The $100B Shake-Up: Inside Government’s Bold (and Risky) Acquisition Overhaul

Tom Howder, former deputy commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, is watching a major shift unfold in federal acquisition—and he makes clear that the changes now underway could have long-lasting impact across government and industry.

At the center of the conversation is GSA’s latest update to the Multiple Award Schedule program, known as “refresh 31.” Howder explains that while some foundational changes were introduced in the previous refresh, this version brings two major elements into focus: transactional data reporting (TDR) and a new American AI clause.

Innovation in Government: Delivering Decision Advantage in a Contested Maritime Environment

Broadcasting from WEST 2026 in San Diego, this special episode of Innovation in Government explores the cutting-edge digitization and modernization efforts transforming the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and the broader Department of Defense. Through in-depth interviews with military leaders and top industry experts, we examine the critical shift toward data-driven decision-making, the drive for open architectures, and the race to achieve seamless interoperability from the enterprise down to the tactical edge. Viewers will gain unique insights into how the services are overcoming technical debt, leveraging commercial-off-the-shelf technologies, and preparing warfighters for future conflicts through advanced training continuums and accelerated sensor-to-shooter kill chains.

The Intelligent Border: Fast. Agile. Secure.

The latest episode of Modernizing Government: The EY Insight explores how data, cloud, and emerging technologies are reshaping the mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the federal government at large. Francis Rose hosts discussions with George Kaczmarskyj, Principal for Government and Public Sector at EY, and Mark James, Executive Director of the Enterprise Cloud Services Division at CBP.

Filmed on location at the EY Center for Government Modernization, the conversations highlight lessons learned from commercial sectors like financial services, the importance of data governance and trust, CBP’s cloud migration journey, the adoption of AI and edge computing, and the future of secure, agile border operations. Together, they shed light on how a fast, agile, and secure intelligent border is being built.

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