Tag Archives: FL

Innovative Infrastructure

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The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal (also known by the formal title, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), kick-started activity to modernize our nation's critical physical assets and reimagine how we use transportation, utilities, and more with $1.2 trillion in funding. In just the last year, $200 billion has been distributed over 20,000 projects in all 50 states and U.S. territories. That includes starting repairs to more than 69,000 miles of roadway, 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations, 3,700 bridge repair and replacement projects, and fielding of 5,000 clean transit school buses. Money continues to be made available through grants to improve legacy infrastructure and introduce new technologies to improve how the nation uses infrastructure.

Everything Old is New Again

Rail travel is receiving heavy investment due to increased usage and demand. Virginia and North Carolina have seen record-high ridership in the last year and those states are now looking for ways to increase the number and frequency of passenger travel. Virginia is looking to purchase right of way from freight railroads, so it can install passenger-only tracks at key chokepoints. Tennessee is also looking to increase rail options in the state pulling together potential ridership numbers to advocate for federal investment in new rail lines to serve the state and surrounding metropolitan areas. Continue reading →

New Dimensions for 3D Printing

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While most people are familiar with 3D printing as something your engineer neighbor messes around with in their basement to produce small models, the applications of the technology can be much more significant than a hobbyist's weekend activity. The technology is being used in some mission critical and massive scale projects across government.

Construction

An early, small-scale application of 3D printing in the construction industry was recreating historical fixtures for renovations. Historical buildings, many of which house government agencies and government-run museums, have light fixtures, molding, door knobs, etc. that may need replacing. Finding actual replacements for centuries old materials is incredibly difficult and building them from traditional materials is time consuming and costly. 3D printing has proven to be a valuable solution to maintaining the historical look quickly and at a much reduced cost. Continue reading →

Defining the Value of Digital Assets

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Digital assets are more than just bitcoin and they are having an incredible impact on how legitimate and illegitimate transactions are conducted. Breaking it down to a simple level there are three basic forms of digital assets:

  • Digital currency is the electronic form of traditional currency. It is what is stored in a digital wallet, transmitted electronically and then turned into actual cash when withdrawn from a bank or ATM.
  • Cryptocurrency is the encrypted form of digital currency that uses blockchain technology to move it around. Cryptocurrency does not require a financial institution to verify the transaction.
  • Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a one-of-a-kind digital asset that represents a real-world item such as photos, music, videos and trading cards.

Unfortunately, as with any new technology, bad actors are finding ways to exploit these assets while the rest of the world is still trying to fully understand them. Continue reading →

Charting the Future of Defense

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The National Defense Strategy (NDS) sets the strategic direction for our military to meet the security threats of tomorrow. Overall, the Defense Strategy focuses on China and Russia as the primary adversaries, but it also emphasizes the importance of global cooperation among allies as well as adversaries to meet threats that are bigger than any one country including climate change, food insecurity, and pandemics. The defense strategy lays out three primary tactics for advancing U.S. and global security.

Integrated Deterrence

The practice of integrated deterrence involves working closely across all branches of the military, warfighting domains, and even across other federal entities to ensure national security. It expands responsibility for deterring adversaries beyond the Department of Defense (DoD), involving the intelligence community, health agencies, environmental agencies, and more. Continue reading →

How GovCon Got Its Groove Back: Networking Best Practices

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In-person events are back in force, but we're all a little rusty at networking. Anyone who has attended an in-person event recently has likely had the conversation with fellow attendees, "Wow, I'm not sure how to do this anymore." To help us all get back in our groove, we wanted to pull together a list of tried and true as well as some new tips to make your attendance at the next government networking event feel a bit more natural. Continue reading →