Provisions in the Senate’s version of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act contain a series of changes to the Defense Department‘s acquisition process, Federal News Radio reported Monday.Jared Serbu writes that amendments submitted by the Senate Armed Services Committee work to decentralize acquisition program authority to the service chiefs, while the Office of the Secretary of Defense will focus on providing guidance for acquisitions rather than oversight and management.
The bill also seeks to explore commercial technologies at DoD as part of an acquisition “middle tier” between traditional and rapid acquisition programs, the report said.
Serbu notes other provisions including changes to personnel security clearance and insider threat programs, U.S. Cyber Command plans for government and military cooperation on foreign cyber threats and interoperable health records for DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
He adds that the Senate has also voted on the role of small-business offices within DoD in handling contracting protests from small firms.
