GAO Issues Report on Pentagon’s Use of Consortia-Based Other Transaction Agreements

The Government Accountability Office has urged the Department of Defense to come up with a systematic approach to monitor other transaction agreement award dollars each consortium receives.

GAO found that the lack of such an approach keeps DOD from collecting data on OTA obligations each consortium has secured, according to a report published Tuesday.

Between fiscal years 2019 and 2021, the GAO report shows that the Pentagon’s obligated OTA dollars through consortia to support prototyping initiatives reached more than $24 billion.

Over the three-year period, medical defense, armaments and aviation and missiles were the top three consortia that secured from DOD OTA obligations of $8 billion, $5 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively.

“By not systematically tracking this type of data, DOD does not provide decision makers insight into consortia and their technology areas,” the report reads.

The congressional watchdog found that DOD has gathered, documented and shared with contracting officials limited information on considerations pertaining to compensation for organizations that manage consortia, benefits and challenges of various ways to structure OTAs and whether to employ an existing consortium or establish new consortia.

“By sharing limited information, DOD is missing opportunities to leverage the knowledge of contracting personnel to better inform planning for future awards,” particularly when planning to award consortia-based OTAs, according to the report.

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