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Assessing the Use of Other Transactions Authority for Prototype Projects (2002)
Assessing the Use of Other Transactions Authority for Prototype Projects - 2002 Author:Giles Smith An extensive set of laws, regulations, and mandated procedures govern theprocurement of new weapon systems and ensure that the Department of Defensereceives good value for the money spent and that government interests areprotected. Some firms, especially those developing innovative technologiesfor the commercial market, find those rules burdens... more »ome and often refuse towork for the government. This prevents government access to the latestadvances in key technologies. Congress authorized use of Other Transactions(OT) in 1994 for the development of prototypes "directly relevant to weaponsor weapon systems" so that contractors are not required to comply withprocurement-specific laws and regulations. DoD asked RAND to assess theexperience of such OT projects (started between 1994 and 1998), whichyielded three conclusions: new industrial resources are now participatingin DoD prototype projects; benefits of OT are broad; and some risks to thegovernment are incurred. RAND researchers believe the immediate rewardssubstantially outweigh the risks and if the OT authority flexibility isremoved, most if not all of the benefits observed would again becomeunavailable to DoD.« less