Inherent “lag time” often makes it impossible for contractors to provide “up to the minute” data in real time at the point when the parties “shake hands,” contractors have customarily performed immediate post-handshake sweeps.
Source: OSD Issues Policy Guidance Rejecting “Sweeps” Data | Government Contracts & Investigations Blog
The Trump administration added another piece to its IT modernization puzzle by detailing what phase two of the Centers of Excellence initiative will look like at the Agriculture Department.
USDA, the pilot agency for the CoE effort, and the General Services Administration outlined their initial thinking around the five focus areas of IT modernization that will move the initiative from planning to implementation. The five focus areas are:
- Cloud adoption
- IT infrastructure optimization
- Customer experience
- Service delivery analytics
- Contact centers
Source: USDA, GSA to award 8 IT modernization contracts by end of fiscal 2018 – FederalNewsRadio.com
On June 21, 2018, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) held their second Industry Day concerning the implementation of Section 846 of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) of 2018 (“Procurement Through E-Commerce Portals,” known hereafter as the “Portals Program”).[1] The Industry Day, GSA’s first since issuing its Phase I implementation plan, provided a unique opportunity for GSA to update the public on its current thinking for the Portals Program. A few highlights from the Industry Day are set out below.
At least a couple times a month, I’m asked when the FAR’s limitations on subcontracting provisions will be updated to correspond with SBA regulations adopted in 2016, and underlying statutory changes adopted way back in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act.
Source: Limitations on Subcontracting: FAR Revisions May Be Delayed – SmallGovCon
The FAR (Federal Acquisition Councils) recently published a proposed regulation designed to expand special emergency procurement authorities for acquisitions of supplies or services that facilitate defense against or recovery from cyber attack, provide international disaster assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, or support response to an emergency of major disasters. This regulation is needed to implement provisions of the 2017 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act).
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: New FAR Definitions for Emergency and Major Disasters
Our 10 Hotspots in Government Contracting for 2018 report identified 10 of the areas within state and local government contracting that are growing at the fastest rate. These growth areas highlight opportunities for businesses to sell to the government, and demonstrate where their products and services are going to be most in-demand over the next 12 months.
Source: Agencies Are Spending More to Increase Officer Safety | GovWin+Onvia
Earlier this year, the SEC released cybersecurity guidance addressing, among other things, the risk of insider trading in the event of a data breach. This risk comes in multiple forms, including the intruders trading on stolen information and insiders trading on the knowledge of the breach itself. The SEC demonstrated its willingness to address the latter situation in the recent insider trading case against Jun Ying, the former chief information officer of Equifax’s United States Information Systems business unit.
Vendors seeking to crack the largest single global customer for information technology — the U.S. government — should keep a sharp eye on the ever-changing contract landscape. Federal spending for IT now amounts to more than US$90 billion annually.
Rising defense budgets, last year’s sharp reduction of corporate tax rates and overall optimism about the economy are fueling industry expectations of more mergers and acquisitions in the government market this year.
Source: Expectations high for more dealmaking — Washington Technology
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