NCMA World Congress was a Smashing Success!
Aronson had the privilege of attending the National Contract Management Association World Congress held this year in Boston. Over 2,000 contracting professionals from both government and industry participated in the Congress which spanned July 29th through August 1st. The theme was Efficiency, Efficiency & Transparency, all important subjects in the new more austere and ever more regulated world of government contracting. The speakers, Dov Seidman, author of “HOW: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything;” Elizabeth McGrath, Deputy Chief Management Officer for DoD; Robert Fogarty, founder of Dear World and Les Brown, best selling author and motivator were thought provoking, inspirational and some times quite funny. Panels, moderated by John Young, former Undersecretary for Defense; Stan Soloway, President of the Professional Services Counsel; and Dan Gordon, formerly Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy; and many luminaries in the contracting field discussed leadership, austerity and the path forward. There were also over 100 breakout session covering a wide range of public contracting related topics.
The general conclusion was that our procurement system, despite the occasional hiccups, is something we can be proud of. In fact, several of the panelists noted that our system is frequently used as a model for developing nations and is well-regarded throughout the world for its lack of corruption. However most panelists agreed that the typical contracting officer was not aware of how much discretion, judgment and creativity the FAR allows in awarding and administering contracts. The consensus was that, after the current effort to re-build the acquisition workforce, the biggest challenge is to develop a culture of achieving results in accordance with the requirements of the FAR, not merely ensuring compliance with the FAR.
For more detailed information about the World Congress please see the NCMA website.
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