UK Government To Spend Millions on Testing 5G
Oct 19, 2017
The UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, under MP Matt Hancock, has announced it wants the UK to be a global leader in the next generation of mobile technology. The government’s 5G programme is being set up now, and a 5G prospectus illustrates how it will work and what it...
EC Call for Innovation Procurement Broker
Oct 13, 2017
Earlier this month the European Commission launched a call for an Innovation Procurement Broker to develop and implement a sustainable method to facilitate public procurement of innovation (PPI), with a special focus on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency within the European Single...
Serious Questions About NDA’s Understanding of Procurement Regulations
Oct 13, 2017
This is a complex story and the full ‘trail’ can be found on the NAO website. To outline: The UK National Audit Office has issued a report around the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s handling of a decommissioning contract. The NDA ran a competitive procurement exercise for decommissioning...
SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 9-13, 2017
Oct 13, 2017
My heart rate has finally come down after the exciting finish to Game Five of the Cubs-Nationals playoff series last night. I caught the first few innings waiting for my flight in Salt Lake City, and the game (which clocked in at more than 4 1/2 hours) was still going when I landed in Kansas...
Wrong File Format? No Problem, Says GAO (At Least This Time)
Oct 13, 2017
Ahh, fall. A time for football, hay rides, and returning to campus. Being in a college town, we are always reminded that students are back on campus due to the increased traffic, the homecoming parade, and the increased buzz (no pun intended) around the town. The onset of fall sometimes dredges up...
UK’s The Food Marketplace Helps Producers Supply to Public Sector
Oct 12, 2017
DEFRA – the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs – has launched The Food Marketplace, a platform for buyers and suppliers of food to source and advertise products and services. The aim is to connect producers, suppliers and caterers with public sector buyers. The portal...
Will Contractors Be Required to Pay Protest Fees?
Oct 12, 2017
Language in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act could have a significant impact on the bid protest landscape for years to come. If approved as written, the language would effectively require large contractors with revenues in excess of $100 million to pay the Department of...
GAO to IRS: Equifax Bridge Contract Not the Only Option
Oct 9, 2017
A spokesperson for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cited a congressional authority to counter comments made by a senior Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official that IRS had no choice but to award a no-bid contract to Equifax. The authority states that agencies may initiate performance if...
SmallGovCon Week In Review: October 2-6, 2017
Oct 9, 2017
The baseball playoffs are back, and tonight I’ll be watching my Cubs begin their quest for back-to-back titles. (If you’re not a lifelong Cubs fan, you may not realize how strange it feels to write that previous sentence).
Before the games begin, it’s time for our weekly dose of government...
Can Cities Maximize Public Spending with ‘Resilience Dividends’?
Oct 9, 2017
Public officials tasked with helping their localities bounce back after natural disasters and other adverse events met with budget and financial officials to discuss collaboration, overlapping responsibilities, and spending. In discussing how impacts from these types of events often extend beyond...
Taxpayers To Lose Out in Invest Northern Ireland Scheme
Oct 5, 2017
An investor warned Invest NI’s chief executive about problems with its investment funds in 2011. He says the losses to taxpayers from a £129 million finance scheme will be even greater than the almost £30 million projected by auditors. The Audit Office reported that Invest NI’s Access to...
How This New York Agency Is Using Drones for Conservation, Emergency Response Work
Oct 5, 2017
The New York Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) commissioner cites drone usage as a key driver of more efficient work and taxpayer savings. The department’s fleet of 22 drones are used for a variety of purposes across the state, from mapping eroded coastline and traffic monitoring...
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Perspectives and Insights
I have been interested in the question of getting successful commercial companies, especially tech companies, to sell to the government from the time I was …
The Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2017 (S. 651), introduced by Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., is yet another example of a …
Think you know all about public sector owned professional buying organisations (PBOs) and what they do? Here are ten interesting facts that might just surprise …
Policies and Regulations
It’s no surprise President Trump has been systematically dismantling President Obama’s executive orders, since taking office. Obama himself knew it was a possibility: Frustrated by …
Past performance is an important step in being successful as a federal government contractor. Once firms get into the mid-tier range, they normally have amassed …
A few months back, we published several articles about the very interesting – and somewhat shocking – court case around the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning …