Calendar of Events | PSC Website

CIDC Now

June 8, 2023

American Small Businesses are a core component of our government contracting base. USAID’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is the nexus of these efforts in the field of foreign assistance. OSDBU Director Kimberly Ball joins us next Thursday, June 15, at noon, to discuss the agency’s work with Small Businesses – and the prime contractors who often partner with them. Please click on the link below to register, and I'll see you here in person at PSC or virtually. 

PSC’s Federal Acquisition Conference is June 22. Speakers from all over the government will share their perspectives with attendees on the latest trends and challenges in the U.S. GovCon space. Representatives from agencies including FAA, GSA, Interior, NOAA, OFPP and the VA will be speaking. Please click on the banner below for registration and agenda information. 

Our “From the Field” stories this month highlight the work by ME&A work in Jamaica as part of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative to mitigate youth violence.  Democracy International reports on its work with the Ministry of Law and Supreme Court of Bangladesh to bring greater transparency to the judicial system. 

Please contact me to help us get the word out about the great work CIDC members are doing to make the world a better place. 

Paul Foldi 
Vice President, International Development Affairs 

Next Up 

When:

Thursday, June 15; from 12 – 1 p.m.

Speaker:  

Kimberly Ball 

USAID 

Director 

Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) 

Where:

In person at PSC or online – Please click on the link below to log in to your PSC account and register via PSC’s Events Page.

Click here to register

Thanks to our sponsors:

From the Field

Improving Collection and Use of Youth Crime and Violence Prevention Data in Jamaica

To help mitigate youth crime and violence in Jamaica, an ME&A-led team is assessing gaps in the collection and use of the country’s relevant monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) data. This landscape analysis and MEL assessment is taking place under the USAID-funded Jamaica Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support (JAMEL) for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). 

The ME&A-led team will identify MEL youth crime and violence prevention (YCVP) gaps and create a plan for JAMEL to deliver capacity-building events and technical assistance to close them. This plan will include identifying individual staff within local non-governmental organizations and government partners committed to improving YCVP MEL practices and willing to serve as participants and trainers for the capacity-building activities. 

Representatives from Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs and the Supreme Court discuss ways to reduce the number of long pending cases in Bangladesh. Photo credit: Democracy International

Improving Efficiency and Public Trust: Transforming Courts in Bangladesh

USAID’s Promoting Peace and Justice Activity, a five-year project implemented by Democracy International (DI), has been working with the judiciary and government of Bangladesh to reduce the case backlog and decrease the number of new cases entering the courts. This work has been built on an understanding of the need for locally led program initiatives to ensure that all courts could easily replicate these initiatives. Similarly, these efforts have recognized the need to incorporate flexibility into the process to allow for real-time adjustments and pivots if necessary. 

PSC Matters

PSC Voices Concerns on Debt Limit Negotiations and Final Results 

While the crisis is averted for now, PSC’s President & CEO David Berteau cautioned in a June 5 press release: “We have a starting point, but there are many details to work out, and we are less than four months from the start of the next fiscal year.  We know the schedule for our next debt limit extension crisis, and though it is two years away, we must recognize that our nation has a recent history of coming too close to default. Now is the time to prepare for the possibility of default and for developing prudent, necessary guidance to federal agencies before the next debt crisis.” Also, ICYMI, Berteau was quoted extensively in a May 21 Washington Post article Small businesses are beginning to panic about a government default that the White House Press Office subsequently pushed out. 

Member News

Luis German as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO).  Press release is here: Amentum Welcomes New Chief Information Officer | Amentum 

Chemonics recently published an Op-Ed in Foreign Policy: Rooting Out Systemic Corruption in Latin America through Partnership 

As part of the 44th Telly Awards, Creative Associates won a Gold for its video Trauma-Informed Education, a Silver for its video Using Artwork to Overcome Trauma, and a Bronze for a video about Mali called Artisans for Peace. 

DAI Capital acquired Australia-based Alinea Impact Capital. 

Issued a new report Proactive Risk Management in Generative AI which examines the ethics, accountability, and trust associated with the use of generative AI. 

Nathan, a Cadmus Company, was awarded the Best Emerging Markets Actionable Economic Development Solutions Provider 2023-USA award for ethical finance by the British reference Wealth & Finance International.