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GSA making ‘significant’ investments to automate FedRAMP processes

The General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services arm is making “significant” investments in automating security authorization processes for cloud service providers, Director Dave Zvenyach said on Wednesday.

Zvenyach said these new investments under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) will focus on automation, process improvements and additional resources to help plug gaps, as well as make agencies more aware of existing authorities to operate (ATOs).

FedRAMP approves secure cloud technologies for agencies’ reuse via ATOs. Onboarding new cloud service providers, however, carries significant costs, not only that of the initial authorization but also annual reassessments, significant change requests and continuous monitoring as well.

CSPs and CIOs regularly urge the FedRAMP Program Management Office to automate what processes they can to streamline onboarding, but investment hasn’t kept up with demand.

“As we add cloud service providers to FedRAMP, it ends up having a nonlinear cost,” Zvenyach said, during an ACT-IAC event.

TTS investments in automation, process improvements and additional resources will help plug gaps, as well as make agencies more aware of existing ATOs, he added.

The thousands of ATOs agencies already reuse save taxpayer dollars, improve security and lower vendors’ overhead costs.

TTS is collaborating with the FedRAMP PMO and Joint Authorization Board on process work, as well as the Federal CIO, CIO Council and Office of Management and Budget to ensure FedRAMP’s reciprocity with the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. The Department of Defense‘s CIO office is already represented on the JAB, which makes things easier, Zvenyach said.

“This isn’t just a [General Services Administration] thing,” he said. “We really do need to have partnership.”

Tasked with improving the public’s digital experience with government, TTS is still responding to the pandemic, economic recovery, racial inequity and climate change in its work. Major investments are also being made to improve the security and usability of Login.gov, the government’s identity and authentication platform, Zvenyach said.

But now agencies including GSA also need to finalize return-to-office plans by July 19, as required by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force.

Under Zvenyach’s leadership, TTS has adopted a “distributed-by-default” mindset.

“My experience is distributed by default is a better pattern than the hybrid approach,” Zvenyach said. “I think people should be distributed, or they should be in person. And we should try and think about how you use the best of each, rather than trying to blend them together.”

People working in person shouldn’t receive more benefits than those who opt not to, which, in turn, allows TTS to focus on outcome delivery and measuring success, he added.

To that end, TTS has invested in collaboration tools, restructured how it conducts meetings and rethought results measurement to enable employees to live across the country in a more equitable, accessible work environment.

One downside to a more distributed workforce is feedback is harder to come by, so Zvenyach set up an anonymous, digital feedback form.

“I really do read all of the comments that come in,” he said.

Former GSA procurement leader Nakasone to join VMware

Former General Services Administration procurement leader Keith Nakasone is set to join cloud computing firm VMware as a federal strategist.

He joins the company in mid-June after leaving the GSA at the end of May, and in the new role will report to VMware’s government strategy and innovation leader Peter Romano.

Nakasone worked at GSA as deputy assistant commissioner of acquisition management within the Office of Information Technology Category. Before this, he held senior procurement roles at the Federal Communications Commission and the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Following his departure from GSA, Nakasone’s responsibilities will be taken on in an acting capacity by Cheryl Thornton-Cameron, who is executive director of ITC Schedule Contract Operations at the agency.

Earlier this month, the GSA launched an industry consultation over plans to issue a multiple-award cloud blanket purchase agreement as part of a government-wide acquisition strategy.

Booz Allen wins $674M contract to support DOD data analytics platform

The General Services Administration has awarded Booz Allen Hamilton a five-year contract to continue support a central data analytics platform at the Department of Defense (DOD).

Under terms of the $674 million contract, the federal contractor will maintain and support the growth of the DOD’s Advana platform.

Advana is managed by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, also known as the comptroller, and integrates systems and data across the agency, including financial and medical data and personnel and logistics data. The platform is currently used by at least 20,000 staff across 42 DOD organizations.

Under an earlier contract, Booz Allen worked with the DOD to design and develop the Advana platform, launching it in 2019 to simplify more than 3,000 of the department’s business systems, according to the company.

Booz Allen Executive Vice President Leslie DiFonzo said in a statement: “In response to increasingly advanced threats from global adversaries, the DOD has placed a clear priority on enabling ready access to data and analytics across its enterprise so its teams can make faster, smarter decisions that benefit their business, operations, and mission.”

“We are proud to take part in helping the DOD continue the meteoric growth of the Advana platform by providing full life cycle IT support, data engineering, and analytics capabilities,” she added.

The contract win for Booz Allen comes shortly after it was last month awarded a $1.1 billion benefits management and processing contract by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In its report for the 2021 financial year, the government contractor last month revealed that the Department of Justice has shuttered a prior criminal investigation into accounting practices at the company.

Army Secretary Wormuth says modernization programs remain ‘a top priority’

The newly sworn-in Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth has said that modernization programs remain “a top priority” in her first message to service personnel.

“The army must be manned, trained, equipped and modernized to be ready to fight today, but also to meet the demands of an uncertain and unpredictable future,” Wormuth wrote in a memo sent on June 1. “Seeing our modernization programs through successfully will remain a top priority so that the Army is ready to meet future challenges.”

The secretary wrote to service members after last week being sworn in as the first woman to lead the Army. She has previously held several senior DOD positions, including the undersecretary for policy.

At her confirmation hearing, Wormuth told Congress she backed the Army’s plans to create a force that can fight in “multi-domain operations,” where soldiers would be able to link together operations via tactical networks and data transfers that would better inform how they can coordinate actions.

The largest multi-domain project the Army is working on is its Project Convergence. It is the Army’s contribution to the over all Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2), which is intended to bring multi-domain and multi-service operations to the entire military.

The Army has six major priorities for modernization that largely rely on using software and new data-based tech to increase autonomy and precision. The priorities include: Long-range precision weapons, next generation combat vehicles, future vertical lift, network modernization, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality.

The department established Army Futures Command in July 2018, which is tasked with leading modernization programs.

Biden budget proposes 2.7% average pay increase for federal employees

President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget proposes a 2.7% average pay increase for government employees in an effort to rebuild the federal workforce.

If enacted, the plan would in total boost the pay and benefits of civilians working in government agencies by $16.7 billion, or 4.4%, to $396.6 billion next year.

The proposal comes amid a push by the Biden administration to walk back changes made to federal employment under the Trump administration, including the curtailment of collective bargaining rights and the weakening of anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ employees.

“After decades of under-investment in a modern-day workforce, a failure to partner with labor unions, and ongoing, unwarranted attacks on its independence, the civil service is in need of repair and rebuilding and the administration has already taken swift action to deliver on that goal,” said a budget document published on Friday.

Biden has already issued executive orders directing agencies to review their policies for systemic barriers preventing people of color and underserved communities from accessing federal benefits and opportunities, as well as creating a Gender Policy Council.

The administration has so far restored collective bargaining rights, eliminated Schedule F and prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. If enacted, Biden’s budget would take things a step further by funding implementation of his “Protecting the Federal Workforce” executive order.

The proposed pay increase for federal employees matches what’s been proposed on the defense side and was praised by several unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, which felt it showed Biden “respects the civil service and the work they do for the American people.”

However, the union said also that it would continue to advocate for the 3.2% average pay increase being considered by Congress in the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act.

“While we are supportive that the long tradition of military-civilian pay raise parity has been honored in the president’s proposal, 2.7% is simply not nearly enough to compensate for the losses in buying power of federal wages and salaries over the past decade,” said Everett Kelley, AFGE president, in a statement.

“On average, federal workers are underpaid by 23% compared to those doing the same jobs in the private sector and state and local government,” Kelley added.

The budget also includes funding for a paid family leave program when employees’ family members are critically ill.

Agencies given July 19 deadline to finalize plans for return to in-person work

Agencies across the federal government have been given a deadline of July 19 to finalize plans for bringing staff back to work in person.

In an internal email sent on behalf of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, departments have been told this is the deadline by which procedures and policies must be ready to implement.

All federal agencies are being required to submit draft approaches to return to work policies by June 18 to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and will receive feedback on their submissions.

The draft proposals will be reviewed by OMB, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration.

“The Task Force, in collaboration with OMB, OPM, and GSA, is sharing an update today that agencies will need to have finalized their plans for both reentry and post-reentry procedures and policies by July 19,” the email said. “Agencies may submit [finalized details] earlier at their discretion.”

Specifications for agencies’ final plans include the requirement that they work out a phased return schedule for staff, give plenty of notice to employees, and satisfy their collective bargaining obligations.

Planning for the return to in-person work of federal government employees is being convened by the President’s Management Council and led by the OMB, GSA and OPM.

Earlier today, Axios reported that White House employees will be invited to return to work in July, indicating the potential end of the pandemic protocols for some federal employees.

In a memo sent to the White House Office and Office of the Vice President, staff have been informed that they will start working full time on-campus between July 6 and July 23.

Bringing innovation and security to government missions with AWS GovCloud (US)

Keith Brooks is director of technical business development at Amazon Web Services (AWS), based in Washington, D.C. He was previously a Big 4 consulting firm senior strategy and technology consultant.

Keith Brooks, Director of Technical Business Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

It’s hard to fully appreciate how much government technology has evolved in the 10 years since the launch of AWS GovCloud (US), the first cloud region specifically designed to meet the federal government’s security and compliance needs. The vision then, and now, is to enable government agencies and their commercial partners to innovate — without having to sacrifice the speed, scale, and agility the cloud enables in order to comply with security regulations. Put another way, AWS GovCloud (US) was designed to give these organizations the best of both worlds.

Looking back, the launch of AWS’s first AWS GovCloud (US) Region in August 2011 and a second dedicated region in November 2018 reflect an extraordinary journey by a diverse group of dedicated engineers and public servants. That journey wasn’t only about helping organizations move back-office applications and sensitive data securely to the cloud. AWS GovCloud (US) also represented a deeper and lasting commitment to give agencies and their contractors the tools and solutions to address mission-critical functions — and begin to innovate in ways they couldn’t using traditional on-prem systems.

This journey required a deep understanding of government agencies’ critical mission functions, as well as the many layers of regulatory, security, and compliance policy frameworks by which these organizations are bound. Some of these frameworks include:

These frameworks are more than just extra layers of code or protections; they reflect both the near-term ability to help government agencies accomplish more without taking on greater risks, as well as the long-term capability to innovate and tackle big ideas at scale with security in mind.

AWS GovCloud (US) provides a highly secure, state-of-the-art technology environment, with the latest cloud services and features for virtually every executive branch department as well as agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau and federally funded research and development centers like NASA JPL. It also provides those same services to U.S. federal contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and GDIT and technology solution providers like SAP NS2, Salesforce, and Splunk.

More than that, AWS provides unrivaled experience in guiding agencies and highly regulated entities to think big, innovate, and move forward more rapidly to deliver their missions.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy, who founded Amazon’s cloud service platform in 2006 and who has been chosen to take the helm at Amazon as CEO this fall, has a frequent saying: “There is no compression algorithm for experience.”

AWS’s experience runs wide and deep. One measure of that experience is reflected in the fact that no technology provider comes close to having the number of FedRAMP Authorizations to Operate (ATO) as AWS GovCloud (US) — more than 376 authorizations at last count. More than 115 government agencies make use of those services, and several dozen technology partners have FedRAMP Moderate and High products and services authorized on AWS GovCloud (US), according to FedRAMP’s tally.

Another example of that experience is reflected in how technology providers such as Salesforce have partnered with AWS GovCloud (US) to adapt their customer relationship management (CRM) solutions — originally delivered as a service to government agencies on premises — and make them available in a highly secure, FedRAMP High-authorized cloud environment. That move helped agencies adapt suddenly to the pandemic, and it helped Salesforce accelerate the pace of upgrades and enhancements it offers to federal, state and local government agencies.

What propels all of this innovation is the fact that roughly 90% of our roadmap for AWS GovCloud (US) comes directly from customer input. And what we are seeing and hearing is exciting: Agencies are innovating with high performance computing and machine learning; running advanced analytics at a massive scale; testing innovative mobile solutions; developing new ways to harness the Internet of Things; and enabling new air, space and satellite capabilities with the cloud.

To agencies asking how to deliver their missions with greater innovation and the security they need, my advice is to think big, explore the art of the possible and consider using AWS not just as a short-term solution but as a long-term, experienced partner to help you accomplish those big and bold ideas.

Learn more how AWS GovCloud (US) can help accelerate your organization’s mission initiatives.

Read more insights from AWS leaders on how agencies are using the power of the cloud to innovate.

U.S. Census Bureau names Cano as chief information officer

The U.S. Census Bureau has appointed Luis Cano as its chief information officer (CIO), the agency confirmed to FedScoop.

Cano steps into the role after working as chief of the Decennial Contract Execution Office, where he led the procurement of $3billion in IT contracts for the 2020 Decennial Census. The 2020 census was the first to be conducted largely online.

A Census Bureau spokesperson said Cano started as CIO in mid-April.

He takes up the position following the departure of Kevin Smith, who left the bureau in January this year to join the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Smith had worked at the Census Bureau since June 2016.

Since Smith’s departure, bureau Deputy CIO Gregg “Skip” Bailey has acted as agency CIO on an interim basis.

Cano has more than 35 years’ experience with the federal government, much of it with Department of Commerce agencies like Census and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service. He also served in the Navy.

As CIO, Cano will focus on supporting Census’ numerous programs and surveys on the nation’s people and economy. He will serve as the principal adviser to the bureau’s director and deputy director on information resources and information systems management.

U.S. Navy awards Huntington Ingalls $724.3M yard support contract

The U.S. Navy has selected Huntington Ingalls to undertake a shipyard technical support contract in Mississippi.

The deal has a hybrid structure, which includes options that if exercised would take the total value of the contract to $724.3 million.

Huntington will undertake yard support for various amphibious transport and assault ships, and will also undertake on-site technical support for naval operations in Florida, Virginia, California, and Japan.

The work is expected to be completed by May 2028.

Huntington is the U.S.’s largest military shipbuilder and was formed in 2011 as a spin-off of Northrop Grumman. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HII.

White House employees to return to in-person work in July: report

White House employees will be invited to return to work in July, indicating the potential end of the pandemic protocols for some federal employees.

In a memo sent to the White House Office and Office of the Vice President, staff have been informed that they will start working full time on-campus between July 6 and July 23, according to a report by Axios.

The memo says that exceptions will be made for staffers with extenuating circumstances and that they may continue to work remotely on a temporary basis “in consultation with their manager.”

News of the plan to get White House staff back in the office comes as employees across federal government seek for clarity on what their agencies will expect from their staff as the U.S. continues to recover from COVID-19 closures.

It is understood that each agency is being required to develop its own plan to bring employees back to work in stages.

In January, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to all agencies mandating that they adopt model COVID-19 safety principles and build tailored workplace safety plans.

The OMB in its guidance at the time said it would work with the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force to review and finalize plans, which would provide a starting point for adjusting mission requirements.

In April last year, the Trump administration issued joint guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and the OMB, requesting that agencies consider how they might bring back staff.

At the time, the guidance said that the federal government was actively planning to “ramp back up” operations to the maximum extent possible as local conditions warrant.