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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle D—Provisions Relating to Acquisition Workforce

P. L. 114-

House Conference Report. 114-270

(a) Guidance required.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics shall issue guidance to ensure that acquisition officials of the Department of Defense fully comply with the requirements of section 2377 of title 10, United States Code, regarding market research and commercial items. The guidance issued pursuant to this subsection shall, at a minimum—

(1) provide that the head of an agency may not enter into a contract in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold for information technology products or services that are not commercial items unless the head of the agency determines in writing that no commercial items are suitable to meet the agency’s needs as provided in subsection (c)(2) of such section; and

(2) ensure that market research conducted in accordance with subsection (c) of such section is used, where appropriate, to inform price reasonableness determinations.

(b) Review required.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in consultation with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, shall review Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 3170.01, the Manual for the Operation of the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System, and other documents governing the requirements development process and revise these documents as necessary to ensure that the Department of Defense fully complies with the requirement in section 2377(c) of title 10, United States Code, and section 10.001 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation for Federal agencies to conduct appropriate market research before developing new requirements.

(c) Market research defined.—For the purposes of this section, the term “market research” means a review of existing systems, subsystems, capabilities, and technologies that are available or could be made available to meet the needs of the Department of Defense in whole or in part. The review may include any of the techniques for conducting market research provided in section 10.002(b)(2) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation and shall include, at a minimum, contacting knowledgeable individuals in Government and industry regarding existing market capabilities.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes.

Senate Report 114-49 to accompany S. 1376 as it was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Market research and preference for commercial items (sec. 862)

The committee recommends a provision that would require the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics to issue guidance to ensure that defense acquisition officials fully comply with the requirements of section 2377 of title 10, United States Code. The committee is concerned that the market research being conducted under 2377 is perfunctory and that the preference for the use of commercial items is being ignored throughout the Department. Guidance issued pursuant to this provision would ensure that commercial information technology products and services are first determined to be unsuitable to the government's needs before purchasing a non-commercial item and that conducted market research be used to inform price reasonableness determinations.

The provision would also require that the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in consultation with the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics ensure that the requirements process is in compliance with section 2377(c) of title 10, United States Code, and section 10.001 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

The committee is aware of an effort known as Technology Domain Awareness being considered by the Department of Defense (DOD). Technology proliferation driven by the commercial marketplace and foreign investments threatens the United States' historical military-technology edge. To mitigate this threat, the committee believes DOD must pursue multiple defense innovation efforts that focus on increasing investments in game-changing military capabilities. Given the scale of commercial research and development, it is unlikely that the DOD will regain a leadership position in every technology area relevant to defense. As part of its commercial market research, the committee recommends that DOD consider options to accelerate efforts to deliver Technology Domain Awareness to DOD decision makers. These efforts should consist of information, infrastructure, services, and education designed to increase the DOD's ability to rapidly identify and capitalize on commercial technology innovations and practices relevant to military applications. The committee expects the Department to keep it informed as to the progress of the Technology Domain Awareness initiative.