Plenary Session: Federal Acquisition Changes in our Post-Pandemic World 8:45 a.m.
“Return to Work” reverberations continue to ripple out from both Washington and company headquarters. New paradigms and realities related to real estate and office space, coupled with workforce expectations and job-market fluidity have created unprecedented changes and challenges for federal acquisition. At the same time, new contract mechanisms and IT advances are attempting to address these issues – some for the better, some not so much. This panel provides the government’s perspective – from the agencies that set the guidance and help train the new acquisition workforce to specific agencies offering their perspectives on our new reality. Live-polling will help provide our panelists with industry’s perspectives on these recent changes to let them know what’s working, what’s now and what ideas we have to improve the process.
Plenary Session: The Great Boomerang: Building Workforce Capacity, Engagement and Resilience 10:00 a.m. Companies are shifting from the gaps of a ‘great resignation’ to actively engaging in a ‘great return’ by hiring more diverse, inclusive and skilled workforces and investing in employee engagement. How are industry leaders approaching managing workforce careers in generational phases, with different objectives, and respective mission outlooks? What are essential considerations in developing a diverse, adaptive, and competitive acquisition workforce environment with consideration to costs, constraints, and location alternatives? How will industry and government work together to support their respective government workforces? Experts on this panel will discuss approaches to building and retaining the needed workforce and what resiliency looks like in the great boomerang.
Plenary Session: Aligning Infrastructure Investment to Build Equitable and Resilient Communities 2:00 p.m.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) authorizes historic investments in U.S. infrastructure – totaling roughly $1.2 trillion of which $550 billion is slated for new federal investments. Since the IIJA became law in November 2021, what are the key lessons learned by government and industry officials who operate in this space? How are they realizing the potential of infrastructure investments? What efforts are underway to align infrastructure jobs with the Biden-Harris Administration’s emphases on labor equity, inclusion and fairness? This panel will showcase: (1) how investments move through communities while reflecting such priorities and (2) how the government can best leverage contractor capabilities to support infrastructure resilience.
Plenary Session: Best Practices During Inflationary Times 10:15 a.m.
This session will provide a scenario-based discussion between government and industry on the challenges of current inflation to the govcon market. It will allow a sharing of perspectives to help both sides understand the impacts of inflation on different companies and types of contracts and the authority, guidance, and constraints within which the government can address these challenges through equitable pricing adjustments. Members will share best practices on how to request equitable pricing adjustments, how companies are managing inflation, and how to best ensure pricing within future bids is reasonable and competitive.