CDCA Small Business and Industry Outreach Initiative Symposium (SBIOI)

The Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA) held their 50th Small Business and Industry Outreach Initiative Symposium (SBIOI) on April 2, 2019 in Charleston, SC. The main focus of the SBIOI was to inform industry of Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic’s current initiatives and strategies and highlight upcoming NIWC Atlantic procurements. A few presenters at the event were:

• Chris Miller, NIWC Atlantic Executive Director
• Steve Harnig, NIWC Atlantic Contracts Lead
• Emily Harman, Department of the Navy Office of Small Business Programs Director (OSBP)

NIWC Atlantic discussed the recent name change of the Echelon III centers from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Atlantic and Pacific to the Naval Information Warfare Centers (NIWC), which are now referred to as NIWC Atlantic and NIWC Pacific. Chris Miller informed the attendees the name change fits closer to the agency’s core competencies and aligns better to other Navy agencies, such as NAVAIR’s air warfare centers and NAVSEA’s undersea warfare and surface warfare centers.  NIWC Atlantic confirmed there is talk to change the SPAWAR HQ agency name as well, but since more is involved to change an Echelon II agency name, SPAWAR HQ will continue to operate under Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in the interim.

NIWC Atlantic’s FY19 plan outlines a strategy of execution to meet the overall National and Navy strategies. Areas of focus consist of product with attention to move beyond a data center solution and shifting to the cloud, people with a large emphasis on recruiting and enhancing overall technical skills and knowledge, and process to concentrate around user experience and increasing internal and external customer service techniques. Moreover, there is a big push in the Navy for a Naval model and all sub-agency PMWs are anticipated to build a system model. As mission complexity is increasing, model based systems engineering will offer a more streamlined and holistic solution.

Since FY15, NIWC Atlantic’s number of internal contracts and dollar ceiling has decreased, but the available capacity remains comparable due to the availability of external contracting means and external ceilings, such as Seaport-e and Seaport NxG.  NIWC Atlantic reiterated its overall command strategy to procure services and supplies through external vehicles and internal/niche contracts first; the command is attempting to find the right balance when approaching contracting actions.

NIWC Atlantic indicated it has started to use SeaPort NxG for both upcoming requirements and overall requirement planning, but it still has a few requirements that are anticipated to be released via SeaPort-e. In addition, NIWC Atlantic expects some impact from the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) cutting back on and passing along contract actions directly to the agency. However, NIWC Atlantic does not yet know the extent this will have on the command.

Steve Harnig and his team presented on numerous upcoming NIWC Atlantic procurements and they anticipate posting the presentation slides to their public website. The industry day slides are usually released within about a week from the date of the event.

The next CDCA SBIOI is anticipated to be held in Charleston, SC in July 2019.