One of these new ideas is the “Behind the Buy” podcast series, which features federal procurement specialists sharing success stories and lessons-learned.

“To share best practices from tools like the [Digital Services] Playbook and the TechFAR [Handbook], members of the federal acquisition community recommended we use more innovative communication channels,” OFPP Administrator Anne Rung wrote in a blog post announcing the new podcast. “Those suggestions led to the creation of the ‘Behind the Buy’ audio series, or podcast, a human-centered design approach that allows procurement and program offices to listen and learn about innovative IT contracting strategies.”

Rung noted the audio format allows employees to listen while still accomplishing their “daily work responsibilities.”

The first 15-minute podcast features Health and Human Services Buyers Club Project Manager Mark Naggar discussing how his team has applied the lessons of the Playbook and TechFAR to become more agile and responsive.

Listen: “Behind the Buy” with HHS’s Mark Naggar

OFPP is also looking for more success stories for the series and encouraged agency officials to reach out and share with their colleagues.

About 

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.