Duke Energy is the nation’s largest electric power holding company with 7 million electric customers and 500,000 gas customers. The company is headquartered in North Carolina and employs about 30,000 employees and has approximately $14.5 in annual revenues.

In an ongoing case of 8(a) fraud, the Eastern District Court recently sentenced two key federal contractor executives, Joseph Richards, 52, and David Lux, 66. The two executives pleaded guilty to unlawfully acquiring over $31 million in contracts through abuse of the 8(a) program instituted by the Small Business Association (SBA) and conspiracy to commit government fraud. This program provides the opportunity for socially disadvantaged and minority businesses to grow their business through federal contract preferences.

The pilot program for RFP-EZ has shown to have many advantages for the federal government. Not only did RFP-EZ make it faster and easier for federal agencies to acquire technology, but it also has the potential to create substantial savings for taxpayers. The Small Business Administration (SBA) analysis of four common IT projects showed that bids received on RFP-EZ came in 30% lower than similar bids received on the FedBizOpps procurement portal.

In recent months the General Services Administration (GSA) has placed significance on the importance of having a digital certificate. In fact, some GSA Schedules already require a digital certificate to access the applications GSA’s eOffer/eMod system. With the increased prominence and use of digital certificates it is important to be informed on what they are, why they are important and how to obtain them. A digital certificate is essentially a way of verifying an individual’s identity and securing internet transmissions. It is reassures the parties involved in the transmission, as it creates verifiable digital signatures and enables secure transmissions of data through encryption and decryption. It is for these added security and verification benefits that the GSA desires its contractors to have these digital certificates.

Breaking news was announced when the Inspector General (IG) released a report stating that The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has spent over $50 million on at least 220 conferences for their employers for the past three years. A total of three congressional committees are currently being investigated and a Justice Department criminal investigation is also under way, according to NBC.

The General Services Administration (GSA), in partnership with a federal cybersecurity interagency working group (comprised of members of the DoD, GSA, DHS, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)), released an RFI for stakeholders’ input to improve the governments’ cybersecurity acquisition and implementation.