrity; best and most innovative technologies; and results-based, quality products and services to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from any terrorist attack or natural disaster.
 

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