INNOVATING IN
ACQUISITION
A CONVERSATION WITH IRS DEPUTY CHIEF PROCUREMENT
OFFICER, HARRISON SMITH
HARRISON SMITH knows procurement and technology. Both
are important to his work as the IRS’s top procurement executive,
where he presides over the acquisition of nearly $2.5 billion
annually. Smith pushes aside tired arguments about complexities
in Federal procurement law and how they slow and impede
innovation. Instead, he innovates within the Federal Acquisition
Regulations (FAR) and executes innovative acquisition
strategies that enable fast and efficient acquisition of the latest
technologies and at the lowest cost to American taxpayers.
INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION
IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TODAY, BUT
CONVENTIONAL WISDOM SUGGESTS THAT
THE FAR AND TRADITIONAL FEDERAL
PROCUREMENT PRACTICES IMPEDE EFFICIENT
AND TIMELY ACQUISITION OF TECHNOLOGIES
AND TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS.
HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO INNOVATE WITHIN
THE FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS
(FAR) PROCUREMENT PROCESSES?
I have witnessed too many instances of nimble, timely
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procurements in the technology solutions arena to ascribe to the
belief that the FAR and other rules somehow preclude them.
I would agree that there is, more frequently than anyone of us
would like, a disconnect between what the user needs and how
we go about addressing that need. We can go to great lengths to
prescribe a predetermined approach to solving problems that we
don’t sufficiently communicate to the industry partners who will
help us support the mission. This stifles innovation internally in
terms of the process we use, as well as externally in terms of the
solutions and firms with whom we work. Focusing instead on
the outcome that you want to achieve as opposed to how you get
there, identifying the guardrails within which the solution must
operate, and being as transparent as you can be throughout the
buying process are all approaches that dramatically increase an
agency’s chances for an efficient and timely procurement. All are
not only permitted within the FAR, they are encouraged under it.
YOU HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED IN THE
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY SECTOR AS
AN INNOVATOR IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY
ACQUISITION STRATEGY. WHAT ARE OBJECTIVES