other transaction authority | The Contracting Education Academy

February 18, 2021 By cs

DoD’s JAIC rolling out new contracts to speed up AI acquisition

The Defense Department has made no secret about its ambitions to employ commercial advances in artificial intelligence in military systems.

But adapting the government acquisition process to those technological developments is no small matter.

Three new contract vehicles the department is in the process of deploying should make things a whole lot easier — at least that’s the hope.

For starters, last month, the department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center reached an agreement that’s intended to create a rapid procurement process for AI. Defense officials are hopeful that the project, called Tradewind, will help the JAIC meet one of its core missions: Finding use cases for AI throughout the military and getting the right algorithms in the right places.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/artificial-intelligence/2021/02/dods-jaic-rolling-out-new-contracts-to-speed-up-ai-acquisition/

December 1, 2020 By cs

Navy seeing ‘explosion’ in use of OTA for IT, cyber development work

The last several years of Defense spending have a seen a more than seven-fold increase in the amount of money being spent through other transaction agreements for technology development. And although the Navy has been a relative latecomer to OTAs compared to its sister services, the approach is taking off in a big way in the areas of information technology and cybersecurity.

In August, the Navy announced it was increasing the ceiling value for its Information Warfare Research Project OTA to $500 million after having exhausted its initial $100 million ceiling in just a little over a year-and-a-half. Meanwhile, last month, officials announced the project’s first three programs to have moved from prototypes to full-blown production systems.

“It’s been a very large success. We’ve been able to promote this, both internally and with our sponsors to identify requirements that fit our rapid prototyping construct, ultimately with the goal of getting things into the warfighters’ hands quicker than in other contract strategy approaches,” Kevin Charlow, the chairman of the IWRP Executive Steering Group and deputy executive director of Naval Information Warfare Center-Atlantic said in a recent interview for Federal News Network’s On DoD. “As we continue to identify new requirements and as the word gets out, and people get more comfortable using this type of vehicle, the available ceiling has been used up. So we’re pleased about that and we’re looking forward to the future.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/on-dod/2020/11/navy-seeing-explosion-in-use-of-ota-for-it-cyber-development-work/

November 17, 2020 By cs

DoD’s Space Development Agency shows how fast the FAR can be

When it came time for the brand new DoD modernization organization charged with rapidly innovating in the space domain to award one of its first big contracts, you might expect they’d turn to a new, en-vogue acquisition mechanism like other transaction agreements (OTA) or middle-tier acquisition.

If so, you’d be wrong.

DoD’s new Space Development Agency is showing that the boring old processes embedded in the Federal Acquisition Regulation don’t have to be synonymous with slowness. Late last month, SDA awarded a somewhat complex systems integration contract to help build the first elements of a brand new architecture of low-Earth orbit satellites. The total time from final request for proposals to contract award: three-and-half months.

“There was nothing magic about our contracting approach. We found that the FAR is actually quite flexible and useful to get things done,” Ryan Frigm, SDA’s deputy director said in an interview for Federal News Network’s On DoD. “The reason we were able to be successful is because we have a very talented, dedicated and motivated team that shares a singular focus, which is being the department’s constructive disrupter for space. And the team knows that we need to get space capabilities out to the warfighter at the speed of need.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/on-dod/2020/11/dods-space-development-agency-shows-how-fast-the-far-can-be/

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/

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/

The Defense Department has made no secret about its ambitions to employ commercial advances in artificial intelligence in military systems.

When it came time for the brand new DoD modernization organization charged with rapidly innovating in the space domain to award one of its first big contracts, you might expect they’d turn to a new, en-vogue acquisition mechanism like other transaction agreements (OTA) or middle-tier acquisition.

Change is in the air.

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.

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