DroneShield won a $33 million order from a U.S. Government agency. The award consists of DroneShield C-UAS / counterdrone equipment and multi-year services.
DroneShield’s U.S. CEO Matt McCrann shared, “We’re honored to receive this award and support this customer. This award is a result of their trust in DroneShield and our solutions, and reflects our commitment to their mission.”
The company expects to receive full payment of the order prior to the end of 2023 and anticipates this year to be another record year, by a wide margin, following the previous record year in 2022.
This latest order follows a $9.9 million order announced earlier this month, from another customer among the Five Eyes community.
Layoffs: MIcrosoft
According to the Washington Times, Microsoft began their new fiscal year with another round of layoffs. The numbers this time are nowhere near the 10,000 reported in January. Last week, Microsoft filed a memo, indicating that 276 people would be impacted by the cuts in Redmond, WA. Social media traffic shows sales and customer service employees announcing layoff news as they look for a new job.
Hiring: Accenture
Recently, Accenture announced plans to double their AI talent to 80,000 people. They plan to do this through hiring, acquisitions, and training. Accenture is making a $3 billion investment in AI to expand their industry solutions and pre-built models.
“There is unprecedented interest in all areas of AI, and the substantial investment we are making in our Data & AI practice will help our clients move from interest to action to value, and in a responsible way with clear business cases,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO, Accenture. “Companies that build a strong foundation of AI by adopting and scaling it now, where the technology is mature and delivers clear value, will be better positioned to reinvent, compete and achieve new levels of performance. Our clients have complex environments, and at a time when the technology is changing rapidly, our deep understanding of ecosystem solutions allows us to help them navigate quickly and cost effectively to make smart decisions.”
Cleared Employer at Work: CISA
Are you looking for a new and exciting career? The nation’s cyber defense agency is hiring! Take the next step in advancing your career with a challenging and rewarding position with an agency that recognizes hard work and values skilled, diverse talent. Explore careers!
Opportunity to Watch
Canoo Technologies announced that the U.S. DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) significantly expanded the scope of its previously announced partnership.
The company says it has leveraged it advanced commercial battery and integration expertise to deliver to the DoD partners a technologically advanced battery pack that can be scaled for use on operational military platforms and will set the stage for standardization of energy dense lithium batteries for the U.S. Navy. This follows DIU’s testing and analysis of Canoo’s proprietary technology since February 2023.
“We are honored to deepen our collaboration with the Department of Defense,” says Tony Aquila. Chairman and CEO, Canoo. “We are inspired by their leadership and focus on encouraging American innovation. A core value to our re-founding is to invent and leverage our technology to contribute to our nation’s leadership in defense technology. We are guided by our commitment to continuously innovating our patented technologies to better equip our partners to win whether it be in commercial or consumer markets, or in aiding our nation’s defense.”
Canoo’s proprietary battery system is modular and offers industry-leading performance features, supporting various military applications and configurations. Designed for flexibility, modularity, and compatibility, Canoo’s battery system is future proofed in its capability to incorporate the latest advancements of battery technology. Canoo’s agreement with DIU will be instrumental in achieving strategic energy resilience.
Canoo has a battery module manufacturing facility at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, OK, within the Cherokee Nation. In phase one, the new facility will create over 200 advanced manufacturing jobs. In addition, Canoo will be the first technology company to produce battery modules and packs primarily using hydro and wind power sources from the Grand River Dam Authority based in Oklahoma, Aquila notes.
