News & Events

DII Working Group member quoted in industry article

Jamal Ahmed, the Vice President, Internal Audit at Day & Zimmerman (and a DII Working Group Member) was recently quoted in an article by Carl R. Oliver in the September/October 20198 Ethikos article entitled "The Goldilocks Principle and the Proper HERO: Perspective on the ethics and compliance mission." HERO stands for "High Reliability Organization." The article discusses approaches to ethics that seek to find the spot between "to hard" and "to easy." Hence the reference to Goldilocks. Mr. Ahmed discusses his goal of "doing the right thing in everything we do" and that "business ethics is more than following the rules; it is about doing the right thing regardless of the rules." The article can be read in full at the link provided below.

http://bit.ly/2PUYLAY

Recent News

DII meets with Navy Suspension and Debarment Officials
On August 30, 2018, a delegation from DII met with the Navy Suspension and Debarment Official and his staff to discuss DII and to listen to Navy concerns about contractors' compliance programs.

DII Meets with Navy and Air Force Ethics counsel
On October 24, 2018, a delegation from DII met with Air Force and Navy Ethics counsel to discuss DII and issues relating to post-employment restrictions

DII Comments on Transparency International's Proposed 2019 Defense Company Index and Evaluation
On November 2, 2018, DII submitted comments to Transparency International on TII's proposed 2019 Defense Company Index and Evaluation process.

DII Attends APTAC Conference
On November 12-14, 2018, DII attended the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers fall meeting in Washington, D.C. The APTAC organization represents the companies that run technical assistance centers for the SBA around the country to help small businesses learn how to comply with the many requirements in a government contract. As part of that conference, DII was included in the APTAC fall magazine. See page 6 of the attachment. Thanks to all that attended

DII Attends NACA Conference
On November 14, 2018, DII presented an hour long session at the Native American Contractors Association. NACA is focused on protecting and enhancing opportunities for Native government contractors and being the voice of Native 8(a) companies in Washington, D.C. Thanks to all that attended.

DII to Meet with Air Force Suspension and Debarment Official
On December 13, 2018, DII will meet with the Air Force Suspension and Debarment official to discuss DII and to listen to Air Force concerns about contractor compliance programs.

HOLD THE DATE for the 2019 Best Practices Forum!

WHAT: Annual Best Practices Forum (BPF)
WHEN: Thursday-Friday June 13-14
WHERE: Washington DC – Marriott Mayflower

Registration will open in February 2019, look for more details.

DII participates in NCMA conference

July 22-24 2018, Cleveland, Ohio

In an attempt to expand engagement with government stakeholders and 3rd party organizations, the DII for the second year was an exhibitor at this year’s National Contract Management Association (NCMA) conference, called World Congress, held July 22-24 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The NCMA World Congress is the largest educational event for contract management, procurement, and acquisition professionals which was attended by over 2,000 individuals this year from government (federal, state, and local), industry, and commercial business.

Tom McDaniel from Harris Corporation, Kim Kaminski from BAE Systems, and DII administrator Don Featherstun from Seyfarth Shaw shared DII’s compelling mission to attendees.

To learn more about how your company can implement and continually improve its ethics and compliance program, visit the Membership page.

DII holds its annual Best Practices Forum (BPF)

June 7-8 2018, Washington DC

In accordance with its Principles, the Defense Industry Initiative (DII) held its annual Best Practices Forum (BPF) in early June at the Marriott Metro in Washington DC. This year’s BPF had 230 attendees from nearly 80 member companies along with several government agencies. The purpose of the annual BPF is to facilitate the improvement of company ethics programs by engaging ethics and compliance professionals through networking and sharing industry best practices, hearing from industry leaders and thought leaders, and participation from government officials – see below for a summary of notable participants:

Senior Company Leaders
Leanne Caret – Boeing Defense, Space & Security
President & CEO / DII Steering Committee Chair

Mike Petters – Huntington Ingalls
CEO

Roger Krone – Leidos
CEO

William King – Applied Insight
General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer

Hal Yoh – Day & Zimmermann
CEO

Industry Thought Leaders
Mary Gentile – educator
Author Giving Voice to Values

Robert Huffman – Akin Gump
Outside Counsel

Government Officials
Nanette M. DeRenzi – Navy Vice Admiral

Lynn McCormick – Dept of Defense IG
Disclosure Program Manager

Kay Lindbeck – DCMA
Director, Contract Integrity Center

Ruth Vetter – Dept of Defense
Standards of Conduct Office

 

Only DII members are able to attend the annual BPF event which should not be missed by those looking to improve their ethics and compliance programs.  For details on how to become a member to enable your company employees to participate in the June 2019 BPF, click HERE. 

Industry Expert says that DII "has made a difference"

DII was recently held out as an example for how other industries can approach ethics and compliance. The following article suggest DII’s approach for Silicon Valley. The final conclusion is that efforts like DII “make a difference.”

Read the complete article (Quartz at Work)