News | GTS Coalition

6/12 MEGA Matchmaking & Mentoring

Join the Government Technology & Services Coalition for a day of matchmaking, mentoring and networking to find new teaming partners, mentors and mentor protege relationships!

The Government Technology & Services Coalition and Government Contracting Weekly partnered to recognize exceptional mentors in the government contracting community.

The awards program recognizes and salutes government contractors for their leadership and concrete actions in assisting small government contracting firms through mentoring, training, inspiration, teaming and cooperation. The awards recognize that mentoring is critical to the contracting community. Large firms that mentor small companies play a critical role in saving their Federal clients money and time, commit to putting action behind the mantra of bringing “innovation and creativity” to the Federal mission and bring a higher level of professionalism to the contracting community.

Honoring our Federal Small Business Titans:

Frank Barros

Program Analyst, Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Sandra Broadnax

Director, Small Business Programs, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

Peggy Butler

Deputy Director, Army Office of Small Business Programs, Subcontracting and Mentor Protege Program Manager, U.S. Department of Defense

Elissa Sobolewski

SBIR Ptorgram Director, Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Federal Small Business Titan of the YEAR:

Kevin Boshears
Director, Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

KEYNOTE SPEAKER ANNOUNCED FOR MATCHMAKING SESSION

Les Rose is the Corporate Vice President & President of L3 National Security Solutions group. He also serves as the co-chair of the GTSC Mentor Forum. L-3 NSS’ six operating units deliver full-spectrum cyber operations, enterprise and mission information technology, intelligence operations support and operational infrastructure solutions.

Mr. Rose’s career has spanned over 40 years of management and engineering. Upon completing a successful 20-year career as an officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and as an Army pilot, Mr. Rose joined Delta Research Corporation, an L-3 legacy company in 1990. He was promoted to president of Delta Research, and through a series of acquisitions and promotions became president of L-3 STRATIS one of the largest division of the global defense leader. Today Mr. Rose serves as president of both L-3 STRATIS and L-3 NSS. Mr. Rose holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Are you a small business interested in teaming partners? Do you work on:

information technology
identity management
configuration management
help desk.call center support
warfighter support services
C4ISR experience
Maritime/Port security operations services
Wireless Network technical support
Health IT
information security/information assurance
IA support for validation testing
logistics support
networks services
modeling and simulation
training courseware capabilities
Intelligence Community IT services
or other services?

Join us for an afternoon of new contacts, teaming and insight into new market areas.

TENTATIVE AGENDA – GTSC Small Business Mega-Matchmaking & The Mentor Awards

1:00 pm Introduction

1:15 – 4:00 pm Matchmaking with GTSC Mentors and other large companies

4:30 pm Small Business Government Panel

5:30 pm The Mentor Awards program and reception

Download the Brochure.

Get a Data Breach Response Plan

As data breaches proliferate in and outside the government, companies are faced with serious ramifications if not addressed by leadership. With the DOD-GSA Cyber Resilience Rules looming, the NIST framework on the horizon and cyber security identified as the major priority for Congress and the Administration, GTSC’s Capacity Building session on data breach will focus on your company preparedness, incident response, notification and legal responsibilities when experiencing a data breach. Attendees will receive a Data Breach Response Guide and walk through hands-on procedures and considerations for your data breach policy. This is a must-attend for all small and mid-sized businesses working in the homeland and national security field.

May 22, 2014 | 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Arlington, VA

About Michael Bruemmer

Michael Bruemmer is Vice President of the Experian®Data Breach Resolution group at Experian Consumer Services, the leading provider of online consumer credit reports, credit scores, credit monitoring, other credit-related information, and protection products. With more than 25 years in the industry, Michael brings a wealth of knowledge related to business operations and development in the identity theft and fraud resolution space where he has educated businesses of all sizes and sectors through pre-breach and breach response planning and delivery, including notification, call center and identity protection services. Michael is a Certified Information Privacy Professional and Certified in Healthcare Compliance. He currently resides on the Ponemon Responsible Information Management (RIM) Board, the International Security Management Group (ISMG) Editorial Advisory Board and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Certification Advisory Board. >>READ More.

GTSC Submits Comments on GSA-DOD Cybersecurity & Resilience

GTSC working in collaboration with Brian Finch, of Strategic Partner Dickstein Shapiro and GTSC members Robert V. Jones, CEO of PReSafe Technologies, Larry Grant, CEO, EnProVera and Gary Daemer and Mark Dale, InfusionPoints submitted comments to the Joint Working Group on Improving Cybersecurity and Resilience Through Acquisition. GTSC’s comments focused on clear and achievable cyber requirements that will not provide a competitive disadvantage for small and mid-sized companies. Additionally, GTSC highlighted that an “LPTA” environment is not conducive to robust cybersecurity and that procurements that seek best value are more appropriate. Please email us if you’d like a copy of our comments.

Harris IT, L3 NSS Assume Leadership of GTSC Mentor Forum

Wayne Lucernoni, President, Harris IT and Les Rose, President of L3 National Security Solutions (NSS) assumed leadership of the Government Technology & Services Coalition’s Mentor Forum — a group of large companies devoted to the homeland and national security mission. Harris was one of the founding mentors of the Coalition, and L3 NSS is both a founding member and was awarded GTSC Mentor of the Year in 2013.

“Harris immediately saw the value and need for an organization devoted to the mission of homeland and national security. With increasing budget challenges, rapid technological change and complex procurements, we want to help our Federal partners find ways to work smarter and better and to leverage the best technologies available to do that,” said Wayne Lucernoni, President, Harris IT.

“We are proud to work so closely with colleagues across the industry to grapple with difficult challenges in national security,” said Les Rose, President of L-3 National Security Solutions. “Supporting the growth of smaller companies is an important strategic step in preserving our industrial base,” Rose added. “Small businesses fuel the U.S. economy and help to bring innovation to the federal government and public sector.”

The GTSC Mentors are companies with over a billion dollars in annual revenue that work on behalf of the Federal homeland and national security mission. In GTSC, companies in the Mentor Forum collaborate to bring the innovation, ideas and agility of small business to the experience, infrastructure and resources of large companies, in addition to sharing the best practices of the private sector with our Federal partners.

Read the press release here.

See all of GTSC’s Mentors here.

Comments on Cyber Requirements for Alliant II & Alliant Small Business Needed

Information assurance, IT security and cybersecurity are issues with increasing critical focus and importance within the federal space. In that view the concept of a Cyber Security Risk Management Plan has emerged as a possible solution to bridging the gap between industry and government while checking all the boxes in FIPS200 (http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsFIPS.html) and the underlying guidance as published by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). We would be interested in and value your opinion regarding the proposed approach to addressing an overarching cyber security plan for IT government contracts.

More information and the proposed plan are here.

1. This request for comment is one of several such requests being conducted through “GSA Interact” to obtain public and private sector input on the contract requirements as they are developed. The purpose of this activity is to collaborate with government and industry to gain sufficient input and feedback regarding the pre-planning phase of the follow on contracts to the very successful Alliant and Alliant Small Business Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs).

2. The ultimate goal of including these requirements in the Alliant contracts is strengthening the cybersecurity and resilience of the Federal government by improving cybersecurity risk management in the solutions procured by agencies through the Alliant GWACs. The proposed Contract Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan will become part of the base contract and is intended to provide a high level summary of an industry partner’s plan to address common, high level security requirements that are pertinent to any information technology project/order. It is not intended to duplicate the more detailed security deliverables that may be associated with an order requiring an authorization to operate.

3. It is important for stakeholders to note that this effort is intended is to align with the recommendations made by GSA and DoD in the joint report “Improving Cybersecurity and Resilience through Acquisition,” which can be downloaded at this link: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/176547. The interagency working group that drafted the recommendations has been directly involved in developing this draft language with the Alliant program office, and the ongoing implementation of the report’s recommendations will also be informed by input received in response to this request for comment. The team that drafted this contract language also plans to develop a template for the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plans, and overlays (as referenced in the aforementioned report) for the Alliant II ordering guidance. Public input on the plan template and overlays will also be sought.

4. Interested parties are encouraged to respond to this request for comment in any way that provides relevant input about any aspect of the draft document, including “redline” or “track changes” versions of the actual document. In addition, addressing the draft in the context of the following questions may be instructive.

a. In general, is the approach articulated in the draft document a workable way to achieve the goals of the effort? What, if anything needs to be added or removed?

b. Is the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan, as described, adequate and appropriate to provide increased cybersecurity and resilience in the Alliant contracts and orders?

c. In addition to information security controls derived from the Cybersecurity Framework and other relevant NIST guidance and international standards, what other management safeguards that address business cyber risk should be included in the Contract Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan?

d. Should the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan requirement “flow down” to subcontractors?

e. How should the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan be priced in firm fixed price contracts when the Government unilaterally requires an update to an accepted plan? When a company submits an update to an accepted plan of its own accord?

f. Should the Government establish a minimum weighting for the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan if/when it is used as a comparative source selection evaluation factor?

g. What should the Government use as minimum acceptance criteria for Cybersecurity Risk Management Plans?

h. Do the security-related areas listed in paragraphs (b)(3)(i)-(iii) provide an objective and measurable basis for comparative source selection evaluation of the Cybersecurity Risk Management Plans?

4/25 MEMBERS ONLY Business Development Exchange

Randy Lange, Chief Growth Officer at Eagle Ray, Inc. will Chair GTSC’s Business Development Exchange.

The group is open to all members and seeks to create a trusted environment to exchange information on opportunities, strategies for teaming/partnering with other GTSC members and discussions of trends and opportunity tracking. The first meeting will take place April 25 from 11:30 am -1:00 pm to discuss the parameters of the group, what types of discussions would help with finding the right partners and how to create a trusted environment for information exchange. Eagle Ray has been generous enough to provide lunch. Please RSVP if you will attend. This meeting is for GTSC members only.

5/1 Federal Biometrics: Understanding USCIS with Leslie Hope

Biometrics is changing the way law enforcement and agencies that must track, identifiy and authenticate users aproach security. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Department’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services biometric capture services at over 130 application support centers across the country. Biometrics are used to process U.S. citizenship applications and immigration benefits applications.

USCIS collects photographs, digital fingerprints, passport scans, driver’s license scans, signatures, and other biometrics data from applicants. This information is used by the USCIS to determine qualifications for immigration benefits. The data is also used to conduct criminal background checks, which are required for the processing of many immigration benefits.

Leslie Hope
Chief
DHS/UCCIS/ESD/Biometrics Division

About Leslie Hope
Leslie Hope is Chief of the Biometrics Division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of the Department of Homeland Security. Ms. Hope serves as program manager and business owner for all biometric systems at USCIS and manages 137 Application Support Centers (ASCs) across the United States. ASCs allow applicants seeking an immigration benefit to submit biometrics to establish identity and to assist USCIS in determining eligibility with a background check. The results of background checks are disseminated for adjudication to USCIS operational directorates across the United States. Ms. Hope has over 20 years’ experience supporting DHS in a variety of roles; to include acting CIO and Deputy CIO for many years. Prior to joining the government Ms. Hope spent 15 years managing technology in the banking and airline industries.

4/24 FedRAMP with Maria Roat

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. The Federal Risk and Authorization Program (FedRAMP) represents a unique opportunity for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) doing business with the federal government. FedRAMP provides agencies and CSPs alike with a standard approach for conducting security assessments, replacing varied and duplicative procedures across government. The FedRAMP approach is based on an accepted set of baseline security controls and consistent processes that have been vetted and agreed upon by agencies across the federal government. Per the OMB memo published on December 8, 2011, all low and moderate impact cloud services leveraged by more than one office or agency must comply with FedRAMP requirements by 2014. If you are a CSP doing business with government, we encourage you to attend this session and learn more about how FedRAMP works.

Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) play an integral role in the FedRAMP process.

Directly apply or work with a sponsoring agency to submit an offering for FedRAMP authorization
Implement the baseline security controls and meet the accompanying FedRAMP requirements
Hire an accredited Third Party Assessment Organization to perform an independent system assessment when working toward a Joint Authorization Board Provisional Authorization or submitting a package without an Agency ATO
Create and submit an authorization package
Provide continuous monitoring reports and updates to FedRAMP

Cloud services offer agencies capabilities and opportunities for cost savings, business improvements, and increased efficiency.

OUR SPEAKER

Maria Roat
FedRAMP Director
Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies
U.S. General Services Administration

About Maria Roat

Maria A. Roat became FedRAMP Director, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technology, General Services Administration in January 2013 bringing 30 years of professional experience in information technology, including operations and intelligence.

Previously Ms. Roat served as Deputy Chief Information Officer, Director for Administration within the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS/FEMA), November 2011.

Ms. Roat served as Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) in DHS Headquarters, September 2008.

She directed the OCIO Front Office, which serves as the principal administrative advisor to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Deputy CIO, with responsibilities for budget, acquisitions, communications, human resources, and support programs.

Ms. Roat joined DHS in June 2004, first serving at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), where she was Deputy Director, Technology Development, 2005-2006, for TSA’s Secure Flight Program. In August 2006, Ms. Roat began serving at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), as the Program Manager for the Fraud Detection and National Security System, and then Chief of Staff, Office of Information Technology (OIT), where she managed OIT operations and administration, in addition to holding responsibility as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) with oversight of all aspects of USCIS’ Information Security Program.

Ms. Roat retired from the U.S. Navy in 2007, with 26 years of active duty and reserve service, in which she obtained the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer, Information Systems Technician. Ms. Roat served in numerous leadership positions including Command Master Chief for the Reserve Intelligence Area Washington (2002-2005) and the Center for Navy Leadership Mid-Atlantic (2005-2007). Additionally, she served on the National Naval Reserve Policy Board (2004-2006) to review policy issues submitted from the fleet and provide recommendations and implementation strategies for consideration by the Secretary of the Navy’s Policy Board. Ms. Roat also served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1991-1992), when she was recalled to active duty.

Ms. Roat holds an A.S., Computer Science, is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program for Leadership Development, and a graduate of the Navy Senior Enlisted Academy.

4/8 Mentor Session with BDO

Public sector entities are facing challenging times. Achieving agency missions has become increasingly difficult, population dynamics and constituencies are changing dramatically, the workforce is undergoing unprecedented transition, and government leaders need to accomplish more with significantly reduced budgets. Adding to the challenge, in an environment of 24-7 media coverage, even the most difficult decisions made in good faith can be immediately broadcast to a global audience, making even the most seasoned government executives uncertain about how to successfully lead their organizations to accomplish multiple objectives.

Having led government departments and agencies, BDO’s Public Sector practice leaders understand this unique environment. They bring to bear this experience, combined with commercial best practices, to help you address a wide range of challenges. At a time when government leaders need independent, objective support, BDO stands ready with proactive guidance and perspective. We assist government leaders and program managers in navigating what can be a tumultuous landscape by developing strategies to improve program efficiency and effectiveness, identifying organizational risk, ensuring efficient use of resources, and mapping and implementing plans for linking organizational policies with program and contract requirements.

Beyond traditional audit, tax and consulting work, BDO helps our government clients with a comprehensive array of services including organizational strategies, fraud detection and prevention, program evaluation and litigation support. Wherever government entities operate, our professionals provide swift resolution of technical issues and questions through partner-led client service teams, direct access to technical leaders, and the resources of our global network in more than 100 countries.

About our speaker:

Chuck Wolverton, Director, Federal Practive, BDO
A management consultant and certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a Top Secret clearance, with broad experience in the areas of strategic planning, operations, transformation and change, communications, executive facilitation, and program management. Mr. Wolverton will join GTSC to discuss BDO, one of the largest professional services firms in the country. Mr. Wolverton will discuss the firm’s Federal practice, their strategy in the market, how they add value to the mission of their Federal partners and opportunities they see in the near future. Mr. Wolverton will also discuss partnership with small business, their small business goals and what they look for in small business partners.

About GTSC’s Mentor Companies

The Government Technology & Services Coalition’s (GTSC) Mentor companies understand how critical a robust, successful homeland and national security market is to our nation’s security. Together with our members, these firms are committed to bringing the innovation, ideas and agility of small business to the experience, infrastructure and resources of large companies. GTSC mentors join us to provide advice and counsel to small and mid-sized companies, find new and innovative teaming partners, address challenges in the prime/subcontractor relationship in a neutral environment and improve mentor/protégé communication and success. Both our large and small companies recognize that the best security for our citizens – both physically and economically — is derived from the ability of our markets to meet the challenges posed by terrorism, natural disasters, and criminal activity.