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Strategy 1

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Foster lasting improvements in the federal acquisition system to strengthen the U.S. domestic manufacturing base, support American workers, lead by example toward sustainable climate solutions, and create opportunities for underserved communities.

Designated a Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) Goal

Goal 1.1

As of February 2024

Create a diverse and resilient federal marketplace.

Under this goal, agencies continue to implement guidance directing the use of a common definition for “new entrant” as they take steps to find small disadvantaged businesses and other contractors and measure progress in diversifying the federal supplier base. In addition to frequently asked questions, leads developed two new analytics tools to assist agencies with finding and measuring new and recent entrant participation. The Federal Supplier Base Dashboard helps agencies evaluate and compare the composition of their contractor base (including specific market segments of interest) to those at other agencies and the government at large, and the Procurement Equity Tool (government use only) helps agencies reach socioeconomic small businesses that have not received federal work but are registered in System for Award Management (SAM) and may be interested in participating in agency procurement competitions. The guidance asks agencies to identify and begin giving attention to market segments within their own supplier base where they have experienced challenges finding contractors. Leads continue to work with supply chain experts, including category managers, directors of Offices of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and others with supply chain, manufacturing, and industrial base expertise to identify priority supply chains.

Goal 1.2

As of February 2024

Ensure interoperability and sharing of acquisition data and tools.

As we progress towards achieving Goal 2, we are excited to share our ongoing efforts to make better use of data by facilitating its use and sharing across agencies, enabling improved decision-making and collaboration. 

The goal team has been actively engaging and coordinating across agencies to establish a Market Research and Pricing Data pilot that brings together critical transactional pricing data from various sources to develop a minimum viable product (MVP) that will, when fully implemented, provide much more detailed and accurate operational pricing and contract information to federal contracting personnel.

The goal team has also been working to ensure seamless data sharing by outlining data transfer protocols to be incorporated into a template for the future data sharing pilots and initiatives. 

Additionally, the goal team has been conducting a technology landscape assessment, researching ongoing data initiatives, and engaging with agencies to gather valuable insights on their data efforts. The findings will offer lessons learned for future investments that facilitate a more modern data-driven acquisition environment.

Goal 1.3

As of February 2024

Build our best by developing an inspired, engaged acquisition workforce.

Goal leads have issued guidance to modernize the Federal acquisition certification in contracting (FAC-C) program that affects all new contracting professionals in civilian agencies hired after February 1, 2023. This milestone will help increase OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) job satisfaction scores for contracting employees (1102 job series) by providing the workforce more meaningful and relevant training opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge and enhance their overall job performance.