ABSTRACT
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) published a list of what they consider to be leading-edge information technologies needed by government agencies as a part of the Alliant 2 Request for Proposal in 2016. This list represents technologies that are at different stages of maturity, but all these technologies have crossed the line of fundamental breakthroughs. Thus, engineering investments are what is needed to turn these technologies into operational solutions. This investment can be made by commercial entities and recovered through the sales price of complete products for the government, or this investment can be made by government organizations so that products can be developed based on specific requirements. Alliant 2 is a service IDIQ contract that issues task orders that implement government investments. The government’s decision in making the investment should consider (1) when a technology is needed, (2) the benefits/value of the technology, (3) the maturation path and remaining cost at specific points, and (4) the development timelines. At times, competing technologies must also be considered with an analysis of alternatives. One alternative with or without competing technologies is to wait and see how a technology is matured by the commercial community without government investment.
