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Cost Estimating NewsBrief: July 11, 2025
FAR overhaul targets risk-averse acquisition culture
(NextGov/FCW) The federal government’s most ambitious acquisition reform in more than three decades requires fundamental changes to how contracting officers think about risk and is not just about rewriting regulations, according to Larry Allen of the General Services Administration. Allen, associate administrator of GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy, spoke during a webcast hosted Wednesday by the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University. “Even if we rewrite the rules, we’re not going to be ultimately successful unless we reform the culture,” said Allen, who also is GSA’s chief acquisition officer. Read More
A 2010 winter storm overhauled the government’s approach to telework for more than a decade
(Federal News Network) In February 2010, a “Snowmageddon” slammed the eastern United States, causing a dayslong stretch of unprecedented, blizzard-like conditions that piled up 30 inches of snow in some regions. Countless flights were canceled and roads were blocked. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the storm killed 41 people, and over 200,000 homes and businesses went without power for days. Amid all the chaos that came from the record-breaking storm, the 2010 Snowmageddon spurred further conversations in Congress about the need to use all means necessary to keep federal agencies up and running, even in the worst scenarios possible. Read More
After last Bay cleanup plan fell short, new proposal aims to be flexible, data-driven
(Maryland Matters) When they last signed a Chesapeake Bay cleanup agreement in 2014, officials from seven jurisdictions set ambitious targets and a hard deadline of 2025. They didn’t quite make it. So as they drafted the next agreement, which was released to the public Tuesday, they did things a little differently: Some targets shifted, deadlines were staggered and some goals have yet to be set, awaiting new computer modeling that will show the most up-to-date picture of bay pollutants. Read More
Intelligent aliens could be drawn to Earth by ‘leaking’ airports
(Space.com) We may already be broadcasting signals to the universe and alien life that inadvertently scream “we’re here, come find us!” – and any potential intelligent life in the universe could be sending the same inadvertent message to us! Military and civilian radar signals could be a beacon for advanced alien life, indicating the presence of intelligent life on Earth. That’s according to new research that suggests that “hidden electromagnetic leakage” could be visible to aliens up to 200 light-years away that might possess state-of-the-art radio telescopes like ours. Read More
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