Registration is open for an Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic on Army contracting and procurement.

Scheduled for July 22 at AUSA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, the theme for the daylong Hot Topic is “Revolutionizing Contracting and Procurement via Speed, Execution and Innovation.”

The event will delve into how the Army is modernizing to increase the efficiency, speed and responsiveness of the contracting process at the policy, operational and tactical levels. Using a mix of new technology and existing authorities, Army leaders and industry will define how today’s contracting enterprise will keep pace with the demands of the contemporary operating environment.

Maj. Gen. Douglas Lowrey, commanding general of U.S. Army Contracting Command, and Jesse Tolleson Jr., acting assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, are slated to provide keynote addresses.

There will be panel discussions on efficiency, lethality and autonomy in contracting and acquisitions, innovative contracting authorities and mechanisms, streamlining the acquisition lifecycle and contracting goals in support of the Army’s Next Generation Command and Control system.

Panelists include Chris Manning, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology; Brig. Gen. Anthony Gibbs, director of integration at U.S. Army Futures Command; Kimberly Buehler, acting deputy assistant Army secretary for procurement; Heather Shirey, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army for strategy and acquisition reform; Joseph Welch, deputy to the commanding general of Futures Command; Col. Michael Kaloostian, director of the Command and Control Cross-Functional Team; and Col. Chris Anderson, program manager for Next Generation Command and Control.

For more information or to register, click here.

Online registration is open until 5 p.m. Eastern on July 18. On-site registration opens at 7 a.m. Eastern July 22.

There is no cost for members of the military, government civilian personnel and the media.

There will be media roundtable opportunities with select Army leaders and other scheduled speakers.

Acquisition reform is part of the Army Transformation Initiative, a sweeping effort to build a leaner and more lethal Army. Announced on May 1 by Army senior leaders, the Army Transformation Initiative will seek acquisition reform by addressing changes to program funding practices, intellectual property constraints, prototyping and fielding agreements, performance-based contracting and the expansion of multi-year agreements.

Additionally, to keep up with evolving technology, the Army must focus on lethality, speed and cost efficiency when evaluating and acquiring new technology and capabilities, Army experts said earlier this year during a panel discussion hosted by AUSA.

The Army today faces the reality that commercial technology in some cases is outpacing military technology, said Lt. Gen. Robert Collins, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology and director of the Army Acquisition Corps. “It wasn’t always the case,” he said. “Acknowledging that is probably one area we need to look to.”

The Army also must not lose sight of outcomes as it speeds its acquisition processes. “Is it effective? Is it suitable? Is it survivable? We always need to be looking at the outcomes,” Collins said.