US is preparing to ban foreign-made drones from government use

Tech Crunch | March 12, 2020

The Trump administration is preparing an executive order to ban federal departments and agencies from buying or using foreign-made drones, citing a risk to national security, TechCrunch has learned. The draft order, which was drafted in the past few weeks and seen by TechCrunch, would effectively ban both foreign-made drones or drones made with foreign components out of fear that sensitive data collected during their use could be transferred to adversarial nation-states. The order specifically calls out threats posed by China, a major hub for drone manufacturers that supply both government and consumers, with the prospect that other countries could be added later.

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Astera and Carahsoft Partner to Deliver Data Management Solutions to Federal Government Agencies

Globenewswire | July 14, 2023

Astera Software, a leading provider of no-code data integration and management solutions, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider® announced a partnership today. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Astera’s Master Government Aggregator®, making the company’s wide range of data management solutions available to the Public Sector through Carahsoft’s reseller partners, NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V, Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software 2 (ITES-SW2), National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA) and OMNIA Partners contracts. "We are thrilled to partner with Carahsoft and its reseller partners to streamline access for agencies to procure our no-code data management stack and expand our presence in the Public Sector,” said Todd Humphrey, Head of Sales at Astera. “We look forward to helping Public Sector agencies leverage our suite of unified, code-free, easy-to-learn data management solutions to bridge the data-to-insight gap.” With Astera’s user-friendly, high-performing suite of products - Centerprise Data Integrator, ReportMiner, Data Warehouse Builder, API Management, and EDIConnect, Government agencies can unlock valuable insights from their data stores to optimize operational efficiency, increase productivity, improve resource allocation, and drive success. Astera’s robust range of scalable solutions is designed to help organizations build and automate dynamic data pipelines from source to destination. From data extraction, preparation, transformation and validation to integration and warehousing, Astera can automate the entire data journey for its users. “With the addition of Astera to our solutions portfolio, our customers will be able to manage their data more efficiently, reduce the time and cost associated with data management, and improve overall efficiency,” said Andres Azcuna, Sales Director who leads the Astera Team at Carahsoft. “We look forward to working with Astera and our reseller partners to help agencies make data-driven decisions and rapidly solve critical business challenges.” 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 Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, 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 Astera Astera is a data management solutions provider based in Westlake Village, California that offers solutions to radically simplify the process of building and executing data pipelines, data warehouses and manage enterprise-wide data management needs.

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Emerging Technology

Carahsoft, Coalfire, and Google Public Sector Partner on FedRAMP® Accelerator to Enable SaaS Providers Selling into the Federal Government

PR Newswire | July 03, 2023

Cybersecurity pioneer Coalfire, IT solutions provider Carahsoft Technology Corp., and Google Public Sector have entered into a partnership to accelerate FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO) certification and public sector opportunities for customers deployed on Google Cloud. Coalfire's FedRAMP expertise and offerings will be bundled and delivered to Google Cloud's state, federal, and institutional clients by Carahsoft, one of the public sector's largest solution providers, and its ecosystem of reseller partners and systems integrators. "With the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program now the law of the land, achieving FedRAMP certification has quickly evolved from cost burden to exponential business opportunity," said Troy Bertram, managing director of Google Cloud's Public Sector Partner Ecosystem. "Whether or not our clients are selling into government markets or looking ahead to renewing contracts, Coalfire's disruptive services portfolio and ability to provide enterprise SaaS companies with FedRAMP advisory and assessment services that accelerate time to market is a mission-critical differentiator for government contractors." The collaboration enables Google Public Sector and Carahsoft clients to accelerate their digital transformation and enter new federal markets through Coalfire's FedRAMP advisory services. These offerings allow customers to quickly and cost-effectively understand gaps and build required architectures and documentation to achieve FedRAMP authorization, reducing the historically exorbitant financial barriers to entry that FedRAMP was known for. Once clients achieve ATO, they are positioned to sell across multiple agencies (not just one), and with the Coalfire/Google Public Sector/Carahsoft solution, clients retain ownership of all technology deliverables. "The FedRAMP roadmap leads to a threat-informed approach to risk management, and the FedRAMP Authorization Act passed in December of last year opens new opportunities for companies to test once and certify many times with reciprocity among agencies," said Carahsoft President Craig P. Abod. "From gap and desired architecture analysis to audit-ready, this partnership with Coalfire enables Carahsoft technology partners operating in Google Cloud to confidently accredit and deploy FedRAMP-compliant environments within an accelerated timeline. Carahsoft and its ecosystem of partners are excited for the opportunity to offer public sector customers a greater variety of FedRAMP-certified solutions deployed on Google Cloud to achieve their mission goals." "Bringing disruptive and cost-effective FedRAMP services to companies on or considering Google Cloud through channel leader Carahsoft now enables customers to accelerate or expand their sales opportunities with the federal government," said Coalfire CEO Tom McAndrew. "As a FedRAMP pioneer, we have a 100% pass rate on FedRAMP environments we've built. This partnership enables a faster, more cost-effective path for companies considering FedRAMP." Coalfire has a well-established relationship with Carahsoft and a long history of serving as the trusted FedRAMP auditor and assessment body for Google Cloud. "Whether required or not, FedRAMP is a business opportunity, and every cloud services and SaaS provider should have a FedRAMP strategy," said Jeff Rector, head of worldwide channels and partnerships at Coalfire. "We're excited to take this next step with Google Public Sector and Carahsoft as we work together to help our customers manage and monetize the FedRAMP opportunity." 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. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com About Coalfire The world's leading organizations – including the top five cloud service providers and leaders in financial services, healthcare, and retail – trust Coalfire to elevate their cyber programs and secure the future of their business. Number one in compliance, FedRAMP®, and cloud penetration testing, Coalfire is the world's largest firm dedicated to cybersecurity services, providing unparalleled technology-enabled professional and managed services. To learn more, visit Coalfire.com.

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Emerging Technology

BRP Group, Inc. Introduces Government Contracting Center of Excellence

Businesswire | July 28, 2023

BRP Group, Inc. today announced the establishment of its newest national Center of Excellence (“COE”) — Government Contracting (“GovCon”) – to join the firm’s expanding portfolio of specialty practices. The new practice launch is part of BRP Group’s intentional strategy of leveraging the deep expertise of its national network of risk management and insurance partnerships, and their experts and specialists, to make a greater difference for their clients’ business needs regardless of geographic location. BRP Group’s GovCon COE team is comprised of knowledgeable insurance experts with broad experience advising clients who operate in the government contracting space. This COE is specifically structured to support federal contracting clients with property and casualty, employee benefits and retirement insurance solutions, GovCon M&A due diligence and in-house compliance specialists. “Our new Government Contracting (GovCon) Center of Excellence (COE) is an expansion of BRP Group’s specialized solutions and capabilities that work to meet the unique needs of current and prospective clients. By combining the expertise from our two partner firms, Armfield, Harrison & Thomas (AHT) and The Capital Group, we are excited to bring this additional practice to the marketplace,” said Dan Galbraith, BRP Group’s Chief Operating Officer. “Not only do government contractors encounter typical risk management and insurance issues, they also navigate unique challenges associated with conducting business within a rapidly-evolving, highly-regulated environment. With more than 25 years of experience and a proven track record of designing specialized insurance coverage for these complex business and regulatory conditions, our dedicated colleagues, led by BRP Group’s Senior Director of Sales Kevin FitzPatrick, keep clients protected, in compliance and proactively prepared to mitigate risk and manage costs.” The GovCon COE focuses on addressing the unique needs and challenges of clients in the hyper- competitive federal contracting space that are best solved by a unified team approach. The GovCon COE helps federal contractors navigate these mission critical areas: Controlling fringe expenses to keep competitive Wrap Rates GovCon Employee Benefits Benchmarking - designing programs that help improve employee attraction and retention. Risk Management Strategy Defense Base Act (DBA) Coverage International Coverage Cyber Liability Insurance Service Contract Act (SCA) Compliance and Strategy 401K plan development and administration In addition, the GovCon COE has integrated two key programs: GovTech™: The Government Technology Insurance Company offers robust commercial insurance policies that flow down the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) framework and provides easy access to GovCon insurance subject matter experts at premiums that accurately reflect the exposures. GovConHealth: Provides go-to-market strategies to federal contractors to help them control employee benefits expenses. The initiative is powered by a unique and proprietary consortium-funded stop-loss arrangement that bands together high-performing federal contractors to safely and conservatively partially self-fund their employer-based healthcare. ABOUT BRP GROUP BRP Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRP) is an independent insurance distribution firm delivering tailored insurance and risk management insights and solutions that give our Clients the peace of mind to pursue their purpose, passion and dreams. We are innovating the industry by taking a holistic and tailored approach to risk management, insurance, and employee benefits, and support our Clients, Colleagues, Insurance Company Partners and communities through the deployment of vanguard resources and capital to drive our growth. BRP Group represents over 1.3 million clients across the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit www.baldwinriskpartners.com.

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