Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Defense companies starting to feel effect of the shutdown

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As the partial government shutdown moves into its third week, some American defense firms are starting to get multi-million-dollar IOUs instead of payments.

Even though Pentagon projects are unaffected — the Defense Department is already funded for fiscal 2019 — the shutdown is squeezing contractors who do work for NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and other federal agencies. Many companies aren’t getting paid, even as they continue to pay the salaries of employees shut out of closed government offices.

Take SAIC and Engility, two of the government’s largest service contractors. Executives for the soon-to-merge companies say the payroll for workers idled by the shutdown comes to $10 million every week. And just three weeks into the freeze, they say, the government is some $40 million to $50 million behind in payments.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2019/01/defense-companies-starting-feel-effect-us-government-shutdown/154002

Defense Innovation Conference less than a week away — Register now!

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Let’s start with a few questions …
  • Are you interested in doing business with the Department of Defense (the biggest buyer on earth of everything)?
  • Do you want to learn about the latest programs designed to help innovative small companies do business with DoD?
  • Would you like to know how major Defense contractors select their subcontractors?
  • Are you interested in the new cybersecurity requirements and how they apply to DoD contractors?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, you need to be in attendance at GTPAC’s Defense Innovation Conference to be held on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center in Atlanta.

Hurry — Space Is Limited!

The registration fee to attend this one-of-a-kind, day-long conference is only $50, and includes both breakfast and lunch.  Registration details are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228.  Advance registration is required — no registration at the door!

One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

The conference represents a unique and rare opportunity to:

  • Hear directly from Lisa R. Sanders, Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).  She will be speaking about SOCOM’s contracting priorities, problems to solve, and doing business with SOCOM.
  • Learn from major defense contractors who will be speaking on their subcontracting needs and their procedures for selecting subcontractors.
  • Meet scores of small businesses who are looking for opportunities to form teaming partnerships to apply their innovative technologies, services, and products.
  • Participate in break-out workshops on topics like compliance with DoD’s cybersecurity requirements.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet and hear from leaders in the Defense industry!  Advance registration is required. 

To register, click here.

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

 

LPTA solicitations no longer acceptable? Reviewing DoD’s proposed changes to the DFARS

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In a proposed rule issued last month, the Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to incorporate into the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) restrictions on the use of the lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection method from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018.  This proposed rule makes clear that these NDAA-imposed restrictions are not going away any time soon, and that DoD contracting officers need to engage in a thorough and reasoned analysis before conducting an LPTA procurement.

Just as its name suggests, the LPTA source selection process prioritizes cost or price over technical capability — the agency will make award to the lowest-priced offeror that presents a technically acceptable proposal.  Typically, agencies use the LPTA process to procure straightforward goods and services such as routine maintenance work or office equipment.  In recent years, however, contractors have complained that agencies employ LPTA selection processes in inappropriate circumstances where qualitative differences really matter and technical superiority is worth a price premium.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/12/lowest-price-technically-acceptable-solicitations-no-longer-acceptable-reviewing-department-defenses-proposed-changes-dfars/

DoD and other agencies seek to enhance contractors’ cyber and supply chain security

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The Department of Defense (DoD) and its component services and agencies are taking several independent steps to assess and enhance their cyber and supply chain security that will directly or indirectly affect DoD contractors and subcontractors.

Other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Commerce, and General Services Administration (GSA), are also considering or implementing measures to enhance cyber and supply chain security that will directly or indirectly affect government contractors and their supply chains.

These initiatives will intensify scrutiny of government contractors and subcontractors, increase their cyber and supply chain security compliance requirements, and affect their ability to compete for, and win, government contracts. This article summarizes these initiatives and states our view that, despite the proposal and likely adoption of a comprehensive new Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) cybersecurity clause next year, federal government contractors and subcontractors are likely to face multiple, overlapping, and possibly conflicting cybersecurity and supply chain requirements for some time to come.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=767144

See GTPAC’s video, template and other resources designed to help contractors comply with the DoD/NIST cybersecurity rules at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

Learn what DoD prime contractors want in a subcontractor

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How do major Defense Department contractors select their subcontractors?

If you want answers to this question — and even more insights into doing business in the Defense industry — you should plan to be in attendance at “Creating the Next: Defense Innovation Conference” to be held on Monday, January 14, 2019.

Included in the conference is a panel presentation by representatives of large contractors — including Lockheed Martin, LMI, and Huntington Ingalls Industries — who will describe how their companies pick subcontractors.

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) is hosting this day-long event to provide businesses with details on how to contribute to the achievement of the Defense Department’s mission.

A featured speaker at the event is Lisa R. Sanders who is Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM).  She will be speaking about SOCOM’s contracting priorities, problems to solve, and doing business with SOCOM — with a focus on options available to small businesses.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to meet and hear from leaders in the Defense industry!  Advance registration is required. 

To register, click here.

The Jan. 14th event is being held at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  Both breakfast and lunch are included in the $50 registration fee.

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

 

 

Contractors are a bull’s-eye for hackers

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The U.S. defense industrial supply chain is vast, complex and vulnerable. Organic components, large-scale integrators, myriad commercial service providers, and tens of thousands of private companies sustain the Defense Department. According to the SANS Institute, the percentage of cyber breaches that originate in the supply chain could be as high as 80 percent.

Some progress has undoubtedly been made with regard to securing the supply chain. The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) NIST SP 800-171 supply chain program, for instance, introduced 109 stringent requirements for Defense Department suppliers dealing with sensitive government data—53 related to technology and 56 related to security policy.

But while DFARS applies to all contractors and suppliers regardless of size, it has not yet been fully implemented and it is not bulletproof.  Still, it is a big step toward securing the supply chain at all levels.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/contractors-are-bulls-eye-hackers

See GTPAC’s video, template and other resources designed to help contractors comply with the DoD/NIST cybersecurity rules at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

Pentagon considers cybersecurity certification for its contractors

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In cybersecurity, you’re only as strong as your weakest link.

For the Defense Department, the area with the fewest cyber protections are the defense contractors the department works with, particularly the small businesses that don’t have the expertise or resources to build a robust security posture.

The Pentagon put together a task force to assess whether small businesses within the defense industrial base are complying with the cybersecurity framework published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and provide assistance to companies that need help.

The department issued a new rule last year requiring vendors to show that they are in compliance with NIST standards or have a plan to get there quickly. Those plans were due Jan. 1.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2018/12/pentagon-considers-cybersecurity-certification-its-contractors/153330/

See GTPAC’s video, template and other resources designed to help contractors comply with the DoD/NIST cybersecurity rules at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

Special Operations’ science and technology director is speaking at Jan. 14 GTPAC event

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Lisa R. Sanders, Director of Science and Technology for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), is a featured speaker at the Defense Innovation Conference being hosted by the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019.

Registration details for the conference are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228

Ms. Sanders is responsible for all research and development funded activities for Special Operations Forces, Acquisition, Technology & Logistics (SOF AT&L), SOCOM, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

A Defense Intelligence Senior Leader, Ms. Sanders will be speaking at the Jan. 14th event on SOCOM’s Priorities, Problems to Solve, and Doing Business with SOCOM — with a focus on options available to small businesses.

Don’t miss out on hearing from Ms. Sanders and other leaders in the federal government’s innovation arena.  Register to attend today!

Full Agenda and Featured Speakers

An advance copy of the conference agenda is available here: Agenda – Defense Innovation Conference – 01.14.2019 – Final.

Biographical sketches of all the featured speakers is available here: Featured Speakers – Defense Innovation Conference 01.14.2019.

While FAR Council proposes change to subcontracting limitation rules, DoD issues immediate class deviation

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More than five years after Congress directed the Executive Branch to change the way small business contract performance requirements are calculated, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council announced significant steps yesterday to adopt these new requirements.

By way of background, in June 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a final rule changing its regulations regarding the limitations on subcontracting applicable to small business set-aside contracts. SBA’s amended regulations were promulgated in response to a directive in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (2013 NDAA) which required changes to how limitations on subcontracting requirements are quantified and which required inclusion of “Similarly Situated Entities” (SSEs) in the prime contractor’s portion of the work under set-aside contracts.

The contracting community has been anxiously awaiting an amendment to the FAR, which has been asserted to be necessary for these Congressionally-mandated changes to become effective.  On Dec. 5th, the DoD issued a Class Deviation which adopts SBA’s current approach to Limitations on Subcontracting. The Class Deviation is effective immediately and applies to all DoD solicitations and contract awards from that date forward.

DoD’s Class Deviation was issued in conjunction with a notice of proposed rule-making issued by the FAR Council, which proposes to amend the FAR’s Limitations on Subcontracting clause (52.219-14) to conform with the statutory requirement and SBA’s previously announced final rule.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/dod-issues-a-limitations-on-58789/

See commentary about the limitations on subcontracting rule at: http://smallgovcon.com/statutes-and-regulations/limitations-on-subcontracting-far-council-finally-proposes-rule-change/

DoD issues final guidance for assessing contractor compliance with NIST SP 800-171

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The Department of Defense (DoD) recently issued final guidance for requiring activities to assess contractors’ System Security Plans (SSPs) and their implementation of the security controls in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171.

A draft of this guidance was made available for public comment in April 2018.  As noted in an earlier post on the draft guidance, DoD’s proposed approach raised significant questions as to what role offerors’ implementation of the security controls in NIST SP 800-171 would play in bid protests, contract performance, and post award audits.  In the memorandum accompanying the final guidance documents, DoD notes that it has incorporated comments it received from the public into the final guidance.  As discussed below, although the DoD has addressed some of the issues raised by the April draft, the final guidance adds some additional concerns and ambiguities.

The final guidance consists of two documents.  The first document is “Guidance for Assessing Compliance of and Enhancing Protections for a Contractor’s Internal Unclassified Information System,” which provides direction to requiring activities for including evaluation criteria in solicitations and in contracts for assessing contractor compliance with NIST SP 800-171.  The second document is “DoD Guidance for Reviewing System Security Plans and the NIST SP 800-171 Security Requirements Not Yet Implemented,” which addresses how DoD should assess the impact and risk of NIST SP 800-171 security controls that a contractor has not yet implemented.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/11/dod-issues-final-guidance-for-assessing-contractor-compliance-with-nist-sp-800-171/

See GTPAC’s video, template and other resources designed to help contractors comply with the DoD/NIST cybersecurity rules at: http://gtpac.org/cybersecurity-training-video/

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