Pilot Program Will Streamline Contracting.

• Author: Biagini, Ray
• Position: Government Contracting Insights

On Jan. 9, the Defense Department issued Class Deviation 2018-00009, designed to reduce barriers to entry for innovative entities through streamlining the awards process for research-and-development contracts.

Titled "Pilot Program for Streamlining Awards for Innovative Technology," it allows for the use of simplified acquisition procedures and excuses certain procurement obligations when the Pentagon awards contracts valued at less than $7.5 million to nontraditional defense contractors or small businesses.

The Defense Department reports that it has awarded contracts valued below that amount to over 1,100 unique small entities in the past three years. Unless an exemption exists, the Federal Acquisition Regulation requires certified cost or pricing data for contract actions in excess of $750,000.

The exceptions apply to awards pursuant to a broad agency announcement for the acquisition of basic or applied research; the Small Business Innovation Research Program; and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program.

Nontraditional defense contractors and small businesses awarded contracts valued at less than $7.5 million pursuant to a broad agency announcement or the SBIR program are also exempted from requirements for audits and records examination. The exceptions expire on Oct. 1, 2020.

The pilot program, currently housed within the defense pricing/defense procurement and acquisition policy office is caught up in a restructuring at the Pentagon. It fell under the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, which was eliminated Feb. 1 as mandated by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

The reorganization dissolved the AT&L office and created undersecretaries of defense for acquisition and sustainment and research and engineering. The acquisition and sustainment outfit is responsible for delivering technology to the warfighter more efficiently and affordably, while the research and engineering office is charged with driving innovation and accelerating the advancement of warfighting capability.

Ben FitzGerald, a former staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and senior fellow at the Center for New American Security, was recently appointed director of the office of strategy and design and is overseeing the reorganization.

The pilot program appears to fit into the overarching objectives of both components of the new structure. As an interim measure it will fall under the authority of A&S...