Industry News

The General Services Administration has issued a request for proposals on the third iteration of its governmentwide acquisition contract vehicle for charge cards and other payment services. GSA said Thursday it expects approximately 560 agency clients and organizations to use the SmartPay 3 GWAC to procure fleet, travel, chip-based charge cards, virtual accounts and other payment support services. Contracts awarded […] More

A Mitre-run federally funded research and development center and AcademyHealth have forged a partnership to help the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services address health information technology challenges in the U.S. Mitre said Wednesday AcademyHealth and the CMS Alliance to Modernize Healthcare FFRDC will study the impact of policy changes in […] More

NASA has started to solicit proposals from potential industry partners to develop commercial space technology systems designed to support future space missions. The agency’s space technology mission directorate will select projects worth approximately $10 million combined under the Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity program, NASA said Friday. Companies will lead the projects and NASA centers will serve […] More

Australia’s air force has surpassed the 5,000-hour milestone of utility aircraft simulator training at CAE‘s Sale, Victoria-based training center in Australia which opened in 2014. CAE said Thursday the training center was established as part of a contract award received from Australia’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group to offer King Air 350 simulator services to the country’s […] More

Huntington Ingalls Industries has received a $25.5 million contract modification to start the fabrication process on the U.S. Navy’s third Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier. Mike Shawcross, vice president for the CVN 79 and CVN 80 construction at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, said in a statement issued Wednesday the award covers the production of structural components, […] More

Japan estimates cost savings of as much as $100 million on support equipment for six Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter aircraft the country ordered from the U.S. government, Reuters reported Wednesday. Sources told the publication that Japan negotiated with the U.S. to drive down the price of the next batch of F-35s, mainly on ground support items such as parts, logistics and technical services, Tim […] More

David Zaharchuk, global industry research leader at IBM’s Institute for Business, has said the adoption of blockchain technology could help government agencies facilitate contract management, regulatory compliance, citizen services and identity management. Zaharchuk wrote in a blog post published Monday that blockchain platforms work to ensure security of data sharing operations between organizations and individuals. […] More

The Seattle Police Department has worked with Accenture to implement a data analytics platform in an effort to address the department’s management and governance goals. Accenture said Tuesday the platform is designed to provide reporting functions as well as insights into operations and investigations. The company also helped integrate and analyze six disparate SPD databases and information sources to support real-time delivery of […] More

Representatives from Microsoft and Johns Hopkins University met with members of the disruptive technology laboratory at Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Carderock division in Maryland to tackle augmented reality technology platforms and its potential naval applications, the Navy reported Tuesday. DTL Director Garry Shields said the lab seeks to partner with the Defense Advanced Research Projects […] More

MEADS International, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and MBDA, has submitted a proposal to the Polish government to build and deliver air-and-missile defense systems, Defense News reported Tuesday. Jen Judson writes the submission is in response to a solicitation notice on Poland’s Wisla missile defense program. Marty Coyne,  Medium Extended Air Defense System director at Lockheed, said that the proposal covers […] More

PTC will provide a service parts management platform to the U.S. Air Force in an effort to help the military branch manage supply chain planning and weapon systems support activities at Air Force Sustainment Centers worldwide. The company said Tuesday its PTC Service Parts Management Software-as-a-Service  platform will work to optimize demand forecast accuracy, logistics cost estimation and aircraft availability as well as […] More