Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Contract to watch: State Department’s $850 million effort to revamp passports and services

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The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is seeking bidders to modernize the underlying technology it uses to process visas, deliver passport services and provide emergency services to Americans overseas.

The Consular Systems Modernization contract, posted to the government’s Federal Business Opportunities website (www.fbo.gov) , is valued at up to $850 million over 10 years, but its importance goes far beyond the price tag.

The request for proposals is crafted around ensuring the Bureau of Consular Affairs provides better customer service to millions of Americans and visa carriers each year, and is the pillar of the “ConsularOne initiative.”

The RFP describes the ConsularOne initiative as “intended to modernize and consolidate the operational environment under a common technology framework to better support the services provided to CA’s customers.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2017/05/contract-watch-state-departments-85m-effort-revamp-passports-and-services/138066

How much are agencies spending on new contracts?

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The federal government rarely seeks truly innovative solutions when it bids out new contracts, according to a report released on May 16th.

Federal market research and analysis firm Nation Analytics’ “Government Services Competitive Intelligence Report” examined 246 task orders and contracts for federal services—each worth $50 million or more—awarded across the federal landscape in fiscal 2016. It includes federal service acquisitions, such as IT, professional services and operations and maintenance of facilities, but not one-time acquisitions such as weapons systems or construction projects.

Only 35 contracts of those contracts were for new requirements, according to the report. Agencies spent the other $49 billion, or 90 percent of the federal services spend, on the recompetition of work already being performed by existing contractors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2017/05/how-much-are-agencies-spending-new-contracts/137899

2016 SBA scorecard includes ups, downs, impact of overseas contracts

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If one is a chance, two’s a coincidence, and three is a pattern, does four set a standard?

For the fourth year in a row, the federal government reached its small business contracting goals, spending nearly $100 billion — or 24 percent of its contracting dollars — on small businesses.

That’s a $9 billion increase over fiscal 2015 numbers. The government also scored an A+ on its procurement scorecard, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA).

“It is a win-win for federal agencies to get small business contracts into the hands of the innovative small business owners that create jobs in their communities and help to fuel the nation’s economy,” said SBA Administrator Linda McMahon in a statement.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/contractsawards/2017/05/13929632016-sba-scorecard-includes-ups-downs-impact-of-overseas-contracts/

For another view of this news story see: “Government Misses HUBZone, WOSB Goals–But Gets “A” Grade Anyway” at: http://smallgovcon.com/women-owned-small-business-program/government-misses-hubzone-wosb-goals-but-gets-a-grade-anyway

 

Cyber executive order could signal windfall for contractors

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This week, the House passed a major bill that would create working capital funds agencies to modernize their internal technology. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to update their cybersecurity practices and to hold agency heads, not chief information officers, accountable for incidents.

What do these moves mean for technology contractors? They could signal continued or greater upcoming investments in private-sector cyber services, Candace Worley, McAfee’s chief technical strategist, told Nextgov.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/mcafee-vp-cyber-executive-order-could-signal-windfall-contractors/137979

Sealift Command contractor charged for taking $3 million in bribes

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A contractor who worked on the Navy’s supply and transport arm is facing a five-count indictment for his alleged role in a bribery scheme that allegedly netted him $3 million.

Scott B. Miserendino Sr., 58, was charged on May 4 on charges that he accepted bribes over 15 years while working for a contractor at the Military Sealift Command.

The indictment alleges that Miserendino, while employed as a contractor for Military Sealift Command, assisted Joseph P. Allen and his contracting company “in obtaining and expanding a commission agreement with a telecommunications company” that provided satellite services to MSC.

Officials said that Miserendino used his position to influence MSC to take “official acts” that benefited the telecommunications company, and Allen through the commission agreement, from 1999 until 2014.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/military-sealift-command-contractor-charged-for-taking-3m-in-bribes

GSA tech office launches bug bounty program

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The cybersecurity company that ran a bug bounty program for the Army and is running ongoing programs for the Pentagon and Air Force will run a similar program for the government’s technology user experience wing, that office announced Friday.

The program run by HackerOne will offer cash rewards ranging from $300 to $5,000 to security researchers who spot dangerous vulnerabilities in websites and applications run by the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Service.

TTS did not give a start date for the program.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/gsa-tech-office-launches-bug-bounty-program/137817

Government’s big cyber problem will be contractors’ biggest opportunity, report says

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The federal government’s biggest challenge in defending its civilian, military and intelligence networks from hackers isn’t technology, it’s people.

And nearing the 100-day mark of the Trump presidency, the new administration’s cybersecurity policies may be hindering the government’s cyber posture rather than helping it, according to research from Virginia-based data and analytics firm Govini.

The Govini report suggests the new administration’s focus on reducing the federal workforce exacerbates the federal government’s existing shortage of qualified cybersecurity talent. President Trump’s hiring freeze, which puzzled some cyber experts, has ended but top White House officials have said most agencies will see reductions in overall workforce sizes.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/04/government-biggest-cyber-problem-will-be-contractors-big-opportunity-report-says/137342/

A tale of two contract releases: One for the government and one for the contractor

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On the heels of the recent post on the subject of key takeaways from recent release of claims decisions, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA) have published another round of notable opinions regarding contract releases:  Supply & Service Team GmbH, ASBCA No. 59630 and ServiTodo, LLC, CBCA 5524.

Both decisions are important, albeit for different reasons.

  • The ASBCA decision demonstrates how a release provision in a contract modification providing an equitable adjustment can bar the government from processing an administrative offset against a contractor.
  • The CBCA decision illustrates the difficulties contractors face when attempting to minimize the impact of a broadly worded release of claims provision.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2017/05/tale-two-contract-releases-one-government-one-contractor/

VA class deviation restricts SDVOSB nonmanufacturers

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The VA has adopted a Class Deviation to the VAAR, severely restricting the ability of VA Contracting Officers to request waivers of the nonmanufacturer rule–and, even more troubling, suggesting that Contracting Officers need not apply the statutory SDVOSB and VOSB preferences even when the SBA has already granted a class waiver.

You may be wondering “does the VA’s Class Deviation comply with Kingdomware?”  Good question.

Before diving into the details of the Class Deviation, let’s step back for a second to review why this is so important.

Under the SBA’s regulations, when any contract is set-aside for small businesses (including SDVOSBs and VOSBs) under a manufacturing NAICS code, there are two ways that the prime contractor can satisfy the requirements of the limitations on subcontracting.  As one option, the prime contractor can agree to pay no more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to it to firms that are not similarly situated.  In other words, the prime can do most or all of the manufacturing itself (or work with similarly situated small businesses).  Alternatively, the prime can sell the products of another business, so long as the prime qualifies as a nonmanufacturer.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/service-disabled-veteran-owned-small-businesses/va-class-deviation-restricts-sdvosb-nonmanufacturers/#more-7207

Defense Intelligence Agency’s ‘Shark Tank’ helps startups pitch spy apps

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The Setting: A high-tech military facility just outside of Washington, DC — the headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA.   Anshuman Roy, the president and founder of Rhombus, a data analytics company, is in a large open space outfitted with computers, whiteboards, and cameras.  It looks a bit like a young hacker space of the sort that began popping up in San Francisco in 2007 and, before that, in Europe.

Roy stands in front of a digital projection of a map of Syria. Green and red areas show where his proprietary neural network has determined that unrest or violence is likely imminent. Analysts at DIA can use the tool to look at “precursors to instability,” he explains to a small audience.

The analysts can refine the results by adding or subtracting variables — local economic factors, ethnic and religious makeup, even fresh water availability or food price inflation. This, he explains, is a huge improvement over previous models that relied on just four variables computed by humans. Rhombus’s cloud-based neural net can draw in much more information to help analysts make better predictions.

“It doesn’t give directions. It suggests to help override cognitive bias,” he says.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/04/defense-intelligence-agencys-shark-tank-startups-pitch-spy-apps/137320

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