Crowdsourcing Opportunity: Shaping Solutions to Address Barriers to Equity in Federal Procurement

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Executive Office of the President and the Department of Energy (DOE) are co-hosting a two-week crowdsourcing campaign to identify the most promising actions to address barriers faced by underserved groups that prevent them from full and equal access to federal procurement opportunities. You are invited to vote and comment on short-term solutions to mitigate barriers to equity in procurement that were previously identified through an earlier campaign (see I. Background below). All are welcome to participate and we are especially interested in feedback on: Impact of the action on historically underserved groups (e.g., positive, negative, neutral) Additional near-term steps that would dramatically improve support for the action or expected outcomes Management accountability practices and measures that should be deployed along with the action Organizations that the federal government should work with to support the action Communications channels that will reach a significant number of individuals in historically underserved groups Join the campaign at any time November 8 – 19, 2021 to vote and comment on actions the government should take to address rectify inequities in the federal marketplace. Your contributions will help shape plans and solutions that dismantle obstacles embedded in the federal acquisition system and promote equity in federal procurement activities. I. Background : From June 1 to June 15, 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Executive Office of the President co-hosted the Barriers Among Underserved Groups in Underserved Areas from Equal Access to Federal Procurement Opportunities crowdsourcing campaign in support of the government-wide effort to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities. Early analysis of the June 2021 campaign identified fourteen (14) barriers encountered by historically underserved groups when seeking federal procurement opportunities. For more details about the types of barriers encountered see the Summary Report: Barriers Among Underserved Groups from Equal Access to Federal Procurement Opportunities available on the OFPP crowdsourcing platform. II. Challenge Statement: As further analysis of potential barriers to equity in procurement is underway, federal agencies must continue to engage meaningfully with stakeholders to formulate short-term action plans that demonstrate commitment and momentum toward more equitable policies and programs that support federal procurement. This challenge seeks input on several pre-defined short-term actions for agencies to consider when addressing a limited number of barriers frequently encountered by historically underserved groups as they endeavor to participate meaningfully in the federal marketplace. III. Challenge Question : What short-term actions (pre-defined) will have the greatest impact to mitigate barriers frequently encountered faced by historically underserved groups from full and equal access to federal prime and subcontracting opportunities? IV. Challenge Instructions : All are welcome to register and participate, i.e., vote and comment, in this challenge. You must register at the link below and create an account or log in (for existing accounts) to view the challenge under the “Active Campaigns” section. You will then be able to (i) review full details about the challenge and (ii) vote and comment on the pre-defined short-term actions designed to mitigate barriers to equity in the federal marketplace. V. Challenge Results : This challenge is expected to result in a list of impactful short-term actions that federal agencies can consider when developing action plans that address barriers that historically underserved groups may face in taking advantage of agency procurement and contracting opportunities. The results of this challenge will inform executive branch work related to EO 13985 Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. See attached PDF below for active links or access the OFPP Innovates wesbite at: https://ofpp.ideascalegov.com