As election looms, Louisiana lawmakers return for session

The Montana Standard | April 08, 2019

Only months away from a statewide election, Louisiana lawmakers open their annual legislative session Monday squabbling over finances, readying for repeat hot-topic debates and striving to draw their voters' attention. The 60-day regular session begins at noon. Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks to a joint gathering of the House and Senate an hour later. While the session features none of the fears of deep, damaging cuts that marked budget debates for the last decade, financial feuds remain front and center. The Democratic governor and House Republican leaders are at loggerheads about how much the state should spend in the budget year starting July 1. One thing that appears certain is whatever spending plan reaches the governor's desk will contain a teacher pay raise. Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed support for the $1,000 salary boost proposed by the governor, even if they disagree over details of how to allocate the money.

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Government Business

DroneShield receives a record $9.9 million DoD Contract

PR Newswire | July 05, 2023

DroneShield Ltd has been awarded a follow-on 2-year R&D contract with a total value of $9.9 million by a Five Eyes Department of Defence (DoD). Approximately $4.5 million is due in the September and December 2023 quarters. Five Eyes refers to the defence/intelligence alliance between the US, Canada, UK, Australia and NZ. The award follows DroneShield materially completing the $3.8 million contract announced 4 June 2021 with the DoD, with a final milestone payment expected this month. Oleg Vornik, DroneShield's CEO, commented, "Follow-on contracts are the ultimate customer measure of our performance. As an Australian sovereign industrial capability business, DroneShield is proud and pleased to continue undertaking multi-year contracts of increasing size with this customer." "This is the largest long-term contract received by DroneShield to date, significantly larger than the earlier, $3.8 million contract. The 2-year term locks in cash receipts over a period of time. Further larger contracts are anticipated following completion of this phase." "In the current uncertain geopolitical environment, there is a significant focus by the Five Eyes Governments to procure from defence industrial capability champions within their network of countries. Having deep engineering and research capability, TRL9 products and a track record of working with Defence, places DroneShield in a favourable position for ongoing work." Operational Update Following a strong $7 million cash receipts 1Q23 quarter, DroneShield is on track for an all-time record 2Q23 quarter and continuing on a trajectory for another record year for cash receipts in 2023. Further detail will be provided in the next 4C quarterly, due to be released later in July. Significant progress on manufacturing, operations and inventory scale-up to support additional anticipated orders for remainder of 2023. DroneShield is currently finalizing the location for a larger industrial site to move its Sydney operations to enable the growth. With the $11 million contract announced in December now fully delivered and paid for, DroneShield is progressing the inventory build of the second $11 million order announced in January, expected to be delivered later this year. Current order book (committed and binding customer purchase orders) of approximately $29 million, an all-time record. Over $200 million qualified opportunities pipeline (in addition to the order book), across approximately 80 projects. Ongoing record demand for counterdrone / C-UAS equipment, underscored by the events in Ukraine and increasing defence and security budgets globally. In addition to military and intelligence communities, significant engagement with critical infrastructure plants, airports and other civilian customers. About DroneShield Limited DroneShield provides Artificial Intelligence powered platforms for protection against advanced threats such as drones and autonomous systems. We offer customers custom counterdrone (or counter-UAS) solutions and off-the-shelf products, designed to deliver highly effective capabilities for multiple missions and use cases. Our customers include military, government, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, and airports globally.

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Emerging Technology, Infrastructure

PAR Government, in partnership with ICEYE, Awarded a Prime Spot on a $900M United States Space Force Contract

BusinessWire | August 25, 2023

PAR Technology Corporation today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary PAR Government Systems Corporation, in close partnership with ICEYE US, the leading commercial provider of space-based radar capabilities, has signed a prime contract award for the Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services initiative led by the U.S. Space Force. The contract serves as a mechanism for satellite-based services and capabilities to support all domains (space, air, land, maritime, cyber) with consistent, quality backed, low-latency offerings. PAR Government was one of 16 awardees on the PLEO Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) effort, which has a $900M ceiling over five years, with five-year option periods. Under the direction of Space Systems Command, the ID/IQ effort was orchestrated by the Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO) and is intended to support U.S. Combatant Commands, defense agencies, other federal government agencies, and international coalition partners. “PAR Government is an innovative leader in the development, management, and delivery of critical, tactical-edge capabilities for our nation’s warfighters. We are enabling timely delivery of commercial space-based services and products directly to the mobile platforms being used by our nation’s defenders at the tactical edge. To that end, the PAR Government team includes best-in-class Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation capabilities provided by key partner ICEYE US,” said Michael Nelson, president, PAR Government. “Delivering critical services and information through the PLEO effort exemplifies PAR’s mission of continuously improving the operational effectiveness of our military and our allies.” PAR Government’s subsidiary, Rome Research Corporation (RRC), is also included in the contract award. RRC has partnered with the Department of Defense (DOD) customers to provide award-winning satellite communications and space-related operations and maintenance services, including 24/7/365 terrestrial communication systems support, IT-related support, telecommunications engineering, and installation services, and ensures the functionality and positioning of government satellite assets for defense agencies worldwide. To date, RRC’s DOD customers have won more than 80 Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) facility awards. “PAR Government and ICEYE US have joined forces to create ‘strength-on-strength’ value for the United States Space Force, our military, and allied partners. We are grateful for the opportunity to deliver near-real time persistent monitoring services to decision makers across the DOD under the guidance of Space Systems Command,” said Eric Jensen, CEO at ICEYE US. ICEYE US builds and operates a constellation of small synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, enabling hourly revisit of any location on earth wherein insights can be derived day, night and through cloud cover. Combined with ICEYE US advanced processing techniques, end users receive reliable, relevant information across various mission applications. PAR Government and ICEYE US are committed to advancing the state of the art concerning commercial sector integration for the United States Space Force. About PAR Government PAR Government is a leader in providing computer-based system design, engineering and technical services to the Department of Defense and various federal agencies. An ISO 9001:2015 and 27001:2013 certified company, PAR Government is a wholly owned subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation (NYSE: PAR), a leading global provider of software, systems, and service solutions to the restaurant and retail industries. About ICEYE US ICEYE US builds and operates SAR spacecraft from its manufacturing and 24/7 mission control center in Irvine, California. The company delivers unmatched persistent monitoring capabilities for any location on Earth through the provision of remote sensing data, the delivery of turnkey space systems, and by offering advanced analytic solutions. ICEYE US operates four SAR satellites licensed by NOAA. The parent company, ICEYE, has launched over 20 small satellites since 2018 and today operates the world’s largest synthetic-aperture radar satellite constellation. SAR imagery enables objective, data-driven decisions for end users in sectors such as Earth science, natural catastrophe response, and natural resource management. ICEYE’s data can be collected day or night, and even through cloud cover. For more information, please visit www.iceye.com. About PAR Technology Corporation. For more than 40 years, PAR Technology Corporation’s (NYSE Symbol: PAR) cutting-edge products and services have helped bold and passionate restaurant brands build lasting guest relationships. We are the partner enterprise restaurants rely on when they need to serve amazing moments from open to close, during the most hectic rush hours, and when the world forces them to adapt and overcome. More than 70,000 restaurants in more than 110 countries use PAR’s restaurant point-of-sale, customer loyalty and engagement, payments, omnichannel digital ordering and delivery, and back-office software solutions as well as industry leading hardware and drive-thru offerings. To learn more, visit partech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.. Additionally, the Company's Environmental, Social, and Governance report can be found at https://www.partech.com/company/ESG.

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Cybersecurity

Carahsoft, Forescout, stackArmor Partner with Google Public Sector on Authority to Operate (ATO) Pilot Program to Secure Federal Workloads

GlobeNewswire | August 31, 2023

Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, Forescout Technologies, Inc., a global cybersecurity leader, and stackArmor, an advanced security and compliance solutions provider with a proven track record of delivering FedRAMP, DoD CC SRG, CMMC 2.0 and StateRAMP compliance acceleration, today announced a partnership with Google Public Sector to accelerate the availability of Forescout cybersecurity solutions to state, federal, and department of defense agencies. As part of an ATO pilot program, specialist solution providers like stackArmor combine with Carahsoft’s proven public sector market services, to provide ISVs like Forescout with a holistic “accreditation to acquisition” solution. "Google Public Sector is committed to working with partners like stackArmor and Carahsoft to accelerate the availability of Forescout cybersecurity solutions to state, federal, and Department of Defense agencies,” said Troy Bertram, Managing Director of Partners, Google Public Sector. “This pilot brings together partners with deep expertise and local knowledge to help ISVs accelerate the path to compliance and rapidly bring innovative technology to government agencies.” The Forescout® Cloud, built on Google Cloud, is a unified SaaS platform for security visibility, risk, and operational management. It continuously discovers and analyzes all connected cyber assets, whether they are managed or unmanaged for IT, OT/ICS, IoMT, IoT and cloud, and is a foundation for Forescout solutions that address challenges related to risk and exposure management, and threat detection and response. “We are delighted to be a partner of this ATO pilot program, which provides us with an accelerated pathway towards FedRAMP compliance and uniquely brings together engineering, compliance advisory and continuous monitoring services as well as market access solutions,” said Paul Kao, VP Product & Engineering, Forescout. “We selected stackArmor after a rigorous evaluation process and were impressed with their engineering expertise and ability to help us remove delays and friction from our aggressive accreditation roadmap.” stackArmor rapidly delivers a dedicated Google Cloud Landing Zone with NIST-compliant security services, a complete FedRAMP ATO documentation package and post-ATO continuous monitoring. To ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of sensitive data, ThreatAlert® provides a standardized secure by design architecture that is deployed “in-boundary” to ensure the highest levels of security and the ability to meet stringent government cybersecurity requirements including FedRAMP Moderate, FedRAMP High, DOD Impact Level 4 and 5 among others. “Reducing the time and cost of implementing NIST SP 800-53 based cybersecurity controls to achieve an ATO in compliance with FedRAMP, FISMA/RMF, DoD CC SRG and CMMC 2.0 requirements is a strategic necessity for commercial ISVs, critical infrastructure enterprises and public sector organizations, especially given the sharp rise in cybersecurity threats,” said Gaurav “GP” Pal, CEO and founder, stackArmor. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Carahsoft to bring our ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator, which provides a secure by design cloud landing zone, defense in depth security services, OSCAL ready documentation package and continuous compliance automation to ISVs like Forescout, to accelerate the delivery of FedRAMP accredited cybersecurity services to government agencies.” "Interest in FedRAMP-accredited cloud services has accelerated since the passage of the FedRAMP Authorization Act in December of last year, which opens new opportunities for expanding the portfolio of available accredited SaaS and PaaS offerings in the federal marketplace," said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. "stackArmor’s ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator combined with Carahsoft’s unique market access solutions provide a compelling accreditation-to-acquisition solution." About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com. About Forescout Forescout Technologies, Inc. a global cybersecurity leader, continuously identifies, protects and helps ensure the compliance of all managed and unmanaged connected cyber assets – IT, IoT, IoMT and OT. For more than 20 years, Fortune 100 organizations and government agencies have trusted Forescout to provide vendor-agnostic, automated cybersecurity at scale. The Forescout® Platform delivers comprehensive capabilities for network security, risk and exposure management, and extended detection and response. With seamless context sharing and workflow orchestration via ecosystem partners, it enables customers to more effectively manage cyber risk and mitigate threats. www.forescout.com About stackArmor stackArmor provides cloud migration, security and compliance engineering services for compliance-driven markets, including Public Sector, Government Agencies, Healthcare, Education, Space & Defense, Financial Services, and Non-profit organizations. stackArmor’s ThreatAlert® ATO Accelerator provides a unique “in-boundary” solution that helps organizations rapidly achieve FedRAMP, FISMA/RMF, DOD CC SRG and CMMC 2.0 among other government-driven cybersecurity compliance frameworks. Learn more by visiting https://stackArmor.com

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