Cherissa Tamayori, director of acquisition at the Defense Innovation Unit, said the Department of Defense must adopt commercial technology systems and culture and make changes to the requirements, budgeting and acquisition aspects of the defense acquisition system to become a “fast follower” as prescribed by the 2022 National Defense Strategy.
Tamayori wrote in an opinion piece published in the April edition of the Contract Management Magazine that DOD should simplify the procurement process and implement commercial best practices by using flexible acquisition authorities.
“This includes the use of the other transaction (OT) authority through commercial solutions openings (CSO), which maximizes competition while minimizing the opportunity costs of participating vendors,” she noted.
Tamayori said the department should replace the requirements process with a “more rapid validation of needs” for dual-use technologies and enable a flexible budgeting process for commercial platforms.
She also called on DOD contracting professionals to understand industry partners by putting themselves in the shoes of commercial stakeholders as well as enhance market research and conduct outreach efforts.
“The DoD needs to proactively build bridges with the private sector to make sure companies are aware of the potential that exists in the federal marketplace and can find opportunities with ease. This is key to ensuring that we are reaching nontraditional defense companies,” Tamayori added.
