Government Procurement Gets Creative

Digital expectations of the federal government have risen dramatically in recent years, thanks to cutting-edge commercial technologies. Agencies from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Department of Defense are hard at work modernizing their systems to keep up. But well-intentioned administrative processes, implemented long before the digital age, can impede progress.

Take, for example, the many steps of traditional government procurement, such as developing detailed requirements, seeking bids, evaluating proposals, and vetting qualifications. The list goes on and can take months, if not years, to check off. In the meantime, civil agencies risk falling short in their missions, and defense agencies risk falling behind in the digital battlespace.

What if there were a faster way, while still ensuring transparency, fairness, and governance over the use of taxpayer dollars?

Executive Vice President Julie McPherson and Booz Allen are answering this question, and delivering results, with outcomes-based contracting—a new approach to bringing innovation into the federal government “at the speed of need,” in Julie’s words.

Recreation.gov is the digital portal for more than 4,000 federal parks, forests, lakes, and cultural destinations across the nation—a one-stop shop for trip information, planning, reservations, and more. It’s also a powerful example of outcomes-based contracting in action.

Booz Allen worked with multiple federal partners to reimagine the site with modern e-commerce solutions. When the COVID-19 pandemic drove demand due to lockdowns but complicated access because of social distancing requirements, the system needed to adapt quickly with features like contactless payment and timed entry.

With millions of Americans seeking out the Great Outdoors for escape and relaxation, time was of the essence for bringing these features to life. Enter outcomes-based contracting, and the collective ingenuity of Booz Allen and its federal partners.

“Recreation.gov was designed collaboratively with participating agencies at no cost to the federal government,” Julie explains. “Booz Allen made the upfront investment in the system, and a transaction-based fee model lets the government and the firm share in risk, reward, results, and impact.”

This unique contracting model—coupled with agile development, cognitive and cloud technologies, and secure DevSecOps by Booz Allen’s digital team—brought Recreation.gov’s new capabilities to life in a fraction of the time required by traditional contracting.

“Given the rapid pace of change among commercially developed technologies, the government needs to be able to identify, access, and test these new technologies fast,” Julie explains. “Outcomes-based contracting gives contractors an existing and efficient mechanism for introducing and experimenting with new tools and emerging technologies.”

One way is through leveraging existing resources: namely contractors with experience in both technology implementation and procurement navigation, who’ve already earned the trust of federal agencies. After the devastation of Hurricane Michael, for example, the Air Force brought in existing industry partners, including Booz Allen, to develop a digital twin of Tyndall Air Force Base. Their swift ability to test infrastructure designs and assess rebuild risks and costs accelerated hurricane recovery.

“Reinvesting with already-qualified partners saves precious time when it matters most,” Julie says.

Another way is through strategically, creatively, and thoughtfully streamlining processes and encouraging collaboration.

“By removing standard request for proposal (RFP) guardrails, contractors can propose solutions that would allow the government to assess innovative capabilities and technologies,” Julie says.

According to Julie, outcomes-based contracting not only offers powerful benefits across the federal government, but it’s also an urgent imperative for the nation’s defense agencies.

“As threats to national security shift and become more and more advanced, new technological advantages are needed to outpace them,” she says. “Commercial dual-use solutioning decreases the time to adoption, expedites government access to game-changing innovation, and sharpens the nation’s competitive edge.”

For example, Julie pointed to AI, one of the most transformative technologies of the modern era. Booz Allen is the largest provider of AI services to the federal government and recently leveraged its venture capital arm, which has invested in several AI startups, to bring vetted, secure technical solutions to defense clients.

New approaches to contracting and procurement made it possible—and more collective ingenuity along these lines is needed for the future.

“Federal modernization efforts will be futile if the systems and processes bringing innovation into agencies remain stagnant,” Julie warns. “As we enter 2024, it’s time to equip all of government with the tools to achieve technological innovation at speed and scale.”