Innovation and the Acquisition Workforce

As a new administration develops its management agenda, a priority must be placed on improved industry engagement. To access the best that industry has to offer, the federal acquisition environment requires experienced professionals who are empowered to act as stewards of the public interest, a culture that enables risk taking, and processes that drive true innovation. 

Government organizations are charged with complex missions, whether they are addressing immigration reform, national defense, housing and educating America's poorest citizens, or space exploration. Effective delivery of these missions requires an optimal mix of government and private industry contributions. To understand, collaborate with, and harness offerings from the private sector requires an acquisition workforce that is highly trained, empowered, and forward thinking. 

A recent government-wide survey of 80 federal acquisition executives conducted by Grant Thornton Public Sector and the Professional Services Council (PSC), Aligning for Acquisition Success: Overcoming Obstacles to Results, identified workforce-related barriers to accessing innovation (see figure below). The top barrier is agency workforce skills (29 percent), followed by fear of oversight and protests (26 percent). These elements are related and reinforce the need for focused attention on capability development. 

Tapping innovative solutions to problems facing government agencies requires both a keen understanding of how to use all the tools and techniques available under the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) as well as an understanding of how businesses are incentivized and apply their research and development investments.  

Want to learn more? Read the full analysis of the study in our article, “Modernizing the Acquisition Workforce,” in the January 2017 issue of The Public Manager.