Search Results for: acquisition

October 28, 2020 By cs

IRS, Army using automation to cut hours out of the acquisition process

Just about a year ago, Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Dr. Michael Wooten unveiled what likely will be his signature priority — removing friction from the acquisition process.

While many in industry privately mock and question what that concept or phrase really means, it’s clear that frictionless acquisition will lean heavily on robotics process automation (RPA) and other initiatives to lessen the burden on contracting officers.

That became abundantly clear during the ACT-IAC Acquisition Excellence conference a couple weeks ago.

Not only did Wooten continue to message this now governmentwide goal, he also offered some real life examples of what the future could look like.

One of those efforts focuses on reducing procurement administrative lead time (PALT).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/10/irs-army-using-automation-to-cut-hours-out-of-the-acquisition-process/

October 22, 2020 By cs

Pentagon transitioning its COVID-19 acquisition task force to permanent office

The Joint Acquisition Task Force the Pentagon set up to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going away, even when the pandemic finally does.

Defense officials have decided to turn it into a permanent assisted acquisition organization to help other federal agencies deal with complex procurement problems.

The department set up the task force earlier this year to serve as the single coordinator for the acquisition support it offered to other agencies during the COVID response. Since then, it’s executed more than $3 billion in contracts for other agencies — mostly the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Ellen Lord, DoD’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said department leaders determined the interagency cooperation function needs to be an enduring capability. Starting in 2021, the Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) will become the Defense Assisted Acquisition Cell (DA2C), and will be part of the existing Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell (JRAC).

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/09/pentagon-transitioning-its-covid-19-acquisition-task-force-to-permanent-office/

October 13, 2020 By cs

Combat leaders go through hell to learn about risk … the acquisition corps should do the same

One reason the ‘culture of innovation’ hasn’t taken proper hold at the Pentagon is that its buyers aren’t trained over and over to weigh uncertainties.

Why does the Pentagon remain unable to properly exploit the opportunities afforded by advances in technology and other fields?

It’s not for lack of exhortation: a long list of Defense leaders, up to and including the current secretary, has urged the Department’s people to innovate, to take risks.

They don’t know how.

This is no slur on today’s acquisition corps, which is full of bright, hard-working people. But making good judgments in the face of risk is hard. It involves a complex web of decisions, actions and counteractions that often spiral well beyond the scope of the original task. The higher the stakes, the tougher risk management becomes. The same is true of combat — which is exactly why the military insists that its combat leaders train and study and review and practice, over and over again, in ever-more complex scenarios, so that they are as ready as possible to handle real risk.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/09/combat-leaders-go-through-hell-learn-about-risk-acquisition-corps-should-do-same/168543/

October 6, 2020 By cs

IG finds ‘significant inaccuracies’ in Federal Acquisition Service’s reporting of small business contracts

This resulted from issues with the GSA-managed federal procurement data system.

There have been “significant inaccuracies” in the Federal Acquisition Service’s reporting of small business contracts, a watchdog reported earlier this week.

The General Service Administration inspector general has issued a report that looked at the data GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service entered into the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation, which is managed by GSA. The Small Business Administration uses that system to assess if the federal government achieves its overall annual goal of awarding 23% of contracts to small businesses. Based on its review of Federal Acquisition Service procurements from fiscal 2016 and 2017 (that totaled $3.7 billion), the IG identified issues that led to overstating of small businesses procurements.

“We found that FAS’s reporting of small business procurements contained significant inaccuracies. We identified $89 million in procurements erroneously recorded as small business in [the Federal Procurement Data System–Next Generation],” said the IG. “In addition, FAS’ small business procurement reporting does not identify the extent of the work performed by large businesses. We found approximately $120 million of small business procurements in which large businesses performed a portion of the work.”

The IG reviewed the agency’s contracting data and internal policies as well as interviewed GSA officials and small business contractors, for its audit that was conducted from June 2018 to June 2019. While the report was about FAS, the IG found the issues were, in some ways, out the agency’s control.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/analytics-data/2020/09/ig-finds-significant-inaccuracies-federal-acquisition-services-reporting-small-business-contracts/168602/

October 1, 2020 By cs

GAO issues definitive list of most important federal IT acquisitions

The Government Accountability Office scored more than 100 federal IT projects and offered detailed breakdowns of the most “essential mission-critical IT acquisitions.”

**Click on image above to download GAO report.**

With technology now at the center of every aspect of American life, the Government Accountability Office took a look at the state of federal IT acquisitions and came up with a list of the 16 most important technology buys going on right now.

Every federal agency and program office has at least one major IT project in the works, with many juggling several simultaneously. But a report released on Sept. 8 puts a spotlight on major ongoing IT acquisitions that will have the biggest impact on some of the most critical government services like paying taxes, managing biometrics databases, making sure planes don’t crash and maintaining the health of soldiers and veterans.

“Our specific objective was to identify essential mission-critical IT acquisitions across the federal government and determine their key attributes,” GAO auditors wrote.

To find the most important IT acquisitions in government, GAO began by issuing a questionnaire to the 24 agencies covered under the CFO Act. All but one agency — the Defense Department — responded with their five most critical programs, giving auditors a starting list of 98 acquisitions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/09/gao-reviews-16-most-critical-it-programs-government/168347/