Expert panel takes first crack at reforming DoD acquisition system
** Section 809 Panel referenced at the End of the Year Federal Contractor Update Conference.
The advisory panel Congress established to help streamline the Defense Department’s acquisition system said Wednesday that DoD should be allowed to eliminate more than a dozen different legally-mandated offices and positions within its bureaucracy, cease the annual publication of at least 20 reports to Congress that are of questionable value, and repeal 165 government-unique contract requirements as some of the first steps toward bringing more agility to the department’s procurement of goods and services.
The suggestions were among a sweeping set of recommendations the group of experts, known as the Section 809 Panel, made in the first volume of its final report following more than a year of study, public testimony and private interviews with government and industry personnel. It intends to send Congress two additional volumes within the next year.
