GovConJudicata Weekly Debrief (1/4–8)
This week's Weekly Debrief covers IT modernization at SSA, the Space Force, OTAs, GSA's new IT services contract, and industry analysis on Federal contract spending.
IT Modernization
"An 11-member IT Systems Expert Panel issued numerous recommendations to the Social Security Administration last month in a final report reviewing the agency’s IT modernization plan."
Defense
"New details are emerging on how the 18th member of the intelligence community will be set up as the Space Force continues to entrench itself as the newest service of the military. Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback, Air Force director of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance, said within a year the military will set up a National Space Intelligence Center (NSIC)."
"A contracting slip-up by the Space Force has inspired new scrutiny of a streamlined acquisition process known as Other Transaction Authority (OTA). OTAs have soared in popularity in recent years, but a story by The Washington Post — which said a Space Force contractor “acted fraudulently” and derided OTAs in general as a “loophole” — has given skeptics new ammunition in their fight for restrictions."
GSA
"The General Services Administration released the draft framework for its new governmentwide small business IT services contract, dubbed Polaris, including a list of service offerings covered under the contract and emerging technologies vendors should be prepared to pitch as part of task order competitions."
Industry Analysis
"Federal contract spending in fiscal 2020 reached $681 billion, the highest amount on record. That’s a 43% increase from the $478 billion in government spending obligations in fiscal 2016. Some areas that experienced the most growth between fiscal 2019 to 2020 include markets for: medical ($21.2 billion), research and development ($9.1 billion), professional services ($6.1 billion), and information technology ($5.5 billion)."
"The Government Contracting Industry is a complex marketplace. No other industry is as dependent on the successes and failures of Federal policy, regulation, and Congressional leadership. Our ecosystem lives or dies by it. Elements of the sector ebb and flow depending not only on the needs wants, whims, and votes of American citizens but also the global stage, all of which command our ~$1T competitive landscape pipelined through Federal discretionary spending."
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