Going Beyond the Buzzwords Just Might Be Acquisition Reform's Best Hope

The Pentagon is expected to release the third iteration of its recent acquisition reform initiative next month. Building upon previous versions, Better Buying Power 3.0 (BBP) will shift its focus to innovation and more quickly fielding capabilities. This change in emphasis will likely breathe life into efforts to mold a more agile and open-standards-based acquisition process, but BBP 3.0’s efforts to enhance internal and industry communication may yield the greatest benefits. Speaking at an industry conference on September 5th, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Frank Kendall said the initiative will also emphasize better feedback to industry and strengthening ties between internal stakeholder communities.

The importance of enhancing communication to improve the acquisition process was made clear at Nextgov Prime this week. A panel of procurement experts from across government agreed that the ability to effectively communicate desired outcomes to the acquisition community formed the crux of the imperative to reinvigorate government acquisition. Jaymie Durnan, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Acting) for Research & Engineering, said that despite using the right words in countless speeches and articles, DoD leaders may not be sending the right message to the right people. Karen Evans, National Director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge and former Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology at OMB, explained that the core problem is the breakdown in communication between the policy community and the implementers (both internal and external). Policy language currently in use may be effective for policymaking but wrong for implementation, she said. Joanne Woytek, a Program Manager and Contract Technical Representative for NASA, added that it often comes down to using buzzwords that are simply unclear and non-specific (e.g,. “agile”).

So how can government policymakers seeking to acquire any numbers of systems communicate more effectively with implementers? David McClure, former Associate Administrator for the Office of Innovative Technologies and Citizen Services at GSA, suggests that they ask themselves a simple question: are they looking to acquire something entirely new, test developed solutions, or scale proven solutions? Clarifying what the organization seeks is integral to choosing the most appropriate contract vehicle and effectively communicating desired outcomes to those charged with acquiring it, he explained.

Short of rewriting the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) or DoD’s equivalent DFAR, which the panelists agreed is unnecessary, reassessing how policymakers communicate their desired outcomes to the acquisition community could be acquisition reform’s best hope. As the Pentagon pursues a new version of its own reform initiative, let’s hope the buzz surrounding new acquisition methods doesn’t crowd out less noteworthy, but at least as impactful, efforts.