On April 27, 2021, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced its intention to not only continue but expand the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) pilot program, based on a third consecutive year of positive results.
Since 2016, GSA’s pilot has studied the potential for TDR to replace the various onerous requirements FSS
In an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) published in the Federal Register on Monday, March 29, 2021, Commerce announced that it is soliciting public comment on a licensing process for companies seeking pre-clearance for information and communications technology and services (ICTS) transactions subject to Commerce’s broad new authority to block or unwind such transactions, as implemented in the interim final rule, “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain.” That interim final rule, which was published on January 19, 2021, became effective on Monday, March 22, 2021, and broadly defines transactions to include acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in or use of ICTS. We previously discussed that interim final rule here.
Continue Reading Commerce Publishes ANPRM Seeking Comment on the Licensing Process for ICTS Transactions
Contractors barely had time to digest the prior administration’s changes designed to tighten the Buy American Act restrictions when, on January 25, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14005 on “Ensuring Future of America is Made in America by all of America’s Workers” directing further tightening and perhaps even a new approach to determining what
On January 13, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a final rule that requires advanced communications providers to review their equipment and services within their networks and either: (1) certify that they do not include any covered equipment; or (2) file an annual report with the FCC that identifies covered communications equipment or services
Today, Commerce has published an interim final rule (IR) which, effective March 22, 2021, will implement the May 15, 2019 Executive Order 13873 that relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to authorize sweeping power to block or undo any transaction – including use, purchases or importation – of virtually any “information and
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently implemented additional procedures for the mitigation of cybersecurity risks in its supply chain. Designed to identify and mitigate cybersecurity and related supply chain risks throughout a program’s lifecycle, DoD Instruction 5000.90, Cybersecurity Acquisition Decision Authorities and Program Managers, requires program managers to:
On January 1, 2021, the 116th Congress enacted the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which established, among other things, the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (Division E, Title LI, §§ 5101-5106) (hereinafter “the Initiative”), a program to award financial assistance to National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes (Division E, Title LII,
On December 11, 2020, Congress presented to President Trump H.R. 6395, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. On December 23, 2020, President Trump vetoed the bill. Subsequently, the House voted on December 28, 2020 and the Senate voted on January 1, 2021 to override the veto.
This Act contains numerous provisions that
Yesterday, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, Department of Defense (DoD) published a final rule codifying the National Industrial Security Program Operation Manual (NISPOM) (DoDM 5220.22) into 32 C.F.R. Part 117. For the most part, this action simply inserts the long-applicable NISPOM requirements into the CFR, but DoD has
On December 3, 2020, the President issued Executive Order 13960, Promoting the Use of Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Federal Government. The Executive Order signals yet again the Federal Government’s emphasis on the use of AI and the importance of ensuring that AI is used in a manner that does not violate Americans’ privacy,