Federal News Network Compliance Exchange 2025

The effort to implement Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification continues to be a chief focus across the Defense Department. With the 48 CFR rule in the final stages, DoD is telling industry to expect to start seeing CMMC requirements in defense contracts in the coming months. This will mark a major milestone in federal cybersecurity enforcement. DoD will expect contractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information to provide mandatory third-party assessments under Level 2, while Level 1 remains self-attested. The Pentagon’s implementation CMMC is garnering the attention of civilian agencies too, who may want to do something similar.

At the same time, the General Services Administration is transforming the FedRAMP authorization process through its FedRAMP 20x initiative. This overhaul aims to introduce automated security validations, reduced paperwork and faster approvals for cloud services. The goal? Cut authorization timelines from years  to weeks. A new pilot program is streamlining FedRAMP for AI-based cloud services, especially those offering conversational artificial intelligence for federal use.

This exchange event will provide federal employees and government contractors with critical insights and actionable guidance from leaders at DoD, GSA, other agencies and industry. Topics will include:

• Preparing for CMMC Level 2 certification and navigating the phased rollout
• Understanding the implications of the 48 CFR rule and DFARS clauses
• Leveraging FedRAMP 20x for faster cloud adoption and compliance
• Software attestation and Software Bill of Materials requirements
• Updates to NIST 800-171 and FISMA
• False Claims Act enforcement in cybersecurity
• Supply chain risk management and subcontractor compliance

Join Federal News Network’s journalists as they talk with federal and industry leaders so you can learn how to navigate and successfully meet these cybersecurity and information protection mandates.