Some Washington-area business leaders see 2014 as being a better year for the local economy compared to a 2013 that saw market uncertainty resulting from sequestration, the Washington Post reported Monday. Sarah Halzack writes that a Post poll of economists, executives and academics indicates general agreement of an improved business climate and most respondents cited […] More

Modern Technology Solutions Inc. and GuardTime have unveiled a new keyless signature infrastructure appliance that is intended to gather threat intelligence and help users respond to incidents. GuardView Videri is built to comply with security standards set by the Defense Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the companies said Monday. Jim Blom, president of Guardtime USA, said the company […] More

New legislation that passed Congress last month will mandate federal agencies to collaborate on how to suppress the proliferation of cyber weapons trade in the black market, Nextgov reported Dec. 20. Aliya Sternstein writes the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act tells agencies to develop intelligence, law enforcement and financial guidelines for controlling the sale of cyberwar […] More

The General Services Administration is seeking to acquire computer games for training government contracting personnel, Nextgov reported Friday. Joseph Marks writes the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service wants users to access the games through a mobile application and for contractors to experiment and make decisions in a risk-free environment. GSA intends for users to paths based […] More

The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Education plans to have 25 testing centers for Microsoft‘s online information technology program before the end of the academic year, Khaleej Times reported Thursday. Marwan Al Sawaleh, undersecretary for MoE, told the publication the ministry plans to add 11 more Microsoft IT Academy centers in order to help students pursue […] More

Kim Burke serves as the managing director of the public institutions group of Jones Lang LaSalle, where she handles privatization programs, federal financial management and federal real estate and strategic planning functions. Burke also works on initiatives related to program performance measurement, federal legislation, regulatory assistance and Office of Management and Budget scoring and accounting. A […] More

Accenture veterans Michael Sutcliff and Mark Knickrehm have been appointed to serve as CEOs of the company’s newly formed digital and strategic growth platforms. Sutcliff will lead a 23,000-employee team that will work to deliver Accenture’s mobility, analytics and interactive offerings and Knickrehm will oversee an organization designed to help customers implement technology, business and […] More

Aerospace and defense firms can expect modest growth in 2014 due to continuing budget cuts in the U.S. and Europe, according to a report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. DTTL’s annual Global Aerospace and Defense Outlook report forecasts the sector will grow five percent this year which is similar to growth levels recorded in the […] More

Research and consulting firm MarketsandMarkets has released a new report that analyzes and forecasts the trends for the government cloud market from 2013 to 2018. Information technology and software services providers will find business opportunities as governments shift spending on data center and cloud services, MarketsandMarkets said Thursday. Government agencies will continue to transition to […] More

A report by University of North Carolina researchers for IBM‘s Center for the Business of Government examined the risks state and local governments face when transitioning to cloud platforms, GOVERNING reported Thursday. John Kamensky, a center senior fellow, writes that study authors Shannon Tufts and Meredith Weiss identified issues associated with cloud migration contracts based […] More

The Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Consumer Electronics Association and Monster Worldwide is launching USTechVets.org on Jan. 8, an online community aimed to connect military veterans with possible employment in the information technology sector. “USTechVets seeks to facilitate veterans’ transition to civilian careers, reduce veteran unemployment and provide America’s veteran workforce access to employment in […] More

A Dice.com survey says 73 percent out of 900 responding hiring managers and recruiters plan to hire more technology professionals in the first half of 2014, NextGov reported Thursday. Brittany Ballenstedt writes that that 24 percent of respondents predict tech hiring in the first half of the year will be “substantial,” up from the 19 percent […] More