Acquisition

The Cost of Compliance

Have you ever heard of a potential customer being “wowed” by a company’s policies and procedures ? NO of course not! Customers are impressed by slick technology, impressive office space and well spoken business development directors. Few small businesses ever want to spend their precious working capital on something as uniquely unglamorous as accounting andRead… Read more »

SEPTA plans to award contract for fare system soon

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority officials announced plans to award a $100 million contract for a new fare payment system within the next two months. The new system will allow customers to pay fares with credit cards, debit cards, cellphones, or electronic SEPTA cards. “We will replace the turnstiles. We’ll put readers near fare boxes, butRead… Read more »

A recap from GOSCON: Open source beyond cutting costs

My colleague, Gunnar Hellekson, posted some great insights from GOSCON this week on a session he attended about “Cutting Costs” — before the big shake-up…I mean Earthquake. Honestly, I didn’t know GOSCON and using open source in government could be so moving and disruptive. (Too early?) Paraphrasing, Alex Howard of O’Reilly moderated a panel discussionRead… Read more »

This Day in GovCon History, August 25, 1916: National Park Service Created

This article was originally published by GovWin’s Anthony Critelli August 25, 1916 is the day President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating the National Park Service (NPS) within the Department of the Interior. Interior had previously lacked the organization to effectively manage the then 14 national parks and 21 national monuments. The new agency wasRead… Read more »

BART will limit wireless shutdowns

Two weeks after a controversial decision to shut down wireless access to quell a planned demonstration, Bay Area Rapid Transit (CA) directors agreed to limit the tactic to situations when public safety is endangered. “I think we reached a consensus that it should only be used in an extreme case where the public is imminentlyRead… Read more »

Fresh Look at IT Program Manager Competencies

In all the hype about new technology, we often forget to talk about what government IT is mostly about – that’s project management. It’s about leading projects to solve problems and it’s pretty tough. Was cool to see OPM deliver the new competency program for IT program managers. The hardest part is defining what makesRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Could and Should USPS Pull Out of FEHBP?

We all know by now that the U.S. Postal Service is struggling to get by. It lost $8.5 billion last year, and earlier this summer here on GovLoop we debated the merits of cutting back to 3- or 5-day mail delivery instead of the customary 6. Another solution being floated would involve disenrolling all postalRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Another Transit Shutdown Crisis Brewing

The Washington Post reports that state transportation officials are worried that another congressional stalemate could lead to a halt in construction projects nationwide, leaving thousands out of work and delays in highway and transit projects. The Washington Post reports: “Facing a Sept. 30 deadline, officials are mindful of the deadlock that occurred this month overRead… Read more »

Working group pans one-way SEPTA rail fares

A working group set up to review fare collection options for Philadelphia’s Regional Rail voted almost unanimously to support the current two-way fare system, according to PlanPhilly. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority convened the group, which comprises transit stakeholders, after rail advocates questioned a proposal for one-way fare collection on the commuter rail system. InRead… Read more »

Policy Reviews Will Not Improve Government Procurement

As part of the continuing push by the Administration to reduce the amount of redundancy and to cut red tape through a review of existing federal regulations, agencies recently announced their final plans that describe what they will begin to consider as possible reforms to current regulations to execute on the President’s Executive Order. TheRead… Read more »