Eric Lofgren

What the U.S. government has purchased to respond to the pandemic;
Which contracting approaches have been used over the course of the response; and
COVID-19 contracts using Defense Production Act Titles I and III

Read the Full Report here.

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Center for Government Contracting Media Mentions

Center for Government Contracting Reports

OTAs and Beyond: Scaling Innovation in Defense Contracting

Charles Dolgas — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 19:24:20 +0000

OTAs and Beyond: Scaling Innovation in Defense Contracting Charles Dolgas Mon, 03/14/2022 - 15:24

As Eric Lofgren writes in his Federal News Network commentary OTAs and beyond: Scaling innovation in Defense contracting, "While OTAs are an important tool for defense contracting, many of the barriers to innovation are rooted in the culture of procurement. Substantial flexibilities already exist within the regulations and yet they are inadequately leveraged. That could spell bad news for the future of OTA adoption unless the culture question is addressed.

There are already signs that OTA growth may soon reach a crescendo. An analysis of OTA data at the lower levels gives some cause for concern. Of the 18 defense agencies funding non-COVID OTAs in 2020, seven decreased their OTA obligations in 2021."

In this timely, quick yet detailed article, Lofgren takes a tour of contracting processes to enable the acquisition innovation that everyone seeks: OTAs, unexplored flexibilities within the FAR, IDIQ's, and modular contracting.

Writes Lofgren, "Multiple-award IDIQs can have other features of OTAs. Awards under $25 million are not subject to bid protests. When using fixed-price tasks, they are exempt from the six business system requirements including for cost accounting. Moreover, intellectual property statute favors specially negotiated rights, and non-traditionals may receive commercial data rights without a commercial item determination."

This topic receives fuller description in the playbook co-written by Lofgren, "Acquisition Next: A Playbook to Break the Industrial Age Paradigm." [website and download]

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Center for Government Contracting Media Mentions

Costello College of Business Faculty Media Mentions

Center for Government Contracting Media Mentions

No. 5. The DoD Budget Process: The Next Frontier of Acquisition Reform

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 20:43:13 +0000

No. 5. The DoD Budget Process: The Next Frontier of Acquisition Reform Marianne Klinker Fri, 10/08/2021 - 16:43

Behind the flurry of defense management reform in the last half of the 2010s lies the desire for speed and agility. Tremendous change has come to policies on acquisition, contracting, requirements, and workforce. Remaining untouched is the next frontier of acquisition reform: the budgeting process.

The landscape is starting to change.

In May 2020, the Space Force released a report to Congress arguing that it's “most important” recommendation was to consolidate budget line items into capability portfolios.
The FY 2021 budget request also featured the first use of a "colorless" appropriation for software programs.
Impacting these efforts is the specter of the border wall reprogramming, causing Congressional appropriators to move away from budget flexibility.

In this paper, author Eric Lofgren, who researches business, policy, regulatory, and other issues in government contracting, charts a course for the future of budgeting informed by the history of government's financial management. He argues that budget lines should be consolidated by mission-driven organizations, enabling senior leaders to exercise portfolio management. The new scheme should result in greater levels of transparency and accountability.

Download the white paper.

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Center for Government Contracting White Papers