Lawmakers hope to vote next week on a short-term continuing resolution funding agencies through Dec. 9.
Source: Congress Tries to Avoid a Government Shutdown As Oct. 1 Nears – Management – GovExec.com
Existing staff lack the time and resources to keep up with demand.
Source: Contractors Urge Next President to Upgrade Acquisition Workforce – Contracting – GovExec.com
The FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) Councils have proposed to increase the dollar threshold for requiring audit of termination settlement proposals from $100,000 to $750,000. The proposed new threshold will be tied to the threshold for obtaining cost or pricing data (FAR 15.403-4(a)(1), thus whenever that threshold increases (once every five years based on inflation), the audit threshold for termination settlement proposals will increase as well.
Contractors tend to stand by during election seasons, even though the party of the next administration indicates what procurement policy will look like.
Source: Justin Chiarodo: What contractors need to know about the election – FederalNewsRadio.com
CIA Director John Brennan warned of the need to improve government defense of the digital domain before a catastrophic event.
Source: Brennan: Government ‘cannot just hope’ private sector will protect digital domain — FCW
Sen. Mark Warner has requested an update on how agencies are implementing the Data Act since OMB and Treasury issued standards and implementation guidance earlier this year.
Source: Data Act sponsor wants a look at agency implementation plans — FCW
LOS ANGELES, CA – August 18, 2016 – collab9 today announced it is the first and only FedRAMPSM Authorized Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider in the world. With the cloud first mandate trickling through the U.S. government, Federal, State, and Local agencies now have a flexible, reliable, and secure unified communications (UC) cloud service catering to their requirements. collab9 was sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States to achieve a FedRAMP compliant ATO (Agency Authority to Operate) and verified by the FedRAMP PMO (Project Management Office).
FedRAMP
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, is a government-wide program that supports the U.S. government’s mandate that all U.S. federal information systems comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA). Providing a cost-effective, risk-based approach for the adoption and use of cloud services, executive departments and agencies using FedRAMP Authorized cloud systems, such as collab9, can reap significant financial and time savings by implementing new systems quickly.
“As agencies are increasingly using more cloud services, specialized services like UCaaS solutions are gaining greater entry into the Federal marketplace. FedRAMP is cloud agnostic so the authorization process works for any delivery model or service type. The Federal government’s increasing adoption of all types of cloud services will result in many more specialized services coming through FedRAMP, like UCaaS solutions,” said Ashley Mahan, FedRAMP Agency Evangelist.
Source: FedRAMP Authorizes First Cloud Provider for Voice and Collaboration
New U.S. CISO Greg Touhill discussed the skills he believes the cybersecurity workforce should have and offered advice for the next administration.
Source: Touhill outlines skills he wants from IT workforce — FCW
The Obama administration continues to push government toward enhancing CX, and the White House pressure has many agencies trying to get it together.
Source: Join GovExec & Nextgov for the Federal Customer Experience Summit – Nextgov.com
Steve Kelman has ideas for helping innovative firms clear the hurdles to doing business with the government.
Source: A sobering take on government contractors: What can be done? — FCW