At least 11 Eleven Air Force acquisition projects will get a closer look in 2015 as part of an effort to develop leaner, more innovative spending practices across the service.
The Air Force will be working with industry has launched another initiative to not only get more bang for its buck, but also brainstorm new ideas. tighten its spending.
The Office of Transformational Innovation, under the Air Force Office of Acquisitions, is partnering with industry on the effort, called to introduce "Bending the Cost Curve." an process that will oversee individual projects aiming for leaner, more innovative spending practices across the service.
"The purpose of BTCC (and the broader Office of Transformational Innovation) is to continuously identify and develop acquisition reform concepts," said Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick said in an email to Air Force Times. "Some will succeed and some will not, but the goal is to pursue as many activities as practicable."
Gulick said BTCC doesn't act as another cost-saving initiative or program — like Every Dollar Counts or Airmen Powered by Innovation, for example — but rather a way to further existing reform activities while working with industry.
"In a large organization sometimes you miss the obvious," said Dr. Camron Gorguinpour, Air Force Office of Acquisitions, director of the Office of Transformational Innovation Air Force Transformational Innovation Office. "Without having the discussion, you don't know. If you get your acquisition process functioning correctly, you can start acquiring products at the pace of innovation," he said in the release.
The Office of Transformational Innovation is leading the overall BTCC effort, but each individual activity is lead by a different team, Gulick said.
One project, fFor example, is one current project: the Air Force Technology Challenge. The Air Force Research Lab, the service's scientific research organization, and OTI are working together to promote participation in Air Force technology development by offering through large-scale prizes for achieving major technology advancements, Gulick said. CHANGE OK?MH YUP//OP
EXPLAIN HOW THIS WILL WORK? HAVE THE PROJECTS BEEN IDENTIFIED, WHAT ARE THEY AND WHO WILL LEAD THEM? IF THEY HAVEN'T BEEN IDENTIFIED, HOW WILL THEY BE IDENTIFIED AND RUN?
The 11 projects — with the potential for more — will launch throughout fiscal 2015, and aim to find more efficient ways of spending money and harness the best capabilities for the lowest costs, according to a news release. with each project representing "a different approach to gathering ideas," Gulick said.
"In general, these activities aim to improve internal AF acquisition processes, establish more valuable and effective relationships with industry throughout the acquisition lifecycle, and expand competition among broader segments of industry," he said.
BTCC will also act as a platform for ideas, much like its predecessors — Every Dollar Counts and Airmen Powered by Innovation. IS IT REPLACING THESE PROGRAMS OR COMPLEMENTING THEM HOW? EXPALIN WHY THE AF NEEDS ANOTHER PROGRAM//DISREGARD THIS PARAGRAPH
The Air Force hopes to find some practice models working with industry, as well as incorporating ideas from airmen, the release said. WHAT ARE PRACTICE MODELS? EXAMPLES? ABOVE
Gorguinpour said the individual BCC projects "are designed toward containing cost growth and escalation within the Air Force over time" and improving wherever possible.//added Gulick's take instead, so this is redundant
RECAP: Air Force details top 5 best and worst cost-saving ideas from airmen
The Even though BCC has an industry and acquisition focus, the oversight The BCC program comes at a time when the Air Force is already carefully monitoring cost-saving in contracting capabilities as well as its contracts. CHANGE OK?MH//YUP//OP
In September, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer said the service began its "contracts court" to ensure examine contracts are executed the service has to correctly execute the Air Force mission from the headquarters down to the commands. CHANGE OK?MH YUP//OP
"It's almost like a 'Judge Judy' environment, where every two-digit on the Air Staff has to come in to myself and the undersecretary and walk us through every contract they have to make sure we're getting the best buy for the Air Force dollar," Spencer told Air Force Times.
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