The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
You are here: Home / Archives for efficiency

By

What is a continuing resolution?

A continuing resolution, or CR, is a temporary measure Congress can use to fund the government for a limited time. CRs are typically used to buy time for lawmakers to enact longer-term spending measures.

The passage of a CR usually means the regular process of passing the 12 appropriations bills by the start of the fiscal year has failed because of a standoff between political parties, or between Congress and the president.

While that’s not unusual, the Defense Department — as of mid-November 2019 — has operated under a CR for an average of 119 days per year during the last nine years, compared to an average of 32 days per year during the previous seven, according to the Congressional Research Service.

If Congress and the president fail to act, the government shuts down. Federal agencies are typically disrupted; nonessential operations are suspended, and federal employees and government contractors are left in limbo.

Because a CR will continue the funding rates of the previous year’s appropriations acts, it may bar an agency from starting or resuming a project for which there were no funds the previous year. Before the start of fiscal 2018, for example, the Pentagon identified 75 weapons programs that would experience delays because of the CR’s prohibition on starting new programs and because quantities would be restricted on 40 programs.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/11/18/what-is-a-continuing-resolution/

By

New case studies highlight the importance of federal program management

Nearly three years after being signed into law, the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act (PMIAA) exists to address an urgent need within the U.S. federal government.

In October 2019, PMI and the Partnership for Public Service hosted “Delivering on Your Mission: What PMIAA Means for Effective Execution,” a timely event focused on how the PMIAA can help improve federal project and program management capabilities and performance.

With agencies and their program management improvement officers (PMIOs) tasked with delivering complex and diverse streams of benefits to citizens — from disaster relief to Social Security payments to investments in medical research, new technologies and state-of-the-art defense system — strong project and program management capabilities and practices can improve outcomes and drive effective execution throughout the federal government.

“PMIAA has the potential to transform how federal agencies deliver their missions,” said Tina Sung, vice president with the Partnership for Public Service. “It was clear during our recent event that PMIOs from across government are committed to meeting the spirit of this law, implementing it effectively and using it to amplify their agencies’ impact.”

At the event, PMI released a capstone report, “PMIAA: Strengthening the Government Delivery Foundation,” and a series of case studies highlighting how agencies and PMIOs are leveraging resources and partners inside and outside of government to help accelerate, validate and accomplish their missions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/opinions/2019/11/08/new-case-studies-highlight-the-importance-of-federal-program-management/

By

How ‘night court’ will impact the Pentagon’s acquisition office

When U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper launched a review this summer of the departmentwide offices known as the “fourth estate,” he made it clear that everything, including cuts to programs and personnel, were on the table.

Two months into that review, clear themes have emerged, according to Pentagon acquisition head Ellen Lord: Esper isn’t looking to cut just to cut, and if offices aren’t tied directly into war-fighting needs, they may no longer belong in the Department of Defense.

Speaking on a panel at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference last Monday, Lord said several of her offices, including the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Defense Acquisition University, have gone through the review process.

“What we’ve seen there is more, perhaps, a pushing back of certain functions to either services or to intel,” Lord said. “Where I’ve seen a question of actually cutting the workforce is non-true DoD missions. As we’ve gone through a lot of the different areas, if it isn’t war fighting, if it’s something that one of the other agencies or the other departments across government has asked us to do, or if it’s something that should be a function of another department because it’s not about lethality, it will get cut.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2019/10/15/how-night-court-will-impact-the-pentagons-acquisition-office

By

Trump’s top acquisition official outlines priorities

Michael Wooten, the new administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), wants contracting professionals to meet 21st-century tech challenges head-on.
Dr. Michael Wooten was confirmed by the Senate as Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy on Aug. 1, 2019.

Confirmed by the Senate in August, Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Michael Wooten laid out a set of tech-heavy priorities Monday as he prepares to shape the way agencies buy goods and services.

In remarks made at a conference hosted by the Professional Services Council, Wooten said modernizing the policies that govern approximately $550 billion in annual spending represents a “huge opportunity,” but one government cannot undertake on its own.

Rather, it will require an educated, empowered acquisition workforce partnering with industry to provide an abundance of commercial technologies to a rapidly-changing federal government, Wooten said.

“The technological promise of the future is unparalleled and the acquisition world needs to be ready,” Wooten said. “I see modernizing the system as a huge opportunity, and one I need [industry’s] help in doing.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/09/trumps-top-acquisition-official-outlines-priorities/159910/

By

IRS doesn’t have an R&D shop, so it built a $7 million procurement vehicle instead

The ‘Pilot IRS’ program is about to issue its first solicitation, offering the agency a new way to automate low-level functions while testing a new acquisition method.

The IRS — like all federal agencies — is under several mandates to incorporate new and emerging technologies to improve its day to day operations and its mission of administering the nation’s tax code.

But the IRS doesn’t have a research and development office nor special acquisition authorities such as other transaction authority or a commercial solutions opening program. The IRS doesn’t even have funds allocated for R&D.

Instead, a team in the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer used parts 12 and 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation to create Pilot IRS, a phased, incremental funding procurement vehicle that will let the agency test new technologies on faster timelines without added risk. If a solution fails to meet expectations, it won’t proceed to the next phase of funding.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/08/irs-doesnt-have-rd-shop-so-it-built-7m-procurement-vehicle-instead/158952/

Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter