EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
Databricks | October 17, 2022
Databricks, the lakehouse company, today announced that it has received a FedRAMP® Authorized status from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program's Program Management Office (FedRAMP® PMO) for its Cloud Service Offering (CSO) on Amazon Web Services (AWS) at a Moderate impact level, strengthening the Databricks Lakehouse capabilities for the U.S. federal government. This further validates the use of Databricks by federal agencies and contractors, who can now consolidate their data, analytics, and AI with the Databricks Lakehouse Platform to improve the business of the government.
FedRAMP® program was created to accelerate the U.S. federal government's adoption of secure cloud solutions and includes an independent third-party assessment organization (3PAO) performing an assessment of the following:
Implementation of the 325 FedRAMP® Moderate NIST SP 800-53 controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer data
Vulnerability management practices by conducting independent vulnerability scans
Cloud service security by performing independent penetration testing
"We're excited to see Databricks' Lakehouse Platform achieve this authorization, reinforcing our commitment to cloud security and the public sector, It has been a pleasure to partner closely with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) team on this endeavor. With this FedRAMP® authorization, CMS and other federal customers have the ability to replace legacy data islands with the market leading federated lakehouse, accelerating digital transformation, and driving strategic initiatives. In addition, we're looking forward to continuing to build upon our partnership with AWS as Databricks' presence in the public sector accelerates with this important milestone."
-Jude Boyle, Vice President of Public Sector at Databricks.
AWS is committed to working with partners to help customers operate more predictably, securely, and efficiently, said Jeff Kratz, General Manager of AWS Worldwide Public Sector Partners. We are pleased Databricks achieved the FedRAMP® authorization. This will help ensure U.S. federal, state, and local government agencies can more securely run their mission critical applications to take full advantage of the cloud's agility and cost savings.
About Databricks:
Databricks is the lakehouse company. More than 7,000 organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, and over 50% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Lakehouse Platform to unify their data, analytics, and AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe. Founded by the original creators of Apache Spark™, Delta Lake, and MLflow, Databricks is on a mission to help data teams solve the world's toughest problems.
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GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Kodiak Robotics | December 07, 2022
Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leading self-driving trucking company, today announced it has been awarded a $49.9 million, 24-month United States Department of Defense (DoD) agreement to help automate future U.S. Army ground vehicles led by the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program. This effort will be in support of vehicles designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and other high-risk missions.
Through this award, which started in October 2022 and was awarded by DoD's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) on behalf of the Army's RCV program office, Kodiak will leverage its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for driverless vehicles that further strengthen national security. Kodiak will develop autonomous vehicle technology for the Army to navigate complex terrain, diverse operational conditions and GPS-challenged environments, while also providing the Army the ability to remotely operate vehicles when necessary.
Wartime is extraordinarily complex with high-risk challenges that often result in troops operating near or behind enemy lines. Deploying autonomous vehicles to perform such critical and dangerous tasks has the potential to significantly reduce the risk to troops, while giving them greater access to the information they need in the field. Additionally, the remote driving capabilities Kodiak will develop for the Army will increase the flexibility of these autonomous vehicles, while further reducing risk for soldiers. The project will also provide a technical pipeline that will enable the rapid development and deployment of new autonomous vehicle technologies as they become commercially available.
"I started Kodiak because I believe autonomous technology can save lives, and helping the U.S. Army develop driverless vehicles for the most challenging operating environments fits perfectly with that goal, We are proud to have the opportunity to leverage our cutting-edge self-driving technology for defense applications, and believe our work with DIU and the U.S. Army will both help strengthen national security and hasten our path to commercial deployment. We owe a debt of gratitude to the servicemen and women who step into harm's way to keep us safe; keeping them safe in return is an honor we take seriously."
-Don Burnette, founder and CEO, Kodiak Robotics.
Kodiak Robotics was the only autonomous vehicle company initially selected for this award out of 33 submissions, thanks to its proven leadership in autonomous systems development and commercialization, as well as its intense focus on safety.
In the first year of this effort, Kodiak will build upon its core competency by applying its robust autonomous software stack for Army specific use cases, including future Army vehicles. In year two, the company will implement its autonomous driving system on off-road vehicles capable of traversing complex terrain and operating remotely in unpredictable and austere conditions.
DIU focuses exclusively on adopting and scaling technologies developed by commercial partners to help strengthen U.S. national security by solving critical field challenges faced by the U.S. military. DIU works to identify innovations in six key technology areas where the commercial sector is operating at the leading edge: artificial intelligence, autonomy, cyber, energy, human systems, and space.
While Kodiak Robotics will continue to focus on its core business of building autonomous trucks for use in commercial applications, this project serves as an important extension that helps to propel its innovations forward. This project shows that Kodiak's core technology has multiple use cases, laying the groundwork for future expansion beyond long-haul trucking.
About Kodiak Robotics, Inc:
Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 to develop autonomous technology that carries freight forward — so people, partners, and the planet thrive. The company is developing an industry-leading technology stack purpose-built specifically for long-haul trucks, making the freight industry safer and more efficient. Kodiak's unique modular hardware approach integrates sensors into a streamlined sensor-pod structure that optimizes for perception, scalability, and maintainability. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the South, operating autonomously on the highway portions of the routes.
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, GOVERNMENT BUSINESS, CYBERSECURITY
Electrosoft | September 19, 2022
Electrosoft Services, Inc., an award-winning federal IT and professional services firm specializing in cybersecurity, announced today it has been awarded an $11.7 million prime contract from the General Services Administration (GSA) Office of Government-wide Policy (OGP), Identity Assurance and Trusted Access Division (IATAD).
The IATAD coordinates the government-wide civilian agency execution of ICAM policies and standards to align with the Federal ICAM (FICAM) Architecture. Electrosoft will support IATAD programs to assure the availability of a consistent and effective set of ICAM policies, standards and governance practices and compliant, interoperable and secure ICAM products and solutions in the marketplace.
Under the newly awarded Federal Public Key Infrastructure (FPKI) Subject Matter Expert (SME) Support Services contract, Electrosoft will assist IATAD with development, management and execution of the division's responsibilities from an innovative and strategic perspective, including:
FPKI policy and operational governance including support to the FPKI Policy Authority (FPKIPA) and associated working groups;
Strategy development for test and evaluation of shared ICAM solutions under the FIPS 201 Evaluation Program, including operating the Physical Access Control Systems (PACS) test laboratory; and
Guidance and playbook creation based on the FICAM Architecture and identity management policies, standards and initiatives.
"GSA leads the field in delivering government-wide trust services and ICAM solutions that enable agencies to better achieve their mission goals, Under this contract, Electrosoft will leverage more than 16 years of FPKI and ICAM thought leadership to provide the GSA OGP IATAD with support and subject matter expertise to meet their mission objectives."
-Dr. Sarbari Gupta, Electrosoft CEO.
About Electrosoft:
Electrosoft delivers comprehensive technology-based solutions and services that propel mission success for federal government customers. Specializing in cybersecurity, Electrosoft supports civilian and defense organizations in advancing cybersecurity postures, modernizing technology ecosystems and adopting agile approaches to improve operational efficiency and security. Recognized for deep domain knowledge and mature management practices, the company is rated at Maturity Level 3 for CMMI-DEV and CMMI-SVC and is certified under ISO 9001, ISO 20000-1 and ISO 27001. The rapidly growing 8(a), economically disadvantaged, women-owned small business (EDWOSB) and WOSB is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.
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