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Academy launches webpage containing Coronavirus information for contracting officers and contractors

The Contracting Education Academy, a Georgia Tech unit dedicated to supporting the professional education needs of the government’s contracting workforce, has launched a special webpage devoted to providing information and guidance dealing with the impact of COVID-19 on federal contracts.
Click on image above to visit the webpage.

The webpage, located here, presents helpful information to both contracting officials and contractors who are navigating the current contracting environment.

Numerous topics are addressed on the webpage.  For Contracting Officers and other members of the federal acquisition workforce, topics include:

  • Teleworking by contractor employees
  • Quarantine restrictions and excusable delays
  • Equitable adjustments
  • Extending performance periods
  • Contract modifications
  • Maintaining a contractor state of readiness
  • Application of the Stafford Act
  • Communication and transparency in contract administration
  • DoD emergency acquisition and preparedness
  • Tracking COVID-19 contract spending
  • The Defense Production Act
  • The Defense Priorities and Allocations System
  • GSA Schedule purchasing
  • Fraud and price gouging

For the contractor community, the following topics are addressed on the webpage:

  • Preventing workplace exposure and risks
  • Identifying critical infrastructure industries
  • The System for Award Management (SAM)
  • Excusable delay contract provisions
  • Changes clauses
  • Obligation to perform
  • The Defense Priorities and Allocations System
  • DoD progress payments
  • Sales through GSA Schedules
  • Advice for small businesses
  • Economic disaster loans
  • The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Additional information and updates will be added as often as daily to the site.  We suggest you bookmark the site now and check back frequently for the latest news involving the impact of coronavirus on federal contracts.

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Projections on contract spending for 2021 are murky

Though the Defense Department’s actual numbers won’t come out until January, federal contract spending for fiscal 2020 is projected to land somewhere upwards of $600 billion — an $89 billion increase over 2019.  Around $30 billion of that increase was COVID-related spending.

With a vaccine still on the horizon, and a presidential transition now underway, projections on contract spending for 2021 are murkier than usual.  That said, Kevin Plexico, senior vice president for Information Solutions at Deltek, said there are a few things that can be expected.

First, the topline budget caps are already set for next year due to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019.  They provide for modest increases in discretionary spending, which tends to lead to increases in contract spending.  It’s worth noting as well that 2021 is the final year subject to the restrictions of the Budget Control Act.

Second, President-elect Joe Biden has presented a seven-point pandemic response plan, which includes testing and tracing, as well as potentially $25 billion for vaccine development and distribution.  It’s likely to include significant spending on personal protective equipment as well, and it’s possible he could invoke the Defense Production Act toward this end.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2020/11/what-contractors-can-expect-in-2021/

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What lessons can public and private sector organizations share on cybersecurity?

In the midst of receiving the results of the 2020 presidential election, we’re faced with a potential administration change.

As such, we’re entering a period of transition that raises questions about the best way to protect our nation’s digital infrastructure from nefarious actors wishing to cause harm to our systems.

While comparing the difference between how the private sector operates versus the public sector, the past few years have brought into sharp focus the benefits and drawbacks of how each approach cybersecurity.  And looking forward, we see a more intertwined fate of both, as sophisticated and brazen cyberattacks deploy similar TTPs (techniques, tactics and procedures).

After all, phishing and ransomware campaigns don’t care whether you have a .com, .gov or .org email address, and non-state eCrime actors are taking advantage of remote working conditions whether you work for a corporation, city government or a federal agency.

In fact, since March 2020, CrowdStrike has observed a 330% increase from cyber threat actors deploying malicious files using COVID themes. And in the six months from January to June, CrowdStrike’s threat hunting team, OverWatch, observed more hands-on-keyboard intrusions than were seen throughout all of 2019.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/transition-coming-lessons-can-public-private-sector-organizations-share-cybersecurity/

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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/

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Civilian agency contract spending reaches record high in FY20

The novel coronavirus pandemic largely contributed to the increase, Bloomberg Government reports.

Civilian agencies’ contract spending hit a record high of $228 billion in fiscal 2020, an increase of 17% ($33.5 billion) from 2019. The surge in spending is mainly due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and Energy departments drove the increase in spending, Bloomberg Government said in a report.  Of the $228 billion, 26% or $59.4 billion went to small businesses, a $6.5 billion increase from fiscal 2019.

“In previous years there’s been single digit jumps, so this is a huge jump compared to previous years,” Robert Levinson, senior defense analyst at Bloomberg Government, told Government Executive.  He noted that there is a 90-day delay for the Defense Department’s contract spending for security purposes and there is also classified spending that will never be released.

HHS, which spent $41.2 billion in fiscal 2020 in contract obligations, accounted for 44% of the $33.5 billion in overall increased civilian contract spending.  The majority of HHS’ spending was for vaccines, research, ventilators and other pandemic-related efforts.  Some of these contracts, such as for a public relations campaign to “inspire hope” about the pandemic and new data reporting system, have drawn concern from Democratic lawmakers.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/10/civilian-agency-contract-spending-reaches-record-high-fiscal-2020/169127/

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