US Army: What is the Army Contract Writing System?

ACWS promises to usher in a ‘new era’ of Army contracting efficiency and innovation through process automation. The solution was created on the Appian Platform, leveraging prebuilt components from the Appian-based US Air Force CON-IT acquisition solution. The US Air Force designed, developed, and deployed CON-IT in fewer than nine months and to date has saved $83 million with the solution.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Enterprise Application Services (EAS) contract helped develop and deploy CON-IT in a DoD Impact Level 4 cloud. Synergy BIS, a support contractor for USDA, continues to add capabilities to CON-IT today, along with hosting and developing ACWS on the Appian Platform.

New era for Army procurement

"We are at the dawn of a new era for Army contract writing," said Steve Edsall, ACWS product lead at PEO EIS. "With the power of low-code process automation and a unified data fabric we are able to streamline processes and facilitate innovation. By leveraging existing technologies, we are also maximising efficiency and shareability across the Department of Defence.”

The new Army Contract Writing System provides US Army contracting professionals with a single solution for enterprise writing and management. This system is designed to significantly improve integrated contract writing capabilities for the Army's contracting workforce, enabling them to work faster and more efficiently in support of the Army's mission.

ACWS capabilities

As of its initial deployment, ACWS offers a range of capabilities, including:

● Generation of solicitation, award, and modification documents in Procurement Data Standard–compliant transactions.

● Integration with the System for Award Management and connectivity to various procurement systems, including the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment and the Federal Procurement Data System.

● An enterprise-ready AI architecture that provides a flexible, scalable, and trusted platform.

ACWS plans on finishing the minimum viable product release in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 by adding 350 additional users from Army Contracting Command and the Army National Guard. The next release will add another 2,300 users in the second half of the year. ACWS is poised to replace the Standard Procurement System/Procurement Desktop-Defence and the Procurement Automated Data and Document System, marking a significant milestone in the modernisation of Army contract writing processes.

The Appian Platform modernises contract writing by streamlining the entire government contracting lifecycle, dramatically improving efficiency and time to procurement. Key architectural components make it easy to leverage AI, including Appian’s patented SAIL and data fabric architecture, its AI Copilot, and its private AI strategy for faster delivery of powerful and secure end-to-end process automation solutions

ACWS users can anticipate further system integrations with the Virtual Contracting Enterprise and required financial systems, including the General Fund Enterprise Business System, Corps of Engineers Financial Management System, and the Logistics Modernisation Programme. Future capabilities will include support for construction contracting, the awarding of grants, cooperative agreements, major systems procurements, and secure contracting capabilities. These future integrations built with agile methodology will help achieve complete automation for faster and more efficient services and programmes.

"We're thrilled to partner with the US Army to help drive acquisition process efficiencies and make informed procurement decisions,” said Ben Allen, Public Sector Solutions Vice President, Appian. "The Army Contract Writing System represents a bold step forward in modernising the Army's contract management processes. We are honoured that our expertise in AI-powered process automation, compliance, and government contract management is enhancing this mission-critical solution."

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Steve Edsall, ACWS product lead at PEO EIS