Democrats Announce Plan to Reopen Government, Including a Pay Raise for Feds

Government Executive | January 02, 2019

House Democrats have announced their opening bid to end the shutdown when they retake the majority on Thursday, stating their plan to pass a combination of six Senate appropriations bills to fund agencies that are closed as well as a continuing resolution for the Homeland Security Department. With no breakthrough expected on Wednesday on the 115th Congress’ final day, the House on Thursday the opening day of the 116th Congress will vote on a consolidated package of bipartisan bills that came out of the Republican-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee to provide full fiscal 2019 funding for the departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, State, Interior, Agriculture, Treasury, Commerce and Justice, as well as a number of independent agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Personnel Management and General Services Administration. It is also expected to pass stopgap funding through Dec. 8 for Homeland Security.

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Emerging Technology

OPEXUS Government Process Management Platform eCASE® Attains StateRAMP Moderate Authorization

Business Wire | September 14, 2023

OPEXUS, formerly known as AINS, LLC, and leader in government process management software, today announces it has attained StateRAMP authorization for eCASE®, a built-for-government case management solution that streamlines workflows and accelerates key government processes. StateRAMP was established in 2020 to efficiently verify that service providers meet the cloud security standards required to do business with state and local governments. The StateRAMP verification process, built upon the widely accepted National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53 framework, and independently audited by a reputable third-party assessment organization (3PAO), ensures the highest level of security and compliance. Achievement of this authorization underscores the company's dedication to supporting state and local governments with cutting-edge technology that enhances productivity, flexibility, and collaboration. With this certification, OPEXUS will empower state, local, and educational (SLED) agencies to elevate trust in public institutions with dynamic case management and rapid application development technology that was purpose-built for the government. OPEXUS supports public sector human resources teams by providing an umbrella of workforce management tools that include eCASE® EEO/eComplaint and eCASE® ER/LR. The company also offers eCASE® Audit and eCASE® Investigations, case-management tools built specifically for government auditors and investigators. "State and local government agencies experience many challenges keeping pace with private sector advancements in technology, cyber security, and data security software – from long purchasing timelines to budget constraints, but they cannot compromise on security,” said Howard Langsam, CEO of OPEXUS. “By demonstrating our security qualifications through StateRAMP, we are removing one more barrier to these agencies being able to purchase cloud solutions that meet both their operational and security requirements.” In 2014, OPEXUS attained FedRAMP authorization at the moderate level for its eCASE®, eCASE® COTS and FOIAXpress® solutions, including Audit, Investigations, Employee & Labor Relations, and EEO Complaints. The company has also achieved Defense Information Systems Agency Impact Level 2 (DISA IL2), FISMA, NIST 800-53 Revision 4, and FIPS certifications. About OPEXUS Get government unstuck with OPEXUS. OPEXUS is the leader in FedRAMP-certified government process management software with more than 30 years of experience supporting public institutions. The company brings operational excellence to governments’ middle office so agencies can focus on the critical work of mission delivery. OPEXUS empowers 100,000 government users with exceptional technology experiences and a built-for-government product suite, including solutions for audit, investigations, correspondence, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and employee and labor relations. Located in the heart of Washington D.C., OPEXUS works with more than 150 public institutions in the US and Canada.

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Emerging Technology

Darkhive Inc. Awarded $5M Contract with the US Air Force to Deliver Advanced Drone Autonomy Software Capabilities

PR Newswire | July 06, 2023

Darkhive Inc., a San Antonio-based autonomous uncrewed systems developer specializing in defense and public safety solutions, announced the award of a $5M Phase III Small Business Innovation Research contract with the US Air Force AFWERX Prime to integrate and test next generation autonomy software to a variety of uncrewed aerial system platforms "We're very excited to be participating in this program," said John Goodson, CEO of Darkhive. "An open government-owned framework optimized for rapidly integrating, testing and securely deploying software to edge systems has been at the center of our mission from the beginning. The Government and industry team supporting this effort is phenomenal, we're honored to have the opportunity to contribute to solving some very hard problems for DoD and, most importantly, delivering for the end-user on the front lines." Founded in 2021, Darkhive has placed an emphasis on developing affordable, US-manufactured uncrewed systems with open hardware and software interfaces to provide life-saving situational awareness at home and abroad. "In order to achieve dynamic, autonomous systems both within the US Department of Defense (DoD) and with foreign partners, we have to break away from fragmented, vendor-locked approaches to software development and secure deployment on uncrewed systems," said Steve Turner, CTO of Darkhive. "By establishing open, accessible, discoverable, and adaptable interfaces, we can unlock the potential for cohesive, collaborative behavior. The deployment and security of software have experienced significant advancements over the past decade, but these transformative changes have yet to be fully realized in uncrewed platforms and meeting evolving end-user requirements. We are thrilled to collaborate with the US Air Force and industry partners to overcome these challenges and spearhead a revolution in autonomous systems." Darkhive has previously been awarded contracts with the Defense Innovation Unit National Security Innovation Capital contract, multiple Small Business Innovation Research with the Air Force, and a Small Business Technology Transfer award partnered with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. About AFWERX AFWERX is an Air Force Research Laboratory Directorate that connects innovators across government, industry and academia. Through innovation and collaboration with our nation's top subject-matter experts, AFWERX harnesses the power of ingenuity of internal talent while expanding technology, talent and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. About AFRL Sole organization leading the planning & execution of USAF & USSF science & technology programs. Orchestrates a world-wide government, industry & academia coalition in the discovery, development & delivery of a wide range of revolutionary technology. Provides leading-edge warfighting capabilities keeping air, space and cyberspace forces the world's best. Employs 10,800 military, civilian, and contractor personnel at 17 research sites executing an annual $4B budget. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.

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Emerging Technology, Cybersecurity

OwnBackup Achieves FedRAMP® Authorized Designation

Businesswire | July 20, 2023

OwnBackup, the leading SaaS data protection platform, today announced it has achieved FedRAMP® authorization for its OwnBackup Government Cloud solution. With this authorization, OwnBackup is now listed on the FedRAMP® Marketplace, and is eligible to provide data protection services to all U.S. Federal Government customers. Established in 2011, FedRAMP® is a government-wide program that promotes the adoption of secure Cloud services across the Federal Government, forming a public-private partnership to promote innovation and the advancement of more secure information technologies. By achieving FedRAMP® authorization, OwnBackup has demonstrated that it meets the rigorous security and compliance requirements of the program to host sensitive information in the Cloud. “FedRAMP® authorization is a significant milestone for OwnBackup, and reaffirms our position as the market leader in SaaS data protection,” said Sam Gutmann, Chief Executive Officer at OwnBackup. “This designation allows us to bring our best-in-class solutions to Federal Government agencies, partnering with these vital organizations to accelerate their digital transformation goals, while ensuring that critical Federal Data and Metadata remains secure.” OwnBackup’s FedRAMP® announcement comes at a time when the U.S. Government is making cybersecurity a clear priority. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new National Cybersecurity Strategy focused on strengthening the Nation's digital infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of Cloud security and resilience, and protecting citizens and businesses from cyber threats. While no individual or company is immune to cyber threats, these attacks disproportionately target the public sector. The public sector manages a wide array of sensitive information, making it a popular target for cyber criminals. According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the public sector had the second most attacks of any industry. With OwnBackup, U.S. Government Agencies can be better prepared to avoid disruption to critical services, ensure a continuity of operations, and uphold trust and confidence with the citizens that they serve. OwnBackup’s Data Protection Platform, which is used by over 6,000 customers across critical SaaS ecosystems, was designed with security in mind from its inception. OwnBackup’s solutions are architected with a variety of security controls across multiple tiers to address a range of security risks. About OwnBackup OwnBackup is a leading SaaS data protection platform for some of the largest SaaS ecosystems in the world, including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and ServiceNow. Through capabilities like data security, backup and recovery, archiving, and sandbox seeding, OwnBackup empowers thousands of organizations worldwide to manage and protect the mission-critical data that drives their business. Co-founded by seasoned data recovery, data protection, and information security experts, OwnBackup is a trusted independent software vendor (ISV) partner on the Salesforce AppExchange, AWS Marketplace, and Microsoft Marketplace. The Company is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with research and development (R&D), support, and other functions in Israel, EMEA and APAC. OwnBackup has raised over $500 million in venture funding, is ranked on the Forbes Cloud 100 as one of the world's top private cloud companies, and is the partner of choice for some of the world’s largest users of SaaS applications.

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