DHS Chief of Procurement Soraya Correa announced Jan. 8 that the department plans to host its fifth Reverse Industry Day on Jan. 31. Industry Day V will focus on “Advancing the Dialogue: Where Acquisition, Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology Intersect.” Under Secretary for Management Claire M. Grady will deliver the day’s keynote address.
“Reverse Industry Days have become a popular forum for industry to share with the DHS workforce their thoughts and recommendations on how to enhance the DHS acquisition environment,” Correa wrote.
Correa launched the events in 2015 and was recognized by the Government Technology & Services Coalition in December, along with a number of other agencies that have also taken up the RID mission including IRS, GSA and OPM. The events host industry planners and speakers to provide a “mini” MBA in the processes and decision making of a government contractor for contracting officers, program managers, and others engaged in the procurement and acquisition process. They range from full-day affairs to a panel in a larger event.
A number of other agencies are also considering RIDs as a framework for educating their procurement and acquisition staff. According to DHS, the events have an approval rating of 95 percent or better and have allowed acquisition professionals to “gain new insights into important topics such as how industry decides to pursue DHS acquisitions that support specific programs, and, more importantly, how they plan, capture, bid, and sometimes protest procurement actions.”
RIDs are not open to the public or industry — they are educational events with an audience made up of the procurement and acquisition staff of the department hosting the event.
