The New New Internet has published a list of the Top 10 Universities Preparing Future Cyber Security Professionals.  As the need for cybersecurity professionals swells, universities across the nation are helping to train the next generation of cyber professionals.  Each university on The New New Internet’s list is certified by the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education.  Here are the universities that made the cut: (Click here for the full article)

• University of Massachusetts Amherst (Amherst, MA)
• University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, MD)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
• Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
• Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK)
• University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)
• West Chester University (West Chester, PA)
• University of Texas (San Antonio, TX)
• George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)
• University of Washington (Seattle, WA)

Cobham Defense, Electronic Systems Corporation: The $1.4 Billion Contractor You May Have Never Heard Of

Jeremy Wensinger

Last year, Cobham Defense purchased the Surveillance and Attack business unit of BAE Systems in Lansdale and M/A-COM, as well as SPARTA Strategic Business Unit to form Cobham Defense, Electronic Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of British defense contractor Cobham plc. led by Jeremy Wensinger with combined revenues of $1.4bn and more than 5,000 employees.  The company is beginning to grow to a size and scale locally that is getting the attention of beltway business leaders.  Click here for more.

In-Sourcing: Be Solution-Oriented

In a recent interview with ExecutiveBiz, Anthony Verna of Paradigm Solutions talked about the implications of competitive in-sourcing to the government contracting market.  Verna says, “…if the government gets a little more traction with sustaining and scaling the acquisition workforce, there will be less large contracts, and those that do endure will be solution-oriented.” Click here to read more.

Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell Speak at Potomac Officers Club

Senator Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell spoke at the Potomac Officers’ club last Thursday, September 10^th.  As expected, candidates rehashed campaign talking points and took the occasional jab at their opponent, with main areas of focus for including job creation, transportation, and education.  Check out the full coverage here.

Deeds and McDonnell addressed the Potomac Officers’ club today, with Mr. McDonnell speaking first and Mr. Deeds following immediately afterward.  As expected, candidates reiterated campaign talking points and took the occasional jab at their opponent, with main areas of focus for including job creation, transportation, and education.

Bob McDonnell

Both candidates emphasized the importance of creating new jobs in Virginia.  Deeds criticized McDonnell’s tax credit plan by saying it requires a business to create fifty new jobs before it recieves a credit for the 51st, and saying his plan is “simple: create a job, get a tax credit,” and emphasized opportunities for “every Virginian, in every corner of the state.” McDonnell attacked Deeds’ voting record on business issues, citing McDonnell’s endorsement by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for “long standing support of small business and entrepreneurs and innovators, with a lifetime “A” rating,” and reminding the audience that Deeds has recieved an “F” rating from the NFIB but an “A” from the AFL-CIO, America’s largest labor union.

On the critical topic of education, McDonnell spoke about shifting money from school administration to the classroom, and Deeds pitched a universal scholarship program for all Virginia students who maintain a “B” average and committ two years post-graduation to “service in Virginia.” 

Speaking on transportation, McDonnell provided a variety of options to fund new roads: after calling Northern Virginia a “donor region,” he mentioned keeping some of NoVa’s sales tax revenue in the area to build new roads, and earmarking more general fund money for transportation.  While Deeds said that building new roads was vital to keep from “choking off” Virginia’s business growth, and said “all options are on the table,” he was adamantly against diverting any general fund money away from education to transportation.  He likened it to eating the state’s collective seed corn, and, after his agricultural analogy fell flat on the suburban crowd, he reminded himself that he was “in Northern Virginia” (which drew laughs) and explained that the seed corn was “what you plant next years’ crop with,” explaining that cutting education funds would display a “lack of faith” in Virginia’s future.

Senator Creigh Deeds

Many local news outlets were in attendance, including WTOP (AM 1500), Channel 9, Channel 5, Channel 7, NBC, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and, of course, ExecutiveBiz.  Noteworthy attendees included Channel 9’s Peggy Fox, Channel 5’s Joe Feeney, WTOP’s Hank Silverberg, Chris Donovan of NBC, Channel 7’s Pamela Brown, the Associated Press’s Jacquelyn Martin and Matt Baracht, and the Washington Post’s Rosalind Helderman and Amy Gardner.

Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds will be speaking to the Potomac Officers’ Club at a “Stare-and-Compare” event next week on September 10th (click here to register), and they recently spoke to ExecutiveBiz.  Here’s ExecutiveBiz’s “stare-and-compare” of the Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates.

Q: How do you plan to make Virginia a more business friendly state?

• Bob McDonnell:  I think it starts with making sure we keep taxes and regulation and litigation low, strong right to work laws and great universities.  That’s the foundation of a business friendly environment.
• Senator Creigh Deeds: My plan to jump-start our economy starts with job creation, specifically in the transportation arena where we need people and skill sets ranging from engineers to construction workers to everything in between.

Q: How do you plan to protect Virginia’s government contracting jobs?

• Bob McDonnell: I think it really starts with tremendous political pressure or communication with our legislatures from Virginia in making sure that they are doing everything that they can in order to help Virginia stay strong and competitive and to keep these Virginia jobs here.
• Creigh Deeds: I’m going to work closely with Congressmen from both parties because this is above Democrats and Republicans, it’s about Virginia.

Q: How do you plan to secure Virginia’s IT infrastructure from cyber attacks?

• Bob McDonnell: I’ve done some of that as Attorney General.  We’ve passed a number of new laws…mostly at my request that really help to protect the industry.  We’ve spent a lot of time creating a task force with some of the large IT companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, MySpace and AOL to look at ways to reduce the opportunity for both cyber crime
• Creigh Deeds: As Governor I’m going to work with the Obama Administration to develop a Virginia specific cyber security strategy that involves private partners as well as VITA and the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness.

Greg Baroni: What’s Next?

Greg Baroni, a well-known DC government contracting executive, has been gone for ten months.  What’s he been up to?  Check out the first portion of our two-part interview with Greg here to find out.  Part one of the video version is available here.

Global Warming Skeptics: The New “Truthers?”

Who’s Alan Carlin?  You probably haven’t heard of him, and CBS claims that’s the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants it.  Dr. Carlin, who holds a Bachelor’s in physics from CalTech and a Ph.D in economics from MIT, wrote what the Heritage Foundation called a “damaging report” questioning the science behind the green movement’s dire predictions.  Carlin’s report suggests that the congressionally proposed “Cap-and-Trade” bill will hurt American families and American economic competitiveness while having negligible impact on global ecology.  So, many folks are wondering “what is the truth and who are the truthers?”  Click here for more.

Is the Federal Government Seizing the Internet?

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (the entity that distributes domain names and IP addresses), will be asked by Congress to submit to direct US government control.  ICANN is currently administered as a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), an administrative system mixing public and private control.  In a letter to Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce, dated August 4, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman says “Rather than replacing the JPA with additional JPAs or Memoranda of Understanding that expire every few years, we believe the time has come for a permanent instrument to which ICANN and the Department of Commerce are co-signatories.”  Click here for more.

Creigh Deeds

ExecutiveBiz:  How do you plan to make Virginia a more business friendly state?

“I’m going to deploy every resource at my disposal as Governor to make the best possible case for Virginia and for its record of excellence when it comes to serving the federal government. I’m going to work closely with Congressmen from both parties because this is above Democrats and Republicans, it’s about Virginia.” -Creigh Deeds

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ExecutiveBiz:  Do you support efforts to make George Mason University a state supported, world class research institution?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  Absolutely.  George Mason is one of the greatest success stories in the entire country in the realm of higher education and it wasn’t there forty years ago, it was just a dream.  Now it is one of the best universities in the state and frankly it is one of the best universities in the Mid-Atlantic region and its reputation is growing nationally.  The best resource in this commonwealth is our people and it is a mistake not to take advantage of everything that Virginians have to offer.  My plan for both the economy and education includes university boosting proposals for financial aid and loan forgiveness for students to investments in a virtual research triangle among our two and four year institutions to develop new and alternative energy technology.  I think the next economy is going to be built on energy technology and the way we are going to take advantage of it is by attracting more energy based research to Virginia and there is a piece of that puzzle for every one of our four year schools, and George Mason has got to have its share of these investments.

ExecutiveBiz:  Virginia’s last Secretary of Technology, Aneesh Chopra is currently the Federal CTO.  What qualities will you look for in the next Secretary of Technology?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  For my Secretary of Technology I’m going to look for three main qualities.  One: an experienced individual who is committed to extending technological advancements like broadband internet to all of Virginia so we can create opportunity in every corner on the Commonwealth.  Two: someone whose experience with innovation will lead the agency to draw connections between technology and other areas such as energy development, medical care and other areas where I think we have great room for growth and third I will look for someone who is a good manager, someone who can run the department at its maximum efficiency with every tax dollar being well spent.

ExecutiveBiz:  How do you plan to secure Virginia’s IT infrastructure from cyber attacks?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  From my perspective, cyber security is an economic issue as well as a national security issue.  In a global economy based on electronic commerce business stands to lose millions from cyber attacks.  As Governor I’m going to work with the Obama Administration to develop a Virginia specific cyber security strategy that involves private partners as well as VITA and the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness.

ExecutiveBiz:  What will be the Virginia Information Technology Agency’s (VITA’s) role?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  I’ll tell you, from my perspective, privatizing VITA’s services was sound policy.  Implementation has been tough.  It has been very spotty.  I’m interested in the results of the work that has been done in the Senate Finance Committee to get to the bottom of it.  I view VITA as having a critical role in developing cyber security policy for our Commonwealth.

ExecutiveBiz:  The federal government has plans to in-source government contracting jobs, moving them from Virginia to DC and elsewhere.  How do you plan to protect these Virginia jobs?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  I’m going to deploy every resource at my disposal as Governor to make the best possible case for Virginia and for its record of excellence when it comes to serving the federal government.  I’m going to work closely with Congressmen from both parties because this is above Democrats and Republicans, it’s about Virginia.  I’m going to work with Congressmen from both parties and with Senators Warner and Webb to craft the most beneficial policy for Virginia at every level of government. We have a long-term commitment to working with our federal partners toward mutual goals and we are going to make the necessary adjustments to continue this relationship.  Frankly, as you well know, the federal government provides a buffer to recessionary factors particularly Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.  It’s important for the economic vitality of the Commonwealth that we continue to nurture that relationship and continue to find ways to make it more attractive for the federal government to do work and to do business in Virginia.

ExecutiveBiz:  Leaders of the government contracting community have criticized the federal government for “poaching” government contracting jobs.  What do you think of the federal government taking high paying and high skilled jobs out of the private sector and moving it into Washington?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  The bottom line is the majority of those jobs can be done more efficiently and more effectively in the private sector.  I’m all for creating efficiencies at every level of government, in fact I laid out plans to have efficiency reviews and performance reviews of every agency in the state government to go to a zero-based budgeting process.  I don’t think it is a bad idea for the federal government to look for ways to save money and to look for ways to create efficiencies.  Frankly I think that there are many contractors that have proved over the years that they have the know-how, the expertise and the proven business practices that work to save money and produce efficiencies.

ExecutiveBiz:  Do you have any plans for driving the adoption of green technology in Virginia?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  In 1960 Luther Hodges was the Governor of North Carolina.  He got the General Assembly to appropriate $200,000, and then he went out to the private sector and raised another $1.5 million.  $1.7 million was a lot of money for a state in 1960.  With the creation of the Research Park in the central part of North Carolina there were people who snickered but let me tell you what, they are not snickering anymore.  Forty-nine years later the Research Triangle is on its second forty year plan and it’s brought hundreds of billions of dollars to investment and tens of thousands of jobs to North Carolina.  We need to plant that kind of a seed for our economic future today; that’s why I’ve developed a plan to attract energy based research to Virginia.  We take public investment and coordinate that research among all of our institutions of higher learning, if we can do that we can effectively create an energy-based research triangle in Virginia.  Frankly, energy independence is a matter of international need and economic security and to achieve that we can’t take anything off the table from a conventional approach to energy to alternative approaches until the science takes it off the table.  There’s potential all over Virginia from offshore drilling and wind farm possibilities near Virginia Beach to bio-fuels and clean coal plant potential in Virginia.  Some people say that Virginia doesn’t get enough sunlight but Germany is the worldwide leader in solar technology and Germany gets less sunlight than anyone in the United States but Alaska.  I’ve got legislative plans to incentivize the growth of so called green collared jobs and alternative energy capabilities by adopting a grant program for alternative energy manufacturers and bio-mass facilities in the Shenandoah Valley and Southeast Virginia; and tax credits or the elimination of sales tax for alternative energy manufacturing devices that will reduce carbon emissions. The question is: does Virginia lead or does she follow?  From my perspective, we need to lead.

ExecutiveBiz:  You’ll be speaking to the Potomac Officers Club on September 10^th.  What do you want to tell Virginia’s contracting community?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  I want to tell them that government contracting is key to our economic success.  The Department of Defense alone spent over $39 billion last year in Virginia.  That’s about 10% of our entire gross state product.  The next Governor is going to have to fight hard for Virginia to remain one of the top states for government contracting.  We saw that when the Department of Defense tried to relocate DARPA to Bethesda, Maryland.  Arlington is the hub for defense research and it should stay that way but it’s not just about Defense spending.  The Northern Virginia Technology Council is taking a more active role in forging a bond between Northern Virginia technology companies and the federal government.  I also think there are opportunities in other areas of the Commonwealth that we can’t afford to overlook.  Our shipyard in North Newport News is a tremendous asset and we have companies like Northrop Grumman working with the Navy around the port.  We need to continue that work and make sure that Virginia remains one of the best states for the federal government to do business in.

ExecutiveBiz:  What is something most people don’t know about you?

Senator Creigh Deeds:  When my wife was seven months pregnant with our oldest child we sat through two snow delays at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati watching the Cincinnati Reds play the opening day game in April of 1985.

We reported in June that new administration’s defense budget includes major cuts to big spending programs.  But overall, will the DoD’s bottom line really shrink?  Counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen, senior advisor to Afghanistan theatre commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, sees “about two more years of heavy fighting” ahead of us in Afghanistan, and the Washington Post reports that costs of the Afghan war could “eclipse” the costs of the Iraq war. 

The rapidly-escalating conflict in Afghanistan presents a major opportunity for government contractors like DynCorp and Fluor, who each won $7.5 billion contracts in Afghanistan.  For perspective, according to the Washington Post, the U.S. spent a total of only $982 million on the Afghan conflict in 2003, and those awards have nowhere to go but up.

Strangely, what seems more at risk than Defense spending is the organized opposition that was forcefully advocating peace over the past few years.  Perhaps there are two questions: “Where’s the money?” and “Where’s the Peace Movement?”

Billable Hour Assault: Is Government Contracting Next?

What do pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, IT player Cisco Systems and credit powerhouse American Express have in common?  They’ve ditched the traditional hourly model for legal fees to cut costs. Pfizer, which spends over $500 million annually on legal fees, says it will cut legal costs by up to 20%, mostly through flat-fee arrangements, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Cisco Systems has shifted 80% of its legal work to flat-fee arrangements.

Since the White House Office of Management and Budget upped its ten-year deficit prediction to $9 trillion from its may estimate of $7 trillion, could the federal government be the next customer to ditch the billable-hour model?  Our prediction: keep an eye out for more fixed-price work in Government Contracting.

Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell to Address Potomac Officers’ Club

The Virginia gubernatorial candidates will address the group at a luncheon event on September 10th.  Click here to register.

Brad Antle’s New Brainchild: Salient Solutions LLC

Brad Antle

Brad Antle, former CEO of SI International, has formed a new company Salient Solutions LLC with the backing of Frontenac, a private equity company in Chicago.  Joining Brad will be Ray Oleson as the Chairman, Ted Dunn as an EVP and CFO, and Tom Lloyd VP, Corporate Development.  It looks like the former SI Leadership team back on the field.  Frontenac was the same company that backed SI International in 1998 with their CEO1st program.  It was a successful formula before and we expect it will be again. We believe that Brad and the team are on the hunt for a platform company.

IBM: New Microprocessors Built by…DNA?

IBM researchers, working with Paul W. K . Rothemund of Cal Tech are working on a new way of building chips: arranging DNA origami structures on microprocessors that are compatible with semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Their research looks to preserve Moore’s Law, which says that every two years the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles. For four decades, Moore’s Law (named for Intel’s founder, Gordon Moore) has held true, but with chip geometries shrinking to 22 nanometers by 2014, the rising costs will “[alter] the fundamental economics of the industry” according to a June report by iSuppli.

By combining existing assembly technology and self-assembling DNA nanotechnology, IBM believes that major savings could be realized in what is historically the most expensive phase of chip manufacture.