FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of this dialogue?

The purpose of the dialogue is to discuss improvements to the federal acquisition process. The goal is to be sure Federal agencies can access the best contractors to provide the best and most current services to the Federal government that will support American taxpayers.

2. Who can participate?

Anyone interested in participating is welcome to share thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and comments on other suggestions.

3. What topics will be addressed?

There are three topical areas or “campaigns”: (1) reporting and compliance requirements, (2) procurement rules and practices, and (3) participation by small and minority businesses and new entrants. See discussion of campaigns below for additional information. We purposely made the scope of the dialogue broad so that we don’t miss opportunities for improvement efforts.

4. Are there specific issues that you would like participants to address within these broad topical areas?

We have developed a set of tags that participants will be asked to choose from when posting ideas so that their ideas can be sorted and reviewed according to the primary area of impact. Tags include: better communication, better incentives, buying commercial items, buying processes or rules, duplicate or too frequent reporting, innovation and tests, IT purchasing, small & minority business help, and websites and systems. There is also a catch-all “other” tag to capture ideas that fall outside of these areas.

5. What will you do with this information?

The suggestions and ideas provided through the dialogue will be reviewed as part of our ongoing efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal acquisition system. The dialogue will not take the place of the outreach that typically occurs as part of policy development, such as that associated with rulemaking. However, by reaching a wider audience, agencies will have a broadened range of perspectives that can help them to better identify opportunities for improvement and jump start improvement efforts.

6. My company would like to provide comments in person rather than through the dialogue. With whom should we work to make this happen?

Consistent with Federal policies and procedures and to allow maximum insight and transparency, all conversations on this dialogue will take place publicly through cxo.dialogue.cao.gov. All users are encouraged to review, comment, and share information with each other through the site so the most impactful suggestions can be identified.

7. When will we find out how these ideas are being implemented?

Once the dialogue is closed, a summary document will be shared on cao.gov and the dialogue site that shares the key concepts, themes, and ideas that emerged in the dialogue. These ideas will be reviewed as we consider short and long term solutions to remove identified barriers and burdens. Any resulting improvement actions will be managed in accordance with Federal rulemaking and policy-making processes.

8. Will the dialogue include conversations with federal officials?

No. The purpose of the dialogue is to generate ideas, suggestions, and conversation among a wide range of participants so the most impactful suggestions can be identified. Federal officials will be following the dialogue closely, highlighting ideas that have been offered, and encouraging broad feedback.

9. How do I participate?

Information on how to participate in this dialogue can be found at http://support.ideascale.com/customer/portal/articles/1521462-participation-faq.

10. I posted a comment and it is now removed from the site, where did it go?

Consistent with the terms of usage and moderation guidelines you accepted when registering for the site, certain comments and/or postings could be moved to an “off topic” area or removed if some of the terms of participation were violated. The terms are available at cxo.dialogue.cao.gov/a/pages/participation.

Archived Campaigns

All Ideas
1. Reporting and Compliance

Campaign 1: Reporting and compliance requirements - Currently, the Federal Government requires businesses to fill out a lot of complicated paperwork to do business with us. We know we can do better. We want to know what you are seeing – where can we reengineer paperwork and systems, eliminate duplicative reporting, reduce the frequency of reporting, and/or change outdated requirements? Please help us with our improvements by providing ideas and input on the following questions:

Question 1: What reporting or other compliance requirements are most burdensome and why?

Question 2: How would you streamline reporting and compliance requirements? (please cite or describe specific examples if you can)

Question 3: What other compliance information are you providing to the federal government outside the procurement process that could be used to reduce duplication?

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28

Expired on 05/05/2014
2. Procurement Rules and Practices

Campaign 2: Procurement rules and practices - We know entities doing business in the private sector have best practices and we’re anxious to learn about and replicate in the Federal Government wherever possible. We want to hear about innovative approaches to contracting that align with your business practices.

Question 1: What are the most effective ways to encourage innovative offers and best solutions?

Question 2: How can we reduce the cost of transactions for contractors?

Question 3: What are the best ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of acquisitions for information technology?

Question 4: What procurement rules or practices are most effective and which are least effective and why?

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107

Expired on 05/05/2014
3. Small Business Participation

Campaign 3: Participation by small and minority businesses and non-traditional government contractors - We know many businesses lack the resources and expertise to participate in the Federal marketplace. We welcome feedback – especially by entities that are not participating in Federal contracting – to understand what steps we can take to make your participation possible.

We welcome feedback on how to increase participation in Federal contracting.

Question 1: How can we make doing business with the government easier and less costly for small businesses, minority businesses, new entrants, and non-traditional government contractors?

Question 2: If you are a small business, minority owned business, or new entrant, what features of the federal acquisition system are most helpful and which are least helpful to you?

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Expired on 05/05/2014