Contractors will need to be proactive to prevent potentially harmful information from becoming public. (FAPIIS)

A recent final rule in the Federal Register (FAR Case 2010-016) regarding Public Access to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information could have a significant impact on federal contractors. The final rule implements section 3010 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-212), enacted July 29, 2010. The legislation requires that information inRead… Read more »

How Would a Federal Agency “Protest Proof” an RFP?

Although protests are relatively a small percentage of contract actions, they are on the rise. For contract actions of significant amount, they are almost assured in this budgetary environment. Case in point is CH2M Hill Antarctic Support, Inc. recently protesting a $2 billion contract won by Lockheed Martin Corp. to support the U.S. Antarctic ResearchRead… Read more »

Including ODCs on MAS Service Contracts Can Be a Win For All

Last week the Comment of the Week focused on the opportunities for GSA leadership as customer agencies increasingly look to the agency for procurement solutions. The Comment further observed that “GSA’s commercial item contracting leadership through the MAS program can be the lynchpin in providing savings and value for customer agencies.” GSA has a wonderfulRead… Read more »

Savvy or Unethical? Should the Federal Government be a Phantom Bidder in Reverse Auctions?

I recently heard from a contractor regarding an experience he had with reverse auctions. A federal agency was conducting a reverse auction using FedBid and he decided to compete (FedBid, Inc., provides a service whereby federal agencies can conduct reverse auctions). Although he submitted several bids, he ultimately lost the reverse auction. When he checkedRead… Read more »

Hooray for the New Acquisition “Sub-community”

Greetings everybody!! The creation of specific sub-communities on GovLoop is pretty exciting and should serve to drive folks to the rich content they are looking for as well as further facilitate our excellent subject matter-specific discussions. Totally off topic – did you see where Hostess is, once again, filing bankruptcy? Better stock up on yourRead… Read more »

Acquisition in Government: GovLoop Sub-Community

Wondering how can government be a better buyer 2012? Congratulations – you’ve come to the right place. The GovLoop Acquisition Sub-Community is dedicated to connecting you with the people and resources to help you do your job better in the acquisition world. Share – First, we want to encourage you to use it as yourRead… Read more »

Obtaining Senior Management Buy-in

As I was teaching our IDIQs and Task Orders course on Monday, we were reviewing the best practices for a quick and efficient proposal development process. One practice was conducting a proper kickoff meeting. After attending many proposal kickoffs (some of which included a proper breakfast and a long PowerPoint), and then watching a proposalRead… Read more »

ManTech gets into health IT with acquisition

ManTech International Corporation has acquired health systems integrator Evolvent Technologies. The move signals a push by ManTech to get into health IT as part of it’s contracting offering. Evolvent has experience working with federal health systems. Evolvent provides services in clinical IT, clinical business intelligence, imaging cyber security, behavioral health, tele-health, software development, and systemsRead… Read more »

Engaging Citizens vs. Streamlining Bureaucracy

Forty years ago, Congress passed a law to make government agencies more accountable and transparent in how they sought advice from industry and the public. It was called the Federal Advisory Committee Act. But over the years, the way the law was implemented led to less citizen involvement and reluctance by agencies from seeking advice.Read… Read more »

Are There Government-Friendly Gadgets to be Seen at CES?

It seems odd that consumer electronics companies would choose to showcase their wares after the biggest gift-giving holiday of the year, but here we are in early January and the Consumer Electronics Showhas again pitched its tent in Vegas. There’s a lot of coverage already–including this contrarian take inveighing against the show–and one journalist hasRead… Read more »

Acquisition

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