The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has been making noticeable progress in strengthening the Federal marketplace with a growing number of businesses and new entrants in government contracts, according to an OMB official.
Jason Miller, deputy director for management at OMB, discussed on Tuesday some of the work that his office has been undertaking to help enable new entrants in Federal IT and cyber contracting opportunities.
“We’ve been making a lot of progress in strengthening our marketplace and bringing more entrants into the marketplace, including more small businesses [and] more small disadvantaged businesses,” Miller said during the 2024 ITVMO Annual Summit hosted by ACT-IAC.
“We think that enriches the space in which we operate and ultimately delivers a better product,” he added.
Notably, Biden administration recently announced that it awarded a record-breaking $178.6 to small businesses in fiscal year (FY) 2023, representing 28.4 percent of all contracting dollars and an increase of about $16 billion from FY2022.
Miller explained that the Federal government’s cyber success is predicated on the industry’s success, which is continually linked with one another.
“The contracting community is part of the Federal community, we’re all ultimately serving the same customer. That means this endeavor, success, and failure are shared. When we have projects that fail, that is shared failure, when we have projects succeed that succeed, that is shared success,” Miller said.
Miller concluded his thoughts by driving home the idea that the government needs to continually build effective partnerships with industry in order to deliver the best services for American taxpayers and build trust in government.
“Every single time an individual interacts with their government is a moment to build trust or a moment to lose trust. Those interactions are actually the most important opportunity,” said Miller.
“If we can’t deliver basic services and people think the government can’t deliver what it needs, let’s just throw it out. Those moments, whether it’s something simple, I’m filling out a basic application, or I’m trying to get life-changing relief. Those moments are critical,” he added.
