The FISMA Focus IPD

From: FCW

By Matthew Weigelt

The Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act could be a major turning point in the history of IT procurement reforms, but it’s helpful to understand the context in which it comes. Congress has passed several procurement reform laws since the mid-1990s, each one of them building on the past.

“I believe—and not just because my name is on it—I really do believe this legislation is groundbreaking, and I think it has the potential to reshape how the federal government manages its IT from soup to nuts,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a vocal co-sponsor of FITARA, said on March 20. Minutes later, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) led his Oversight and Government Reform Committee in putting its stamp of approval on FITARA.

Connolly said FITARA is “some of the most groundbreaking legislation in the last 20 years.”

But can FITARA live up to Connolly’s accolades?

Consider what came before: The Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 created the CIO position and directed agencies to pay more attention to the results they could achieve through IT investments, during an era when the idea of making IT investments on a broad scale was relatively new. The Federal Acquisition Reform Act, which ultimately became part of Clinger-Cohen, increased the discretion of contracting officers in an effort to promote efficient competition. The FARA portion of the law also streamlined the federal IT procurement process. Clinger-Cohen emphasized rigor and structure in how agencies select and manage IT projects. In another reform, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 established a preference for commercial products.

There were more major reforms in the early 2000s, including the Services Acquisition Reform Act. It stressed greater use of performance-based acquisition and set up the Chief Acquisition Officers Council. Other bills reorganized the General Services Administration and created a Contingency Contracting Corps to improve the process of making acquisitions in emergency circumstances.

Clinger-Cohen doubtlessly stands as the great patriarch of contemporary IT procurement reform. Is FITARA qualified to stand with it?

• Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act 1994
• Clinger-Cohen Act   1996
• Services Acquisition Reform Act 2003
• General Services Administration Reorganization Act 2005
• Fiscal 2009 National Defense Authorization Act 2009
• Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act 2013

“Rep. Issa’s legislation has the potential to be a significant reform,” said Mike Hettinger, director of the Public Sector Innovation Group at the Software & Information Industry Association. He was the staff director of the House Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Management, Finance and Accountability from 2003 to 2007.

“Where it fits in the historical context is not yet known,” he added, although “Chairman Issa and his staff have clearly recognized that, more than 16 years after Clinger-Cohen became law, federal IT acquisition reform is long overdue.”

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