Happy New Year! We begin the new year with twenty-two topics that will shape much of the federal acquisition landscape in 2022. This list is not by any means exhaustive, but it does represent important personnel, policy, and program items/opportunities that government and industry will be addressing throughout the year. These twenty-two topics provide opportunities in the federal acquisition market to accelerate the Administration’s goals.
As always, government-industry engagement is foundational to the success of the procurement system in delivering best value services and products to support customer agency missions for the American people. Eleven years ago, Dan Gordon, then Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, issued “Myth-Busting”: Addressing Misconceptions to Improve Communication with Industry During the Acquisition Process. Routinely cited as the “Myth-Busters” memo, it remains the leading policy statement addressing the importance of government-industry communication. The memo debunked a host of myths and/or assumptions about government procurement, effectively citing regulation and policy supporting the benefits of early and ongoing communication between government and industry during the procurement process.
As we move into 2022, the Myth-Busters memo remains as important today as it was eleven years ago in setting expectations and identifying opportunities for positive government-industry engagement. Here are twenty-two topics where that engagement will play a central role in improving mission support for the American people:
- Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) price negotiations challenges and opportunities in identifying a fair and reasonable price
- Economic Price Adjustment (EPA) clause administration and the impact of inflation
- Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy is needed
- Cyber Security, including the CMMC adjustments and implementation, expectations for government and industry
- Sustainability and Federal acquisition
- Supply Chain resilience, Buy American, Buy Allied, or buy both
- Buy American Act versus Trade Agreements Act, particularly how new regulations will affect harmonious implementation of the two
- The future of GSA’s e-commerce pilot
- Services MAC versus OASIS, in particular, whether GSA looking to create a mandatory source of supply
- The Next Generation of IT GWACs at GSA: POLARIS and the follow on to Alliant 2
- Maximize cooperative purchasing across all of GSA’s procurement programs
- Government efforts to implement commercial practices as a multi-cloud customer
- Reform of the MAS cloud pricing policies
- The role of industrial policy in procurement, including national security imperatives for technology, bio-technology, PPE, and more
- The continued rise of OTAs, stepping outside the FAR to get things done
- The VA’s MSPV reset/reassessment
- Small business opportunities and the Biden Administration’s focus diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives
- Addressing gaps in MAS contracting officer training on price negotiations
- The role of reverse industry days in bringing market knowledge to government acquisition professionals
- The rollout of Transactional Data Reporting across the MAS program
- Opportunities to enhance outcomes-based procurement and healthcare programs for pharmaceuticals
- Commercial item contracting and the balance between government-unique requirements and access to the commercial market
This list is by no means exhaustive. It represents a starting point of the operational and policy issues that will shape the federal market in 2022. The Coalition looks forward to working with all stakeholders on these issues and the inevitable new challenges and opportunities that will arise in the new year.