The Big Build-Up »
As U.S. infrastructure continues to crumble, thought leaders call for a national effort on the scale of the moon shot to get American development back on top. More than one in four of the nation’s bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. There are more than 4,000 deficient dams in the United States—and for [...]
The Emerging National Security Challenge »
Given current and even more severe future budget constraints, the nation will have to respond to a growing range of security missions with declining resources, as well as shed outworn, Cold War-era defense acquisition practices to meet these emerging challenges. The new threats are all too familiar: worldwide and regional instabilities; domestic and foreign terrorism; [...]
NEW: FedTech Soundoff »
In this new section, private-sector experts share perspectives on some of the biggest issues facing federal IT. From looming IPv6 deadlines and the identity ecosystem to FISMA’s shortcomings, over the next few pages, government-contracting tech gurus sound off. IPv6 The switch to the next-generation Internet is coming. By 2012, all public-facing government servers and services [...]
insight »
Advanced Persistent Threats & the Human Factor — By Ed Kanerva, vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton The ever-expanding sophistication, ubiquity and distribution of Advanced Persistent Threats — well-planned, targeted hacking attacks on computer networks — put a lot of pressure on those individuals tasked with maintaining network security within their organizations. When adversaries have a [...]
‘Cyber Battle is Just Beginning’ »
When local schools sent parents back-to-school supply lists last year, administrators had no idea they set the stage for a potential cyber disaster. Little did they know the innocuous request that fourth-graders buy thumb drives to use for homework could unleash an infection path that could affect the school, students and countless Northern Virginian computers. [...]
Vint Cerf on ‘Data Liberation’ and a ‘Pivotal’ 2011 »
By Vinton G. Cerf, VP, chief Internet evangelist, Google 2011 may prove to be a pivotal year in several dimensions. It is anticipated that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will have allocated all of its remaining IPv4 address space to the Regional Internet Registries by end of March or sooner. This places [...]
Education to Innovation: Why Smart Kids are a Smart Investment »
By Dr. Ray O. Johnson, SVP & CTO, Lockheed Martin Corporation The inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, held in late October on the National Mall and downtown Washington, D.C., was successful in ways that exceeded the organizers and sponsors’ expectations. As the founding and host sponsor of the festival, Lockheed Martin was delighted [...]
The Defense Industry after Obama »
After a decade of steadily rising outlays for military technology and technical services, the defense sector is entering a period of softening demand. Speculation about how deep and protracted the downturn will be has become a commonplace activity among strategic planners, investors and analysts. While nobody can be sure where the sector is headed — [...]
Corporate America, Are YOU Protecting YOUR Information? »
Those providing products and services to the United States government have surely noticed that cybersecurity has captured the buzz in Washington. Businesses everywhere are seeking to define and refine their service offerings to capture increased government spending. But have they reflected upon the health of the information security practices followed by their own business enterprise? [...]
The Government Services Market: Four Reasons It’s Here to Stay »
It’s tempting, if one listens to the political rhetoric, to think of the insourcing versus outsourcing debate as simply a matter of political or ideological preference of certain administrations, presidents, or interest groups. In a political town, it’s definitely true that those positions matter. But to understand the real nature of the issue, and the [...]
