Chris Howard, vice president of U.S. public sector at Nutanix, wrote in a GCN article published Tuesday that federal agencies seeking to provide employees access to data and applications in a more flexible way during the COVID-19 pandemic should consider adopting desktop-as-a-service platforms.

Data analytics firm Palantir has received a contract to provide data and software services for the U.S. Space Force in support of the Kobayashi Maru project, SpaceNews reported Monday. The service branch's Space and Missile Systems Center kicked off Kobayashi Maru in 2019 to replace legacy space command-and-control software with new applications.

Mark Forman, vice president of digital government strategy at Science Applications International Corp., wrote in a commentary published Monday on FCW that government chief information officers should help agency leaders understand the importance of adopting cloud, artificial intelligence, big data analytics and other digital government tools as they transition from response to the recovery phase during the coronavirus pandemic.

Alan Balutis, a Distinguished Fellow and senior director for North American public sector for Cisco Systems' global strategy and consulting arm, wrote in a FedScoop article published Friday the lack of authority of agency chief information officers could be one of the reasons why agencies are slow to transition to the General Services Administration's $50B Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions telecommunications contract. 

The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued interim Trusted Internet Connections 3.0 telework guidance and Stephen Kovac, vice president of global government  at Zscaler, said the document requires cloud service providers to submit telemetry data to the National Cybersecurity Protection System's EINSTEIN team, FedScoop reported Thursday.

David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council and a two-time Wash100 awardee, told Government Matters in an interview posted Thursday about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on contractors. "The numbers that you see in contract obligations, while it's not everything the government does, we think it's reflective of a dampening effect elsewhere and we really need to counter that,“ Berteau said. “The priority is on keeping people working, the priority is on keeping the government operating and in order to do that, you have to obligate the available appropriations at a normal pace.“

General Electric's technological development arm is working on a new cybersecurity tool under the Defense Advanced Research Agency's Cyber Assured Systems Engineering program, Nextgov reported Wednesday. A team at GE Research is developing the Verification Evidence and Resilient Design in Anticipation of Cybersecurity Threats platform designed to assess cyber threats facing critical industrial and military systems, recommend ways to address identified vulnerabilities and predict cyber attacks.

Stephanie Douglas, former senior FBI official, has been appointed president of the newly created national security practice at investigations and security consulting firm Guidepost Solutions.

Microsoft has made its threat notification service available for free to hospitals, clinics, medical device, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, clinicians and other health care providers offering front-line services during the COVID-19 pandemic. AccountGuard is designed to monitor threat actors targeting personal email accounts and enterprise mailboxes and send alerts to users to help them counter cyber attacks, Tom Burt, corporate vice president for customer security and trust at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post published Tuesday.

Cisco will offer $2.5B in financing through a new program to provide customers and partners access to technology platforms needed to ensure business continuity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Business Resiliency Program will help clients manage their cash flow during the crisis by allowing them to defer 95 percent of the cost of a new Cisco hardware, software or service until January 2021, the company said Tuesday.

The National Security Space Association has released its recommendations to help mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the space industrial base, SpaceNews reported Monday. NSSA's recommendations are classified into three areas: fiscal policy and funding; contracting and acquisition policy; workforce security and personnel development.

Chris Bellios, chief operating officer of Hexagon US Federal, wrote in a commentary published Monday on Federal News Network that the U.S. government should implement several relief measures to mitigate the challenges facing federal contractors and employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAP National Security Services and Ossia have partnered to help intelligence, defense and industry clients manage internet-of-things devices. SAP NS2 will combine its cloud offerings, SAP Digital Core Software Extensions and hyperscaler integration services with Ossia's Cota Real Wireless Power technology to support customers in fielding sensors and smart platforms designed to collect data and uncover insights, according to a joint statement released Thursday.

L3Harris Technologies has developed an updated version of the Counter Communications System designed to help the U.S. Space Force jam adversaries' satellite communications, C4ISRNET reported Wednesday. CCS Block 10.2 is a transportable electronic warfare platform that reached initial operating capability in March.

ST Engineering North America has introduced a new website to provide its future and existing clients better access to its services and products. “At this critical point in our nation's history, it is important for us to let our customers and community know that we have more than 6,000 hard-working Americans employed to keep America's infrastructure working,“ Tom Vecchiolla, president and CEO of ST Engineering North America and a previous Wash100 award winner, told ExecutiveBiz.