Government Procurement and Acquisition: Opportunities and Challenges Presented by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
The federal government spends more than $500 billion in the acquisition of goods and services annually.
However, agencies face enduring challenges in modernizing the procurement process to support mission achievement, including requirements definition, competition, pricing, contractor oversight, federal procurement data, acquisition workforce, and small business participation.
This new report addresses using AI to transform public procurement, analyzing challenges and recommending ways to capitalize on opportunities. The report makes recommendations about how to use AI to transform public procurement, which can increase speed, efficiency, and effectiveness in acquiring goods and services that serve public needs by fostering facilitating intelligent automation across the federal acquisition system.
This report builds on multiple Center reports focused on using AI and automation to improve procurement and other government systems, including Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector: A Maturity Model, Improving Outcomes in Government Through Data and Intelligent Automation, Risk Management in the AI Era, and The Future Has Begun: Using Artificial Intelligence to Transform
Government.
The report also continues our ongoing efforts to develop improvement ideas for acquisition more broadly, most recently including Other Transactions Authorities: After 60 Years, Hitting Their Stride or Hitting the Wall and Buying As One: Category Management Lessons from the United Kingdom.
We hope that government procurement leaders and stakeholders find the report helpful in leveraging AI to improve the critically important process of acquiring goods and service to carry out agency missions.