PBS | The Contracting Education Academy

February 11, 2020 By cs

Draft E.O. to ‘Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again’ causes stir with current, former officials

A draft executive order from the Trump administration would make classical architectural styles “the preferred and default style” for new federal construction projects.

**Draft Executive Order refers to headquarters buildings of the departments of Labor, HHS, and HUD, as being undistinguished, uninspiring, and just plain ugly.**

However, current and former officials who have played a role in federal real property projects have raised concerns over how this preference would impact the function and cost of buildings in the government’s portfolio.

The draft EO, first obtained and reported by Architectural Record, states that the austere Brutalist and modern designs prevalent in Washington, D.C. “fail to satisfy these requirements and shall not be used” for new construction.

The executive order, titled “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” would also direct the General Services Administration to consider “the feasibility of redesign in a preferred architectural style” when renovating existing federal buildings.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/facilities-construction/2020/02/draft-eo-to-make-federal-buildings-beautiful-again-causes-stir-with-current-former-officials/

October 25, 2018 By AMK

GSA’s Murphy doubles down on reform efficiencies to drive transformation

With the federal government poised for one of the largest technology transformations in its history, Administrator Emily Murphy’s plan for the General Services Administration is simple in its definition, if not its execution: streamlined processes leveraged by technology to uncover new efficiencies and resources.

Murphy detailed areas where that playbook is currently being deployed across the enterprise on Oct. 16th at the 2018 ACT-IAC Imagine Nation ELC conference, spotlighting ongoing reforms of the schedules acquisition program, increasing shared services operations and the introduction of emerging technologies to operate alongside the workforce.

One case study underway is the introduction of robotic process automation (RPA) as a way to drive savings throughout the agency’s components, such as the Public Buildings Service.

Murphy said the service is looking to deploy RPA to help augment data-based efficiencies that saved $900 million last fiscal year, aiming to match that number this year.

“There’s actually one initiative they are looking to launch this year that in and of itself will save 10,000 hours of work a week,” she said. “If you think about it, that’s five years for any individual person. That gives us that ability to reskill the workforce to high-value work.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/murphy-doubles-reform-efficiencies-drive-transformation/

October 25, 2017 By AMK

GSA nominee wants competition at the task order level

Emily Murphy, the nominee to be the next administrator of the General Services Administration, sailed through her hearing last week, facing few tough questions about her plans to improve federal acquisition, and promising to address long-standing issues in the Public Building Service.

However, Murphy, a former staff member for the House Small Business and Armed Services committees, did offer some further insight into where she believes federal procurement needs to go in the short term.

“Competition and reducing waste, and increasing transparency were two of the four things I’m really hoping to work on at GSA,” Murphy told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “Within the Federal Acquisition Service, which does over $50 billion in contracts on behalf of other agencies each year, I’d like to work to make sure the ceiling prices that are being set for agencies are just the beginning. When we set a price on our GSA schedule contract it’s more or less like the rack rate on the back of a hotel room door, the most you will ever pay. We are trying to make sure GSA’s contracting officers and our policies support really vigorous competition at the task order level because that is the amount we actually are going to spend so we want to get the best deal there, the most competition we can there.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/hearings-oversight/2017/10/gsa-nominee-wants-competition-at-the-task-order-level/

March 14, 2017 By AMK

GSA puts selection of new FBI headquarters on hold

The General Services Administration (GSA) has put the selection of a new FBI headquarters on hold pending congressional appropriations, throwing into question the fate of the agency’s protracted search for a new home.

In a statement, the federal government’s real estate arm said it has worked diligently with the FBI since it first postponed the announcement in the fall but that “appropriations are necessary in order for us to make an announcement and move forward with the next critical steps under the [environmental impact study] process and ultimately make an award.”

Sites in Greenbelt, Landover and Springfield are in the running for the new agency headquarters.

It’s unclear whether current events, including the change in presidential administrations to a commander in chief with a real estate background or the recent turnover at the GSA’s Public Buildings Service contributed to Friday’s announcement.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/03/10/fbi-headquarters-search-put-on-hold-pending.html

A draft executive order from the Trump administration would make classical architectural styles “the preferred and default style” for new federal construction projects.

Efforts by the General Services Administration to protect data gathered by its building lease support services providers got tangled in internal contracting rules, according to an inspector general report.

Emily Murphy, the nominee to be the next administrator of the General Services Administration, sailed through her hearing last week, facing few tough questions about her plans to improve federal acquisition, and promising to address long-standing issues in the Public Building Service.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has put the selection of a new FBI headquarters on hold pending congressional appropriations, throwing into question the fate of the agency’s protracted search for a new home.

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