OMB Director Outlines Efforts to Automate, Simplify Procurement-Related Tasks

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, has outlined new agency initiatives meant to reduce the amount of repetitive administrative tasks needed for procurement activities.

Mulvaney said in an August 27 memorandum that the OMB plans to use artificial intelligence and automation tools to handle routine procedures, thereby reducing the likelihood of errors and enhancing “compliance with contracting protocols and financial analysis and reporting.”

The OMB director added that his agency developed, in partnership with the General Services Administration, a centralized service that government contractors can use when filing post-award data in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

The OMB’s efforts are a response to the President’s Management Agenda, which criticized the amount of resources “spent complying with outdated, redundant and unnecessary requirements.”

The PMA challenged federal agencies to divert “time, effort and funding… toward accomplishing mission outcomes” and bring about a shift from “low-value to high-value work.”