WASHINGTON – BlackBerry said Tuesday that it is creating a new independent wholly-owned subsidiary in Washington, D.C. to better serve and deepen ties with U.S. federal agencies.
Known as BlackBerry Government Solutions, the entity has a separate corporate governance structure from BlackBerry Limited to comply with U.S. national security requirements. It will be led by Robert E. Day, Jr., a retired U.S. Coast Guard rear admiral who has been with BlackBerry since 2016.
Day will continue to guide BlackBerry products through the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) and Agency/Component Authority to Operate (ATO) certifications, as well as oversee the mandated continuous monitoring and maintenance of BlackBerry FedRAMP cloud services.
"A tidal wave of connected devices is in sight and I believe BlackBerry is uniquely positioned to help the U.S. government securely build and connect all 'things' from ATVs and drones to documents, emails, and the data that flows between," said BlackBerry executive chairman and CEO John Chen, in the news release. "This new subsidiary allows us to deepen our reach within the U.S. government sector by ensuring our next-generation cybersecurity solutions and Spark platform meet FedRAMP and ATO certifications, as well as provide our customers with a higher-level of service."
BlackBerry also announced that the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency has awarded a contract for BlackBerry's SecuSuite for Government to encrypt the conversations of its technology and cyber leaders wherever they communicate – in the workplace, at home or travelling abroad.
The NCI Agency acquires, deploys and defends communication systems for NATO's political decision-makers and command centres, helping NATO's 29 member-nations communicate securely and work together in smarter ways.
Photo borrowed from BlackBerry’s Twitter account
