3 minute read | Cybersecurity, Collaboration

Raising the Bar for Collaboration through Conversation & Understanding

Hear from our experts: The topic of collaboration between government and industry continues to be a hot topic, and increasingly critical to national security. A recent Defense One article spotlighted this, as David McKeown, the Pentagon’s acting principal deputy CIO, expressed that the voluntary nature of the Pentagons’ cyber support and verification efforts has been a key point of failure given a reluctancy of open communications and collaboration by industry partners.

McKeown’s statements were made in anticipation of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, an upcoming federal rule requiring all defense contractors to undergo 3rd party verification of their cybersecurity processes.

Samara Schulman, President, OnPoint Consulting, Inc., and Pete Tseronis, Founder and CEO, Dots and Bridges take on this topic to discuss how the collaboration requested by Department of Defense as part of the CMMC program is an example of where industry and government can work together more effectively through transparency and openness that benefits all involved.

OnPoint's Key Points

Samara leaned on her extensive leadership background in government contracting to identify important pros and cons associated with the model including:

Samara believes government leaders should have the ability to check claims made by companies commenting, “government should have a right to check and see if that company is living by what they’re trying to do for government and trying to government with.”
She also acknowledged that as a contractor this was likely to be one of her more controversial statements in this conversation, but it is also exactly what is needed to get the ball rolling on the development of open government.

The conversation closes with a call to action for companies to be comfortable with having tough and honest discussions with the government leaders they are supporting as the imperative for moving the needle on this collaborative approach – and ultimately helping programs such as CMMC be more effective – and improve our national security.

For more, we invite you to listen to this illuminating conversation between two experts at the cutting edge of government contracting.

Listen to the discussion

Samara Schulman
President, OnPoint Consulting, Inc.

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