Milan, Italy Launches Procurement of 80 New City Trams
Aug 17, 2017
A heads-up for our readers that the competition is now open for manufacturers to submit their bids to supply 80 new trams for the city of Milan. The public transport operator, ATM, is offering a six-year contract, with an initial order for 30 trams. The total contract value is estimated €213...
DOD Continues Move Toward CAC Replacement
Aug 16, 2017
Department of Defense (DOD) officials hope the use of Common Access Cards (CAC) is coming to an end as they continue to test new identity management solutions. Col. Tom Clancy, identity and asset management lead in the DOD CIO’s office, said “DOD is piloting vendor products that complement the...
When Amazon Meets Government
Aug 16, 2017
If a provision in the House version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act becomes law, the world of federal procurement could face major changes. The House-passed provision would direct the General Services Administration to engage at least two e-marketplaces for governmentwide use, with...
Possible Government Shutdown? Here’s What Federal Contractors Need to Know
Aug 16, 2017
Budget experts say federal contractors should be prepared for a possible government shutdown on Oct. 1. Since this happened in 2013, contracting officers may be better equipped to answer questions about agencies’ shutdown preparations and how they’ll implement guidance from the Office of...
Price Realism: Agency Didn’t Compare Proposed Rates To Incumbent Rates
Aug 14, 2017
An incumbent contractor won a protest at GAO recently where it argued that the awardee’s labor rates were too low, because they were lower than the rates the incumbent itself was paying the same people.
GAO faulted the agency for concluding that the awardee’s price was realistic without...
Does Spend Visibility Really Matter to Your Spend Capacity?
Aug 10, 2017
Accurate budget planning is one of the most challenging tasks of government operations today. However, budget cuts, program eliminations, and spending reductions should be made to support policy goals. eProcurement platforms make it easy to gain complete visibility into historical and current...
GSA’s $11 Billion HR Training Vehicle Slowly Picking Up
Aug 10, 2017
The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeing slow, steady growth for its Human Capital and Training Solutions (HCATS) government-wide contract. Tiffany Hixson, the assistant commissioner for GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service’s Office of Professional Services and Human Capital Categories,...
SBA All Small Mentor-Protege Program: Annual Evaluation Forms Now Available
Aug 10, 2017
The SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protege Program office has issued its annual evaluation forms for ASMPP participants. The purpose of the reports is to “determine whether the business is eligible to continue to participate in the All Small Business Mentor-Protege Program.”
The annual evaluation...
Andrew Forzani is New UK Ministry of Defence Chief Commercial Officer
Aug 9, 2017
Andrew Forzani has been appointed the new Ministry of Defence Chief Commercial Officer. He takes over from Steve Morgan, who we believe is retiring. Morgan had a long and successful career in the Canadian Military and then held senior commercial roles in major UK infrastructure businesses prior to...
Senate Passes Bill to Curb Improper Spending
Aug 9, 2017
The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act tasks the General Services Administration with combing through data to identify “patterns of potential misuse,” the bill’s authors said. Auditors have already identified high-profile instances of federal...
Fair Trade Trousers and ESL Developments in German Public Procurement
Aug 8, 2017
The Lexology legal news and content website features an interesting article here from Thomas Voland and Kristin Vorbeck of top law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. The title of the article is certainly attention grabbing – Firefighters and Their Fair Trade Trousers: Human Rights in Public...
Ostensible Subcontractor Affiliation: Hiring Third-Party Employees OK
Aug 8, 2017
Under the SBA’s ostensible subcontractor affiliation rule, hiring incumbent employees can be evidence of affiliation, but the importance of that staffing plan in an affiliation analysis depends on what role the incumbent contractor will play in the awardee’s performance of the contract.
In a...
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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 …