Government-industry group sifts out top contracting reforms

A government-industry IT group is helping the senior procurement policy officials understand what the private sector thinks are the most important contracting reforms.

The American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) launched BetterGovernmentIT.org Aug. 12 to survey the government vendor community. The survey ends Aug. 26.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) asked ACT-IAC to help with its Myth-Busters Campaign, which is aimed at debunking commonly held misunderstandings about how industry and government can interact during the acquisition process.

The OFPP has identified specific strategies, and asked the organization to confirm the initial list and offer new ideas.

Donald Arnold, director of government programs at ACT-IAC, said the group intends to determine what companies consider the top 10 ideas.

“It’s great for government to get industry’s opinions and advice on things, especially in acquisition,” Arnold said.

The Myth-Busters Campaign is a part of the Office of Management and Budget’s 25-point plan on IT reforms, which was released last December. As an offshoot memo, OFPP Administrator Dan Gordon wrote about myths regarding misconceptions such as meeting with vendors one-on-one and that a meeting with a contractor is like talking with a registered lobbyist that causes a lot of headache because of the burden of disclosures.

Myths, like these and others, “reduce the government’s access to necessary market information as government officials,” officials wrote in the 25-point plan.