A Note From Our President & Founder Jim Garrettson
Two of the Defense Departmentâs 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.
âInnovation in… big data, analytics, autonomy and robotics is going on in [Silicon Valley] and we want to tap into it, â 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 organizationâs 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 Wireâs 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 POCâs next event in its âCIO 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 Administrationâs 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 POCÂ Oct. 15 for the 2015 Cybersecurity Summit.
Click here to sign up for these events and view POCâs full calendar.
Jason Matheny Appointed IARPA Director
Mathenyâs appointment took effect this week after a prior role as director of the agencyâs Office for Anticipating Surprise.
Mara Elizabeth Karlin, principal deputy assistant secretary for international security affairs at the Defense Department, was confirmed by the Senate to serve as DOD’s assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilties. Senators approved the nomination by voice vote Monday, following a series of congressional events that took place since the White House announced President Joe
Express Scripts has secured a potential multi-year $4.3 billion contract to help the Defense Health Agency manage pharmacy benefit-related activities across all 50 states; Washington, D.C; Guam; Puerto Rico; and the Virgin Islands. The company will provide management services in support of the TRICARE Pharmacy Benefit Program, which delivers prescription drugs to beneficiaries through mail
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has signed a plan designed to guide the military’s implementation activities aimed at ensuring U.S. electromagnetic spectrum advantage and providing warfighters with “freedom of action” in the EMS. The Department of Defense said Thursday its operations in air, land, maritime, space and cyberspace domains rely on EMS and the 2020 Electromagnetic