DIA | The Contracting Education Academy

July 17, 2019 By AMK

Pentagon aims to expedite security clearance process with $75 million award

Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC won a $75 million other transaction agreement on May 14 to continue modernization of the federal security clearance process, in particular with machine learning and related technology.

The Defense Security Service and Defense Information Systems Agency awarded the 24-month OTA, which covers improvements to National Background Investigation Services information technology.

Perspecta will help DSS — which will eventually be renamed the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency — expedite background investigations, adjudications, continuous vetting and insider-threat programs by creating a Security Enterprise Architecture and Data Services prototype.

When a new employee or transfer needs clearance, the prototype will use machine learning and natural language processing to pull from disparate data sources to fill out form information. Previously a full investigative package was prepared manually and handed over for adjudication.

Keep reading article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/security-clearances-perspecta-enterprise-solutions-ota/

March 5, 2018 By AMK

GAO sustains protest of $771 million Defense Intelligence Agency contract

The Defense Intelligence Agency should consider re-competing a $771 million information technology task order it awarded to a company called The Buffalo Group last year, a government auditor said Feb. 21, 2018.

The contracting giant ManTech Advanced Systems International protested the award in October, saying the defense agency didn’t adequately explain its decision.

ManTech’s bid came in higher than The Buffalo Group’s at about $846 million but the company scored better on other factors. Notably, the agency “determined that ManTech’s risk of unsuccessful performance was low and that The Buffalo Group’s risk of unsuccessful performance was moderate,” the decision from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) states.

The defense agency should have explained in greater detail why the lower price of The Buffalo Group bid was more important than ManTech’s technical superiority, GAO said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/02/gao-sustains-protest-771-million-defense-intelligence-agency-contract/146147/

July 1, 2014 By AMK

DIA opens new gateway to vendors, hoping for disruptive technologies

The Defense Intelligence Agency will formally roll out its new Open Innovation Gateway, a major pillar in the agency’s push to move away from big, monolithic technology acquisitions and bring new innovations on board in small bites and in very short cycles.

Officials have not discussed many of the inner workings of the gateway prior to Wednesday’s official announcement, during which DIA will declare it has reached initial operating capability.

The agency has made clear for the past year that the intent is to give technology developers much more insight into the technical requirements that a new capability must meet before the agency will buy it.

That insight, DIA says, extends beyond publishing black and white technical standards. Via the gateway, the agency will give developers access to the actual computing environment DIA uses today — and eventually, the shared set of systems under the entire intelligence community technology infrastructure — so that they will know from the outset whether their technologies will integrate with DIA’s existing systems, and if not, what changes they will need to make.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/239/3650653/DIA-opens-new-gateway-to-vendors-hoping-for-disruptive-technologies

July 8, 2013 By AMK

Defense intel agency eyes TurboTax-type software to run acquisitions

The Defense Intelligence Agency would like to find simple, TurboTax-like software to provide “cradle to grave acquisition support.”

The Virginia Contracting Activity, which runs DIA procurements, said it wanted a knowledge-based system modeled on TurboTax to help manage acquisitions, according to a notice posted Thursday to the Federal Business Opportunities contracting website.

Eventually the software should support the entire intelligence community — including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the FBI — “to consolidate our limited and dwindling resources with the added benefit of improving support to all our supported customers,” DIA said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/07/defense-intel-agency-eyes-turbotax-type-software-run-acquisitions/65909/

UPDATE – July 9, 2013 – The Defense Intelligence Agency withdrew this solicitation with the following notice posted on FBO on July 8, 2013: “This notice is cancelled in its entirety.” See https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=32d3f22b76f482d3e19c7adf7cb70700&_cview=0

Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC won a $75 million other transaction agreement on May 14 to continue modernization of the federal security clearance process, in particular with machine learning and related technology.

The Defense Intelligence Agency should consider re-competing a $771 million information technology task order it awarded to a company called The Buffalo Group last year, a government auditor said Feb. 21, 2018.

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