Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Inventor may have cured motion sickness without drugs, and that could mean a lot to DoD

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An inventor may have discovered a non-pharmaceutical cure for car sickness that could revolutionize the way people experience everything from travel to the newest virtual-reality headsets. That, in turn, could affect how the military trains, fights, and navigates.

Just like civilians, troops get motion-sick. A 2009 study by the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory found that more than half of soldiers got sick while riding in Army vehicles. Roughly 25 percent of military personnel got sick on “moderate seas” and 70 percent on “rough seas.” In the air, as many as 50 percent of personnel get airsick; even 64 percent of parachutists reported episodes.

To treat symptoms, troops typically take a drug called scopolamine. It has serious side effects, most notably drowsiness, so soldiers often take it with an amphetamine that carries its own downsides and side effects. It’s like being on uppers and downers at once, which makes for a fatiguing Friday night, much less a war.

The military’s problems with motion sickness will worsen considerably as more and more training is conducted in virtual reality.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/11/inventor-may-have-cured-motion-sickness-without-drugs-and-could-mean-lot-us-military/152960/

GAO: DoD should clarify criteria for using LPTA

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Although Congress has restricted when the Dept. of Defense (DoD) might use lowest-price technically-acceptable (LPTA) contractor selection criteria, the Department has not followed this mandate.

Note: This article was written by Matthew Schoonover of Koprince Law, LLC and first appeared in SmallGovCon.

A recent GAO report highlights DoD’s struggle.  As of September 2018, DoD has not yet revised its regulations to reflect certain statutory restrictions against LPTA awards and, as a result, DoD contracting officers believe they are not yet required to follow these new requirements.

Candidly, I’m not so sure. But in any event, GAO’s report issued a couple of recommendations to help DoD fully implement the restrictions against LPTA procurements.

Let’s take a look.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/statutes-and-regulations/gao-report-lpta/

GTPAC to host Defense Innovation Conference on Jan. 14th

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Note: The Defense Innovation Conference referenced in this article was held on Jan. 14, 2019.  For reference, you can find copies of presentations and other resource materials from the conference posted at: https://gtpac.org/training-video/

If you and your company have the next key discovery or the next great idea that could benefit the Department of Defense (DoD), block-out January 14, 2019 on your calendar right now.

On that date, the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) will host a day-long event designed to benefit innovative small businesses – with priority given to small technology companies that have the potential to directly enhance achievement of DoD’s mission.

Registration is now open at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228     Advance registration is required for this event; on-site registration will not be allowed.  The registration fee is $50.

By attending, you’ll learn all about the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, the Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF), Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for prototype projects, and additional contracting vehicles aimed at attracting innovative companies to help the U.S. Department of Defense.

See promotional flyer here: Defense Innovation Conference – Jan. 14 2019 Event

So, save the date!  Registration is at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creating-the-next-defense-innovation-conference-tickets-53056770228

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.

Revolving door between Pentagon and defense contractors continues to spin

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Almost two years after Donald Trump came to Washington pledging to “drain the swamp” of special interests and clear waste from the Pentagon’s supply chain, a steady stream of retired generals, admirals and government procurement officers are still accepting lucrative positions with companies that do business with the military.

A report released Nov. 4th by the advocacy group Project on Government Oversight (POGO) found that major U.S. defense contractors have hired hundreds of former high-level government officials in recent years, including at least 50 since Trump became president. The report lends new visibility to long-standing concerns about a revolving door between the government agencies that award massive contracts for military supplies and services and the businesses that profit from those contracts.

Corporate influence in Washington was a campaign trail rallying point for Trump, who said soon after the 2016 election that there should be a “lifetime restriction” on top defense officials going to work for defense contractors. “The people that are making these deals for the government, they should never be allowed to go work for those companies,” he said on Fox News.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/revolving-door-between-pentagon-and-defense-contractors-continues-to-spin-1.555340

Contractor forfeits $1.7 million in assets, pleads guilty to delivery of cheap versions of products

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Jim A. Meron, owner of California-based WOW Imaging Products LLC and Time Enterprises LLC, has pled guilty to wire fraud related to a procurement fraud scheme involving the General Service Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule program and a Department of Defense (DoD) electronic ordering system.

According to court documents, between May 2011 and July 2017, Meron used his two office supply businesses to defraud federal government agencies out of as much as $3.5 million — involving thousands of transactions — by substituting and delivering cheaper, generic versions of expensive, name-brand products his customers ordered, and pocketing the price difference. As part of his plea, Meron agreed to forfeit more than $1.7 million in assets seized during the investigation of his crimes.

Meron’s companies contracted to sell office supplies to federal agencies through two web-based government sales portals, GSA Advantage and DoD eMall.  After Meron received payments for the premium products his customers ordered, he obtained compatible products from his suppliers that cost him a fraction of what his customer paid for the brand-name products they ordered.  Meron then substituted and delivered those cheaper products for the more expensive products his customers ordered, and retained the difference in cost.  Over time, Meron extended his substitution scheme to nearly all orders for those name-brand products, and never intended to deliver what his customers ordered.

This case is the product of an investigation by GSA’s Office of Inspector General and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

Meron is scheduled to be sentenced on February 4, 2019.  Meron faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count of conviction. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/granite-bay-man-pleads-guilty-multi-million-dollar-product-substitution-fraud-federal

DISA only wants tailored pitches from vendors

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The Defense Information Systems Agency — the warfighter’s IT shop — is very interested in hearing what solutions and capabilities industry has to offer, but only in the context of how those technologies can be applied to the military’s specific needs.

“We tend to break capabilities that work in industry. I’ve seen it time and time again over the years,” Dave Bennett, director of DISA’s Operations Center, said last week during the annual Forecast to Industry.  “If you come in and you try to sell me on widget XYZ and you want to cite a scenario where you used it in industry … I will zero my mind out. I will be singing ‘la-la-la’ in the back of my head. Because what you did in industry, nine times out of 10 will not apply in my space.”

Instead, Bennett urged vendors to come armed with specific knowledge of the DISA environment they’re looking to support and a direct pitch on how their solution would benefit the agency and the warfighter.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2018/11/disa-only-wants-tailored-pitches-vendors/152587/

GDEcD produces videos on how to use GDX to identify DoD contract opportunities

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The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) has produced a series of three videos which consist of step-by-step tutorials on how to use the Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX) to find and win defense contracts.

In the videos, you’ll see three ways to use GDX:

  1. Use the Opportunities module to find contract opportunities perfect for your business; and save each opportunity so you can easily return to it in the future.
  2. Use the Contract History module to research contracts that will expire soon, so you can prepare to bid on the new contract.
  3. Use the Opportunities module to research pre-solicitations or sources sought to find trends in future needs.

To view the videos, click here.

To register to begin using GDX at no charge, click here. 

Note: The Georgia Defense Exchange (GDX) does not support Internet Explorer.  Please use Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari to access the site.

 

DoD to limit use of ‘Brand Name or Equal’ contract competitions

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The Department of Defense (DoD) has proposed a new rule limiting the use of “brand name or equal” contract competitions, calling on contracting officers to publicly justify their need for a brand name-type product before issuing a solicitation.  The rule would implement Section 888(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, which directed the Secretary of Defense to “ensure that competition in [DoD] contracts is not limited” by brand name references without a justification under 10 U.S.C. § 2304(f).

Background

Federal procurement law requires agencies to draft competitive solicitations that describe the Government’s needs generally, rather than referencing a specific type of product.  However, “under certain circumstances,” agencies may request a specific brand name product or its equal.  An off-brand product is “equal” if it shares the same the same salient characteristics as the brand name product. 

Contractors have at times challenged, through pre-award bid protests, agency decisions to reference a brand name product as unfair and unduly restrictive of competition, contrary to the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984’s (CICA) requirement for full and open competition.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/11/whats-in-a-brand-name-dod-to-limit-use-of-brand-name-or-equal-contract-competitions/

U.S. defense contractors report that business is booming — thanks to new spending, lower taxes

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The U.S. defense industry is on track for one of its best years in recent memory.

The five largest U.S. defense contractors — Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics — reported healthy financial results for the third quarter, in a series of earnings reports over the past week.

They benefited from a defense budget that has grown significantly under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, as well as a 2017 tax overhaul that slashed their corporate tax rates.

“We’re seeing more and more signs of sustained long-term stable defense budget in the U.S.,” Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenburg said Wednesday.

They have also taken advantage of a more stable budget environment that has made it easier for them to prepare for the future. Last year, Congress lifted the “sequestration” budget caps that have limited defense spending since 2013. For the first time in years, lawmakers passed their most recent spending bill without a “continuing resolution,” giving defense firms a better blueprint for their future sales.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/26/us-defense-contractors-report-that-business-is-booming-thanks-new-spending-lower-taxes

Revisions coming for NIST’s data protection guide, will address ‘advanced’ cyber threats

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is planning to issue a draft second revision to its guidelines for controlled unclassified information handled by the Defense Department and government contractors, in order to better address “advanced persistent threats,” according to a key NIST official.

The upcoming draft revisions are based on recent assessments that information critical for national security requires “enhanced” protections, the NIST official said at a public meeting updating industry and government officials on the data requirements at NIST headquarters on Oct. 18, 2018.

NIST’s Ron Ross said a draft revision to NIST guideline 800-171 would be issued before the end of the year for public comment. The revisions are “just in the planning stages this week” and a formal announcement will be issued soon. Ross said the enhanced requirements would be proposed for comment as an appendix to the overall document to offer additional protections beyond “basic” controls outlined in chapter three of the guidelines.

The NIST guidelines are the basis for Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, or DFARS, for cybersecurity risks issued in 2017 and still being implemented by DOD.

Keep reading this article at: https://insidedefense.com/insider/nist-official-revisions-coming-data-protection-guide-will-address-advanced-cyber-threats

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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