Federal IT contracting reform is needed because there have been too many failures with major implementations, said the report, authored by a 31-person commission, including representatives of Northrop Grumman, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
n August, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced it was suspending 26 IT projects worth about US$30 billion while it reviewed why they weren't working, and the Obama administration has "significant concerns" about 55 of 794 current major IT projects, according to the Federal IT Dashboard.
"The administration accurately pointed out that there is a significant productivity gap between government IT and IT across the rest of the private sector," Phillip Bond, TechAmerica's president and CEO, said during a press conference. "That gap is important, given that over the past 10 years, the government has invested more than 600 billion taxpayer dollars in these IT systems."
Comment: I'm often skeptical of attempts to cut out one industry to receive "special" treatment. The general principles of procurement should apply across the board.
That said, special procedures for conducting procurement based on the nature of the thing to be acquired do need to take into account the nature of the acquisition. Acquiring a fleet of automobiles is not the same thing, exactly, as soliciting a major design, build, finance and maintain infrastructure project, though the general principles of fair and equal treatment and opportunity, transparency, accountability and the like apply.
To me, no expert in things IT, one of the difficult features is that IT platforms and software are constantly changing and obsolescence is almost instantaneous. Also, almost by definition, much of the IT product is monopoly protected by patent and copyright law. And then, there is the practical requirement of government to try to have some kind of uniformity across its various parts for good governance and interoperability. There are obvious tensions and countervailing considerations.
Scale is one such factor that cuts both ways. Setting up a government-wide IT solution is almost a new problem before it gets off the specification-drafting drawing board. Allowing and encouraging experimentation with smaller installations will help to keep the whole of government more up to date and responsive to changes in the industry.
Perhaps.
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