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Audit Blames OMB’s Lack of Guidance for Shoddy Contracting Data

March 17, 2010 By ei2admin

By Emily Long 03/15/10 – NextGov.com –

The Office of Management and Budget has improved the transparency of federal spending but has limited tools to improve data quality and mandate agency compliance, according to observers.

Nextgov on March 12 reported that a Government Accountability Office audit found missing and inconsistent data on USAspending.gov, the federal contract awards database. The report blamed a lack of guidance from OMB for the incomplete and erroneous information.

One problem is the data is difficult to work with, a concern that extends beyond USAspending.gov, said Bill Allison, an analyst at the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation. There are enough “garbage in-garbage out” databases, and it’s difficult to accurately assess performance using shoddy data, he added.

According to the report, OMB has yet to issue specific guidance on how agencies should fill in required data fields and validate the information submitted to USAspending.gov. Spokesman Tom Gavin said OMB expects to release a plan for collecting, reporting and posting data this spring and also will relaunch the Web site with better navigation and search capabilities.

GAO also found that OMB has no system in place for mandating compliance and has relied on agencies to voluntarily submit award information. OMB wouldn’t identify specific steps for holding agencies accountable for complete and accurate reporting, saying only that officials will be aggressive in working with agency leaders to meet goals. In keeping with President Obama’s open government directive, agencies have designated a senior official accountable for the quality and standardization of all federal spending data.

“If you say, for example, restrict funding, that doesn’t help you get to your goal of getting agencies to comply,” said Craig Jennings, director of federal fiscal policy at the nonprofit OMB Watch, adding the government has few punitive options in dealing with delinquent agencies.

Allison agreed that censuring agencies could result in less data being made public. He said one strategy would be to create a career track to reward agency personnel who build transparency effectively.

“It’s one of the biggest problems the transparency community has,” he said. “Plenty of carrots, but what kinds of sticks?”

GAO’s audit also found that OMB so far has not included subcontractor award data on the USAspending.gov site, which was required by January 2009. The agency has not submitted yet an annual report to Congress on site use and reporting burdens on award recipients.

“Collecting data on every dollar the government spends is a huge undertaking,” Gavin said. “But moving forward we’re going to continue to be aggressive to put all the information out there.”

GAO’s investigation examined OMB’s compliance with the 2006 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which mandated the creation of a public database of federal awards data. Designed to increase transparency and accountability in the contracting process, the legislation required OMB to establish USAspending.gov by Jan. 1, 2008.

Allison said the Obama administration has an opportunity to execute transparency initiatives better than previous leadership, but this will require better agency compliance and improved openness.

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© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: contract awards, federal contracting, government contracting, OMB

Web Site Woes: USAspending.gov

March 16, 2010 By ei2admin

By Emily Long   – 03/12/10 – 04:16 pm ET

Inconsistencies will continue to plague USAspending.gov unless the Office of Management and Budget issues better reporting guidance to agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO report, issued on Friday, examines OMB’s compliance with the 2006 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, the law that created a public database of federal awards data. Designed to increase transparency and accountability in the contracting process, the act required OMB to establish USAspending.gov no later than Jan. 1, 2008.

GAO found missing data and inconsistencies between USAspending.gov and agency reporting, likely due to limited OMB guidance on how to submit information and the assumption that agencies will voluntarily comply with reporting requirements.

The audit also found that OMB so far has not included subaward data on the Web site, required by January 2009. The agency also has yet to submit an annual report to Congress on site usage and the recipient reporting burden, though officials expect to do so this year.


© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: contract awards, government contracting

Stimulus Workload Taxes Agency Staffs and Missions

March 16, 2010 By ei2admin

By Robert Brodsky – GovExec.com – March 12, 2010

The additional workload associated with administering billions of dollars in stimulus funds has put a strain on the federal government’s contracts and grants workforce, according to new findings the Commerce Department’s inspector general released on Friday.

Although agencies are prioritizing Recovery Act work and, in many instances, hiring more staff or realigning tasks, the increased workload has exacted a price on departmental operations, the IG found.

“The awarding of contracts and grants is being delayed as is other work; employees are working overtime; and the oversight and monitoring of awards — especially non-Recovery Act contracts and grants — are expected to decline, as many agencies attempt to implement Recovery Act requirements while carrying out their ongoing programs and operations,” according to the report, which was mandated by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

At the request of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, the IG surveyed 29 federal agencies receiving stimulus funds to gauge whether there are enough qualified and well-trained acquisition and grant personnel overseeing stimulus funds. Twenty six responded, including officials from 140 divisions and offices.

Agencies receiving stimulus funds calculated that from April 1 through June 30, 2009, they assigned more than 22,000 employees — just over 20 percent of their contracting and grants workforce — to Recovery Act contracts and grants. Those projects resulted in more than 3.7 million hours of work during this period, the IG report said.

Agencies projected that between July 2009 and June 2010, their contracting and grants staff would spend more than 17.5 million hours on stimulus projects — or the work of nearly 8,600 full-time equivalent employees. Recovery Act staffing is expected to increase to nearly 25,000 by June, the report said.

Despite the added help, officials report they still are overwhelmed with responsibilities. More than 40 percent of respondents at large agencies said their Recovery Act staffing was inadequate. Another 45 percent said their agencies had enough employees to administer Recovery funds but the workload affected non-Recovery Act projects. The remaining 14 percent reported their staffing was fine and the work had minimal impact on other operations.

Nearly one-fourth of officials at smaller agencies reported their staffing levels were sufficient, although more than half said stimulus work was cascading into non-Recovery tasks.

“Recovery Act funding has substantially increased the workload of most agencies receiving these funds, as agencies were expected to make additional awards as quickly as possible while adhering to regulations and procedures that would ensure a fair and competitive process,” the report said.

The workforce challenges appear dire among officials administering grants, which represent a significantly higher portion of Recovery spending than contracts. Officials told the IG that unrelated tasks are being delayed, including the performance of routine grants management, reviewing applications in discretionary grants competitions and resolving audit findings.

Members of the acquisition workforce also acknowledged delays in awarding non-Recovery Act contracts.

“Respondents indicated that acquisition delays will range from longer lead times in initiating awards and not completing projects on time, to rescheduling projects or even postponing them indefinitely,” the report said. “Additionally, several respondents reported that timely obligation of all fiscal year funds, policy development and other programmatic initiatives, along with training, might not be completed over the next year.”

Those problems could be just the beginning. Several respondents said without additional resources, their staffs will not be able to devote enough attention to processing modifications, updating contract management plans, monitoring contractor systems or tracking deliverables for their nonstimulus contracts.

Acquisition personnel also expressed concern about the increased costs of meeting Recovery Act requirements, including overtime, credit hours and compensatory time. Others noted. “The toll that prolonged extended hours can have on employees, citing burnout, and decreased morale and productivity.”

In addition, the report found gaps in the training and certification of the acquisition workforce. While nearly all contracting officers assigned to Recovery Act acquisitions are certified, only 75 percent of civilian contracting officer technical representatives/contracting officer representatives have the necessary certification. The Defense Department has not established certification standards for COTRs/CORs.

The grants workforce, meanwhile, has no governmentwide qualification or training requirements, although a handful of agency-specific requirements exist. The IG recommended agencies establish standard qualifications and training requirements, similar to those in the acquisition workforce, for the grants community.

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(C) 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition, ARRA, government contracting, recovery

Panel recommends overhaul of GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules

March 12, 2010 By ei2admin

By Emily Long  03/11/10

A changing acquisition landscape and inconsistent policy implementation are behind a push to update the General Services Administration’s contract practices, according to procurement professionals.

The Multiple Award Schedules Advisory Panel, made up of stakeholders from GSA, agency users and industry, published on Monday its 20 recommendations to improve the structure, use and pricing of GSA’s schedules program.

The recommendations acknowledge the program, which has evolved from offering commodities to providing solutions and services, and the pricing methodologies might not suit what agencies are buying today, said Alan Chvotkin, a panel member and executive vice president and counsel at the Professional Services Council, a contractor trade association.

Although the schedules have been a useful tool for agencies looking for commercially available services and products, “MAS has needed a lot of rehab because it hasn’t kept up with the wide expansion of services and products that are out there,” said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at FedSources, a market research firm.

One of the panel’s tasks was to determine the future of the price reduction clause, which states if a vendor lowers prices for its target customer, then it also must do so for government. The panel recommended GSA remove the clause from supply and services contracts and, in turn, not apply the provision to solutions.

“[Some are] mischaracterizing the panel’s recommendations regarding the price reduction clause,” Chvotkin said. “We did recommend eliminating it, but the mischaracterization is that we said, ‘Do away with it.’ We proposed replacing it with other tools and techniques to help buying agencies.”

Chvotkin said GSA can’t simply eliminate the clause, so the recommendations in part were designed to build transparency and visibility for purchasing agencies. They ask, for example, for GSA to develop more information about individual orders, give benchmark data and provide more disclosure about how it establishes reasonable prices.

Bjorklund said one of the report’s less explicit themes is that GSA and contractors must apply policies consistently and coherently, which will help companies to sign up for multiple schedules.

The report also proposes governmentwide adoption of Section 803, a provision from the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act that previously applied only to the Defense Department. The policy would require agencies gathering bids for more than $100,000 in task and delivery orders to solicit all schedule contractors and collect bids from at least three.

Some of the changes are regulatory and administrative, Chvotkin said, adding the only statutory change — adopting Section 803 — has congressional approval. “It’s a leadership challenge more than a technical challenge,” he said.

Larry Allen, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement and a panel member, hopes the recommendations receive fair examination. “The report was designed to improve the schedules program. It would be a shame not to pilot test them,” he said.

GSA executives, including Administrator Martha Johnson, Chief Acquisition Officer Michael Robertson and the incoming head of the Federal Acquisition Service who has yet to be named, will review the recommendations and implement any changes.

GSA on Thursday confirmed that the administrator received the report.


© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition, GSA, Schedules

IRS Offers New Resources for Small Businesses

March 10, 2010 By ei2admin

Maximizing the Web’s convenience, accuracy and speed, IRS.gov, IRS’s web site, now assists millions of individual taxpayers, tax professionals, and small business owners to better understand and meet their tax responsibilities.

Updated Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop

The IRS’s Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is an interactive resource to help small business owners learn about their federal tax rights and responsibilities. This dynamic educational product, available online, consists of nine stand-alone lessons that can be selected and viewed in any sequence. A bookmark feature makes it possible to leave and return to a specific point within the lesson. Users also have access to a list of useful online references that enhance the learning experience by allowing them to view references and the video lessons simultaneously.

The Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop is the first of a series of video products designed exclusively for small business taxpayers. A new companion series called, “Your Guide to an IRS Audit” is in development with plans for a summer 2010 launch.

IRS.gov now features audio and video

IRS is augmenting its curriculum of online learning and educational products for the small business community by developing new live broadcasting, phone forums and webinars, and offering audio and video presentations. 

Testing social media

The IRS is testing social media.  You can see the IRS YouTube video site at YouTube – irsvideos’s Channel and an iTunes podcast to help taxpayers take full advantage of the 2009 tax provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The IRS YouTube channel debuted with seven Recovery videos in English and American Sign Language and eight in Spanish plus other languages.

People without an iTunes account can hear those same podcasts, in English and Spanish, on IRS.gov’s Multimedia Center. People can also visit the audio site at iTunes to listen to IRS podcasts about ARRA tax credits.

To get the most timely IRS news and information about products and services for small businesses and the self-employed, subscribe to e-News on IRS.gov at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=154825,00.html, click “Subscribe Now” at the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: IRS, tax

VA chief pledges acquisition streamlining

March 10, 2010 By ei2admin

By Bob Brewin –  03/10/10

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki told a House panel on Wednesday that he could cut $2 billion from the department’s $15 billion annual procurement budget through management reforms, including the development of a centralized acquisition infrastructure.

The proposed reforms also would centralize purchasing for VA’s 153 hospitals, which for the most part run their own acquisitions today.

Shinseki asked the Veterans Affairs Committee to back the creation of a new position — assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and construction — to manage relationships with the department’s 15,000 suppliers.

He also sought authority to establish eight new deputy assistant secretary slots, five of which would be in the Office of Information and Technology, headed by Chief Information Officer Roger Baker. The new positions would oversee five separate business lines:

–Strategy, architecture and design
–Product development and delivery
–Enterprise program management
–IT performance management
–IT operations and engineering

Shinseki also said he wanted to create principal deputy assistant secretary positions in two areas: acquisition, logistics and construction; and construction and facilities management.

Shinseki said the new positions would not require increased funding or adding Senior Executive Service slots, but instead would be supported with existing resources.

He promised the committee that the anticipated savings from acquisition reform efforts would go to veterans. “Every dollar I can save, I can put into care and benefits,” Shinseki said.

Improved management of information technology is essential to better management of VA as a whole, Shinseki told committee members. “Great IT development and execution, in turn, depends on very well-managed and disciplined acquisitions support and project management,” he added.

In the past, VA IT setbacks have “largely been [the result] of project management and acquisition failures,” problems the department has started to resolve with the development last June of the Program Management Accountability System, Shinseki said.

Reviews of programs under the system resulted in the cancellation of 12 IT projects last month for a savings of $54 million, Shinseki said.

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., the ranking member on the VA Committee, endorsed Shinseki’s request for the new appointments. Buyer asked the VA chief to provide him with a detailed acquisition reform policy within 30 days.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., did not immediately endorse Shinseki’s requests and reminded Buyer that he was speaking for himself and not the full panel.


© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: acquisition, procurement reform, VA

GSA announces $10 billion telecom contract to complement Networx

March 8, 2010 By ei2admin

By Emily Long – 03/08/10 NextGov.com

The General Services Administration launched a $10 billion telecommunications contract to complement its massive Networx program.

Connections II, scheduled for completion late this year, is a 10-year contract that provides labor and equipment for agencies’ telecommunications infrastructure, building and campus needs, according to a draft request for proposals released on March 4.

“The Connections II acquisition can complement Networx by providing engineering, integration and applications support functions for agencies and can assist agencies in enabling and acquiring the services available on the Networx contracts, thus providing a one-stop solution for government agencies that need that level of support,” said Karl Krumbholz, director of GSA’s Office of Network Services Programs.

Networx offers recurring infrastructure and transport services but does not provide labor or equipment outside of network or telecommunications service delivery.

Krumbholz said Connections II will be particularly useful to agencies that need expertise in moving to new technologies. “The contract will also assist agencies with expertise on large-scale network services transitions and will provide support for installing the infrastructure required for delivery of the recurring transport services,” he said.

But observers questioned whether a separate contract is necessary to provide the services Connections II offers. “In many ways it does duplicate what Alliant is doing,” said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer. “Any IT contract can do [LAN networking]. . . . There are existing contracting vehicles to do that.”

According to GSA, Alliant’s spectrum is much broader than that of Connections II. Its predecessor, Connections, expires in 2011.

Connections II likely won’t have a strong impact on Networx, Bjorklund said, although it could help accelerate or synchronize the contract’s usage.

The RFP closes on March 29.


© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: GSA, telecommunications

Court puts HUBZone firms at top of small business pecking order

March 8, 2010 By ei2admin

By Robert Brodsky – March 8, 2010

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has rearranged the small business contracting hierarchy with a ruling that firms in low-income neighborhoods take priority in federal awards.

The court’s decision, which was unsealed on March 2, stated that agencies now must consider whether companies in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone can compete for a contract before awarding it under another small business program or on a sole-source basis. The ruling by Chief Judge Emily Hewitt supports an earlier Government Accountability Office decision and is a departure from recent Office of Management and Budget and Justice Department guidance.

The case boiled down to whether the HUBZone program took precedence over the 8(a) program — in which businesses are owned by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals. While the service-disabled veteran-owned small business program was not at issue, the court ruled it should be treated the same as the 8(a) program. All three categories are eligible for set-aside small business contracts.

The plaintiff in the case, Mission Critical Solutions of Tampa, Fla., protested the Army Office of the Judge Advocate General’s January 2009 award of a sole-source $10.5 million information technology pact to Copper River Information Technology, an 8(a) Alaska native contractor.

Mission Critical, which is an 8(a) and HUBZone business and was the incumbent contractor, complained that it should have been able to compete for the award. The Federal Acquisition Regulation requires agencies to open contracts to Historically Underutilized Business Zone companies if procurement officials have a reasonable expectation that two qualified HUBZone businesses will submit offers at a fair market price, Mission Critical argued.

Hewitt agreed, noting that set asides for 8(a) companies were optional. “The 8(a) statute explicitly affords discretion both to the [Small Business Administration] and to agency contracting officers in deciding whether to place a contract opportunity in the 8(a) program,” she said.

She added, “The plain meaning of the HUBZone statute requires a contract opportunity to be competed among qualified HUBZone small business concerns whenever the specified criteria are met, notwithstanding other provisions of law–including those found within the Small Business Act itself.” Hewitt said the HUBZone statute was “unambiguous and mandatory.”

Contracts still can be placed in the 8(a) program when the specified criteria in the HUBZone statute are not met, she said.

The decision also prevents the Army from awarding the IT contract to Copper River unless it first considers whether HUBZone firms can compete for the work. Mission Critical Solutions is operating under a bridge contract until the matter is resolved.

The court’s ruling is virtually identical to a decision GAO reached last May after Mission Critical Solutions and another small business contractor protested the Army’s contract award. GAO sustained the protests and later denied SBA’s request for reconsideration.

But, in a move that many legal experts considered unprecedented, OMB in July 2009 directed agencies to ignore GAO’s recommendations because they would “significantly limit the discretion contracting officers have historically possessed.”

The memorandum from OMB Director Peter R. Orszag stated that GAO’s decisions “are not binding on federal agencies and are contrary to regulations promulgated by the Small Business Administration that provide for ‘parity’ among the three small business programs.”

Last August, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion disagreeing with GAO’s interpretation of the HUBZone statute. The memo argued that its opinion — rather than GAO’s decision — was binding for executive branch agencies.

When the Army announced it intended to use the Justice memo as the basis for awarding the contract to Copper River, Mission Critical protested to the Court of Federal Claims.

OMB on Monday declined requests to discuss the court’s ruling or comment on whether the Obama administration would challenge the case with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Ralph White, acting managing associate general counsel in GAO’s procurement law division, said he was not surprised by the court’s ruling. “We based our view on the priorities set in the statute,” he said.

Although it previously disagreed with GAO’s decision, SBA said it was reviewing the ruling.

“SBA has consistently interpreted the Small Business Act to provide that federal contracting officers are to choose equally among all of SBA’s procurement and business development programs … without giving one preference over the others,” agency spokesman Jonathan Swain said. “This is the rule of ‘parity’ between the programs.”

Congress attempted to intervene in the dispute last July, as the Senate approved an amendment to the fiscal 2010 National Defense Authorization Act that would have placed the three small business programs on an equal footing when competing for contracts. But the amendment, introduced by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was stripped out during conference committee negotiations.

A source familiar with the negotiations said the Office of Legal Counsel told Congress the provision was unnecessary in light of its memo. The amendment also reportedly became entangled in a jurisdictional dispute between the House and Senate small business and armed services committees.

A spokeswoman said Landrieu plans to reintroduce the amendment as a stand-alone bill in the near future. Snowe’s office, meanwhile, urged the Senate to pass the Small Business Contracting Programs Parity Act, a stand-alone bill Snowe introduced in 2009 to make the programs equal.

The matter also could be resolved through a regulatory change. A proposed FAR rule, filed in March 2008, would have clarified that no order of award preference exists among small business programs. That rule remains under review.


(C) 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: 8(a), HUBZone, preference

Extension of SBA Recovery Lending Programs Will Support $1.8 Billion in Small Business Lending

March 4, 2010 By ei2admin

Agency plans to restart Recovery loan approvals on March 10

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday extending until March 28 the U.S. Small Business Administration’s ability to provide small business loans that are enhanced with special provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including a higher guarantee of SBA-backed loans and a waiver of loan fees normally paid by borrowers. SBA estimates the additional funding will support about $1.8 billion in small business lending. New approvals of eligible loans with the higher guarantee and reduced fees made possible by the Recovery Act are expected to resume on March 10. Loan applications from borrowers in SBA’s Recovery Loan Queue will be funded first, followed by new loan applications.

“These key loan programs have been successful in helping jump-start the economic recovery for America’s small businesses,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The increased guarantee and reduced fees on SBA loans helped put almost $22 billion into the hands of small business owners and brought more than 1,100 lenders back to SBA loan programs. As a result, average weekly loan approvals by SBA have climbed by 87 percent compared to the weekly average before passage of the Recovery Act.

“We will continue working with the President and with Congress to move forward with proposals for a longer extension for these important program enhancements, as well as higher loan limits, refinancing for commercial property loans and other significant ongoing support for small businesses. Small businesses need the changes the President has called for to ensure that they have the tools they need to drive economic growth and create jobs in communities all across the country.”

As part of the Recovery Act, SBA received $730 million, which included $375 million to increase the SBA guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent and to waive borrower fees on most 7(a) and 504 loans.  The funds for these programs were exhausted on Nov. 23, and an additional $125 million was provided in December. Those funds were exhausted in late February.

SBA has implemented the Recovery Loan Queue twice before as part of its temporary transitions back to pre-Recovery Act lending.  Eligible small businesses, in consultation with their lender, could choose to be placed in the queue for possible approval of a Recovery Act loan if funding became available from loans canceled for a variety of reasons.  Currently there are 652 loan requests totaling $230 million in the Recovery Loan Queue.

The extension signed by President Obama authorizes the higher guarantee levels through March 28, 2010, for 7(a) loans.  The fee relief is available until the additional funding is exhausted or the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, whichever comes first.  As was the case in November and again in February, SBA is prepared to transition into a queue system as the funds start to wind down in order to ensure the maximum simulative effect of the programs and disbursement of funds.

For non-Recovery Act 7(a) or 504 loans already funded during the transition period, this extension does not provide a retroactive guarantee or waived fees.  Loans that were funded under non-Recovery Act terms cannot be canceled and resubmitted to take advantage of the Recovery Act extension provisions.

This extension does not affect other SBA Recovery Act programs, including the America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) loan program or the agency’s microloans. Recovery Act funding still remains available for both of those programs.

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: ARRA, loans, SBA

GSA Signs Up For OpenID

March 3, 2010 By ei2admin

By Aliya Sternstein – 03/03/10 03:29 pm ET

The General Services Administration has approved universal sign-in applications for use on government Web sites, provided by Equifax, Google and Paypal, that will allow citizens who are securely logged in to one site to instantly and safely switch to another agency site without having to log in again.

The so-called Open Identity Exchange applications are expected to expedite access to government services by giving users a single ID credential that all privacy-protected federal sites will accept.

© 2010 BY NATIONAL JOURNAL GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Filed Under: Contracting News Tagged With: GSA, Open ID

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