The Department of State is establishing a new office for the data-driven procurement of enterprise information technology services, Fedscoop reported Thursday. A new IT Acquisitions Office within the department will operate by spring 2020, according to the official in charge of managing the future organization.

The Defense Department is considering security, cost, interoperability and user friendliness as key factors in the procurement of a cloud-based information technology platform, DoD News reported Thursday. Dana White, Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told reporters Thursday the department will conduct a full and open competition for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition …

The Trump administration’s proposed changes to a trade deal between U.S., Mexico and Canada could harm the information technology industry’s access to contracting opportunities in the two foreign countries, FCW reported Wednesday. One proposed change to the North American Free Trade Agreement would equalize foreign access to U.S. government contracts and …

The Government Accountability Office has called on federal agencies to allow chief information officers to assess and approve information technology contracts in an effort to increase CIOs’ oversight of agencies’ planned IT acquisitions. GAO said in a report published Wednesday 14 of the 22 assessed agencies failed to involve CIOs in the …

The U.S. Army has begun to assess its entire communications system as part of efforts to streamline the military branch’s information technology procurement process, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday. Acting Army Secretary Robert Speer and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters that the review will produce recommendations on streamlining IT acquisition and that …

Lt. Gen. Bill Bender, U.S. Air Force chief information officer, has said the service branch is working to develop a new information technology procurement process with the help of a new senior executive from commercial industry, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday. Scott Maucione writes Bender told an AFCEA event audience the potential candidate …

The Transportation Department has paused procurements for new technology while waiting for the completion of an inventory over DOT’s information technology properties, Federal News Radio reported Friday. Jason Miller writes the IT buy suspension marks the department’s first step to implement the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act. Richard McKinney, DOT’s chief information officer, said …

The General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service and the Defense Health Agency have formed a seven-year partnership to invest $5.4 billion toward the procurement of health information technology services and systems. Mary Davie, head of FAS’ integrated technology office, said in a Thursday blog post DHA will purchase new health IT services through …

U.S. Chief Information Officer Tony Scott said Wednesday that the Office of Management and Budget has been providing feedback on agencies’ action plans to implement Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act provisions, Federal Times reported Thursday. “Overall, I’d give it a B-plus in terms of the work I’ve seen,” told …

Mark Naggar, program manager for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services‘ Buyers Club, has said that HHS is moving away from a waterfall model toward an agile method to accelerate the agency’s acquisition cycle, Fedscoop reported Monday. “While agile may not accomplish everything, you are definitely mitigating your …