The 100-page report dives into big data, analytics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.
Source: GAO Gives Congress Emerging Tech Handbook – Nextgov.com
The government can terminate a contract when the Department of Labor has made a preliminary finding of non-compliance with the Service Contract Act, even if the contractor has not exhausted its remedies fighting or appealing the finding.
An analysis of five solicitations for contracts worth a total of $7 billion revealed a lack of clarity in agency RFPs
The U.S. Data Federation is a General Services Administration initiative to promote open and interconnected digital government across all levels of government.
One of the highlighted findings in Onvia’s recent survey of government procurement professionals revealed was that procurement professionals expect to publish fewer formal bids & RFPs in the coming year due to multiple constraints. Here’s more:
Source: Government Buyers Expect to Publish Fewer Formal Solicitations Due to Efficiency Pressures | Onvia
In our last two postings, we discussed last Friday’s regulation dump where the FAR regulators presented us with a fiscal year-end gift. On Friday we discussed the prohibition against awarding contracts to companies with delinquent taxes or felony convictions. Yesterday we discussed the prohibition against retaliating against employees who share their compensation information with one another. Today we take up the new regulation on contractor employee compensation caps.
Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Final Rule on Compensation Limits on Post- June 2014 Contracts
A mentor-protege agreement template for the new SBA all small mentor-protege program has been released by the SBA, with accompanying application information.
Source: SBA Releases “All Small” Mentor-Protege Template & Application – SmallGovCon
State and local governments were expected to spend over $71 billion on IT in 2016, and many reported sharing similar challenges and viewpoints.
Source: Infographic: How state and local governments manage IT
By December, a half-billion-dollar spend on laptops and desktops will be in three contracts.
Source: Contract Consolidation Effort Saves $2 Billion and Counting – Contracting – GovExec.com
Last week the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) Councils published a spate of new regulations. We discussed one of those last Friday (see Prohibition on Contracting with Delinquent Taxpayers and Felons) and will continue our coverage this week on several that directly affect Government contractors (and prospective contractors). Today we’ll discuss the new prohibition on retaliating against employees who disclose or discuss compensation matters. Now you might think that this is old news and it is, in a way. In 2014, the President issued an executive order (E.O.) called “Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information“. That was followed in September 2015 with the Department of Labor’s implementing rule entitled “Government Contractors, Prohibitions Against Pay Secrecy Policies and Actions“. So, why is it necessary to add more rules; rules upon rules? The FAR Council’s rationalize it this way:
