David Drabkin, Chairman of Section 809 Panel, Inducted Into 2019 Wash100 for Realigning DoD’s Acquisition Process

Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce that David Drabkin, chairman of the Section 809 Panel, was selected to join the 2019 edition of the Wash100 — Executive Mosaic’s annual selection of the most influential voices in the government contracting arena — for his role in the realignment of the Department of Defense’s acquisition process in 2018.

This honor marks his first Wash100 win.

The Section 809 Panel was created by Congress through the National Defense Authorization Act to improve the Pentagon’s acquisition process. In January 2018, the first volume of the “Report of the Advisory Panel on Streamlining and Codifying Acquisition Regulations” was released focusing on vendor access to acquire innovative technology before warfighters become irrelevant.

Drabkin became chairman of the Section 809 Panel in March 2018.

“Currently the department really doesn’t manage its major weapon systems based upon capabilities,” he said. “They manage individual programs, individual systems, and it doesn’t provide them with the flexibility to move concentration of effort between various programs that are geared towards similar mission sets.”

In February 2018, Drabkin explained that the Defense Department acquisition process needs to change and will require Congress to eliminate some of the bureaucracy.

“We are looking at: how do we reset the playing field so DoD can get what it needs in time to make a difference so that our process will be agile? It will value time and speed. It will focus on innovation — not only identifying it but getting it to the warfighter inside the turn of our enemy,” he said.

In June, the Section 809 Panel released the next volume proposing a new “enterprise capability portfolio management” structure to improve how the Pentagon acquires technology. After the report was published, Drabkin explained the defense acquisition system needs greater speed and ability to be responsive in a dynamic environment.

The panel’s reports introduce the “Dynamic Marketplace” concept that “adopts the practices and particular market segment in which we are trying to do business instead of trying to make all of those market segments conform to our specific rules,” according to Drabkin.

With 36 years of experience in the government acquisition community, Drabkin worked with the DoD, the General Services Administration, the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Northrop Grumman and in the private sector.

Drabkin chaired committees in the Section of Public Contract Law of the American Bar Association, Aerospace Industries Association, the Coalition for Government Procurement and TechAmerica. He is also the principal of Drabkin and Associates and the administrator of the Council of Defense and Space Industry Associations.

Executive Mosaic congratulates David Drabkin for receiving this award.

About the Wash100

The Wash100 award, now in its sixth year, recognizes the most influential executives in the GovCon industry as selected by the Executive Mosaic team in tandem with online nominations from the GovCon community. Representing the best of the private and public sector, the winners demonstrate superior leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement and vision.

Visit the Wash100 site to learn about the other 99 winners of the 2019 Wash100 Award. On the site, you can submit your 10 votes for the GovCon executives of consequence that you believe will have the most significant impact in 2019.