The Contracting Education Academy

Contracting Academy Logo
  • Home
  • Training & Education
  • Services
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for training

May 30, 2019 By AMK

Building a 21st century defense acquisition workforce

Every year, the Department of Defense spends roughly $300 billion to purchase everything from nuclear submarines to accounting services. The defense acquisition workforce is responsible not only for negotiating prices, enforcing requirements, and managing delivery on these acquisitions, but also for addressing issues like interoperability, sustainability, cyber protection, and supply chain security.

And every year, Congress adds complexity to the system, with almost 250 provisions of acquisition legislation changing the rules on types of contracts, contract audits, source selection criteria, commercial items acquisition, data rights and intellectual property, and other issues from 2016 to 2018 alone.

Advocates of acquisition reform have long sought changes in the civil service rules to make it easier to build the talent that the Pentagon needs to meet this challenge, but despite the wide array of legislative authorities now available, little has changed. What is needed is not a new set of rules, but a new mindset: If the Department of Defense wants to develop employees rather than just manage them for immediate performance, it must stop making hiring decisions position by position and establish a system that enables it to rotate future civilian leaders through a series of time-limited, career-building assignments. Instead of managing civil service positions, the Department must start managing its people.

The Call for Civilian Personnel Reform

Sixteen years ago, the National Commission on the Public Service (known as the “Second Volcker Commission”), reported that the federal government was not adequately staffed to meet the demands of the 21st century. Instead of attracting talent, the federal government too often drives it away. “Those who enter the civil service,” the commission reported, “often find themselves trapped in a maze of rules and regulations that thwart their personal development and stifle their creativity. The best are underpaid, the worst, overpaid. Too many of the most talented leave the public service too early, too many of the least talented stay too long.”

Keep reading article at: https://warontherocks.com/2019/05/building-a-21st-century-defense-acquisition-workforce/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition reform, acquisition workforce, career development, civilian personnel reform, civilian personnel system, DAWIA, Defense Innovation Board, DoD, hiring authority, hiring procedures, leadership development, Section 809 Panel, training, workplace flexibility

May 14, 2019 By AMK

Agencies are ‘stepping up’ to prepare the workforce for AI

The government as a whole doesn’t have a set strategy for how they plan to prepare federal workers for the changes that artificial intelligence will cause in their jobs, but agencies are on board with individual efforts to educate and train their own workforces, according to Lynne Parker, assistant director for artificial intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“Agencies are stepping up on their own to create opportunities for people to maybe enroll in a short-term learning course where they can gain skills in IT areas or cybersecurity areas or AI areas,” said Parker at an April 18 National Academy of Public Administration event. “Because each agency knows the kinds of skills and the kinds of work that they do, they’re best suited to create these training programs.”

The Trump administration has been adamant that their pursuit of technological advancement is not designed to displace workers that are already at government agencies, but rather to free up time spent on repetitive tasks so they can focus on problems of greater mission importance.

“It’s quite likely that most of us will have some tasks or parts of our jobs that will be impacted by technology, AI, automation and so forth,” Parker said. “I don’t think most of us need to fear completely losing our jobs, but our jobs will change. Now that’s not to say that there aren’t some areas where AI is particularly well-suited that there may be some impact in the sense at the job goes away. Most studies say that is a small percentage.”

Keep reading article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/it-networks/2019/04/18/agencies-are-stepping-up-to-prepare-the-workforce-for-ai/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: agency mission, AI, artificial intelligence, automation, cybersecurity, information technology, training

January 15, 2019 By AMK

Due to shutdown, Cybersecurity Reskilling Academy applications remain open

Federal employees looking to learn cybersecurity skills now have more time to apply for a White House-backed education program.

The application deadline for the charter class of the Federal Cybersecurity Reskilling Academy was supposed to be Friday, but due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, that deadline has been indefinitely postponed.

Federal CIO Suzette Kent tweeted Thursday that the application process for the academy remained open while the shutdown is ongoing.

What’s unclear at this point is how long the application period will be extended and how the shutdown will affect the timeline for assessing and forming the academy’s first cohort. FedScoop reached out to OMB for comment.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.fedscoop.com/despite-shutdown-kent-says-reskilling-academy-applications-remain-open/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: cybersecurity, Federal Cybersecurity Reskilling Academy, government shutdown, reskilling, shutdown, training, training resources

October 19, 2018 By AMK

Association wants to fill in the gaps in federal training and development

For years, stakeholder organizations and good government groups have decried the lack of sufficient training for managers and executives at federal agencies.

Now an association for agency executives is taking matters into its own hands.

The Senior Executives Association is developing a number of training courses for members of the Senior Executive Service and prospective applicants to the federal government’s cadre of career leaders. The organization is developing a series of courses, in conjunction with GradSchoolUSA, to train executives on both general leadership concepts and specific issues like cybersecurity and risk management, and it is developing a “holistic” framework to support senior executives throughout their career.

“We’re getting ready to launch Public Service Leadership as a profession, which will take a holistic look at how you develop a leadership profession in the federal government,” SEA President Bill Valdez said. “Think about it this way: The American Bar Association trains and promotes lawyers. The American Medical Association promotes doctors, and the Project Management Institute promotes project managers. But there’s nothing out there that promotes leadership in the federal government.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2018/10/executives-association-wants-fill-gaps-federal-training-and-development/151832

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: professional development, professional education, public service, Senior Executive Service, SES, training

August 20, 2018 By AMK

Federal acquisition workers rate themselves highly on most skills

The government’s civilian acquisition workforce, long under pressure to improve hiring and modernize its skill sets, is feeling more satisfied with its own effectiveness, according to the latest biennial Acquisition Workforce Competency Survey released last week.
Click on image above to see report.

Considered the most comprehensive version of the survey yet (an 83 percent increase in response rates across agencies), it showed that the buyers rated themselves highest for issuing contract order changes and modifications, awarding contracts and competition. Also rated highly were inspection and acceptance and business acumen, said the results analyzed by a partnership between the White House Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the Federal Acquisition Institute.

Areas rated the lowest in proficiency included negotiating forward pricing rates agreements and contracting in contingent or combat environments.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.govexec.com/contracting/2018/08/federal-acquisition-workers-rate-themselves-highly-most-skills/150611

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: acceptance, acquisition training, acquisition workforce, awards, career development, change orders, combat environment, competence, competition, contingency contracting, contract award, FAI, forward pricing, inspection, OFPP, training

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Popular Topics

abuse acquisition reform acquisition strategy acquisition training acquisition workforce Air Force Army AT&L bid protest budget budget cuts competition cybersecurity DAU DFARS DHS DoD DOJ FAR fraud GAO Georgia Tech GSA GSA Schedule GSA Schedules IG industrial base information technology innovation IT Justice Dept. Navy NDAA OFPP OMB OTA Pentagon procurement reform protest SBA sequestration small business spending technology VA
Contracting Academy Logo
75 Fifth Street, NW, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30308
info@ContractingAcademy.gatech.edu
Phone: 404-894-6109
Fax: 404-410-6885

RSS Twitter

Search this Website

Copyright © 2023 · Georgia Tech - Enterprise Innovation Institute