Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act | The Contracting Education Academy

Terry Halvorsen, who served as the Pentagon’s top tech official for two and a half years before leaving in February, is calling on Congress to imbue his old role with more authorities to pursue emerging technologies.

Speaking before a House Armed Services subcommittee, Halvorsen lamented that he could not pursue even small investments in promising technologies because of outdated acquisition policies during his tenure at the Defense Department’s tech chief, despite overseeing a nearly $40 billion budget. Halvorsen is now an executive at Samsung.

“There is only one nation that doesn’t have this authority in the Five Eyes and that would be us,” Halvorsen said, referencing the intelligence alliance between the U.S. and New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2017/04/pentagons-top-techie-needs-purchasing-power-closest-allies-former-dod-cio-says/137384/

One of the many things on the plate of Jared Kushner’s new Office of American Innovation is acquisition reform.

Angela Styles, former Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) administrator and current chairwoman of the Crowell and Moring law firm, said before the office gets started, it should examine the mistakes of past attempts at acquisition reform.

“I actually think there’s a lot left to reform, whether it’s IT or general acquisition,” Styles told the Federal Drive with Tom Temin. “It’s actually become more complicated to buy than easier to buy. In some ways, I think we need to look back to the original Clinton changes and go back to what was intended there and make it easier for federal employees to access the marketplace.”

She said reforms that set out to provide more flexibilities and discretion to contracting officers instead wound up leveling so many requirements on them that it’s harder to buy now than it was 10 years ago.

And legislation from Congress, like the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, hasn’t helped much, she said.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/federal-drive/2017/04/angela-styles/

Pentagon’s top techie needs purchasing power of closest allies

Terry Halvorsen, who served as the Pentagon’s top tech official for two and a half years before leaving in February, is calling on Congress to imbue his old role with more authorities to pursue emerging technologies.

What’s the future of IT acquisition?

One of the many things on the plate of Jared Kushner’s new Office of American Innovation is acquisition reform.

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