Bending the Cost Curve: PlugFest PLUS In a June 13, 2014 speech at the Atlantic Council, Dr. William LaPlante, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions, announced that the Air Force is launching an initiative to improve acquisition processes by "Bending the Cost Curve." (Watch Video) He explained that Air Force Acquisition processes are too rigid and too slow to keep pace with emerging global technologies. The result is higher...

Contrary to a current myth, a GSA Schedule contract is not required by law or regulation to obtain a government contract, but it is an excellent sales tool to obtain government business by means of task or delivery orders. A GSA Schedule is a simplified process of acquiring commonly used commercial supplies and services. But obtaining a schedule contract is neither simple nor easy, and subjects the commercial contractor to numerous laws and re...

The purpose of this 2-hour seminar is to raise the awareness for individuals who will be interacting with Agile teams. This will lay the foundation for introducing the Agile process and lend better understanding for how roles and interactions may be impacted by an Agile transformation. After taking this seminar, attendees will understand the theory and application of Agile principles, recognize the distinctions between Agile and traditional de...

Synopsis: Companies and agencies concerned with implementing new ideas/processes have to contend with the federal budget cycle. One of the great challenges of both the government desiring new, innovative technologies or great service provider companies that are entering the market is the need to obtain funding. The issue becomes: how do new technologies/services become integrated into the government budget cycle? This course will provide an ov...

Synopsis: The government is reluctant to share the data/information frequently kept in silos and often not shared among other entities due to its proprietary, non-portable format or the inability to import/export. The 21st century network models actively encourages the sharing of information across the boundaries. Today, the mission of government requires a whole-of-government approach to address its challenges, enable better decision making,...

Synopsis: Today’s organizations need to have people who can develop new kinds of solutions to meet pressing demands. Yet the words creativity and innovation often intimidate our people. Even if our organizations have creative people, our organizational cultures tend to suppress innovation. This “minds-on” course will provide the tools and techniques to reverse these trends. On Day 1, we will focus on helping employees enhance...

While ACT-IAC strives to forge strong government-industry partnerships, Harvard Business Review describes how customer service is at an all-time low in the United States. How can industry contractors provide better customer service to their government partners? How can government employees provide better service to their constituents and other federal customers? This course will describe the role of customer service; discuss customer turnoffs...

Synopsis: As an emerging business in the federal market how do you respond to the bid requests of the federal agencies? As a federal technology worker how do you write a proper statement of work? What are the various bids that need to have a response? When is too much information not applicable? This course will provide the basic tools in order for an individual to read a government requirement document, decide if the requirement is one for yo...

The National Military Intelligence Association (NMIA) is pleased to explore Intelligence Analysis in the 21st Century during its Fall 2014 Symposium. The onset of so called “Big Data” requires the IC to develop new tools, tradecraft, and analytical methodologies to meet its customers’ needs while mitigating the vulnerabilities arising from our adversaries’ access to ubiquitous data. We’ll examine current analytica...

Understanding how the government evaluates contractors’ proposals is a key step in pricing a deal to win. In this unique course, we review how the government contracting officers analyze contractors’ costs and prices; how they acquire their data; what reviews are performed; how data is validated; and how strategies are changed depending on the type of contract. Armed with this information, contractors can avoid the pitfalls that ca...