HHS Taps Palantir for Data Analytics, Cloud Services to Support COVID-19 Response

Palantir has received contract awards worth $24.9M combined to support the Department of Health and Human Services’ information technology modernization initiatives in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, FedScoop reported Friday.

Last month, Palantir received a $17.4M award to support data management operations for the company’s Gotham analytics software as well as a $7.5M contract for the implementation of the cloud-based HHS Protect platform.

HHS Protect is designed to support the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force in efforts to collect data across agencies and states to track and prevent COVID-19 spread.

HHS noted in a class justification and approval notice obtained by FedScoop that the sole-sourced contracts serve as “emergency acquisitions” to support urgent needs for IT, research and development, construction and engineering assistance.

The department estimates its required COVID-19 recovery services and technologies to reach $30B, according to the J&A notice.