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March 5, 2020 By cs

GAO declines to limit DoD’s ‘experimental purchasing’ authority

In its recent decision in Air Tractor, Inc., the Government Accountability Office (GAO) held that the Department of Defense (DoD) may, at its own discretion, begin a project with agreements under its prototyping Other Transaction (OT) authority, and award later phases of the same project on a sole source basis under its experimental purchasing authority.

In the decision, GAO discussed distinctions between these avenues, and gave a broad reading to the DoD’s authority to award contracts for experimental work.

The past few years have seen a swell of interest in DoD’s ability to sidestep the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and use more flexible OT authority to enter into contracts.  Thus far, the majority of this interest has centered on DoD’s OT authority to enter into prototype projects, now codified at 10 U.S.C. § 2371b.

One of the most powerful features of DoD’s prototype OT authority is that DoD may award a sole source follow-on production contract for a successful prototype. Congress included some limitations on this authority to award sole source follow-on production contracts at 10 U.S.C. § 2371b(f).   For example, in its decision in Oracle America, Inc., GAO confirmed that DoD must comply with all notice and other specific preconditions at the prototyping stage in order to award a sole source follow-on production contract.

However, prototype OT authority is not DoD’s only authority to award sole source contracts. The Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) itself allows for sole source awards in certain circumstances. In DRS Sustainment Systems, GAO held that DoD need not comply with 10 U.S.C. § 2371b(f) to award a sole source production contract where DoD invokes one of CICA’s exceptions to separately justify the sole source award.  In addition, under 10 U.S.C. § 2373, DoD has authority to make sole source purchases for items it “considers necessary for experimental or test purposes in the development of the best supplies that are needed for the national defense.”

In Air Tractor, GAO held that DoD properly relied on its “experimental purchasing” authority under 10 U.S.C. § 2373 to purchase a set of full production light attack aircraft for use in “experiments” to determine the best use of such planes in combat support.  GAO found that this purchase was acceptable because it met the requirements of § 2373 alone, regardless of the Air Force’s initial use of its § 2371b prototype OT authority to compare various candidate aircraft.  GAO confirmed that while it will exercise jurisdiction to ensure agency compliance with various statutory authorities to award non-procurement contracts, GAO will not impose requirements beyond those stated in the statutes.  In upholding the Air Force’s acquisition strategy, the Air Tractor decision provides valuable insight as to the broad scope of § 2373 “experimental purchasing” authority.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/Government-Public-Sector/895672/GAO-Declines-To-Limit-DoD39s-Experimental-Purchasing-Authority

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition strategy, Air Force, CICA, competition, DoD, experimental purchasing authority, experimentation, FAR, GAO, OTA, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority, prototype, prototyping, sole source

November 13, 2019 By cs

Failure is an option for DoD’s experimental agency, but how much?

Since 2015, millions of dollars have been invested in the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, the agency watched as some of its projects fell flat, and only about 23% the organization’s completed projects ended up in the hands of troops — but the thing is: DIU is completely fine with that.

DIU’s success statistics, delivered in a July report card to Congress, are the first long-term numbers to come out of the Defense Innovation Unit (formerly the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental) since its inception.

The metrics, which also address time-to-contract and other areas, highlight a vexing dichotomy currently playing out in the Defense landscape: How can the world’s largest military field state-of-the-art technologies faster to counter China and Russia without compromising oversight and opening the door for waste?

While successful DIU experiments ended up, or will end up, as technologies that will protect service members from drones and detect cyber vulnerabilities on DoD networks, 77% of completed prototypes DIU invested in failed to make it to contract or have yet to make it to contract. That leaves millions of taxpayer dollars on the table, which can sometimes be a hard sell for lawmakers. Congress remains at least marginally skeptical of the program built to convert private cutting edge technology for military use.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2019/10/special-report-failure-is-an-option-for-dods-experimental-agency-but-how-much/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: advanced technology, Defense Innovation Unit, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, DIU, DIUx, DoD, experimentation, innovation, investment, modern technology development, prototype, prototyping, rapid prototyping, research, technological advancement, technology development, technology research, waste

August 13, 2019 By AMK

We’ve admired the federal acquisition problem for too long

Agencies must inculcate cultures of experimentation and learning if the U.S. is to prevail economically and militarily.

On a recent trip to Tampa, I asked a consultant on my team supporting U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Acquisition Technology & Logistics what accounts for the Command’s acquisition success. “It’s a mindset thing,” she replied.

Later that day, as I continued my visit to SOCOM’s contracting activity, I happened upon the essentials of that mindset. They were captured in an inscription painted on the wall in a heavily traveled hallway. It said:

“We never stop …
We never stop learning …
We never stop iterating …
We never stop experimenting …”

That mindset at SOCOM drives a culture born and sustained from the intensity of the mission and the close relationships, in proximity and bond of purpose, between special operators and the acquirers who support them. The tooth and the tail meld. The mindset is shared by all members of the team. It is expected of everyone. It pushes teams to find the best solutions at the speed of relevance.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2019/07/viewpoint-weve-admired-federal-acquisition-problem-too-long/158719/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition, acquisition reform, DFARS, experimentation, FAR, innovation, OFPP, OMB, procurement reform, risk, SOCOM

March 21, 2017 By AMK

DHS takes ‘corrective action’ on agile contract experiment

The Homeland Security Department (DHS) has reconsidered which companies are eligible to sell it agile software development services.

DHS’ $1.5 billion contracting vehicle, called Flexible Agile Support for the Homeland, or FLASH, has removed two companies from the original 13 pre-approved vendor list.

FLASH is an experimental contracting system, similar to tech consultancy 18F’s Agile Blanket Purchase Agreement, which aims to make it easier for agencies to buy software development services. It also aims to promote companies that haven’t traditionally sold to government, DHS officials have said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2017/03/dhs-takes-corrective-action-agile-contract-experiment/136084

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, agile, award protest, DHS, experimentation, FLASH, procurement reform

September 30, 2014 By AMK

Hagel’s right-hand man on acquisition reform

Hagel needed to accompany President Barack Obama to Tampa, Florida, for a briefing at U.S. Central Command about the now-underway airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria. Hagel needed a trusted confidant to fill in for him at the Air Force Association conference in Maryland, so he turned to Frank Kendall, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition.

Hagel’s choice in Kendall to deliver the remarks he had already penned is the latest in a series of actions that demonstrates the close relationship two have developed over the past year, defense officials close to both men say.

Moreover, the relationship has helped elevate Kendall’s acquisition reform – or as he prefers to say, “acquisition improvement” – initiatives, the latest of which was unveiled last week.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/management/2014/09/hagels-right-hand-man-acquisition-reform/95048/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition strategy, Better Buying Power, DoD, experimentation, funding, procurement reform, prototyping, technology

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