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October 13, 2020 By cs

Combat leaders go through hell to learn about risk … the acquisition corps should do the same

One reason the ‘culture of innovation’ hasn’t taken proper hold at the Pentagon is that its buyers aren’t trained over and over to weigh uncertainties.

Why does the Pentagon remain unable to properly exploit the opportunities afforded by advances in technology and other fields?

It’s not for lack of exhortation: a long list of Defense leaders, up to and including the current secretary, has urged the Department’s people to innovate, to take risks.

They don’t know how.

This is no slur on today’s acquisition corps, which is full of bright, hard-working people. But making good judgments in the face of risk is hard. It involves a complex web of decisions, actions and counteractions that often spiral well beyond the scope of the original task. The higher the stakes, the tougher risk management becomes. The same is true of combat — which is exactly why the military insists that its combat leaders train and study and review and practice, over and over again, in ever-more complex scenarios, so that they are as ready as possible to handle real risk.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/09/combat-leaders-go-through-hell-learn-about-risk-acquisition-corps-should-do-same/168543/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, DoD, innovation, judgement, Pentagon, procurement reform, risk, risk management

October 7, 2020 By cs

10 tantalizing topics testing procurement in the new fiscal year

Change is in the air.

The leaves are beginning to fall to the ground, the morning air is turning crisp, the days are getting shorter — all signaling that we are approaching the end of the government fiscal year.

The beginning of a new fiscal year provides an opportunity for reflection, during which, we can look ahead at the issues and questions that likely will shape procurement over the coming year.

With that in mind, here are 10 topics that surely will be of interest across the procurement stakeholder community.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2020/09/10-tantalizing-topics-testing-procurement-in-the-new-fiscal-year/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, competition, coronavirus, COVID-19, ecommerce, Federal Supply Schedule, IDIQ, innovation, multiple award contract, OTA, other transaction authority, pandemic, performance based logistics, procurement reform, small business

September 21, 2020 By cs

Pentagon seeks TurboTax-like tool for artificial intelligence purchases

It’s part of a new acquisition model that would explore the potential of pursuing contracts outside the Federal Acquisition Regulation, mixed with traditional contracts.

The Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center set sights on producing a new-and-improved business model for purchasing artificial intelligence tools in hopes of driving quicker procurement from both typical and non-traditional companies through a means that’s scalable across the Defense Department.

Together with Army Contracting Command Rock Island, the AI-strategizing center is considering launching a competition for a 501(c) or non-profit manager of the prototype model and would like to engage potential partners, according to a request for information published August 28.

The to-be-created model would incorporate a TurboTax-like automated system to streamline buying information.

The JAIC is also interested in hearing from organizations that would want to participate in a consortium-like body that could deliver AI capabilities for defense-driven missions under the model. Through the new approach, the center would leverage other transaction authorities, a contracting method that bypasses traditional federal procurement rules in an effort to attract new, innovative vendors and solutions.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2020/08/pentagon-seeks-turbotax-tool-artificial-intelligence-purchases/168114/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: agile, AI, artificial intelligence, DISA, DoD, FAR, GSA, innovation, JAIC, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, OTA, other transaction authorities, other transaction authority, Pentagon, prototyping, RFI

September 16, 2020 By cs

Pentagon, Defense contractors are out of step on tech innovation, GAO finds

The Pentagon wanted to fund ambitious research into future tech breakthroughs but contractors spend most of their money on safer bets, GAO has found.

Two years after the Pentagon set out to spend billions on 10 breakthrough research and engineering efforts, defense contractors instead are putting most of their money in less ambitious research projects.

The development gap between the military and its suppliers troubled investigators at the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, who determined in a report released last Thursday that the Defense Department isn’t keeping good watch over those private efforts and doesn’t know how much of it would fit into the military’s tech goals.

The Pentagon’s undersecretary for research and engineering in 2018 laid out several big idea research areas that would be most relevant to maintaining an edge on China or Russia.  Many are in the very early stages of maturation; the biggest breakthroughs are expected in the second half of the coming decade.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/pentagon-defense-contractors-are-out-step-tech-innovation-gao-finds/168237/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: Air Force, breakthrough, China, defense contractors, DoD, GAO, innovation, Pentagon, research, Russia

September 11, 2020 By cs

IRS offering up to $7 million to develop ‘data mashing’ tools in support of frictionless acquisition

Using its experimental multiphase Pilot IRS contract vehicle, the agency issued a quickturn solicitation to improve data collection for a governmentwide effort to improve procurement.

The IRS is using its relatively new, quickturn procurement vehicle — Pilot IRS — to support a governmentwide data collection effort in support of fixing pain points in the government’s acquisition process.

This summer, the Office of Management and Budget rolled out a new cross-agency priority, or CAP, goal entitled “Frictionless Acquisition,” with the aim of delivering “commercial items at the same speed as the market place and manage customers’ delivery expectations for acquisitions of non-commercial items by breaking down barriers to entry using modern business practices and technologies,” according to the goal statement on Performance.gov.

Part of that goal includes improving information collected about federal procurements and the ways that data is standardized and combined to gain insights — also known as “data mashing.”

IRS procurement officials were tapped to figure out how best to accomplish this task with regard to prices for goods and services and issued a request for proposals this week using its experimental contracting vehicle.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/09/irs-offering-7m-develop-data-mashing-tools-support-frictionless-acquisition/168252/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, BLS, contract vehicle, data collection, data mashing, experimental purchasing authority, frictionless acquisition, GSA, innovation, IRS, performance, Pilot IRS, procurement reform

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