Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

‘Data + Use = Value’ is the motto for new USASpending.gov

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If there is one thing the USASpending.gov portal always had was data. But what it did not have ever since the Office of Management and Budget launched the site in 2007 was the ability to analyze said data.

That is, until now.

The Treasury Department’s Bureau of Fiscal Service is launching a series of new data analysis tools to let citizens, businesses, the media and maybe most importantly, so-called “data geeks” have access to a treasure trove of contracts, grants and other spending information like never before.

“We have a new initiative called data lab where we are posting analytics and visualization to help inspire researchers, data scientists and members of the public to understand what this data is and to think of own use cases for it,” said Justin Marsico, a senior policy analyst with the Bureau of Fiscal Service in an exclusive interview with Federal News Radio. “We also have redesigned the USASpending.gov site to be more accessible, friendly and easy to understand and use for members of the public and for federal agencies.”

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsradio.com/big-data/2018/04/data-usevalue-is-the-motto-for-new-usaspending-gov/

Vendors can still weigh in on GAO’s 5-year tech contract

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The Government Accountability Office is looking for an industry partner to help shepherd its technology improvements over the next five years, and prospective vendors now have a little more time to shape that acquisition.

GAO issued a request for information in December, with an original response date of Jan. 24. That due date has been extended to 2 p.m. on Feb. 2. As this is only an RFI and not an official solicitation, vendors don’t need to participate in order to be considered for the final award. However, the acquisition is still in the formative stages, and information provided through the RFI will affect the scope and form of the final solicitation.

The RFI and other market research being conducted now will inform the eventual strategy for upgrading all of GAO’s IT systems, with a focus on moving to the cloud—where appropriate—and advancing the office’s mobile capabilities.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/01/vendors-can-still-weigh-gaos-5-year-tech-contract/145408/

Report: Homeland Security, intel agencies to spend big on big data

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A new report from Research & Markets forecasts that the big data and data analytics industry will continue to grow with increased use from the Department of Homeland Security, public safety organizations and intelligence agencies.

The “Big Data & Data Analytics, Homeland Security & Public Safety: Global Market 2017-2022” report predicts that the big data and data analytics industry will reach $11 billion in revenue by 2022. The report forecasts a seven-year compound annual growth rate of 17.5 percent from 2015 to 2022, according to Business Wire.

With an increasingly digital world, the use of big data within the public safety and intelligence spheres has been on the rise, creating opportunities for industry growth. From data collection and storage to intelligence processing, exploitation, dissemination and analysis.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/report-homeland-security-intel-agencies-to-spend-big-on-big-data

GSA may make industry participation in data reporting pilot optional

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The General Services Administration (GSA) is considering whether to remove a mandate requiring industry partners seeking or renewing a schedule to participate in its Transactional Data Reporting pilot.

Kevin Youel Page, deputy commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said Thursday voluntary participation in the 3-year pilot—which stemmed from a GSA-published rule last June—has been higher than expected, leaving officials to consider whether mandating participation was necessary.

Industry participants in the pilot provide sales information about their products and services to GSA. In turn, GSA relieves those participants of requirements many in industry dislike: the price reduction clause and commercial sales disclosures. GSA wants to use that data to improve the value agency customers get in purchasing billions of dollars worth of products and services sold through the Multiple Award Schedules.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2017/04/gsa-may-make-industry-participation-data-reporting-pilot-optional/136796

FOIA revisions impact contractor data

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FOIAOn June 30, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Improvement Act of 2016.

The new law revises FOIA to codify the Obama Administration’s policy that executives agencies adopt a presumption that openness prevails.  Among other changes, the act also calls for the creation of a new consolidated online FOIA portal permitting a single point of entry to request documents from any agency.

These changes have the potential to increase the number of FOIA requests and the codification of the presumption of openness may make it more difficult for contractors to object to the public release of contract-related information and other agency records.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/07/revised-foia-statute-may-increase-release-of-contractor-data/

USASpending.gov revamp might be bumpy

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USASpending shows 2,681 federal contracts were awarded in the state of Georgia since Oct. 1, 2015, the beginning of FY16.
USASpending shows 2,681 federal contracts were awarded in the state of Georgia since Oct. 1, 2015, the beginning of FY16.

The Treasury Department’s online federal spending tracker might still have some kinks by May 2017, by which time the department is expected to unveil a final version.

During a keynote speech at AFCEA Bethesda on Thursday, Christina Ho, Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for accounting policy and financial transparency, said she didn’t know “exactly what the outcome will be” for the USASpending.gov revamp. A beta version of the site, which launched early last month, still faces challenges, she said. Treasury is still collecting public feedback and reviews.

“We will get there even if we don’t do all the things that we thought we [could] do by May 2017,” she said. “I can guarantee you where we will be in May 2017 is going to be a lot better than what we have been able to do.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2015/12/treasury-official-federal-spending-data-should-be-portable/124177

Contractors could get new rules for handling sensitive government data

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Private sector government contractors may soon be subjected to new rules for managing sensitive federal information.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published draft requirements for federal and nonfederal groups with access to “controlled unclassified information” — a subset of confidential information that, while not classified, must still be protected. The Commerce Department agency is accepting public comments on the draft until May 12, 2015.

These requirements are meant to supplement rules under the Federal Information Security Management Act, which governs how federal agencies (and contractors, on their behalf) manage their own data in their own information systems, according to NIST fellow Ron Ross.

The new guidance aims to cover situations not explicitly mentioned in FISMA — for instance, when state and local governments, colleges and universities, or private organizations happen to receive federal CUI data through a contract or an agreement.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/big-data/2015/04/nist-refining-rules-non-federal-groups-handling-federal-data/109399

In tough times, contractors turn to creative marketing campaigns

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In the best of times, selling to the government is not an easy task. In the worst of times, it’s even harder.

As federal budgets shrink and competition intensifies, contractors are battling it out not only for dollars, but also for the attention of their government customers.

That’s sparked a slew of creative marketing campaigns over the past couple of years, featuring virtual conferences, 3-D animation, apps, e-books and the increased use of social media. These are not necessarily groundbreaking ideas in the Internet age, but for the world of government contracting, they mark a shift from the old way of doing business.

Traditionally, contractors set up booths at trade shows to interact with government officials and keep them in the loop about new products or technologies. In fact, that was the dominant method of communication between industry and government up until a few years ago.

But as budget constraints have drastically cut down the number of events that federal workers attend, companies have had to come up with alternate ways to reach them, marketing professionals said.

The share of federal workers who didn’t go to a single trade show, conference or industry event has risen every year for the past four years,according to a study by Chantilly-based research firm Market Connections.  Fifty-two percent of workers surveyed said they didn’t physically attend any events in 2013, up from 38 percent in 2011.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2014/08/30/in-tough-times-contractors-turn-to-creative-marketing-campaigns/

DISA discloses 3-year network equipment purchase plan

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The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) plans to purchase nearly $239 million in equipment over the next three fiscal years to operate and maintain the U.S. military’s core enterprise network.

Several manufacturers could compete to provide DISA equipment covered under the agency’s Approved Products List, according to an Aug. 15 FedBizOpps notice.

Manufacturers identified in the APL can obtain a government sponsor and apply to have their products tested and added to the list at any time, DISA said in the notice.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.executivegov.com/2013/08/disa-discloses-3-year-info-systems-net-equipment-purchase-plan/

GSA official touts progress on Data.gov

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The General Services Administration is “very proud” of the work it has done with the federal government’s online clearinghouse of downloadable information, but challenges remain, a project manager said on Wednesday.

Data.gov has grown from hosting 47 data sets when it launched in May 2009 to offering more than 300,000 today, said Program Director Marion Royal, during the International Open Government Data Conference in Washington. Royal leads the team of federal employees and contractors working on the site.

GSA launched an open data community page within the site on Monday, according to Royal. The page aims to bring together policy makers, technologists, data owners and citizens, encouraging them to make recommendations on information that should be shared.

“[I’m] happy to finally open up . . . two-way communication on Data.gov,” he said. “New two-way communication is going to be helpful to not only us but the public as well.”

GSA also is working on hosting data sets that will be easier to view without downloading the entire file, Royal said, adding, this will be especially helpful for people using mobile devices.

“[The] tools we are looking at will allow us to do that kind of thing and allow us to [display] the data in a way the average person” will understand, he said.

Despite this progress, hurdles remain, according to Royal. “If we have additional funding, we could do additional things,” he said, though he did not elaborate on how much extra money would be necessary, or what he’d like to accomplish with it.

Royal has big plans for the site nonetheless. “I hope we can get around or over the roadblocks to achieve some really special things,” he said. “No matter how well we do at Data.gov, we [always have] to kick it up a notch.”

— by Brian Kalish – 11/18/2010 – NextGov.com

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