PSC Calls for Meaningful, Measurable Government Communication—with Industry and Internally

March 2, 2017

In March 1, 2017 comments to the FAR Council, PSC called for the federal government to institute policies that will make communication with industry, and across functional lines within agencies, expected, effective and enabling of successful acquisition outcomes.

On November 29, 2016, the FAR Council issued a proposed rule (subsequently extended on January 23, 2017) titled “Effective Communication between Government and Industry” that would implement section 887 of the FY16 NDAA. Section 887 directed the Council to “prescribe a regulation making clear that agency acquisition personnel are permitted and encouraged to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent with existing law and regulation and do not promote an unfair competitive advantage to particular firms.” PSC strongly supports the core elements of the proposed rule, and we commend Congress, the Council, and its component agencies for their ongoing commitment to enhancing communication between the public and private sectors—a commitment that has demonstrably borne fruit over the past several years. 

However, despite improvements, more can and should be done. In our comments, PSC offered numerous observations, recommendations and best practices that we believe are fundamental to improving communication between government and industry in furtherance of successful acquisition outcomes. Perhaps most importantly, PSC asserted that initiatives to improve communication must not focus solely on industry and government contracting personnel, or specific portions of the acquisition process, but should holistically address the “total” acquisition workforce and lifecycle. Equally crucial, such initiatives must permeate beyond agency leadership to frontline, operational levels to become ingrained in agencies’ culture if they are to achieve lasting results. Perhaps most importantly, communication must be required and evaluated as part of agency and individual performance in order for changes to take hold—an area where efforts to date have fallen short. View PSC’s full comments here.