INNOVATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
O
ver the past year, within both government and indus- try, there has been a great deal of buzz surrounding new and emerging technologies that have the power to speed up business processes and give valuable
time back to professional workforces. Key benefits include, in addition to streamlined processes, improved data transparency, security and accuracy; reduction in workforce time spent on administrative tasks; fewer administrative errors and a resulting increase in compliance; lower operating costs; and quicker access to accurate, timely information.
In fiscal year 2019, Stuart Hazlett, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for procurement (DASA(P)) reorganized the Office of the DASA(P) (ODASA (P)), into several reform initiative teams to better support top Army and DOD priorities—lethality, read- iness and modernization. Te charter of one of those initiatives, Acquisition Innovation through Technology, explores new and emerging technology capabilities that will shift focus from lower- value administrative work to higher-value work requiring critical thinking that will help contracting professionals save time and make better-informed decisions.
In support of the Acquisition Innovation through Technology mission, Becky Weirick, executive services director of ODASA(P), partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and brought together DOD and federal government leaders on Aug. 15 to collaborate and discuss current technology innovations in acquisition. GSA’s mission—to improve the way that federal agencies buy, build and use technology—dovetailed perfectly with Weirick’s vision. Weirick was seeking to bring acquisition and technical experts together from across the federal govern- ment to look for ways to drive innovation through technology in business processes and to leverage each other’s tools, strate- gies and best practices.
Many federal agencies face similar acquisition challenges, such as various procurement systems producing unstructured data, and require similar solutions. Instead of operating in stovepipes, Weirick wanted to bring agencies together at the inception of deploying new and emerging technologies in acquisition. Tis inclusive, collaborative vision enables federal agencies to lever- age each other’s resources and to communicate more effectively.
Elizabeth Chirico, ODASA(P) acquisition innovation lead, along with Jannine Wilkinson and John Burchill, GSA’s Army national account managers, coordinated and facilitated the meeting at GSA headquarters in Washington, providing a forum for sharing acquisition technology ideas, progress and resources. (Chirico and
114 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2020
Burchill are co-authors of this article.) Federal government leaders from a variety of technical backgrounds participated, includ- ing data scientists, acquisition policy chiefs, senior procurement executives, contracting chiefs, chief technology officers, chief information officers and resource management leads. Several federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Defense Logistics Agency and GSA, are exploring and piloting a vari- ety of technologies in the acquisition process, including robotic process automation, to improve acquisition business processes. Group members discussed current and future initiatives designed to enhance and streamline the acquisition process by reduc- ing redundancy, saving time and taxpayer dollars, eliminating administrative tasks from the contracting process and freeing up valuable contracting resources to perform critical analysis.
MODERNIZATION THROUGH COLLABORATION If technology enables us to deliver capability faster, collaboration allows us to increase our collective impact. DASA(P) leadership, in conjunction with GSA, led the charge to partner across federal agencies to leverage technology solutions that one or two agencies individually piloted in order to exponentially increase our collec- tive impact to every federal workforce member. Since robotic process automation is a fairly mature technology, it is particu- larly interesting to the Army and other members of the group.
Robotic process automation has the power to easily automate straightforward, repeatable processes traditionally executed by a human and ultimately to streamline processes, increase compli- ance and save time and resources. Robotic automation solutions may differ slightly, but since each federal agency shares key common denominators—the use of the same or similar acquisi- tion systems and processes—the success of one pilot or proof of concept sends ripples across the entire federal space and enables all to accelerate change.
SHIFTING THE CULTURE One of the most challenging parts of introducing new technol- ogy is combating a resistance to change in the workplace. Often, professionals are skeptical of how new technology processes work, or whether they really will produce accurate results and ultimately be helpful. Sometimes, professionals even see the benefit of a new technology or process but are still resistant to using it, because it is outside of their normal process and feels unfamiliar to them. Often, the best way to prove to professionals that a technology like robotic process automation really works is to make sure that they are actively involved in the change process.
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