Book Description

This is the second of three reports in SIGIR's Lessons Learned Initiative (LLI). Begun in September 2004, the LLI focuses on three areas of the U.S. relief and reconstruction effort in Iraq: (1) Human Capital Management, (2) Contracting and Procurement, and (3) Program and Project Management. SIGIR's review of each area includes thorough background research and extensive interviews with a broad spectrum of persons possessing first-hand experience in the Iraq reconstruction program. The collected findings from this research are then provided to a panel of senior executives and experts drawn from the U.S. Government, industry, and academia, many of whom served in Iraq. These experts convene for a full-day forum to evaluate the findings and provide recommendations. The first LLI Report, "Iraq Reconstruction: Lessons in Human Capital Management," was released in January 2006. SIGIR will publish the third and final paper in this series, "Iraq Reconstruction: Lessons in Program and Project Management," in the fall of 2006. This report provides a chronological review of the U.S. Government's contracting and procurement experience during the Iraq relief and reconstruction program. It begins by examining contracting activity early in the Iraq program and traces its evolutionary development through the effort's succeeding phases. The concluding section lays out a series of key lessons learned followed by six recommendations for improving the U.S. Government's capacity to support and execute contracting and procurement in contingency environments. SIGIR divides this report into four chronological periods and one functional concept area: Summer 2002 to January 2003: The Pre-ORHA Period; January 2003 to August 2003: The ORHA and Early-CPA Period; August 2003 to June 2004: The Later CPA Period; June 2004 to Present: The Post-CPA Period; and June 2003 to present: CERP and CHRRP.