PEO Pulse - June 5, 2020

►► UPCOMING EVENTS

• June 12 – Army Birthday (virtual observance)

• June 16 – IPPS-A Inc II Change of Charter Virtual Ceremony (conducted on CVR/Teams)

• June 18 – PEO EIS Virtual Lunch and Learn: A Day in the Life of a Deputy Product Manager/Lead (conducted on CVR/Teams)

• June 23 – Newcomer’s Brief (conducted on CVR/Teams)

• June 26 – WESS Change of Charter Ceremony (conducted via Zoom)

• July 9 – ALTESS Change of Charter Ceremony (Radford, Virginia)

• July 14 – PEO’s Inaugural Town Hall (conducted on CVR/Teams)

• July 14-16 – SIGNAL Conference (virtual event)

►► WORKFORCE

ARMY SCIENTISTS: ALL STRAINS OF COVID-19 CAN BE COVERED BY ONE VACCINE

(Government Executive, June 3, 2020) Army scientists say that they are “very optimistic” that they will have a vaccine by the end of the year that will be effective against any COVID-19 strain.  

THIS WEEK'S TEAMMATE: SERVICE DESK TEAM

(June 2, 2020) This week's #PEOEISTeammate is the Service Desk team that supports the PEO EIS workforce’s information technology, server and telecommunications requirements. In March, the Service Desk rapidly configured desktop workstations and mobile devices, deployed new conferencing bridge numbers and provided teleworking tips to enable telework required in response to COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions. Debbie Taylor, an 18-year Army veteran, leads the 10-person Service Desk team. She answered eight questions.  

WHY OMB HAS NOT RELEASED A MORE CONCRETE PLAN FOR FEDERAL REOPENING

(Federal Times, June 2, 2020) Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management guidance issued April 20 on the reopening process for federal agencies refrained from setting specific dates for when federal employees will be expected to return to the office, a decision that acting OMB Director Russell Vought said was intended to allow for flexibility based on geographic location.

PENTAGON CONSIDERING OPTIONS FOR REIMBURSING CONTRACTORS NOT WORKING DURING PANDEMIC

(Federal News Network, June 2, 2020) The Defense Department is mulling comments from industry on paying contractors forced to not work. DoD is developing policy for carrying out a section in the CARES Act, which covered reimbursement for lost pay from the pandemic.

►► PEO EIS IN THE NEWS

PEO PERSPECTIVE: JUNE 2020

(June 4, 2020) Welcome to my first PEO Perspective. It was a great honor to receive the charter for this organization in a virtual ceremony last month in which we also honored my predecessor, Cherie Smith, who retired after 42 years of Army service.

PERSPECTA TO DELIVER ATIS SYSTEM FOR US ARMY

(Army Technology, June 4, 2020) Perspecta has won a four-year, fixed-price award to deliver the Army Training Information System (ATIS) for the US Army. 

MC4 SHIFTS TO REMOTE SUPPORT OF COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORT

(June 3, 2020) FORT DETRICK, Maryland - Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) continues to sustain Army and Navy units that have deployed to aid COVID-19 relief efforts.   

MAJOR PENTAGON IT PROGRAMS ARE REDUCING COSTS, BUT DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES REMAIN

(June 3, 2020) A federal watchdog’s review of 15 major information technology investments at the Department of Defense found that many programs were below cost estimates, though several had delays in their original timelines, shortfalls in cybersecurity testing and software development workforce challenges… The biggest cost saver was the Army Contract Writing System, which decreased its cost estimate by $229 million. That system will replace several legacy platforms and serve as the Army’s enterprise-wide contract management platform.

ARMY MEDICAL LOGISTICS COMMAND ISSUES MAINTENANCE DIRECTIVE FOR OXYGEN GENERATORS

(DVIDS/U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command, June 1, 2020) U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command is requiring all units with portable oxygen generators to report their maintenance compliance status and concurrently execute a required preventive maintenance check on services on their devices.

►► ARMY NEWS

ARMY NETWORK MODERNIZATION SEEKS TO BUY AFFORDABLE TACTICAL RADIOS, WHILE MAINTAINING SECURE COMMUNICATIONS

(Military & Aerospace Electronics, June 2, 2020) U.S. Army communications experts have conducted a critical design review for technologies they plan to deploy for Capability Set ’21 -- one of the first pieces of Army battlefield network modernization. Defense News reports.

ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS NEEDS CONSUMABLE DATA, TRAINING

(Federal News Network, June 1, 2020) In addition to the dirt and water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moves around the world for its projects, it also has to shift a considerable amount of data.

ARMY SEEKS VENDORS FOR ANOTHER JEDI CONTRACT

(Nextgov, June 1, 2020) The Army is looking to get more companies involved in its Joint Enterprise Data Interoperability, or JEDI, contract.

FUTURES COMMAND LOOKING TO GROW ARMY TECH TALENT THROUGH NEW EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

(Fedscoop, June 1, 2020) The Army knows it needs more brain power behind its future firepower.

BRIG. GEN. COLLINS TAKES THE REINS OF THE ARMY’S TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS EFFORT

(SIGNAL, June 1, 2020) With key knowledge of the Army’s necessary sensors, intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities, Brig. Gen. Robert Collins, USA, today steps into the role of Program Executive Office Command Control Communications-Tactical, or PEO C3T. Gen. Collins replaces newly promoted Lt. Gen. David Bassett, USA, who becomes the director of the Defense Contract Management Agency.

ARMY TO BRIEF INDUSTRY ON $10B IT HARDWARE PROCUREMENT VEHICLE AT VIRTUAL EVENTS

(GovConWire, June 1, 2020) The U.S. Army will host four virtual events for information technology vendors this month to discuss a potential 10-year, $10B procurement vehicle for commercial IT equipment and related services, Bloomberg Government reported Friday.

►► FEDERAL NEWS

JUST HOW MUCH HAS CLOUD USAGE INCREASED DURING QUARANTINE?

(Federal News Network, June 4, 2020) As telework expanded rapidly for the federal workforce, so did the use of commercial cloud services. A study by McAfee found it grew 50%. That in turn seems to have attracted a blizzard of cybersecurity threats. Joining the Federal Drive with Tom Temin with more on the study, McAfee’s U.S. public sector chief technology strategist, Ned Miller.

SPECTRUM SHARING KEY GOAL OF LATEST DOD 5G EXPERIMENTS

(Breaking Defense, June 4, 2020) DoD has chosen seven more bases for experiments to enable 5G networks, with spectrum sharing as one of the key technology goals.

DISA AWARDS $87 MILLION CONTRACT FOR CLASSIFIED MOBILE

(Defense Systems, June 3, 2020) The Defense Department’s IT support agency awarded Booz Allen Hamilton an $87 million contract for classified mobile enterprise services, according to contract documents.

WATCHDOG SAYS PENTAGON NEEDS BETTER PLANNING FOR IP UPDATE 17 YEARS AFTER FIRST ATTEMPT

(C4ISR, June 3, 2020) A federal watchdog found that poor planning by the Department of Defense has blurred the department’s understanding of the risks and costs associated with upgrading the system that routes internet traffic across the globe, known as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

LACK OF CYBER TALENT REMAINS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

(We Are the Mighty, June 2, 2020) The massive shortage of cyber professionals is a national security threat, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

WHAT PROGRESS HAS THE NAVY MADE ON IT MODERNIZATION?

(C4ISR, June 1, 2020) Since joining the Department of the Navy in September last year, Navy Chief Information Officer Aaron Weis has been outspoken about numerous shortfalls in the service’s IT infrastructure and cybersecurity posture.

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PEO Pulse is a weekly digest of relevant news, upcoming PEO EIS events, and updates to keep our workforce informed. The digest contains curated content from external sources and does not indicate PEO EIS endorsement of the views or ideas expressed therein.

Produced by:

Strategic Communication Directorate

Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems

Connecting the Army. Working for Soldiers.

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