USDA | The Contracting Education Academy

June 20, 2019 By AMK

Government innovation? Weirdness comes in threes

How often have you heard that the government is stodgy and resistant to change? Large bureaucracies, both in business and government, do trend that way. But three curious initiatives from federal agencies occurred in the days leading to the long Memorial Day weekend.

Unrelated, they nevertheless connect thematically by showing an instinct towards government innovation, that is, a government willing to try something different.

First was the appointment of Jose Arrietta as the chief information officer of the Department of Health and Human Services. I’ve interviewed Arrietta a couple of times. He’s a smart cookie. He’s possesses good technology chops, having been one of the people trying to prove how blockchain can work in federal settings. In his relatively short time at HHS, Arrietta saw to it that the first blockchain application received authority to operate. That in itself is radical.

But as Jason Miller reported, Arrietta is an unconventional choice to lead an IT complex as vast and diverse as that of HHS. It’s government innovation in personnel. He’s mainly an acquisition guy, and acquisition is an important part of technology and information management. The blockchain application is in fact acquisition. Now Arrietta will have to show he can widen his viewpoint and make things happen in all areas overseen by a CIO.

Keep reading article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/tom-temin-commentary/2019/05/government-innovation-weirdness-comes-in-threes/

October 26, 2018 By AMK

USDA saved millions so far due to ‘Centers of Excellence’

Less than one year into the White House Centers of Excellence initiative, the first pilot agency is already saving money.

“So far, we’ve realized around $26 million in cost avoidance and savings and now we’re moving on to phase 2, which is the actual implementation of the plan we developed over the past six months,” said Agriculture Department Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky, speaking last week at the Imagine Nation conference in Philadelphia.

The two-phase CoE effort focuses on five areas: customer experience, cloud adoption, infrastructure optimization, contact centers and service delivery analytics.

The first phase of the program focused on developing the modernization strategy for those key areas through a collaboration between personnel from the General Services Administration, Agriculture and consulting partners brought in through contracts.

The second phase, which Agriculture will now undertake, involves carrying out the strategy and implementing the tech tools and services the department purchases.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/10/usda-saved-millions-so-far-due-centers-excellence/152063/

March 18, 2016 By AMK

GAO further clarifies its rule on differing technical re-revaluations

It is not surprising that after four protests of the same task order, three corrective actions by the agency, and four evaluations of technical proposals, the final evaluation ratings may differ from prior evaluations.

Such variations are not necessarily improper as the GAO made clear in a recent protest.

On January 29, 2016, the GAO released a decision denying a protest filed by MILVETS Systems Technology, Inc., B-409051.7; B-409051.9. The procurement history at issue in MILVETS was complicated, beginning with the release of the solicitation by the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) in July 2013. In sum, two consecutive awards were made to MILVETS and each was protested, causing the USDA to take corrective action twice by reevaluating technical proposals.

After the second award to MILVETS was protested, the USDA assembled a new technical evaluation panel (“TEP”) and source selection authority (“SSA”) that had no knowledge of the first two evaluations. The new TEP reevaluated quotations and the new SSA awarded a task order to DKW Communications, Inc. MILVETS protested the third award, causing the USDA to take yet another round of corrective action by amending the solicitation and seeking revised quotations.

Keep reading this article at: http://govcon.mofo.com/protests-litigation/gao-clarifies-rule-on-differing-technical-reevaluations/

August 24, 2015 By AMK

GTRI represented at White House summit on rural education

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) representative at a recent roundtable discussion held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House Rural Council had a chance to share how the Atlanta-located Georgia Tech unit is working to reach out to the state’s rural students.

GTRI attended a recent roundtable discussion held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House Rural Council, organized by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Harden.

Organized by the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Harden, the roundtable discussion centered on the Obama Administration’s goals of the U.S. Department of Education’s investing in rural schools and the Rural Jobs Accelerator. Mindy DiSalvo, a senior research associate working with STEM@GTRI’s science, technology, engineering and math educational initiatives, was invited to speak on Georgia Tech’s behalf.

Existing STEM@GTRI initiatives have impacted more than 1,000 students in rural communities, DiSalvo said. Additionally, GTRI has supported a USDA proposal that, when implemented, will equip classrooms in nine rural school systems with technology and software applications that will enable them to connect with GT laboratories.

“When funded, this program will have the potential to reach thousands of students, most of whom are in schools with an average 28 percent graduation rate, and in communities that have been consistently impoverished for at least 20 years,” DiSalvo said.

Through Georgia Tech’s Direct to Discovery (D2D) program, researchers at GTRI are able to connect with kindergarten through 12^th-grade students in their classrooms. This program helps to introduce students to STEM content, college opportunities and careers.

“Our researchers can provide context to the science and technology curriculum and why students should be learning it,” DiSalvo said. “When we are able to share our researchers with classrooms, student invariably say ‘Oh. Now I see why I need to know this.’”

GTRI is no stranger to assisting with educational outreach. GTRI was instrumental in developing the Family Technology Resource Centers in DeKalb County, Georgia, a few decades ago. During his administration, President Bill Clinton gave the FTRC a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institution as an example of an effective community outreach program.

September 10, 2012 By AMK

GAO: Federal programs to aid entrepreneurs overlap

Agency efforts to support private entrepreneurs are ineffectual and fragmented, according to Government Accountability Office research on 52 programs in such departments as Agriculture, Commerce and Housing and Urban Development.

In a paper dated Aug. 23, auditors identified overlap among initiatives to offer grants, loans and technical training to businesses and found that too few agencies track the assistance they provide, resulting in a failure of 19 programs to meet performance goals.

The report said Agriculture and the Small Business Administration, for instance, “entered into a formal agreement in 2010 to coordinate their efforts to support businesses in rural areas; however, the agencies’ programs that can support startup businesses — such as USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program and SBA’s Small Business Development Centers — have yet to determine roles and responsibilities, find ways to leverage each other’s resources, or establish compatible policies and procedures.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2012/08/federal-programs-aid-entrepreneurs-overlap/57677/

How often have you heard that the government is stodgy and resistant to change? Large bureaucracies, both in business and government, do trend that way. But three curious initiatives from federal agencies occurred in the days leading to the long Memorial Day weekend.

Less than one year into the White House Centers of Excellence initiative, the first pilot agency is already saving money.

It is not surprising that after four protests of the same task order, three corrective actions by the agency, and four evaluations of technical proposals, the final evaluation ratings may differ from prior evaluations.

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) representative at a recent roundtable discussion held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House Rural Council had a chance to share how the Atlanta-located Georgia Tech unit is working to reach out to the state’s rural students.

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