Over the next year, GSA will work with other agencies and industry will come up with a set of risk indicators and create access to multiple data sources for contracting officers to better determine and understand the supply chain risk of the technology they are buying.
The General Services Administration tells agencies they shouldn\'t rule out contractors who don\'t have Federal Risk and Authorization Management program authorizations yet. The program is only a few years old. And GSA says agencies who require FedRAMP compliance as a condition for contractors to bid on work, are limiting competition. Katie Lewin is the former program manager for cloud computing at the General Services Administration, and now an independent consultant. She tells In Depth with Francis Rose what government\'s role is in vendors being able to adopt FedRAMP.
Brian Miller, managing director in the Disputes and Investigations Practice at Navigant will give us his thoughts on GSA\'s transactional data reporting rule. June 9, 2015
A new memo from federal chief information officer Tony Scott gives agencies 19 months to move all Internet-facing sites and Web services to the HTTPS standard.
Joanne Woytek, program manager of the NASA SEWP program, joins host Mark Amtower to talk about SEWP V. June 8, 2015
Anne Rung, the administrator in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, will issue a new policy in the coming months telling the largest 25 agencies to set up an innovative procurement organization similar to the HHS Buyers Club in the next year or two.
A new bill would let companies challenge the agency through an administrative process that promises to be simpler and cheaper than litigation. Witnesses at a congressional hearing said they feared new size standards would alter competition for $200 billion in small-business set asides.
USA.gov is about to undergo another overhaul. The web portal, which the General Services Administration maintains, lets visitors search for government information based on topics or agency. But it hasn\'t always been easy to use. Sarah Crane, the acting director of the Federal Citizen Information Center at GSA, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the changes.
Etherton and Associates President Jon Etherton and Tom Sisti, senior director and chief legislative counsel for SAP, join host Roger Waldron to talk about a growing movement on Capitol Hill for acquisition reform, and lessons learned from previous reform efforts. June 2, 2015
A bill in the House aims to reform the way the General Services Administration (GSA) handles real estate. The Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act would realize billions in savings by enabling GSA to better facilitate consolidations, reduce space and negotiate the best possible office space lease deals. It would also bolster security at federal buildings. Re. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) is chairman of the House Subcommittee for Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, and a co-sponsor of the bill. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to explain why such a pilot program was important.
Commentary: Larry Allen, president of Allen Federal Business Partners, writes that some of the pricing data initiatives are sending a disheartening message to GSA\'s contracting workforce. The Multiple Award Schedules are not in business to be the Dollar Store, he writes.
The General Services Administration has a new tool to help contracting officers figure out how much they should pay for work. CALC.gov lists pay rates across eight professional services categories, with 48,000 labor categories and at least 5,000 GSA contracts. But the rates listed on the site are the highest prices contracting officers could pay, not the lowest. The 18F Innovation Lab built the tool and says acquisition officers should make better purchases with more access to more information. Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, tells In Depth with Francis Rose why he\'s not so sure.
Twenty-five agencies can now make special appointments to hire new digital services experts faster. The Office of Personnel Management says jobs are at General Schedule 11 to 15 levels for up to two years. It\'s similar to the pilot program OPM launched for the General Services Administration\'s 18-F program and Office of Management and Budget\'s Digital Services office last year. On In Depth with Francis Rose, John Salamone, vice president of FMP Consulting and former executive director of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, says the authority is better late than never.
The Obama administration wants keep companies who routinely violate labor laws from being eligible for federal contracts. Contractor representatives are calling the administration\'s proposal flawed and unfair.
Denise Turner Roth, President Barack Obama\'s nominee to lead the General Services Administration says, if confirmed, she\'ll make sure recent reforms are woven into the agency\'s fabric.