US DoD bets on non-standard procurement to improve readiness
Other Transaction Authority (OTA) obligations of the US DoD have increased by 712% between FY2015 and FY2019. The largest proportion of these resources is going to non-traditional contractors and is primarily being used for R&D. The army was the leader in OTA usage across the DoD and accounted for 67% of obligations in FY2019.
The US DoD’s Other Transaction Authority (OTA) obligations increased by 712% between FY2015 and FY2019 according to a study by the think-tank Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), released in October.
OTAs are legally binding instruments used by federal agencies to engage industry and academia for obtaining or advancing R&D work or prototypes. As they are not standard procurement contracts, they are generally not subject to the federal laws and regulations that non-traditional suppliers are unable to match.
The CSIS study analysed the topline contracting trends of the DoD that are available in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS).
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