The Defense Department and the White House are recalibrating their public stances on in-sourcing plans. Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Dan Gordon said this week at an Integrated Resources Management Conference that confusion and misconceptions have long plagued the administration’s plans to bring current private-sector positions in house. “There …

Mindy Connolly, the General Services Administration’s new chief acquisition officer, is on the same page with many other Obama administration officials when it comes to improving communications between federal contracting officials and the private sector. For example, in an interview with Washington Business Journal, the agency’s new CAO said there …

The head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy said at a forum last week strengthening the acquisition workforce is the No. 1 priority in federal procurement. Dan Gordon, administrator of OFPP, said while the feds have put stock in their campaign to increase communication between federal contracting officials and …

Mary Davie’s resume states she is the General Services Administration’s assistant commissioner for Integrated Technology Services. But, she could also be called a couples’ counselor, of sorts. One of the main bullet points to come out of the government’s plans for reforming IT management and acquisition was improving communication between …

The Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy will launch a new collaborative website to help agencies looking to bolster their acquisition workforces. The website and a host of other assessment tools are aimed at bolstering the shortage of qualified contracting officers, Federal News Radio reported. …

“Mythbusting” is no longer just for the Discovery Channel. As part of the administration’s efforts to reform federal IT acquisition, the White House promised agency contract authorities and the private companies they do business with would communicate more frequently. But the first step in that process is dispelling some of …

For the first time in 13 years, the amount of money the federal government spends on contracts declined, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Jeffrey Zients said in a phone press conference this week. For fiscal year 2010, the government spent $535 billion on contracted goods and services, down …

Forget net neutrality. In the wake of the court fight between Google, Microsoft and the Interior Department, the new controversial federal IT issue may be tech procurement neutrality. On Friday, federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra sent a memo to agency CIOs and procurement officials to remind them of the …

As 2010 comes to a close, many in the government-contracting community look back on a year full of changes with mixed emotions. The year began with controversial federal proposals, such as insourcing and the Defense Department’s efficiency initiatives. But, it ended more optimistically, with DoD cuts to service contractors reportedly …

Where does the government’s  in-sourcing strategy stand, especially at the end of a year that saw serious proposals to freeze federal pay and even shrink the federal workforce? Well, according to a report on Federal Computer Week, skeptics shouldn’t count in-sourcing out anytime soon. “By all accounts,” according to FCW, …