News for the Acquisition Workforce

OASIS recently adopted the use of Symphony Procurement Suite, a web-based, commercial off-the-shelf contract management and automation tool that allows government organizations to manage complex contracts. Symphony provides OASIS customers and OASIS contract holders an easy-to-use, highly secure and efficient method to issue, manage and award task order requests and capture information as a database of record for all stakeholders. Using Symphony ensures agencies are purchasing according to fair opportunity laws and rules. Join this webinar to learn how to navigate the tool and use it for orders on OASIS.

A new online course, FAC 097 Navigating Buy American and Trade Agreements, is now available in FAI CSOD. This new course incorporates all of the changes from FAR Rule 2021-008, including the new domestic content requirements for Buy American, the new fallback threshold, as well as the new price evaluation preferences for critical items and critical components. The course also introduces and utilizes two new Buy American and Trade Agreements decision tools that are available on FAI.gov. If you are a contracting professional that purchases supplies, this course is for you! Earn two CLPs for course completion. Register today!

A FAC-C-Digital Services (DS) is required prior to being assigned requirements for digital services acquisitions over $7.5 million (or $15 million for acquisitions described in FAR Part 13.500(c)). FAC-C Level II or III certified candidates can earn a FAC-C-DS via the Digital IT Acquisition Professional (DITAP) program. There are several vendors who provide the training: Management Concepts, ICF, CivicActions, EAGLES, Skylight and Graduate School USA.

The new Acquisition Data Initiatives page is live on Acquisition.gov and can be found on the top menu bar on the main page or here. The page provides news and updates related to acquisition data initiatives involving data analytics, standards and processes, and serves as an access point to procurement-related sites. Agency partners have developed resources for contracting officers and other members of the acquisition community to navigate commonly asked questions in the Federal Procurement Data System. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy team will be updating the acquisition community on ongoing data initiatives, including Equity in Procurement and the Hi-Definition Intelligent Acquisition Environment, in addition to adding more resources in the future.

Program managers, consider taking this high-level overview of how to manage climate risks. This new course is broken into three modules, and it explains the current climate science, the need to adapt to climate change hazards and steps program managers can take to mitigate risks. The course also highlights several resources that will assist with making your program more climate-ready. Don’t delay; program managers can register here and earn one CLP after completing the post-assessment. 

Government/industry engagement is essential for the success of the federal acquisition process. However, this essential component of a well-functioning procurement system is sometimes unknown or overlooked. The video linked here provides a 30-minute overview that details what government/industry engagement is, outlines strategies for success, provides practical examples of successful government/industry engagement, and reviews takeaways and resources. Tune in to learn more and support the success of federal acquisition processes!