Former Google exec Eric Schmidt: US government needs to lead on tech innovation

Google | February 27, 2020

The federal government needs to "get back in the game" if the US wants to maintain a technology lead over China. That's the message from former Google executive Eric Schmidt in an op-ed published Thursday in The New York Times. Schmidt, who was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011 and later the executive chairman of parent company Alphabet, said Silicon Valley leaders have put too much faith in the private sector to ensure the US' global leadership in technology. "For the American model to win, the American model must lead," Schmidt wrote, adding that the US is now in a technology race with China that could have "profound ramifications for our economy and defense."

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Emerging Technology, Cybersecurity

Incode Technologies and Carahsoft Partner to Provide World Class Identity Verification Solutions to the Public Sector

PR Newswire | August 21, 2023

Incode Technologies Inc., the leading identity verification and authentication platform for global enterprises and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Incode Technologies' Master Government Aggregator®, making the company's industry-leading identity verification solutions available to the Public Sector through Carahsoft's reseller partners and National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) ValuePoint, National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA) and OMNIA Partners contracts. "We are pleased to partner with Carahsoft and their reseller partners to expand access and simplify procurement for agencies who wish to leverage Incode's solutions to enhance transparency, accessibility and efficiency," said Ricardo Amper, CEO and founder of Incode. "This agreement will broaden access to our omnichannel biometric identity solutions through Carahsoft's vast network of contract vehicles to help eliminate identity fraud and improve equitable services access within the Public Sector." Incode's identification and authentication technology is an instantaneous, privacy centric identity verification solution designed for all demographics. It protects constituent data, safely manages remote identities at scale and ensures that all constituents can connect to the services they need. The Incode Omni platform offers remote identity verification and risk assessment during user onboarding, and authentication after onboarding through three core capabilities: Document authentication:Incode recognizes and classifies ID documents and performs tests to confirm authenticity. Passive liveness:Incode offers the first NIST-certified passive liveness in the world, which requires no user effort (i.e., no need to blink, move, connect dots, etc.). Facial recognition:As evaluated by NIST (June 2022, 1:1 Face Recognition Vendor Test report), Incode offers the best combination of facial recognition speed and accuracy for enterprise-grade solutions. Incode Omni's design emphasizes privacy, security and compliance while maintaining a frictionless user experience. Not only does Incode Omni provide enterprise-level scalability and real-time results, its accuracy is verified by NIST. By utlitizing machine learning and artificial intelligence, Incode's technology operates on the edge without requiring humans in the loop. "This new partnership with Incode aids our Government customers by quickly delivering identity verification solutions and ultimately facilitating public trust through ensuring the secure management of data," said Michael Shrader, Vice President of Innovative and Intelligence Solutions at Carahsoft. "Here at Carahsoft, we commit to leveraging our sales and marketing teams and our reseller partnerships to further the Public Sector fight against fraud and are honored to play a role in keeping Government resources safe and accessible through these vital solutions." Incode's solutions are available through Carahsoft's NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, NCPA Contract NCPA01-86 and OMNIA Partners Contract #R191902. For more information, contact the Incode team at Carahsoft at (703) 871-8548 or Incode@carahsoft.com. The dedicated Cybersecurity team at Carahsoft specializes in providing Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare organizations with security solutions to safeguard their cyber ecosystem. To learn more about Carahsoft's Cybersecurity solutions, visit www.carahsoft.com/solve/cybersecurity. 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 Engagement, 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 Incode Incode is the next generation platform for identity verification and authentication, which is reinventing the way humans verify their identity and interact with the world's largest companies, with a highly secure and enjoyable Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based experience. Incode's fully automated end-to-end platform enables seamless access across multiple channels with products focused on onboarding, authentication and payment verification that increase conversion and reduce fraud. With its mission to build trust and democratize access, Incode works with several of the world's largest banks, fintech, hotels, governments, and markets. Incode is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Europe and Latin America. https://incode.com/

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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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Cybersecurity

Aquia Inc. Selected to Support the U.S. Air Force and DoD's Platform One CNAP Team on its Mission to Modernize Federal Government's Cybersecurity

PR Newswire | September 01, 2023

Aquia Inc., a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) specializing in cloud and cybersecurity professional services, today announced it has been awarded a subcontract from Omni Federal to support its 3-year contract with the United States Department of Defense's (DoD's) Platform One Cloud Native Access Point (CNAP). CNAP is a cloud-based enterprise security framework with a zero trust architecture core that enables collaboration across the DoD landscape. The solution allows for simplified access to Amazon Web Services (AWS) GovCloud (IL 2/4/5) environments through a device-based zero trust approach to access. The platform removes the need for additional Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet) routing, and Defense Information Systems Agency Cloud Access Point (DISA CAP). It also enables the United States Air Force (USAF) to continue to advance its zero trust maturity, aligning with the cybersecurity executive order (EO) 14028 and federal and DoD zero trust strategies. "We feel privileged to support Platform One's CNAP team as they spearhead the transformation of cybersecurity practices within the U.S. government," said Savannah Burke, associate security engineer, Aquia. "During my time at AWS, I provided guidance and technical insight on cloud best practices to enterprise customers, and I look forward to bringing that expertise to the United States Air Force." This effort is one of several of Aquia's projects supporting Platform One services. Aquia also supports Platform One's Party Bus and Big Bang teams. About Aquia Inc. Aquia Inc. is a developer-centric company passionate about the intersection of security and velocity. We maintain a strong bias towards transformational work that disrupts the status quo — delivering elegant, modern solutions to cutting-edge cybersecurity problems. Founded by military veterans in 2021, we are a Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). Our team has decades of experience driving transformational change across the public sector, enterprise businesses, and top-tier technology companies.

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