DHS procurement woes and opportunity for improvements- Part 2

The second article I saw about the challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) addressed improving the professionalism of their acquisition workforce. While this is an oft-used solution to procurement issues, perhaps in the case of DHS, it is an appropriate step.

Legislation has been introduced (DHS Procurement Improvement Act (H.R. 803)) to create specific curriculum and training programs, plus stregthens policies that will improve the quality of contracts. This bill, if approved will

require a new Council on Procurement Training, to be headed by the deputy chief procurement officer (CPO) at DHS, to advise and make policy recommendations to the CPO.

These steps may be important to DHS. In testimony before the the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing last week, the Comptroller General, David Walker, stated that the acquisition workforce of DHS has not changed much since the merger of all the agencies that created DHS following the attack on America, Sept 11, 2001.

Part of the challenge, he says is that

Of the 22 components that initially joined DHS from other agencies, only 7 came with their own procurement support. An eighth office, the Office of Procurement Operations, was created anew to provide support to a variety of DHS entities—but not until January 2004, almost a year after the department was created.

Add to this the fact that these 7 agencies have essentially the same people now as before the merger, he feels there needs to be a change.

Now, with this bill, getting a better-educated procurement workforce may make it easier to get world class procurement solutions and lessons-learned throughout the organization.