Digital Government
Silence of protesters' bark signals new era
In a wellknown Sherlock Holmes novel, the great detective solves a crime based on a dog that did not bark. The dog normally would have been expected to bark, and the fact that it did not do so during the night of the crime gave the detective key information for the case. In the federal information
Digital Government
For creative ideas, ask front-line IT workers
Any time an organization is not performing as well as it should or old approaches no longer solve new problems situations that apply in spades to most government agencies the organization needs creativity to come up with ways to do a better job. Creative ideas involving the use of information
Digital Government
Procurement reform's next big thing
Anybody who reads this column Jan. 11 will have a chance on the morning of Jan. 12 to participate in what I am willing to venture even this early in the year will be one of the most important meetings of 1999. At the General Services Administration Auditorium in Washington, D.C., between 8:30
Digital Government
Raise credit card buying limits, but lower fees
There arguably is no aspect of procurement reform that has positively influenced the everyday life of the average government employee more than the credit card. It has made the difference between getting everyday products and services quickly and conveniently and the old perhaps almost forgotten
Digital Government
Air Force shows how to get more for less
A few issues ago I wrote about Terry Little, an innovative program manager at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., who used various principles of acquisition reform to achieve better than a 50 percent cost savings on a 'smart bomb' kit called joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) [FCW, Sept. 7]. Well, Terry
Digital Government
Feds, industry find GWACs to their liking
Earlier this month, I chaired two breakout sessions with Bob Dornan, senior vice president of Federal Sources Inc., at the Industry Advisory Council's annual government/ industry meeting in Richmond, Va. The sessions, called 'GWACs: Reform or Regression,' used interactive technology that allowed al
Digital Government
Reform wonk applies know-how to PenRen
From 1994 through early 1998, Dave Drabkin was a senior civil servant in the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition Reform. He was brought in from a legal job at the Defense Logistics Agency by Colleen Preston, acquisition reform's legendary streetfighter during the tough ye
Digital Government
Story provides map for reinvention efforts
While reading Sensemaking in Organizations, by University of Michigan management professor Karl E. Weick, I came across a story filled with significance for anyone engaged in the work of reinventing government.
Digital Government
DOE contracting: 'If at first you don't succeed...'
In February 1994, at the very beginning of the procurement reform movement and several months before passage of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, the Energy Department issued a report on contract reform that promised drastic changes in how the agency conducted contracting. DOE, the report a
Digital Government
Study shows power of industry/fed union
The Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir, Va., recently published a case study called 'Implementing Acquisition Reform: A Case Study on Joint Direct Attack Munitions.' Joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) is a kit consisting of global positioning satellite equipment and computers, whi
Digital Government
How small biz can get bigger piece of IT pie
Consolidation in the federal information technology industry is on people's minds. The schedule for this year's Executive Leadership Conference includes a workshop on mergers and acquisitions. And rumors have been circulating about smaller companies up for sale. Some are quick to attribute the merg
Digital Government
Ph.D proves DOD on right procurement track
Doctoral dissertations on government procurement are not exactly a dime a dozen. I was therefore interested to see that a Ph.D thesis in public policy recently completed at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the country's most academically rigorous public policy programs, was an empirical study of
Digital Government
Trust your vendor, but verify the prices
I have been spending a good deal of my summer interviewing government contracting professionals for research that examines procurement reform at working levels of government organizations. One of the interesting things I've heard is that a number of government folks are worried that some contractor
Digital Government
Contracting for better GPRA results
Several years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs contracted for information technology to help the agency reduce the processing time for veterans' benefits claims. At the end of the day, the vendor got paid, but processing times were reduced only minimally. I relate this example neither to ins
Digital Government
It is time for continuous improvement
This past winter, the press published numerous reports that said the Defense Department paid higher prices than in the past for solesource aerospace spare parts, which were classified as commercial items and bought without certified cost data, pursuant to recent procurement reforms [FCW, April 13
Digital Government
Agencies should jump on PMAT wagon
In the book I wrote in the late 1980s about the problems with federal information technology procurement, I made a recommendation to partly base the performance evaluation of procurement on surveys of how satisfied IT and program customers were with the service they had received from contracting fo
Digital Government
Tech-deficient managers, new work force
At a recent conference, I ran into Ken Hoffman, a savvy longtime information technology manager at a major federal agency. We are more or less the same age (at least to judge from appearances), but as a techie, Ken is much better than I at having a feel for how IT is changing our lives. Ken noted t
Digital Government
Due diligence at cutting edge of contracting
You're convinced that performancebased contracting will save money for your mission and result in better vendor performance. And you're thinking big. You have a major systems development project that is going to modernize the way your organization does business. Or you're recompeting a contract to
Digital Government
Commerce procurement reinvention shows the way
The Commerce Department recently conducted its third annual joint training conference for information technology and procurement professionals. The conference, which was held in Williamsburg, Va., illustrates how times have changed. A decade ago, many government IT professionals would rather have spent time with their dentist than with their counterparts in the procurement profession.
Digital Government
Making the case for performance-based service contracting
The same day back in 1994 when President Clinton signed the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, senior agency officials gathered in a meeting room nearby to sign a pledge for a pilot program on performancebased service contracting (PBSC). Almost four years later, the results are in: PBSC is a wi
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