Change of administration is always a challenging time for government contracting as the markets realign in anticipation of where spending will flow and how to best position for the upcoming priorities. The Obama administration change is no exception with Military shifting from hard resources to soft, traditional defense firms shifting from projecting physical space to [...]
The other day, David Blumenthal — Obama’s national coordinator for health information technology — and one of two panels he is working with (the Health Information Technology Policy Committee) — reached agreement on the meaning of the term, “meaningful use.” The term will guide doctors on the way to adopting medical health records. Here’s what [...]
In the years he was in government, Michael Chertoff dealt with “every kind of crisis and emergency known to man” — his words. That’s no exaggeration. First came Sept. 11, then Enron, then Katrina. Those experiences left Chertoff with two key lessons about national security — and the former Secretary of Homeland Security shared them [...]
You may recall that back on May 29, a report summarizing the findings of a cybersecurity review was released to the public. Soon after, President Obama offered this declaration: He would appoint a cybersecurity coordinator — or what many have been calling a cyber czar — to help set cybersecurity policy alongside Federal CIO Vivek [...]
The post-9-11 world requires a different approach to cybersecurity — we all know that. Knowing what to do about it is the hard part. That’s where Dan Chenok comes in. By day, Chenok is a senior vice president and general manager at Pragmatics, Inc. Chenok has also served on several prominent boards, including the Technology [...]
Through the years, Symantec’s Jim Russell has offered this blunt assessment of FISMA: It lacks “teeth.” The current law’s inability to hold agencies accountable for data breaches, plus staff and budgetary issues, have driven inaction by many smaller agencies. Forty-two percent of them don’t even have dedicated IT staff. But the tide is turning. More [...]
If ever there were a time to get the long view on federal contracting, this is it. From competitive insourcing to fixed price contracts, these are days of change for the community. And few have the perspective on how to navigate them like Renny DiPentima, whose 40-year career spans both commercial and federal markets. Before [...]
