The Biden administration has introduced a four-pronged strategy designed to improve the performance of federal contracts and save the government more than $10 billion annually.
The Better Contracting Initiative, or BCI, directs the Office of Management and Budget to create a centralized data management framework for sharing product prices and other market intelligence and supply chain data, the White House announced in a statement on Wednesday.
OMB is expected to publish a guide in the coming months for high priority acquisition requirements. The agency will also conduct workshops to identify and rank the needs of procurement, IT, supply chain and other branches in government offices.
Under the BCI, the General Services Administration will be authorized to lead the negotiation of IT software licensing agreements to help control price variance. GSA will also sponsor acquisition workshops and cooperate with other departments’ procurement teams to deliver similar training.
The White House noted that the initiative will foster competitive equality by giving buyers options for considering small business set-aside contracts.