Cutting-Edge Contracting Innovation Lab (CECIL)

• Comparative Evaluation*:  In certain FAR Parts and certain types of procurements, it's possible to compare proposals against each other.
• Confidence Ratings during Evaluation*:  Alternative approach to evaluating proposals instead of adjectival or numerical ratings, it's confidence ratings.  
• On-The-Spot Consensus During Evaluation*: Instead of long proposal reviews, this approach brings the Evaluation Team together to discuss and come to a consensus on-the-spot.
• Oral Presentations*:  A technique that expedites the evaluation process by allowing interactive dialogue between an offeror and the Government in substitute to, or to augment, written proposals.
• Advisory Down Select*: This technique enables a phased evaluation approach to advise offerors of their viability to be competitive for a contract award. Providing feedback to vendors in this way allows them to evaluate whether it is in their best interest to complete more detailed technical and price proposals given their standing at the end of each evaluation phase. 
• Make Vendor Proposals/Quotes/Bids Anonymous: Explores removing the vendor's identity from the technical proposal, to help focus the evaluation on the merits of the proposal, instead of making assumptions based on the name/reputation of the vendor.

• Streamlining Order Placement under EPA Multiple Award Contracts
  What are the common inefficiencies when awarding sub-orders under Multiple Award Contracts?  What's the most efficient way to award those? 

• Quality Requisition Checklist-PR Process Checkup
  The Office of Acquuisition Solutions continues to reject PR's due to missing documentation, and we have the Quality Requisition Checklist which provides the required documentation nthat's eeded. This project looks at ways to better incorporate the information in the QRC in the process of creating a PR.

• Standardized Call Order & Task Order Checklists
  The current checklist we use is detailed and used for all PR submissions. This project explores separate, smaller, and more specific checklists for these.

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for ULO Deobligation Actions: GSA uses RPA to automate simple contract actions such as adding/removing funding, COR changes, Contract closeout, etc.  EPA has begun exploring this technology with deobligating excess funding from contracts.

• COR Appointment Delegation Automation
  The current process requires the CO has to receive a standard form with multiple approvals, verify COR certification level, tailor a nomination letter, have the letter signed by the COR outside of the acquisition system, upload the letter into the acquisition system, AND do a contract modification.  This project explores ways to change/add/remove a COR on a contract in a simpler, more streamlined way.

• EAS Clause Template Updates
  1102's sometimes get confused or overwhelmed wading through the long and confusing list of Clause Templates in EPA's Acquisition System. This project looks at standardizing the naming of the templates in the system so it's more clear which one(s) to pick, and update the management of the clause templates that are in the system. 

• Robotic Process Automation For De-Obligation Actions in EAS - Partnership with OCFO
  GSA uses Robotic Process Automation to automate Contract actions. Instead of 1102s spending time deobligating left over money on contracts at the end of the fiscal year, what if we could teach a robot to do it? OCFO already uses this capability for some Finance and Employee HR actions. This project looks at implementing this process on Unliquidated Obligations (ULOs), money left over sitting on contracts after they've expired.

• Multiple CORs:  Generally there is only a main COR and an alternate formally assigned to contracts, but there's no restriction against assigning more.  This projects explores best practices for applying that at EPA when appropriate. 
• DataCheck: An effort to explore industry tools available to more quickly and efficiently address data accuracy issues and improve data quality of EPA contract files and acquisition reporting.
• EAS Document Section Template - Name & Description Updates:  a modernization of the template names and descriptions within EPA’s internal acquisition system, EAS, to improve user intuitiveness & selections.

*From: Periodic Table of Acq Innovation

• Specific Question & Answer Proposal Formats
  Instead of getting a 40-page proposal of long-form text, where you're struggling to find what the contractor said about an evaluation factor, what if we required contractors to provide a fill-in-the-blank worksheet-style proposal, where they answered specific questions in a specific format? This project explores if and how we could better implement that at EPA

• Group Oral Debriefings*
  Contracting Officers can provide debriefings all at once, to provide more information and field questions for the group, instead of individually. 
• Select Best Suited, THEN Negotiate*
  FAR 8, 13, 16 - A flexibility interjecting negotiations with the prospective awardee following selection, yet prior to award.

• Product or Technical Demonstrations*
  Instead of long proposals with graphics and explanations, let the vendors demonstrate the solution and field questions during the demonstration. 

• SPE Review/Approval Automated Workflow
  If work at EPA needs SPE review or approval, it would be helpful to have an automated workflow where all these reviews are in a queue. These should also be able to reassigned to managers/directors/SMEs for concurrence.

• FFP & Cost Reimbursement Flexibility in New Contract Proposals*
  Why not let the vendors propose the model they think is best?  In performance-based contracting, the vendor can/should be able to propose a Firm Fixed Price or Cost Reimbursement type structure. EPA does not have a good approach to allowing that in procurement. This flexibility can be maintained after award through “Enhanced Contract Type Conversion”

• Fusion Procurements*
  If this is a recurring requirement, why not have one solicitation that we can make multiple awards from?  The same way in government hiring you can advertise one position in USAJOBS and hire potentially multiple people from the people that one job listing. The posting could even stay open too. Why not do something like that with government contracts?  The FAR allows this.

• Robotic Process Automation - Use Power Automate in EAS
  GSA uses Robotic Process Automation to automate some of its contract actions (Change COR, Contract Closeout). The software remembers the order of the software clicks to do the action and can repeat it automatically. Microsoft Power Automate has this feature. Investigate if this would possibly work with PRISM to build our own automations? 

• Robotic Process Automation - Implement Other Agency's Acquisition Automations
  On the Periodic Table of Acquisition Innovation there's a second tab at the top for “acquisition automation”.  These are automations other agencies have implemented.  Some have “exportable code” meaning not only are they complete and in use, but other agencies could copy/paste/use these tools as well. Investigate if/how any of these tools could be used at EPA? 

• Remedial Action Framework Contract Opportunities
  --LEAN out Environmental Services & Operations (ESO) Suite.
  --Reimagine and rework the Standard Form 330 Tool.

• Just-In-Time Contracts
  What if the contract the program office needed was already awarded and ready Just-In-Time to place an order against when the time came?  Acquisition planning on steroids.

• Small Business On-Ramps
  Big GWACs like the GSA Schedule have onramps for small business to come on during performance of the contract, not have to wait for the recompete.  Explore what this might look like and if it could be done at EPA.

• Advance Contract & Option Period Expiration Automated Notification
  OAS is getting Acq Packages & Option Period PR's late.  What if an automated email which includes the link to the package template documents came out 90-180 days in advance of when the PR and/or APP are due to the contract office to allow for the full PALT timeframe.  Using tools like Power Automate, a regular non-technical person in OAS could potentially build this tool without needing to write computer code. 

• Better Leverage GSA's Market Research as a Service
  Instead of the CO or CS spending hours trying to validate and expand on Market Research for procurements, can we better leverage GSA's free service for this to save time and effort? How could we incorporate this seamlessly or even automatically?

• Improving Search Capability of the Office of Acquisition Solution's Information
  EPA's acquisition policies and information are spread out across many different locations online. There currently is no "universal search" capability to search all of those resources at once.  How can we implement a universal search that's effective? What would this tool look like? 

• Automate Review Processes
  Instead of emailing documents to get reviewed/signed/approved, could we build no-code or low-code review “flow” in a tool like Microsoft Power Automate or others?  

• Data Mashing
  Have you noticed on Amazon that AI is now providing an overall summary of all the thousands of the reviews? Could we use that tech in CPARS and Past Performance evaluations?

• Contract Closeout Bot
  Department of Interior has “Bob the Closeout Bot” to do their contract closeout, and they would be willing to let us use it, potentially free of charge. Could that work at EPA?

*From: Periodic Table of Acq Innovation