IT Industry Will Weigh in on Acquisition Changes IT contractors want a voice in the Obama administration’s overhaul of technology contracting. TechAmerica, a trade association representing the industry, has formed a commission “to provide recommendations for improving the way the federal government purchases and implements IT systems.” The industry initiative is a response to the administration’s announcement that it would review billions of dollars worth of IT programs. The Office of Management and Budget froze new spending on 30 financial modernization projects and said it would look to simplify the projects by breaking them into smaller pieces. (SAA, 7/9) The administration later moved to quiet contractors’ fears about the reviews. OMB Controller Danny Werfel said, “For those agencies that are on a good path right now, they’re going to have a very quick review and will be up and running to do future procurements going forward.” He spoke at an Association of Government Accountants conference in Orlando, FL, the newspaper Federal Times reported. In announcing its Commission on the Government Technology Opportunity in the 21st Century (GT0-21), TechAmerica Foundation Chairman Phil Bond said the administration’s action “should serve as a wakeup call that IT acquisition reform is overdue.” “For too long the government has been unable to deliver our citizens the full potential of government services because of its reliance on outdated, inflexible procurement laws and regulations and an ill-equipped, overburdened acquisition workforce,” Bond said in a statement. “This commission will constitute a serious effort by the nation’s leading information technology system and procurement experts. We fully expect the commission’s recommendations to carry weight within the administration and to result in substantive improvements. The commission plans to produce recommendations by the fall, in time to be considered as OMB prepares the president’s 2012 budget. Linda Gooden, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Services and Steve Kelman of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government will serve as co-chairs. Co-vice chairs will be Renato DiPentima, former CEO of SRA International Inc. and a senior adviser at Providence Equity Partners, and Christopher Yukins, co-director of The George Washington University’s Government Procurement Law Program. TecAmerica invited its members to nominate others to serve on the panel. OMB Director Peter Orszag said Hthe reviews of IT programs are part of the administration’s effort to close the “technology gap” between government and the private sector. “Quite simply, we can’t significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government without fixing IT,” he wrote in a memo to agencies.