The General Services Administration and the departments of Defense and Homeland Security plan to host separate Reverse Industry Days in an effort to address the communication gap between the government and private sector, Federal News Radio reported Monday.DHS will hold its fourth Reverse Industry Day on June 28 in Washington, D.C. as part of the department’s Acquisition Innovation in Motion initiative, the report stated.
Soraya Correa, DHS chief procurement officer, said the event is intended to give industry members an opportunity to share their perspective on the procurement process on stage while government officials are in the audience.
Marc Pearl, president and CEO of the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council, said the organization introduced the concept to DHS in 2015 in an effort to give government a deeper understanding of processes such as debriefs, acquisition planning, early engagement and the decision to bid on a solicitation.
The Internal Revenue Service also held a reverse industry day in April, where industry discussed the acquisition timeline, the ‘bid-no-bid’ decision and how vendors interpret solicitation requirements, the report noted.
GSA will hold a reverse industry day on July 10 and DoD looks to host one in July.
