Acquisition

Top 10 ways to avoid contract oversight

While contract oversight and transparency is a lofty goal, some folks would rather avoid it. Here is my top ten list of how to avoid contract oversight: Keep contract documents in paper files, preferably in piles on your desk. Purge your email frequently and (accidentally) delete contract files. Don’t keep a record of your communicationsRead… Read more »

Government’s Mobile Technology Revolution

Mobile technologies are rapidly transforming nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives. In fact, the proliferation of social media seems impossible without the widespread use of mobile devices. Meanwhile, companies are discovering cost efficiencies and flexibility of access – through tablets and smartphones – by moving their entire business operations to the cloud.Read… Read more »

The solution to procurement woes, people?

Hiring is one of the biggest challenges in government. Getting the right people in the right position is key for an effective government. Just as hiring the right NIH scientist is key to curing disease so too is hiring the right procurement official. However, well-trained procurement officials are hard to find and the lack ofRead… Read more »

Why are large procurements so complex? Healthcare.gov vs. Deepwater

Healthcare.gov has been a massive contracting challenge from the onset. What went wrong? “Contractors have pointed the finger at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, citing insufficient guidance, inadequate resources, a lack of authority to lead the project and changes requested a month before the site went live. In testimony to the House CommitteeRead… Read more »

Getting You Hired – New Job Application Tool for Local Government

Getting a government job can seem like an uphill battle and the application process can be brutal and bureaucratic. But now the people at Vision Internet have created a tool to help streamline the process for local governments. Ashley Fruechting the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Vision Internet. She told me during GovLoop’s State andRead… Read more »

SES Job Opening – Associate Director of Administration

The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (CSOSA) has an opening for an Associate Director of Administration. This position heads the Office of Administration, which is responsible for managing Agency acquisitions, and directing CSOSA’s facilities and security programs. Many of CSOSA’s programs are evolving, requiring the incumbent to develop precedent-settingRead… Read more »

Philadelphia FastFWD’s Urban Problem Solving

The idea behind the Presidential Innovation Fellowship program was simple, bring in some of the most creative and innovative entrepreneurs to work for a year on some of the government’s most intractable problems. It was a winning idea. So winning, in fact, that the city of Philadelphia is launched a similar program. It’s called FastFWD.Read… Read more »

How to avoid another healthcare.gov style procurement – Plus your weekend reads!

The political weight of Healthcare.gov placed a global spotlight on the some of the issues plaguing federal IT. Federal budget cuts, slow adoption rates and long procurement cycles have forced agency CIOs to maintain 30 year-old piecemeal legacy systems rather than invest in new technologies. Despite the effectiveness of some legacy systems, federal agencies spentRead… Read more »