Digital Government
Game changer: DOD rewrites its book on acquisition strategy
Defense Secretary Robert Gates releases a 23-point memorandum for reforming defense acquisition processes, with an increased focus on efficiency and productivity.
Acquisition
Proposal writers should do the work too
Blogger Steve Kelman takes a dim view of the practice of having professional proposal writers who are not involved in carrying out the work they bid.
Digital Government
Gates to outline new acquisition guidelines
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to lay out a guide for moving ahead with his acquisition reforms and budget cuts.
Acquisition
Agencies must toughen rules to protect sensitive information, GAO says
Federal officials need to address nondisclosure agreements and the process for notifying officials when information is improperly disclosed or misused.
Digital Government
GSA plans for 'sustainability acquisitions'
The premier procurement agency’s plan is to use its buying power to change the federal marketplace.
People
GSA's former chief financial officer tackles a leadership void
Kathleen Turco jumped at the opportunity to be associate administrator of governmentwide policy at the General Services Administration earlier this year — in part because she saw an opportunity to fill a leadership vacuum.
Digital Government
Who goes there? Contractors now required to identify themselves
Federal officials want the difference between government employees and private-sector employees to be obvious.
Digital Government
GAO bows to CIA decision to waive conflicts of interest
GAO’s ruling is evidence that it won’t second-guess agency officials' decisions to waive organizational conflicts of interest.
Digital Government
Pentagon banks on teamwork to meet Gates mandate
The Pentagon has commissioned five teams of defense officials and experts to take on different aspects of realizing plans to cut the Defense Department budget by $100 million in the next five years, according to the Malcolm O'Neill, the Army’s top acquisition official.
Digital Government
Former New Orleans mayor wasted money with outsourcing, IG says
Inspector general faults former Mayor Ray Nagin for outsourcing technology that increased the costs of recovery after Hurricane Katrina.
Digital Government
FAR Council considers justifying sole-source awards
Congress demands a good reason for awarding a contract worth $20 million or more without hosting a competition for the work.
Digital Government
Regulators nudge up simplified acquisition dollar thresholds
Regulatory changes offer modest benefits for both small businesses and large companies.
Acquisition
Government receives a B in small-business contracting
The government awarded more money to small businesses in fiscal 2009 than the year before, with the help of Recovery Act money.
Acquisition
Despite more competition, single-bid contracts stay steady
Noncompetitive contracts declined from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2009, but contracts receiving only one bid remained steady, GAO says.
Acquisition
More are upbeat among the new generation of contracting professionals
Steve Kelman talks to a new crop of future contracting professionals.
Digital Government
DHS manager slammed by IG for aiding relative
A Science and Technology Directorate manager violated ethics policies by plotting to deliver agency-funded software to a relative, according to an audit by the DHS inspector general.
Acquisition
Are you in OMB's high-risk project crosshairs?
When the White House released a list of 26 high-risk IT projects on Aug. 23, federal CIO Vivek Kundra said it wasn't a hit list. But now some of the biggest names in government are under the gun.
People
Air Force must do better job of tracking risky agreements: IG
Air Force contracting personnel often failed to complete all necessary steps to protect the service before letting a contractor begin a project even though negotiations were still under way, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Acquisition
Education Department revamps obsolete acquisition regulations
Education Department officials are making the first large-scale revisions to their buying rules since President Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
Modernization