TASC: Who’s Next to De-Conflict?

“In the past, I have not always seen the OCI issues as my government colleagues have. For example, requiring that contractors who have developed the requirements not be allowed (be OCIed) to bid on design and development always seemed short sighted to me since, as the commercial sector has often concluded, the contractor doing the requirements that have been fully reviewed, approved, and accepted by the customer would have the best understanding of those requirements and how they flow into design and development. However, at the same time, I believe the government is acting correctly when it concludes that contractors who are performing program management, or program oversight, or IV&V (independent validation and verification) not be allowed to do the design and development. In the TASC case, the law requires that the Defense Department not allow integrators to both develop and oversee weapons systems work. I believe that is a correct position for the government to take with respect to OCI. As a result, some large integrators, like Northrop, will have to make choices within their marketbasket of businesses about where these OCI conflicts might exist and how to deal with them. Divestiture is an obvious option.”

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