A little-noticed provision in Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's reorganization plan for the agency creates a higher profile for telecommunications security, yet also raises questions about how that mission will be defined.
Several insiders say the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Management unit, in charge of developing XML applications for information-sharing among emergency managers, is moving into the department's Office of Interoperability and Compatibility in the Science & Technology Directorate.
IT recruiter Greg McElroy returned from a job fair in a Washington suburb recently with resumes from a handful of top candidates for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s 1,200 vacant positions. The candidates' most striking qualification: All of them hold federal security clearances.
How does a company with revenue of less than $1 million per year acquire a company with revenue reaching nearly $430 million a year? The small company has something the big company wants.
Recently, a Professional Services Council member company went through a contentious audit at one of its customer agencies. The audit centered on the company's billings for subcontractor costs, an increasingly common area of debate.
GAO, however, has identified lapses of unmitigated influence and has said that the Defense Security Service does not have sufficient knowledge or controls in place to address the risks it presents.
After more than two years in Iraq, U.S. contractors involved in reconstruction work may have seen the peak of exorbitant costs of insurance and private security, even as insurgents continue their kidnappings, convoy attacks and suicide bombings.
The scope of a project can change drastically while work is under way. That's why Computer Sciences Corp. relies on experienced subcontractors for many of its government projects.
I was briefing a management team on the Office of Management and Budget's strategic sourcing memo that asks agencies to define three commodity areas ripe for this methodology. I explained how enterprise license agreements with software publishers can be structured to lower administration costs, but still allow many resellers, integrators and small businesses to participate in the business.
For a view of homeland security policy ideas espoused by Stewart Baker, the Homeland Security Department's new policy czar, look no further than his testimony to the 9/11 Commission.
Diana Gowen has several targets in her sights as the new head of Qwest Communications International Inc.'s government business. The first is winning the General Services Administration's $20 billion Federal Technology Services Networx contract. Also in her crosshairs is the $500 million Defense Information Systems Network Access Transport Services contract.
In late June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded a lower-court decision dismissing a case challenging the constitutionality of the Defense Department's price evaluation adjustment program for small disadvantaged businesses (SDB).
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says the General Services Administration should conduct more post-award contract audits to ensure the federal government is getting the best possible prices on contracts.
Industry group complains that prime contractors will be much less likely to use subs if a pricing amendment sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) is approved as part of the Defense authorization legislation.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson has launched a critical inquiry of the Homeland Security Department's decision to award a blanket purchase agreement for the MaxHR personnel system.
