Debating impeachment, Democrats have 2020 on their minds

The Virginian-Pilot | June 17, 2019

For Democrats, the decisions being made of whether to support impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump are personal, gut-wrenching and, at times, starkly political, with fallout in 2020 and beyond. Some lawmakers worry impeachment will benefit the president, energizing Trump's supporters and solidifying his campaign, much the way the proceedings against Bill Clinton ended up costing Republicans in 1998. Others warn that failing to impeach Trump risks deflating Democratic voters they need to turn out in 2020. And still others envision a "nightmare" scenario: The House votes to impeach, but the Senate declines to convict, Trump survives to win a second term and Democrats lose majority control.

Spotlight

Spotlight

Related News

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE

Esri Joins Partnership to Help Local Governments Use Mapping Technology to Tackle Equity Issues

Businesswire | May 11, 2023

Governments and businesses worldwide are increasingly prioritizing equity through their policies and practices. To implement these policies, organizations must understand that equity challenges are fundamentally a geographic issue. To support these efforts, Esri, the world leader in location intelligence, has joined a partnership to create the Chief Equity Officer Network. Along with the Harvard School of Public Policy, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties (NACo), and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the network's mission is to find solutions that make equity strategic and actionable by using geographic information system (GIS) technology as a foundation. "Equity is about creating thriving communities for all residents," said Sophia Garcia, Esri equity and civic nonprofit organizations industry specialist. "To do so, organizations need to implement solutions that meet the needs of the underserved and unserved, whether those conditions stem from racism, variations in physical or mental health, lack of access to services, the effects of climate change, or other circumstances. GIS provides the unique ability to map these complex problems, understand the data, and take more effective action to solve them. We are proud to be able to contribute to this partnership." A key partner in creating the network, NACo is an organization that unites county officials to advocate for county government priorities in federal policy making. NACo also promotes exemplary county policies and practices, including those around equity. "We are thrilled to collaborate with Esri and are thankful for them bringing their expertise on how GIS is applied to equity across our nation's communities," said Teryn Zmuda, NACo chief research officer and chief economist. "GIS provides the geographic lens for local leaders to translate data, which can be used to approach, discuss, and address equity issues within and across jurisdictions." The Chief Equity Officer Network will bring together equity officers and leaders from across the states to cultivate and nurture ideas to address equity and how it applies to their community's needs. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial technology and analytics, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions that leverage a geographic approach to solving some of the world's most complex problems by placing them in the crucial context of location. Visit us at esri.com.

Read More

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, CYBERSECURITY

Carahsoft Announces Seagate Government Solutions and Cigent Alliance to Bring Sophisticated Cybersecurity Protection for SSD Storage to Public Sector

Globenewswire | April 05, 2023

Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced that Seagate Government Solutions’ Barracuda 515 M.2 solid state drive (SSD) - embedded with Cigent® Technology’s built in cybersecurity enhancements is now available to Government agencies through Carahsoft’s resellers and its Federal, State and Local Government contract vehicles. As the distributor for Seagate Government Solutions, Carahsoft works with its extensive ecosystem of reseller partners and systems integrators to make Seagate’s new SSD widely available to the Public Sector through several contracts including Carahsoft’s GSA Schedule, NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V, E&I Cooperative Services Contract, The Quilt, and more. “Protecting data at the edge is a key component of an effective Zero Trust strategy,” said Maryam Emdadi, Vice President of Sales who leads the Seagate Team at Carahsoft. “Our new partnership with Seagate Government Solutions and Cigent will enhance our portfolio of secure storage solutions and enable our customers to better defend their sensitive information through the support of our reseller partners.” Seagate Government Solutions combines its strengths with Cigent’s patented cybersecurity firmware enhancements to create the Seagate BarraCuda 515 SSD, a storage drive, designed with integrated advanced security features that deliver high performance, advanced reliability, data protection and security. Key advantages of the BarraCuda 515 SSD include: Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 2 certified and complies with corporate and Federal data security mandates. Common Criteria full disk encryption (FDE) solution that meets the requirements of Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) Data at Rest (DAR) Capabilities Package 5.0. Cigent Pre Boot Authentication and Windows Software that protects data from all known physical and remote access attacks as well as zero-day ransomware. Tamper-evident coating which seals SSD’s circuitry and components to provide physical security. Full drive block-level and crypto secure erase, verified by patented erasure verification, that enables safe, fast, and cost-effective SSD retirement or redeployment. Trade Agreements Act (TAA) compliant which satisfies fair and open international trade agreements. “We’re thrilled to be working with Cigent and Carahsoft to provide our Public Sector clients with a top-tier storage solution that boasts Government-accredited security certifications,” said Mike Moritzkat, Managing Director of Seagate Government Solutions. “This partnership along with our new offering is another steppingstone in Seagate’s continued support of our Public Sector clients.” Seagate’s BarraCuda™ 515 SSD is now available through Carahsoft’s GSA Schedule No. 47QSWA18D008F, SEWP V contracts NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B, E&I Contract #EI00063~2021MA, and The Quilt Master Service Agreement Number MSA05012019-F. 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. About Seagate Government Solutions Seagate Government Solutions (SGS) is the FOCI mitigated subsidiary of Seagate Technology. The SGS mission is to deliver an array of data management solutions to federal agencies and their partners. Our proven technology adheres to strict government mandates while spearheading the way for advancements in the field of security—from unclassified to top secret, and beyond. About Cigent Cigent offers a new approach to data security for organizations of all sizes to stop ransomware and data theft, as well as achieve compliance. Cigent protects your most valuable asset – your data - against the most sophisticated adversaries. We protect data throughout its lifecycle via prevention-based defenses embedded into storage and individual files. From decades of data recovery, cybersecurity, and device sanitization experience, the experts at Cigent have developed prevention methods beyond anything that exists today.

Read More

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE

Mattermost announces AI-Enhanced Secure Collaboration Platform to enable both innovation and data control for government and technology organizations

Globenewswire | May 04, 2023

Mattermost, the leading secure collaboration platform for technical teams, today announced at the Web Summit Rio technology conference, new solutions for Generative AI and ChatGPT to deliver AI-augmented communication and workflow experiences in strict security environments to dramatically increase speed and decision advantage in government, defense, and technology organizations. “As strict security organizations implement Generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, there’s an urgent need for verifiable privacy assurances, data control, and granular permissions solutions when training AI systems with data from internal discussions,” said Ian Tien, CEO of Mattermost. “As an open source platform, Mattermost is supporting the security and compliance community in meeting these vital and evolving needs.” With this announcement, the Mattermost platform is now supporting a new generation of AI solutions. The foundation of this expanding AI approach is “generative intelligence” augmentation, initially served through a customizable ChatGPT bot framework built to integrate with OpenAI, private cloud LLMs, as well as rising platforms, to embed generative AI assistance in collaborative workflows and automation. The platform is further enriched with “functional intelligence” through integration with leading enterprise solutions, including with ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent platform, to augment employee and customer service access. An additional overlay of “domain-specific intelligence” is rolling out to support workflow augmentation in strict security, defense, and public sector organizations, and includes a new partnership with Ask Sage, Inc. which specializes in enhancing decision quality and accelerating response times in public sector organizations. “Mattermost's trusted platform is already serving the U.S. public sector, and now, with our partnership, we are taking it to the next level,” said Nicolas Chaillan, founder of Ask Sage, Inc. and former Chief Software Officer of the United States Air Force, “Government teams analyzing large data sets, writing code, managing RFPs, or translating and developing intelligence reports can now leverage generative AI to streamline processes and increase output.” About Mattermost Mattermost provides secure, workflow-centric collaboration for technical and operational teams that need to meet nation-state-level security and trust requirements. We serve technology, public sector, national defense, and financial services industries with customers ranging from tech giants to the world’s largest banks, to the U.S. Department of Defense and governmental agencies around the world. Our self-hosted and cloud offerings provide integrated team messaging, audio and screen share, workflow automation and project management on an open source platform vetted and deployed by the world’s most secure and mission critical organizations. We co-build the future of collaboration with over 4,000 open source project contributors who’ve provided over 30,000 code improvements towards our shared product vision, which is translated into 20 languages. About Ask Sage Ask Sage is an AI-driven solution provider specializing in assisting government and commercial teams with data analysis, insights, and factual answers. Built on advanced AI technologies, including OpenAI GPT and GPT-like platforms Ask Sage can ingest custom data (up to CUI/FOUO), tap into APIs, and connect to data lakes for real-time data and insights delivered as conversational engagement. With Ask Sage, users can access a wide range of data sources in a natural language format, supporting teams in labor-intensive tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives. Led by Nic Chaillan, the Ask Sage team leverages extensive industry experience to address the unique challenges and requirements of its clients. Currently, over 2,000 government teams and numerous commercial contractors benefit from Ask Sage's expertise and security features, including data labeling capabilities and zero-trust cybersecurity. By providing accurate answers and performing various tasks in a natural language format, Ask Sage helps teams make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. For more information, visit www.asksage.ai.

Read More