The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved by voice vote on August 3 the Advancing Government Innovation with Leading-Edge (AGILE) Procurement Act of 2022, which aims to make simpler Federal government processes for buying technology products and services.
The bill introduced on July 27 by committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Sen Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, also seeks to grow the ranks of the Federal government’s IT-related procurement specialists.
The legislation would task the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the General Services Administration with streamlining the ability of the Federal government to purchase commercial technology, and provide specific training to improve IT-related acquisition.
The senators sponsoring the bill said the measure would boost innovation in the procurement process, and make more opportunities for small businesses to contract with the government including through a new working group that would seek to reduce contracting barriers.
Ross Nodurft, Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI), said that his group supports the bill “because it introduces flexibilities into the government acquisition process and promotes the use of innovative commercial solutions.”
“These improvements will empower our Federal government leaders to more quickly and fully leverage new and emerging technology and services to achieve their missions and promote a secure digital government,” he said.
