MeriTalk compiles a weekly roundup of contracts and other industry activity. Here’s what happened this week in the Federal Information Technology community:
Galois, Guardtime Federal Get DARPA Contract
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded a joint contract of $1.8 million to Galois and Guardtime Federal on Sept. 21. Under the contract, the companies will verify the state of correctness of Guardtime’s Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI), an integrity monitoring system. DARPA uses KSI to detect advanced persistent threats (APT). According to a press release from Guardtime, the contract will advance all blockchain-based integrity monitoring systems.
IBM Gets DoD Cloud Level 5 ATO
IBM received authority from the Department of Defense to oversee its cloud services at the highest security level, which makes it the second company, besides Amazon Web Services, to handle classified data. The Defense Information Systems Agency extended IBM’s authority to operate its Cloud Managed Services for Government product up to Impact Level 5, which was granted conditionally in February through August 2019.
Leidos Wins $777M GSA Contract for Army Geospatial Mapping Program
Leidos has won a $777 million contract to support the Army Geospatial Center’s (AGC) High-Resolution, 3-D (HR3D) Geospatial Information program. Awarded under the General Services Administration (GSA) One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) contract, the single-award task order has a one-year base period of performance, and includes four one-year options, carrying a total value of $777 million. Under the contract, the Leidos team will collect, process, disseminate, store, and maintain HR3D geospatial information.
Intel’s Swan to Oversee Global IT
Intel appointed Bob Swan to executive vice president and chief financial officer and will oversee Intel’s global finance and IT organizations, as well as the Corporate Strategy Office. Swan previously served as an operating partner at General Atlantic. He also was CFO of eBay, CFO at Electronic Data Systems and at TRW, CFO, COO, and CEO of Webvan Group, and a senior finance official at General Electric. For more information, see Intel’s press release.
Lightower Fiber Networks Receives GSA Schedule 70 Contract
Lightower Fiber Networks was awarded a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) 070 contract on Sept. 19, which adds it to a list of pre-approved companies for Federal IT purchasing and enables it to work directly with agencies to implement all-fiber networking capabilities. “Lightower has been aggressively expanding our high-performance network across the Mid-Atlantic in areas like Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland,” said Rob Shanahan, CEO of Lightower. “With the GSA Contract designation, we will be able to design and build customized fiber network solutions for Federal, state, and local government agencies all along this corridor.”
NOAA Awards Commercial Weather Data Pilot Contracts
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded contracts to GeoOptics and Spire Global for $695,000 and $370,000, respectively, as part of its Commercial Weather Data Pilot. The companies will provide space-based GNSS radio occultation data to NOAA, which show the data quality and potential value of NOAA’s weather forecasts and warnings. For more information, see NOAA’s statement.