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News, announcements, training, search functions, Ask-a-Professor, and similar services with direct links supporting DoD acquisition.
Acquisition Process
Three processes cooperate to deliver capabilities needed by warfighters: the requirements process (JCIDS); the acquisition process (DAS); and the program and budget development process (PPBE). Includes links to DoD and Service policies, guidance, tools, and resources:
Policy
Encyclopedic source of acquisition policy that follows a hierarchy of policy issuance (i.e., executive, legislative, federal, etc.) and filtered according to organization, career field, and special topics.
Communitiesof Practice
Links to communities of practice and special interest areas, the latest contribution and discussion posts for open ACC communities, community highlights, and links to related communities.
Training andContinuous Learning
Information on training and continuous learning that supports DoD acquisition, information that helps manage professional training portfolios, and information on training available from DAU and DoD and Services activities.
Industry
Information on DoD industry partners that helps the participation and execution of DoD processes; including industry support pages, news, information, and links to private sector acquisition contractors.
Applications
AT&L Knowledge Management Systems (AKMS) applications.
Displays tabs for additional AT&L Special Topics Gateways:
And popular AT&L Career Fields Gateways:
Portals
Functional Gateways
Sixteen functional knowledge gateways, one for each of the defense acquisition career fields.
Special Topics
Links to gateways about important topics outside the general portals and beyond the standard career fields:
Leonardo Manning Director
The following was sent on behalf of Anne Rung, the U.S. Chief Acquisition Officer
In December 2014, the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) published a memo highlighting the importance of improved agency-industry communication to maximize the return on acquisition investment and to ensure access to high-quality solutions. Since then, OFPP has worked towards generating stronger engagement between the Federal Government and the industry partners from whom we acquire goods and services.
Today, as part of our effort to improve industry engagement, I would like to re-circulate the "myth-busters" memorandums that my predecessor, Administrator Dan Gordon, published in February 2011 and May 2012. Widely lauded by both the Federal acquisition workforce and the private sector, these memorandums address misconceptions related to agency-industry communication and offer a series of best practices for maximizing the impact of vendors' engagements with the Federal Government. Below, I include five examples of "myths" from Dan Gordon's memos, and I encourage you to re-read them in their entirety.
Additionally, please note that OFPP will release a new "myth-busters" memo in the upcoming weeks that will specifically address the effective use of debriefings.
MYTH "We can't meet one-on-one with a potential offeror."
FACT Government officials can generally meet one-on-one with potential offerors as long as no vendor receives preferential treatment.
MYTH "Getting broad participation by many different vendors is too difficult; we're better off dealing with the established companies we know."
FACT The government loses when we limit ourselves to the companies we already work with. Instead, we need to look for opportunities to increase competition and ensure that all vendors, including small businesses, get fair consideration.
MYTH "A protest is something to be avoided at all costs - even if it means the government limits conversations with industry."
FACT Restricting communication won't prevent a protest, and limiting communication might actually increase the chance of a protest - in addition to depriving the government of potentially useful information.
MYTH "Agencies generally have already determined their requirements and acquisition approach so our impact during the pre-RFP phase is limited."
FACT Early and specific industry input is valuable. Agencies generally spend a great deal of effort collecting and analyzing information about capabilities within the marketplace. The more specific [industry] can be about what works, what doesn't, and how it can be improved, the better.
MYTH "Attending industry days and outreach events is not valuable because the agency doesn't provide new information."
FACT Industry days and outreach events can be a valuable source of information for potential vendors and are increasingly being used to leverage scarce staff resource.
OFPP Mythbusters 1 : Addressing Misconceptions to Improve Communication with Industry during the Acquisition Process
OFPP Mythbusters 2: Addressing Misconceptions and Further Improving Communication During the Acquisition Process
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