CIDC Now

October 12, 2023

Our 11th Development Conference on November 9 is coming up sooner than you think, and we have a great line-up including the Deputy Secretary of State, USAID’s Chief of Staff, conversations on climate and the role of AI in Development and Diplomacy just to name a few of the offerings. This event is the pinnacle of our year, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the Westin in Arlington, VA. Just a reminder that early-bird pricing end on October 20. Click here to register, sponsor and learn more.

 

PSC/CIDC was proud to be a co-host of the October 4 rollout of the second Benchmarking Race, Inclusion and Diversity in Global Engagement (Bridge) survey results. The survey has been spearheaded by one of our DEIA tri-chairs, Social Impact CEO, Shiro Gnanaselvam. For those who were unable to attend the event, you can see the presentation and survey results here, which included this slide showing significant improvement in our community:

Below you will find PSC’s comments on a recent proposed rule that would require contracting officers, upon written request from an unsuccessful offeror after “timely notification” of an award, to provide a brief explanation as to why the offeror was unsuccessful for task orders or delivery orders greater than the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, but not greater than $6 million. Additionally, PSC is seeking member feedback on two proposed rules related to cybersecurity.

 

Our “From the Field” stories this month highlight the work by Palladium, assisting Ukrainian refugees in Moldova and Amentum working in Bangladesh for Feed the Future.

 

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

PSC

Next Up 

When:

Thursday, October 19; from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. ET

Speaker:  

Deborah Broderick
USAID/Bureau for Management
Deputy Director, Office of Acquisition & Assistance

Where:

PSC Office or Virtual 

4401 Wilson Blvd. Suite 1110, Arlington, VA 22203

Please log in and register via PSC’s Events Page 

Thanks to our sponsor for this month’s meeting:

Featured Development Conference Speakers Include:

Richard R. Verma

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, U.S. Department of State

Dennis Vega Chief of Staff, USAID

Erin McKee

Assistant Administrator for Europe, USAID

Dean Karlan

Chief Economist, USAID

From the Field

Photo: Moldova, refugees from Ukraine, Caritas Germany

Strengthening Moldova's Refugee Response with Data to Protect Children

Palladium has been working closely with the Moldovan government over the past year on its refugee response plan. With the goal of not only supporting the Ukrainian cause but strengthening Moldova’s capacity to better serve the needs of its refugees, Palladium has helped the country improve its data practices to better understand the needs of the refugees and develop resolutions accordingly.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, over 8 million Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring countries. The Republic of Moldova, a small country of 2.6 million people, saw an influx of 796,000 refugees. While the majority have made their passage to other countries, over 100,000 remain, most of whom are women and children, including unaccompanied children.

Photo: Women voicing their infrastructure requirements during community consultations.

A Project Roadmap for Agricultural Infrastructure Development in Bangladesh

 

Amentum’s USAID Feed the Future Bangladesh Agricultural Infrastructure Development Activity program started construction on our first market infrastructure improvement project at Nowpara market under Faridpur District. To make this possible, we first had to complete a market prioritization, produce a feasibility assessment, and develop detailed designs.

PSC Matters

PSC Comments - Explanations to Unsuccessful Offerors on Certain Orders Under Task and Delivery Order Contracts

 

On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, PSC submitted comments to the FAR Council’s Proposed Rule titled: Explanations to Unsuccessful Offerors on Certain Orders Under Task and Delivery Order Contracts. This proposed rule would amend the FAR to require contracting officers, upon written request from an unsuccessful offeror after “timely notification” of an award, to provide a brief explanation as to why the offeror was unsuccessful for task orders or delivery orders greater than the Simplified Acquisition Threshold but not greater than $6 million. In its comments, PSC said that to provide needed clarity and enable fair opportunity the FAR Council should explicitly define “timely notification” within the proposed language to, instead, within 3 days after the date of contract award, among other recommendations. Read the comments here.

Two New Proposed Rules on Cyber

 

Earlier in October, proposed rules on Cyber Threat Reporting and Standardizing Cybersecurity Requirements were released. The first proposes amending the FAR to partially implement an Executive order on cyber threats, incident reporting and information sharing for Federal contractors and to implement related cybersecurity policies. The latter proposes to partially implement an Executive Order to standardize cybersecurity contractual requirements across Federal agencies for unclassified Federal information systems, and a statute on improving the Nation’s cybersecurity. Please send any comments to Christian Larsen here at PSC by November 30.