Tag Archives: category management

Soraya Correa, chief procurement officer at the Department of Homeland Security, said DHS’ component agencies need to identify acquisition programs to be suitable for their operations amid the federal government’s increasing focus on “best-in-class” contracts, FCW reported Friday. 

The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to transition to the production phase its “Reimagined - Buy Smarter” program, which uses artificial intelligence to accelerate data analysis to identify cost-saving concepts and help with price comparisons, Federal News Network reported Friday. “Buy Smarter is an innovative opportunity for HHS to look at our category management, break down some stove pipes, and consolidate our requirements across the department,” Lori Ruderman, senior adviser and co-lead for Buy Smarter, said on the network’s Federal Monthly Insights - Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. 

The Office of Management and Budget released a memorandum directing federal agencies to implement a series of management actions and provide updates on such actions to advance category management. The memo seeks to “help the government buy as a coordinated enterprise and avoid the waste associated with duplicative contract actions,” Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management at OMB, wrote in the document released Wednesday. 

Lisa Hershman, acting chief management officer of the Department of Defense, told Defense News in an interview published Friday that DoD is focusing on five key initiatives to find greater savings in fiscal year 2019. Those programs are category management; information technology and business systems; procurement of goods and services in a different manner; health care management; and logistics and supply chain acquisition.
 

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Defense News in an interview published Monday that the Pentagon has a “really great road map” for digital modernization. Shanahan said he believes having an information technology strategy in place could help the Defense Department carry out modernization efforts, such as consolidation of data centers and deployment of a common financial platform.

The Office of Management and Budget has issued a new draft strategy that seeks to help federal agencies facilitate the adoption of cloud platforms in support of their mission requirements. A White House release published Monday says the Cloud Smart strategy marks the first update of the previous cloud policy, Cloud First, introduced in 2010.
 

The General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management have reduced the contract access fee of the Human Capital and Training Solutions initiative by at least 60 percent. GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said in a statement published Wednesday the move to lower CAF from 2 percent to 0.75 percent …

The U.S. Air Force’s security and protection category council has implemented the category management approach to help the service streamline its procurement processes and achieve cost savings. Scott Heise, council director at the Air Force Security Forces Center, said in a statement published Thursday a five-year contract the service awarded to …

Federal agencies obligated $8.56 billion for competitively awarded contracts during fiscal 2017 through a program that is set aside for socially disadvantaged businesses, Bloomberg Government reported Monday. The figure reflects a 24 percent increase in competitive awards under the 8(a) program since fiscal 2011, according to the report. Contracts awarded …

Richard Lombardi, U.S. Air Force deputy undersecretary for management and deputy chief management officer, has said a category management program will help the service save $2 billion and boost lethality within the force. The Air Force said Thursday it implemented the effort four years ago to filter and determine its …