All Learning Content
NSA Contractor Arrested and Charged in Leak
Jun 6, 2017
Federal contractor Reality Winner has made the biggest headlines of the last news cycle after the Department of Justice announced she had been arrested on Saturday, June 3, and charged with “removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet.” The documents...
Cooperative Buying Pays Off for Kansas City
Jun 6, 2017
American City & County looks at how Kansas City, Missouri found success through cooperative procurements. The city’s procurement division has won two Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Awards from the National Procurement Institute, and found that lean staffing and heavy workloads led to...
Realizing Your Potential: Is Too Much Passion for Your Work a Bad Thing?
Jun 5, 2017
As part of the series on Realizing Your Potential, two articles I want to point people to that raise some good points and provide some good advice.
Why Your Passion for Work Could Ruin Your Career (By Scott Barry Kaufman via Harvard Business Review)
This article raises some important points about...
A Reflection on the UK Government’s Progress on Digital Transformation
Jun 5, 2017
As we approach yet another election, I began to reflect on the last but one occasion that the UK electorate had the opportunity to make its feelings known and create a new or at least different shaped government. More importantly, that the back-drop for the UK was a near bankrupt nation, created a...
Transparency and Heartache: DHS Cancels FLASH
Jun 5, 2017
If the Department of Homeland Security’s cancellation of its $1.5 billion contract for agile services wasn’t difficult enough, the details of the problems that lead to this decision have been released in the agency’s “motion to dismiss”.
DHS filed with the Government Accountability...
Negotiation In The Public Sector – And How To Do It
Jun 1, 2017
Public sector procurement often requires a different negotiation approach to that used in the commercial sector. It may seem obvious to some, but why is that? Quite simply, in public sector organisations, the strategic imperatives are different.
What Are the Main Differences?
First and foremost,...
Health Record Company Pays $155 Million to Settle FCA Suit
Jun 1, 2017
The Department of Justice has announced eClinicalWorks (ECW)—one of the nation’s largest vendors of electronic health records software—will pay $155 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit against the company, which alleged ECW misrepresented its software’s capabilities and provided...
Illinois House Passes Procurement Reforms Package
Jun 1, 2017
The Illinois House passed a senate bill this week that would implement procurement reforms introduced by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The reforms are aimed at streamlining and centralizing procurement in the state. It was also seen as something of a political bellwether, as the two sides continue to not see...
Three Important Insights for Government Contracting from the Private Sector
Jun 1, 2017
Over the years, speakers at the Senior Supply Management Executive Summits hosted by Michigan State University have shared leading-edge ideas and effective strategies as well as defined challenges that remain to be addressed. Four common themes can be gleaned from the summits. And these themes...
VA Rescinds RFP Day After White House Publishes Budget
Jun 1, 2017
In a sign of the impact the administration’s budget may be having on agencies, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) cancelled a request for proposal (RFP) for two digital centers to manage cloud migration five days after it published the solicitation. The centers were to provide cloud migration...
Challenges for Public Procurement – The Fight Against Corruption
May 31, 2017
We listed our six challenges for public procurement in 2015 at the beginning of the year. Here they are again.
Challenge no.1; Implementation of New Directives
Challenge no.2; Austerity continues
Challenge no.3; Social issues
Challenge no. 4; Value and Innovation
Challenge no.5; The Fight against...
Three Former White House Officials on Challenges in Federal Acquisition
May 31, 2017
I’m personally fatigued by the never-ending dialogue on procurement and acquisition reform in the public sector, and specifically in the federal government. One reason I strongly believe we don’t get anywhere is we’ve never had agreement on what we’re trying achieve from the procurement...
