Frank Kendall, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, has encouraged the Defense Department‘s procurement employees to always consider technical and cost factors when they buy technologies, DoD News reported Wednesday.

“We can all get better at what we do,” Kendall told nearly 1,000 DoD acquisition staff during a forum held Tuesday at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

“This is about building capacity within our departments.”

He noted at the event that DoD developed its Better Buying Power 3.0 framework to address cost, competition, productivity and innovation issues in agency programs.

During his speech, Kendall also commended the U.S. Air Force‘s efforts to implement cost-saving strategies in the face of budget uncertainty.