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.

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.

According to a recent interview with the Federal Times, Acting GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini presented the case that GSA remains undaunted by current budgetary uncertainties. The agency is making efforts to expand market share by rededicating its efforts to channel more federal procurements through GSA contracts. In fact Tom Sharpe, GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service commissioner, highlighted in a separate interview that GSA is creating agency specific plans to help agencies cut costs and save money by using GSA programs and schedules.

On May 20, 2013 the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the third company to become FedRAMP certified as Amazon Web Services. As part of the program, Amazon has been granted two Agency Authorities to Operate (ATOs) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CGI Federal and Autonomic Resources are the other two FedRAMP-certified providers.