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Weekly Roundup Aug 3 – Aug 7 2015


Weekly Roundup
Aug 3 – Aug 7 2015

A Note From Our President & Founder Jim Garrettson

Two of the Defense Department’s top civilian leaders traveled to Silicon Valley this week for discussions with a new arm of the Pentagon started earlier this year to facilitate more collaborations between DoD and companies in the region.

DoD launched the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental hub to act as a pathway for the department to gain more access to start-up companies, other technology firms and entrepreneurs.

“Innovation in… big data, analytics, autonomy and robotics is going on in [Silicon Valley] and we want to tap into it, ” said Robert Work, deputy defense secretary.

Work, DoD acquisition head Frank Kendall, DIUx Director George Duchak and military deputy Navy Rear Adm. Brian Hendrickson met to discuss the organization’s efforts.

Pentagon Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen paid his own visit to Silicon Valley earlier this year and described his biggest takeaway from that trip in his address to the Potomac Officers Club Thursday as part of the POC’s “CIO Speaker Series.”

Halvorsen also gave the audience of GovCon and government leaders his perspective on ways the industry and agencies can temporarily share employees in an effort to help both the public and private sectors better understand each other.

Click here to read GovCon Wire’s full recap of the event.

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The Potomac Officers Club is excited to host Transportation Department CIO Richard McKinney on Aug. 20 for the POC’s next event in its “CIO Speaker Series” for GovCon and government leaders at the helm of technology-related initiatives.

Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu will address the POC on Sept. 2 and the General Services Administration’s Chris Hamm is scheduled to speak on Sept. 24.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, has been lined up to address the POC Oct. 15 for the 2015 Cybersecurity Summit.

Click here to sign up for these events and view POC’s full calendar.

THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS STORIES

Exclusive: Chuck Prow to Join Investment Firm Sterling, Hold President Role at Portfolio Company CPS
The former IBM global government business head explains his next career chapter only to GovCon Wire and ExecutiveBiz.
US Army Awards $501M Medical Research Contract to Four Firms
The Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity received nine bids for the five-year contract.
Kevin Davis Named Public Sector Business VP at Splunk
Davis previously led the unit on an acting basis and is also a 10-year veteran of Oracle, where he led sales to the Defense Department.
NJVC Promotes Chris Andersen, Michael Carr, Jeff Bongianino
The Chantilly, Va.-based information technology contractor announces new roles for three members of its executive team.
Silver Lake Invests $1B in Motorola Solutions; Greg Brown Comments
Motorola intends to use the new investment for efforts to expand in the worldwide public safety communications technology market.
NAVSEA Starts Federal Data Breach Response Service Solicitation
The government is seeking a contractor to build a website for OPM to notify victims of the background investigation system breach.
Bob Stutz: Microsoft’s Cloud-Based CRM Platform Obtains FedRAMP Certification From HUD
The authority-to-operate approval covers the company’s Dynamics CRM Online Government product suite.
Deltek’s Alex Rossino: DHS Cloud Spending Figures Unclear
The Deltek analyst says there are inconsistencies between cloud spending data he could verify and figures reported to OMB.
Senate Approves Obama Nominee Denise Turner Roth as GSA Administrator
Roth received the nomination to lead GSA in May and has served as acting administrator in March.
Marcel Lettre Nominated for Defense Intell Undersecretary Post
Lettre has served in the role on an acting basis since May and has held the title of principal deputy undersecretary for intelligence since October 2013.
Tech Companies Recommend Strategies for Federal Network Security
An IT Alliance for Public Sector task force gives its ideas to the acting OMB chief, federal CIO and White House cyber coordinator.
Senate Postpones Decision on Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
The chamber entered its summer recess period without a vote on legislation to let agencies and businesses share cyber threat intelligence.
Jason Matheny Appointed IARPA Director
Matheny’s appointment took effect this week after a prior role as director of the agency’s Office for Anticipating Surprise.

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