Every traditional procurement embeds the same assumption: that the state correctly identified the problem and the solution before the contract was signed. Timelines, budgets, requirements, and evaluation all hinge on that assumption holding. But Horizon 3 MES transformation is VUCA work (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), and in VUCA work the optimal approach only becomes visible in hindsight, after iterating. A predictive model applied to adaptive work fails predictably, and the implementation complexity, schedule delays, and cost growth the RFI asks about in V-10 are largely this single mismatch expressing itself.
The vendor-side challenge in V-1 (varying state interpretations of federal requirements) has the same root: vendors are asked to commit to fixed interpretations upfront in an environment where interpretation legitimately evolves. The remedy is not better upfront specification; it is procurement and contracting structured for learning: smaller commitments, working software as the interpretation arbiter, and course correction as a designed-in feature rather than a change order.