GAO | The Contracting Education Academy

March 24, 2021 By cs

10 of 15 of DoD’s major IT projects are behind schedule, GAO finds

The Defense Department’s software development approaches are helping to avoid cost increases and schedule delays for many major information technology systems, but uneven implementation of cybersecurity best practices may be introducing risk to these programs, according to a watchdog report.

In the first of a series of annual reviews of major Defense IT systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined 15 business and non-business DoD IT programs and found 10 programs had schedule delays, including one 5-year delay. Eleven had decreased cost estimates as of December 2019, according to the audit, which was released to the general public just before the holidays.

While GAO didn’t make any specific recommendations in the audit, DoD in its comments said the audit “highlight[s] opportunities for continued improvement to acquiring IT capabilities.”

The main challenge for DoD’s major IT systems is the agency’s mixed record on incorporating cybersecurity best practices.

While all 15 programs are using cybersecurity strategies, only eight conducted cybersecurity vulnerability assessments, which help determine whether security measures are strong enough. In addition, 11 of the 15 programs conducted operational cybersecurity testing, but only six conducted developmental cybersecurity testing.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2021/01/10-15-dods-major-it-projects-are-behind-schedule-gao-found/171155/

March 22, 2021 By cs

GAO report suggests DOE should identify more instances of contractor fraud

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on Department of Energy (DOE) contracting, entitled “Improvements Needed to Ensure DOE Assesses Its Full Range of Contracting Fraud Risks.”

The thrust of the report is that DOE should do more to prevent and detect fraud, particularly in less-examined areas such as bid-rigging, misrepresentation of eligibility, kickbacks and gratuities, and conflicts of interest.

DOE relies on contractors to carry out its missions at laboratories and other facilities, spending approximately 80 percent of its $41 billion in total obligations on contracts. In March 2017, GAO reviewed DOE’s approach to managing its risk of fraud and found DOE did not use leading practices, resulting in missed opportunities to mitigate the likelihood and impact of fraud.

In its most recent report, GAO examined DOE’s processes for managing contracting fraud risks and concluded that DOE has not assessed the full range of fraud risks it faces.

Despite some improvements toward combating fraud in response to GAO’s March 2017 recommendations, GAO noted that the agency’s methods for gathering information capture only top fraud risks and fail to obtain information on fraud risks for non-management and operating (M&O) contractors.

GAO reviewed nine categories of contracting fraud schemes that occurred at DOE sites, and found that DOE’s risk profiles for FY 2018 and 2019 captured five of these nine fraud schemes (billing schemes, payroll schemes, product quality, theft, contract progress schemes), but failed to capture four others: bid-rigging, misrepresentation of eligibility, kickbacks and gratuities, and conflicts of interest. The report urges DOE to give these other areas greater focus in its fraud risk planning.

Keep reading this article at: https://governmentcontractsnavigator.com/2021/01/19/gao-report-suggests-doe-should-identify-more-instances-of-contractor-fraud/

March 15, 2021 By cs

2021 NDAA includes numerous provisions impacting government contracts

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-283) was enacted into law on January 1, 2021, when the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the bill.

The Senate’s move, the final step in the legislative process, followed the House’s earlier vote to override President Trump’s veto in December 2020.

The FY21 NDAA sets funding levels and outlines policy priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It also addresses many areas of importance to government contractors, including acquisition policy and management, supply chain and industrial base matters, and small business issues. The final version of the NDAA produced by negotiators on the Conference Committee included provisions from earlier House and Senate versions, which we summarized in an earlier article.

This article includes our annual summary, by topic, of the most relevant provisions of the FY21 NDAA for government contractors. As detailed below, some of the provisions from the earlier House and Senate versions of the NDAA that we highlighted in our previous article were not accepted into the final version. As we’ve previously summarized, the NDAA also includes numerous provisions addressing cybersecurity and artificial intelligence policies with ramifications far beyond DoD, including implementing recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s 2020 Report.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/national-defense-authorization-act-for-5444697/

March 11, 2021 By cs

GAO: DoD has to get a handle on future services spending

As the Defense Department looks to buy more services, it’s going to need to come up with action plans to better account for spending in future years, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

Timothy DiNapoli, GAO’s director for contracting and national security acquisitions, wrote in a report to Congress that while DoD has identified areas to improve, it has yet to develop clear plans that manage spending services acquisitions over future fiscal years.

“DoD’s October 2020 report discusses the actions DOD has taken, or intends to take, to improve its management of service acquisitions, including actions to address many of the issues we have identified in our past work,” the Feb. 22 report states. “However, DoD’s report does not address our open 2016 recommendations intended to better position DoD to make informed decisions regarding the volume and type of services that should be acquired over the [Future Years Defense Program].”

GAO, which has flagged service contract spending as a high-risk issue since 2001, evaluated the Defense Department’s October report to Congress and found that DOD made strides but failed to lay out a full plan to incorporate spending on services in the future.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2021/02/22/dod-service-contracts-gao.aspx

March 3, 2021 By cs

Microsoft’s president calls for bid protest reforms

After years of pain over the legal battles related to the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, Microsoft is calling on Congress to take a look at the protest process.

During a Tuesday Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on emerging technologies and national security, Microsoft President Brad Smith said it’s time to examine the protest process because it does not keep up with the speed of technological innovation. Smith’s remarks come as continuing legal troubles threaten to sink JEDI, which Microsoft was re-awarded in September.

“We all want to ensure fairness,” Smith said. “And that includes a fair right to be heard. But we could definitely benefit from an accelerated timeline to do so.”

The Defense Department conceived the $10 billion JEDI concept around four years ago, but implementation has been held back because of multiple legal challenges from Oracle, IBM and Amazon Web Services throughout the procurement. Oracle recently filed a petition with the Supreme Court for a review of a decision on its own pre-award JEDI protest.

As it stands, a decision from a federal judge on a motion filed by Microsoft and DoD on portions of AWS’s protest alleging improper political influence in the award process by administration officials is pending.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2021/02/microsoft-president-calls-bid-protest-reforms/172248/

Also see: https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/02/should-pentagon-reform-its-bid-protest-rules/172260/

The Defense Department’s software development approaches are helping to avoid cost increases and schedule delays for many major information technology systems, but uneven implementation of cybersecurity best practices may be introducing risk to these programs, according to a watchdog report.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on Department of Energy (DOE) contracting, entitled “Improvements Needed to Ensure DOE Assesses Its Full Range of Contracting Fraud Risks.”

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 (Pub. L. No. 116-283) was enacted into law on January 1, 2021, when the Senate voted to override President Trump’s veto of the bill.

As the Defense Department looks to buy more services, it’s going to need to come up with action plans to better account for spending in future years, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

After years of pain over the legal battles related to the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, Microsoft is calling on Congress to take a look at the protest process.

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