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October 19, 2020 By cs

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/

November 8, 2019 By cs

How 5 federal agencies fostered innovation

New report showcases initiatives including a procurement lab and virtual internship program.

In “Risk and Reward: A Framework for Federal Innovation,” the Partnership for Public Service, in collaboration with Slalom Consulting, investigated innovative federal organizations and what made them successful.

Change can be difficult in the federal government, but some agencies are making headway on fostering innovation in the workplace and could serve as a model for others, according to a new report.

The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and Slalom Consulting, a firm that focuses on technology and business transformation, released a report on federal innovation at their first-ever federal innovation summit on Friday. They conducted interviews across 16 agencies and analyzed federal employee survey data to identify 10 characteristics that best foster innovation. Their report profiled five agencies that have used many of the characteristics to implement successful innovation initiatives.

“While innovative ideas are often stifled by a lack of leadership support, bureaucratic barriers and the absence of incentives and resources, there are many bright spots across the federal landscape,” the report stated. “There are agencies rising to the challenge — creating environments where new ideas are encouraged and are flourishing in areas dealing with national security, global development, health care, federal procurement and space exploration, among others.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2019/11/how-five-federal-agencies-fostered-innovation/161036/

September 8, 2016 By AMK

The import of federal SBIR and STTR programs and why Congress should act quickly to reauthorize them

Despite bipartisan efforts, the future is uncertain for the by all accounts highly successful Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Authorization for the current programs expires September 30, 2017. Reauthorization efforts are underway, but it is not clear at this time when the House and Senate will consider the pending legislation necessary to ensure no lapse in the programs.

Congress’s failure to reauthorize these programs would be an unfortunate mistake.

SBIR STTR Legislation 2016 The SBIR program provides $2.5 billion a year in seed funding to companies with emerging technologies. Since program inception, more than 150,000 SBIR awards worth over $42 billion have been made. The companies receiving these funds may not yet have a prototype or the proof of concept required to receive other private sources of funding, making government support all the more important. The STTR program supports, among other things, innovative advances in health care, with the NIH providing about one-third of the annual STTR funding, which currently is approximately $220 million.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=522216

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

New report showcases initiatives including a procurement lab and virtual internship program.

Despite bipartisan efforts, the future is uncertain for the by all accounts highly successful Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

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