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Mary-Louise Hoffman

is a writer of news summaries about executive-level business activity in the government contracting sector. Her reports for ExecutiveBiz are focused on trends and events that drive the GovCon industry to include commercial technologies that private companies are developing for federal government use. She contributes news content to ExecutiveBiz’s sister sites GovCon Wire and ExecutiveGov.

Latest stories

  • IARPA Requests Proposals for Quantum Annealing System R&D Program - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    IARPA Requests Proposals for Quantum Annealing System R&D Program

    The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity has issued a broad agency announcement to acquire ideas for the development of quantum annealing methods to solve complex optimization problems in enterprise operation. IARPA said Feb. 25 it aims to create application-specific quantum annealers that the agency believes can help address operational efficiency and risk issues of an organization. The agency seeks industry […] More

  • Jeff Roberts: Erickson to Continue Support for Alaska Aerial Firefighting Ops - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in News, Products & Service

    Jeff Roberts: Erickson to Continue Support for Alaska Aerial Firefighting Ops

    Erickson has been awarded two contracts by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to supply medium-lift helicopters to help the state’s firefighters respond to wildfires. The company said Tuesday it will provide two helicopters in support of the department’s fire suppression efforts in the boroughs of Palmer and Fairbanks. “We have more than 55 years of experience in Alaska… and […] More

  • NASA, Orbital ATK Launch OA-6 ISS Cargo Delivery Mission - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    NASA, Orbital ATK Launch OA-6 ISS Cargo Delivery Mission

    NASA has launched Orbital ATK‘s Cygnus spacecraft that will carry more than 7,000 pounds of cargo for delivery to the International Space Station. The OA-6 mission launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station late Tuesday marks the company’s fifth operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, the agency said Wednesday. Cygnus is expected to dock with the orbiting laboratory on Saturday […] More

  • QTS to Open Chicago-Based Data Center in IaaS Market Push - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    QTS to Open Chicago-Based Data Center in IaaS Market Push

    QTS Realty Trust is establishing a mega data center in downtown Chicago as the company aims to help address a demand for colocation, managed hosting and cloud computing services in the Midwest. QTS said Tuesday the 317,000-square-foot facility will be built to provide infrastructure as a service to government and other enterprise customers. Construction on the first phase of the QTS Chicago […] More

  • Report: Fortinet, Intel Move to Help Combat Online Crime - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Cybersecurity News, News

    Report: Fortinet, Intel Move to Help Combat Online Crime

    Fortinet has established a Network Security Academy in a push to help address a shortage of cybersecurity professionals, San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday. Pete Carey writes the academy seeks to collaborate with several universities worldwide to train students to thwart sophisticated threats. “We’re going help those students be armed with the necessary skill set, whether they are getting […] More

  • Saab Unveils AESA Radar Offering for Maritime Security Sector; Gene Bojarski Comments - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in News, Products & Service

    Saab Unveils AESA Radar Offering for Maritime Security Sector; Gene Bojarski Comments

    Saab has rolled out a three-dimensional naval radar technology the company designed to help maritime users perform air and surface surveillance operations. The Sea Giraffe 1X active electronically scanned array radar is built to integrate with small patrol ships and requires a small number of line-replaceable units and little power to operate, Saab said Tuesday. “Traditionally, smaller patrol […] More

  • NIH to Add Small Biz Spots on $20B IT GWAC Program - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    NIH to Add Small Biz Spots on $20B IT GWAC Program

    The National Institutes of Health plans to add more vendors to a potential $20 billion small business set-aside contract vehicle that covers information technology support services for NIH and other federal agencies. NIH said March 14 in a FedBizOpps notice it will accept proposals from companies who aim to win positions on the agency’s Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners […] More

  • NASA Puts Webb Telescope Instruments Through Cryogenic Test - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    NASA Puts Webb Telescope Instruments Through Cryogenic Test

    NASA has performed a cryogenic test on the cameras and spectrographs of the James Webb Space Telescope in order to determine if the systems could withstand extremely cold temperatures inside a space environment simulator. The Webb telescope’s scientific instruments have been removed from a cylindrical  simulation chamber at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland following completion of […] More

  • CenturyLink, Verizon Selected for Virginia Gov't IT Modernization Services Contract - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, Products & Service

    CenturyLink, Verizon Selected for Virginia Gov’t IT Modernization Services Contract

    The Virginia Information Technologies Agency has awarded CenturyLink and Verizon positions under a potential $150 million contract to help local agencies update information technology networks and communication systems, the Washington Business Journal reported Friday. James Bach writes the two companies will compete for task orders to replace legacy network and communications infrastructure for customer agencies under the VITAnet program. VITAnet […] More

  • NASA to Launch Orbital ATK Spacecraft for 5th Resupply Mission to ISS - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Industry News, News

    NASA to Launch Orbital ATK Spacecraft for 5th Resupply Mission to ISS

    Orbital ATK and NASA are set to launch a company-built Cygnus spacecraft on Tuesday to transport approximately 7,900 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies to the International Space Station. The cargo spaceship, nicknamed S.S. Rick Husband, is scheduled to take off Tuesday at 11 p.m. Eastern Time aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida, NASA said […] More

  • Lockheed's Rob Weiss: US Military Should Develop Fighter Aircraft Modernization Roadmap - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in C4ISR News, News

    Lockheed’s Rob Weiss: US Military Should Develop Fighter Aircraft Modernization Roadmap

    Rob Weiss, executive vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin‘s Skunk Works business, believes that the Defense Department should explore strategies to accelerate the pace of upgrades to the U.S. military’s F-22 and F-35 fleets, Flightglobal reported Friday. James Drew writes Weiss made the remarks as the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy eye a next-generation air dominance program. “As we look at F-22s and […] More

  • Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch: Collaboration Key in DoD's Adoption of Commercial Satcom-as-a-Service Model - top government contractors - best government contracting event
    in Featured, General, News, Products & Service

    Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch: Collaboration Key in DoD’s Adoption of Commercial Satcom-as-a-Service Model

    Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president of government strategy and policy at  Inmarsat‘s U.S. government segment, has said she believes partnerships could help usher in a new model for the Defense Department to procure satellite communications technology from industry. She wrote in a blog article published Friday that some government and industry executives provided their insights on […] More