United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-07-29 monographic deposited born digital 26 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-737 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737 P0b002ee180372d23 f:d02737 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737 GAO-02-737 Employment or training programs Contractor personnel Federal procurement Federal procurement policy Human resources training Personnel management Training utilization OFPP Web-based Acquisition Career Management Information System Other Written Product A04156 GAO's work continues to show that some of the government's largest procurement operations are not run efficiently, either because requirements are not clearly defined, because prices and alternatives are not fully considered, or because contracts are not adequately overseen. At the same time, the ongoing technological revolution requires a workforce with new knowledge, skills, and abilities. Moreover, the nature of acquisition is changing from routine simple buys toward more complex acquisitions new business practices. Department of Defense (DOD) has adopted multidisciplinary multifunctional definitions of their acquisition workforce. The civilian agencies have not. DOD definitions include contracting officers, contracting officer representatives, and contracting officer technical representatives along with other disciplines that play a significant role in acquisitions, such as program managers, industrial specialists, and financial administrators. Civilian agencies include only contract and procurement specialists, contracting officers, and contracting officer representative in their acquisition workforce definitions. DOD and the civilian agencies have developed specific training requirements for their acquisition workforce and have developed mechanisms to track the training of acquisition personnel. Three of the civilian agencies are awaiting implementation of a more sophisticated web-based governmentwide management information system to help them track training, but the development of this system has been delayed considerably. All agencies said they had sufficient funding to provide current required core training for their acquisition workforce; however, some expressed concerns about funding training for future requirements and career development, particularly because of budget cuts made recently at the Defense Acquisition University https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737.pdf GAO-02-737 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-737 Other Written Product GAO-02-737; Acquisition Workforce: Agencies Need to Better Define and Track the Training of Their Employees; Employment or training programs Contractor personnel Federal procurement Federal procurement policy Human resources training Personnel management Training utilization OFPP Web-based Acquisition Career Management Information System Public Law 93-400 Public Law 101-510 Public Law 104-106