A Professional Services Council survey has found that 67 percent of federal acquisition leaders said they believe collaboration and communication with industry has improved in the past two years and 70 percent of respondents said they think their organizations’ collaboration with vendors will get better in the next two years.

PSC said Thursday the Biennial Acquisition Policy Survey is based on nearly 200 detailed discussions and 22 post-discussion data responses from acquisition professionals across 13 federal agencies.

Requests for information landed the top spot when it comes to the most effective modes of communication with industry, followed by one-on-ones and reverse industry days.

The study showed that 50 percent of respondents said they prefer a hybrid work environment and only 5 percent said they prefer in-office work.

Sixty percent of respondents said departing employees leave for another federal agency and 77 percent of officials said their agencies find it difficult to employ or train personnel with the needed skills.

Apart from workforce and industry collaboration, acquisition strategies and budget challenges emerged as the other two major themes of the PSC survey.

“The key themes from the survey highlight that the government can and should demonstrate clear leadership to address federal marketplace challenges,” said Sebastian Beau Herrick, senior associate for public policy at PSC and primary researcher for the survey.

“Ultimately, there’s ample opportunity in government to collaborate with industry for smarter contracting, better communication, and more seamless acquisition processes,” Herrick added.

The Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program held a meet-and-greet event on Wednesday exhibiting more than 85 production innovations developed in the United States.

The show featured technologies from the program’s nine manufacturing innovation institutes as well as various military service branches, the DOD announced Thursday.

Dubbed DOD ManTech, it was established to promote domestic capabilities for military supply chain sustainment, while maintaining the country’s global competitive edge in the industry.

The event included a copper alloy rocket nozzle created through additive manufacturing, and a self-healing fibrous material made from the protein structure of squid tentacles. Another exhibitor displayed a space thruster tile composed of glass, metal and ceramics.

The U.S. Navy and Air Force were among the participants, as well as the Missile Defense Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency.

“DOD ManTech serves as the Department’s investment mechanism for identifying, developing, and maturing manufacturing processes that enable affordable production and repair of defense systems and equipment for the Joint Force,” said Tracy Frost, the program’s director.

The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted 34-24 to pass a fiscal year 2024 bill that would fund the agencies and programs within the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.

The FY 2024 defense measure would provide $826 billion in discretionary spending, reflecting a 3.6 percent increase from the FY 2023 enacted level and about $286 million higher than the president’s proposed budget.

Included in the bill is funding for the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance program; nuclear triad modernization; and the office of strategic capital to advance the development of emerging technologies for defense applications.

The legislation would allocate funding for the Defense Innovation Unit and service branches to help speed up the acquisition processes.

The measure proposes a 5.2 percent salary increase for servicemembers, earmarks over $9 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and includes security cooperation funding for Taiwan.