As the nation and world continue to take measures to respond to the COVID-19 threat, the federal government and federal contractors will have important roles to play, along with state and local governments, businesses, organizations, families, and individuals. As is clear from this week’s news, the federal government is ramping up its response to the crisis; federal contractors will be called on to step up in many areas.

Particularly noteworthy this week are stories about the challenges of doing classified work remotely, updates on CMMC cybersecurity standards and the impact of coronavirus on implementing the standards, as well as how the coronavirus is affecting the operations of different parts of the government.

Like the rest of the nation and world, we at Koprince Law are closely watching and listening to the recommendations of our public health authorities on a local, regional, and national level. It’s times like these that remind us (not that we need it) of the importance of the government and government contractors in responding to crises. As Tom Hanks said, listen to what medical authorities recommend.

This week, there was plenty of news about the coronavirus and how it will impact federal contracting, as well as pieces about cyber insurance for government contractors, a timeline for cybersecurity auditors, and questions about GSA’s planned e-commerce initiative.

We’ve been enjoying some spring-like weather in these parts lately with highs in the 60s. But March is not just the start of spring, it’s also peak government contracts season.

Here are some interesting stories from the last week in federal government contracting, among them when the first CMMC training course for auditors will come out, e-commerce platforms rumblings, and securing the government’s technology supply chain.

Here in Lawrence, KS, we’re starting to prepare for March Madness–our hometown Hawks are number 1 in the nation. But government contracting is never far from the minds of our attorney-authors. Next week, on March 5, 2020, Nicole Pottroff will be discussing the Buy American Act, Berry Amendment, and Trade Agreements Act for a Govology Webinar. Be sure to put that one on your calendar.

This week saw some intriguing updates in the government contracting world, including a great piece about the father of the 8(a) Program, the security clearance backlog and what is being done about it, and GAO reverting back to its old website.