“The Defense Department‘s continued push to change the way the military buys software with a new ‘color of money’ is gaining traction across the acquisition workforce and earning support from lawmakers, its top acquisition official said Thursday.”
“Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord said she is currently establishing pilot programs to test the idea, which would allow contracting officers to purchase software under its own ‘budget activity,’ BA-8, designed for an agile procurement process rather than conforming to existing regulations on spending established for hardware purchases. The ideas for changing software acquisition were brought to the DOD in March 2019 in a Defense Innovation Board study.”
“Lord added that DOD has support from Congress on authorizing the new budget activity. This news comes as DOD is working on other policy changes and programs to speed up its software acquisition cycle…”
“Color of money pilots have been talked about since September, with other key regulatory agencies showing support. As the pilot programs become real, Lord said her office will continue to finalize its policy and implementation of the innovation board’s recommendations…” Read the full article here.
Source: New ‘color of money’ for DOD software gaining traction, Lord says – By Jackson Barnett, August 13, 2020. FedScoop.
