WASHINGTON – The IT Alliance for Public Sector (ITAPS), a division of ITI, released the following statement from Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president for the public sector, welcoming a hearing held today by the Senate Armed Services Committee called “Acquisition Reform: Next Steps,” which begins laying the groundwork for next year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

"The Department of Defense is a major driver for government-wide contracting practices, and while this year's NDAA made progress towards bringing needed acquisition reforms, more work still needs to be done to address some of the toughest challenges facing the procurement system," Hodgkins said. “We're encouraged to see lawmakers are wasting no time in holding today's hearing to find opportunities for next year's NDAA bill to improve the way the government contracts for the IT tools and services it needs to keep and sustain its technological edge."

“In order to attract innovative technology companies to enter the federal marketplace, next year’s NDAA bill must take steps to improve the way that IT investments are funded, and it must create acquisition pathways for emerging technologies to be acquired and deployed. We also encourage Congress to include initiatives to develop a robust and agile contracting workforce that better understands the market forces that drive rapid technology advances being driven by the private sector,” Hodgkins said.

ITAPS noted that today’s hearing comes on the heels of the Fiscal Year 2016 NDAA, which was signed into law by President Obama last week. ITAPS has advocated a set of IT acquisition reform principles for lawmakers to adopt in legislative vehicles like the annual NDAA to bring about needed reforms in the federal marketplace.

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