Obama-era tech advisors list potential challenges for the White House’s AI principles

Former Obama administration advisors say the White House regulatory AI principles announced this week are a good start in many ways, but they’re incorrect in their oversimplified mandate to avoid overregulation of private business use, and that the Trump administration could face an uphill battle in its appeal to the rest of the world. Though the Trump administration has developed a reputation for blaming the Obama administration when things go wrong or trying to erase Obama-era policy, on artificial intelligence policy, at times the Trump administration has remained strikingly similar to its predecessor. This was evident in the AI research and development strategy plan for federal agencies released in summer 2019. In some instances, like with White House deputy CTO and assistant director of AI at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)  Dr. Lynne Parker who also served in the Obama administration, the same people drive White House AI policy.

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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

Aalyria and Second Front Partner to Expedite Availability of Spacetime for Government Use

Business Wire | October 17, 2023

Aalyria, a dynamic startup commercializing advanced networking and communications technologies acquired from Google, has formed a strategic alliance with Second Front Systems. This collaboration paves the way for accelerated deployment of Aalyria’s Spacetime network orchestration platform within government sectors. The integration with Second Front's trusted Game Warden platform makes Spacetime accessible at Department of Defense Impact Levels 4 and 5 (IL4 and IL5). Embracing this modern risk management approach means the ability to focus on maintaining security and risk management frameworks without significantly impacting development teams or timelines – a leap from traditional authorization processes. Aalyria is also on track to extend Spacetime's reach to IL6 and Top Secret environments in the near future. Spacetime is an advanced software platform designed for orchestrating and managing complex networks of satellites, ground stations, aircraft, ships, urban meshes, and more. The software is being adopted across the public and private sector, including in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit, Intelsat, Rivada Space Networks, Anduril, Leidos, the U.S. Navy, and others. “Working with Second Front enables us to quickly deploy to more secure environments and serve our growing customer base,” said Chris Taylor, CEO of Aalyria. “The demand for our Spacetime solution by an array of mission owners across the defense and intelligence spectrum made partnering with Second Front an easy choice – the team’s proficiency in this space and the speed at which they work is a great match for Aalyria.” “Aalyria is an absolute trailblazer in network orchestration and Second Front is thrilled to be collaborating,” said Tyler Sweatt, CEO at Second Front. “We share a passion for ensuring the most innovative solutions are made available to defense and national security end users, so this was a natural fit. Second Front is honored to play a role in enabling Aalyria to rapidly deploy their amazing solutions to the world’s most mission critical customer base.” The initial collaboration will bring Aalryia’s technologies to ILs 4 and 5 and is part of a broader plan to bring their solutions to a diverse combination of advanced networks in the near future. Aalyria and Second Front will focus on Aalryia’s TRL 9 Spacetime offering – a product validated with greater than 2 million hours of lights-out orchestration of aerospace nodes. It is designed to operate networks that include global scale dynamic physical link topologies and highly-directional steerable beams across land, sea, air, and space. About Second Front Systems Second Front Systems (2F) fast-tracks government access to disruptive, commercially-proven software as a service (SaaS) applications for national security missions. Leading software providers—ranging from publicly traded defense contractors to startups—and government agencies trust 2F’s Game Warden DevSecOps platform and secure cloud hosting environment to accelerate their delivery and harness the cloud revolution at scale. Founded by former U.S. Marines, this public benefit, venture-backed software company is driven by firsthand experience of the dangers outdated technology poses in combat. About Aalyria Aalyria is a global advanced networking and laser communications technologies company. It is revolutionizing connectivity on Earth and in Space. Its Tightbeam product – the world’s first atmospheric corrected coherent free space optics solution – and Spacetime – the only all-orbit, all-domain, software defined network orchestration platform – are helping commercial and government customers reimagine business and mission models to make their assets more effective, efficient, and profitable.

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Cybersecurity

Semperis and Carahsoft Partner to Provide Comprehensive Identity Security and Recovery Solutions to U.S. Government Organizations

Business Wire | September 12, 2023

Semperis, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Semperis’ Public Sector Distributor, making the company’s industry-leading identity resilience platform 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. Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD (now Entra ID), used by 90% of organizations worldwide to authenticate and access critical applications and services, are under sustained attack in the Public Sector by numerous threat actors. The Semperis and Carahsoft partnership will accelerate delivery of comprehensive identity threat detection and response (ITDR) solutions for protecting hybrid AD environments across U.S. Public Sector entities. “Our partnership with Carahsoft will further expand adoption of our identity-first security solutions designed to help Federal, State and Local Government agencies protect their critical identity systems from ransomware and other directory-related attacks,” said Jared Vichengrad, Vice President, Public Sector at Semperis. “We are excited to join Carahsoft’s trusted partner network of Government IT solution providers to prevent, detect and mitigate proliferating identity attacks that are disrupting operations in the Public Sector.” Identity-related attacks on Public Sector entities are intensifying in scale and severity amidst an expanding digital attack surface and increasingly sophisticated attack techniques. Verizon’s 2023 DBIR reveals that from November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022, public administration entities faced 3,273 incidents—and of those, 584 with confirmed data disclosure. The Public Sector is a high-value target for cyber criminals who seek to disrupt State and Local Governments, schools and public utilities in record numbers. These attacks can steal or encrypt data, disturb services and jeopardize public safety. Public Sector organizations are particularly vulnerable to AD attacks because of legacy infrastructure, lack of identity security expertise and limited resources. With a multi-layered defense approach that spans the identity attack lifecycle, Semperis offers the industry’s most comprehensive security and recovery solutions for hybrid AD environments, combined with deep incident response expertise. “We are thrilled to partner with Semperis and our reseller network to offer its identity resilience platform, provide advanced ITDR solutions and protect Public Sector customers’ hybrid AD systems from attacks,” said Brian O’Donnell, Vice President of Cybersecurity solutions at Carahsoft. “We repeatedly see how vital it is to prevent bad actors from infiltrating Government systems and how having the right solutions on board can make a significant impact in remediation. We are committed helping Public Sector organizations get access to Semperis solutions to safeguard citizens’ data and facilitate uninterrupted Public Sector services.” Semperis’ technology and services are available through Carahsoft’s NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, NCPA Contract NCPA01-86, and OMNIA Partners Contract #R191902. For more information, contact the Semperis team at Carahsoft at (703) 889-9808 or Semperis@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. About Semperis For security teams charged with defending hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Semperis ensures the integrity and availability of critical enterprise directory services at every step in the cyber kill chain and cuts recovery time by 90%. Purpose-built for securing hybrid Active Directory environments, Semperis’ patented technology protects over 50 million identities from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors. The world’s leading organizations trust Semperis to spot directory vulnerabilities, intercept cyberattacks in progress, and quickly recover from ransomware and other data integrity emergencies. Semperis is headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, and operates internationally, with its research and development team distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

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