20 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Democratic Republic of Congo orders Paramount Group’s Mwari aircraft
The purchase follows Paramount’s delivery of equipment to Mozambique, where the Mwari is already operational.
31 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR
How GSA is Helping Small Businesses Get Contracts Faster
A newly launched pilot program lets the agency's contracting experts help push deals over the finish line.
Officials at the General Services Administration on Monday said a new pilot program will speed up the government's adoption of innovative technologies by helping companies in the Small Business Innovation Research program more quickly strike deals with federal agencies.
Last week GSA launched a pilot that would open up Assisted Acquisition Services to agencies and vendors in the third and final phase of the SBIR program.
Run by the Small Business Administration, SBIR is divided into three phases. The first and second phases focus primarily on research and development, and during the third, companies work to commercialize their products. Under the pilot, GSA would collaborate with both customer agencies and SBIR vendors to hammer out initial contracts. After the products become commercialized, GSA would work to make them more widely available across government.
Most of the 13 agencies involved in SBIR don't have specialists dedicated to finalizing phase three contracts, and delegating that responsibility to GSA would enable speedier deals and make products more widely available, said Mark Lee, assistant commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service Office of Policy and Compliance.
“Currently there isn't a shared services offering that provides assisted acquisition for SBIR contracts,” Lee said in a conversation with reporters. “[The pilot] would be setting up that capability across government.”
While GSA will offer the additional services to all SBIR participants, Lee said he sees the program making a particular impact on the acquisition of cybersecurity and threat detection products, as well as emerging battlefield technologies.
The pilot will be led by the GSA Assisted Acquisition Services' Great Lakes regional office and run through the end of fiscal 2019. Depending on the program's success, GSA will determine whether it can offer the service more broadly, said Senior Procurement Executive Jeff Koses.
Koses told reporters the program originated after defense agencies approached GSA looking for ways to streamline the contracting process. The pilot comes as part of the administration's larger push to simplify acquisition policy, he said, while still including “a set of guardrails to make sure that we're innovative but with essential controls.”
Koses added he hopes accelerating the contracting process would help attract more small businesses to the federal marketplace, which agencies have historically struggled to do.
“I think this is a great example of us listening to our customer agencies, our industry partners and the Small Business Administration and [figuring out] where we can provide value in the federal marketplace,” said Lee. “We think this is an opportunity to inject innovation into the federal marketplace, help support commercialization of these unique solutions and ultimately help grow jobs.”
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5 octobre 2022 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Combining automation, responsible AI critical for national security
The future of national security will be intelligent and automated.
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9 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 08, 2020
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Aurora Industries,* Camuy, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $53,594,133 modification (P00008) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1128) with three one-year option periods for coats and trousers. This is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Jan. 10, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AIR FORCE BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., San Diego, California, has been awarded a $49,620,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00026) to previously awarded FA4600-12-D-0002 for additional Air Vehicle Planning System (APS) support. The contract modification is for a ceiling increase to allow the purchase of continued maintenance and sustainment activities, ongoing development activities, increased onsite support requirements and required modifications to APS for new and modified weapons. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Bellevue, Nebraska; and San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2024. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $195,000,826. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds are being used. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Kapsuun Group LLC, Lorton, Virginia, has been awarded a $14,535,027 firm-fixed-price contract for A4/A6 staff support services. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and is expected to be complete by July 9, 2025. This award is the result of direct award acquisition with one offer being received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,719,657 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Combat Command's Acquisition Management Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-20-C-0002). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2052857/source/GovDelivery/