NDAA | The Contracting Education Academy

July 16, 2018 By cs

Alternative acquisition approach offers promise

Small businesses often lead the pack in innovation and agility, but cumbersome acquisition processes can stall the way forward when working with government agencies.

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) hopes to grease the skids between ingenuity and warfighters by offering a streamlined method for carrying out prototype projects and transitioning successes into follow-on production.

The Other Transaction Authority (OTA) methodology offers an alternative to the traditional rules outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) process. Congress officially implemented the OTA in 1994 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, Congress doubled the dollar thresholds of OTAs that required approvals. In addition, the definition of prototype was broadened to include an analysis, process improvement, hardware and software.

Scott Stewart, technical director, Procurement Services Directorate, DISA, understands that today’s innovators in revolutionary and disruptive technologies come from a sector of the economy that faces fewer restrictions in procurement regulations than those the federal government poses. As a result, DISA executes and enters into OTA agreements to leverage leading-edge technologies, while appreciating and accommodating the limitations of these market leaders, he explains.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/alternative-acquisition-approach-offers-promise

July 3, 2018 By cs

To streamline acquisitions, 809 Panel presses DoD to adopt portfolio management

The congressionally-mandated panel in charge of finding ways to streamline the Defense acquisition system called last Thursday for dramatic changes in how the Defense Department organizes itself to define requirements for weapons systems and manage its procurement budgets, saying DoD must move to a “portfolio-centric” approach to procuring military equipment.

In the second volume of its report to Congress, the Section 809 Panel said the Pentagon’s current decision making and incentive structures are far too focused on individual weapons programs, not on broader portfolios of capabilities.

In a related problem, the panel said the three broader communities within DoD that are in charge of deciding what to buy, prioritizing funding for those systems, and actually conducting procurements, are too siloed to make the sorts of quick, agile decisions needed to deliver military capabilities that are relevant to the modern battlefield.

“The highly centralized management framework of each support system fosters inconsistent accountability and responsibility,” the panel wrote. “Decision-making processes that focus on individual programs instead of enterprise capabilities as a whole cultivate a system bereft of flexibility, speed, and innovation.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/defense-main/2018/06/to-streamline-acquisitions-809-panel-presses-dod-to-adopt-porfolio-management/

June 19, 2018 By cs

Army incurred costly delays on construction of Texas hospital

The Army’s delays and added work orders for construction improvements for a hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas, cost the Defense Department more than $32.1 million, according to a new report from the inspector general.

The watchdog faulted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Defense Health Agency for a lack of guidance on reporting of expenditures.

An audit of the continuing construction of the Fort Bliss Hospital Replacement project was required under the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. When complete, it will be a 1.13 million square foot-facility housing 135 hospital beds, 10 operating rooms and 30 specialty clinics, plus an administrative building, a research building, a central utility plant, two access control points and surface parking.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/defense/2018/06/army-incurred-costly-delays-construction-texas-hospital/148899/

May 22, 2018 By cs

DoD implements FY18 NDAA requirement for post-debriefing Q&A process

This past March marked the beginning of a more fulsome required debriefing process for defense contracts.

The Director of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) issued a class deviation memorandum, effective March 22, 2008, requiring contracting officers to: (1) provide unsuccessful offerors an opportunity to submit additional questions within two days after receiving a debriefing; and (2) hold the debriefing open until the agency delivers written responses. The class deviation implements Section 818 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA).

Federal agencies have long been required to debrief unsuccessful bidders after it awards a contract on the “basis of a competitive proposals.” And the existing FAR provisions applicable to such debriefings, FAR 15.505 and 15.506, already require agencies to include, as part of the debriefing process, “reasonable responses to relevant questions about whether source selection procedures were followed . . . .”

In practice, however, agencies regularly ignore that requirement — often providing a limited written debriefing, declaring the debriefing closed with no opportunity for questions, and thereby putting the disappointed offeror on a 5-day clock to protest, without all the information to which it is entitled.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2018/05/questions-department-defense-implements-fy-2018-ndaa-requirement-post-debriefing-qa-process/

May 14, 2018 By cs

When it comes to acquisition, have it both ways: Compliance and convenience

Federal procurement laws exist for a reason. Whether it’s protecting national interests or helping American businesses succeed, the lawmakers and public servants who crafted these statutes had the greater public good in mind.

The same holds true for the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (JWOD or commonly known today as the AbilityOne Program), signed into law 80 years ago. The program provides the federal government with products and services it needs, while giving people who are blind or have significant disabilities the opportunity to become taxpaying citizens and reduce their reliance on government assistance.

The JWOD Act is just one of the procurement laws and regulations federal buyers must consider before stocking their storerooms. Buyers want to do the right thing, but the burden of compliance seems heavy.

Enter the goal of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Section 846 e-commerce portal initiative being led by the General Services Administration (GSA) in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Make purchasing more convenient and compliance easier.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/commentary/2018/05/when-it-comes-to-acquisition-have-it-both-ways-compliance-and-convenience/

Small businesses often lead the pack in innovation and agility, but cumbersome acquisition processes can stall the way forward when working with government agencies.

The Army’s delays and added work orders for construction improvements for a hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas, cost the Defense Department more than $32.1 million, according to a new report from the inspector general.

This past March marked the beginning of a more fulsome required debriefing process for defense contracts.

Federal procurement laws exist for a reason. Whether it’s protecting national interests or helping American businesses succeed, the lawmakers and public servants who crafted these statutes had the greater public good in mind.

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