The American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council has hosted a panel on governmentwide acquisition contracts to discuss the issues facing GWAC providers focused on agencies’ acquisition practices, adoption and regulation, FCW reported Thursday.Mark Rockwell writes officials identified strategic sourcing, Federal Acquisition Regulations and federal IT’s use of GWACs as their main concerns as they prepare to launch next-generation GWACs.
Participants in the discussion included:
- Joanne Woytek, NASA‘s program manager for the Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement contract
- Rob Coen, acting director of the National Institutes of Health‘s Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center
- Chris Fornecker, the General Services Administration‘s director for GWACs
Woytek said FAR language implies that federal IT departments are required to justify using GWACs and Coen said FARsa should be rewritten to instead require justification for not using GWACs and similar contracting vehicles, the report said.
Fornecker noted that GSA has sought input from vendors to make the upcoming Alliant II contract “more flexible and workable with emerging technologies.”
Such changing technology is among other pressures facing federal IT in the current acquisition environment, Rockwell reports.
Woytek said the latest SEWP contract is also the result of collaboration to address customers’ service needs and preferences.
