Acquisition experts create new institute

 Several federal acquisition experts have formed the nonprofit Federal Acquisition Innovation and Reform Institute (FAIR) to help the government generate policy ideas and more productive spending techniques, the new organization announced today.

“Our goal is to bring innovative solutions based on commercial and federal best practices that are practical for the complex federal environment,” said Raj Sharma, FAIR’s president and co-chairman of the board. Sharma is also president and chief executive officer of Censeo Consulting Group.

The institute said it intends to stress that acquisition reforms to be as comprehensive as possible by elevating the current discussion from procurement tactics, such as what types of contracts to use, to a more strategic debate aimed at what's required of a world-class acquisition system, Sharma said. The institute described itself as an important link between acquisition policy and execution.

With Sharma, Allan Burman, president of Jefferson Solutions, is the co-chairman of FAIR’s board.

Other current board members are:

• David Nelson, chief supply chain and strategy officer for HTC Global Services.
• Joe Sandor, professor of supply management at Michigan State University.
• David Litman, former senior procurement executive at the Transportation Department.