5 Best Practices to Successfully Deploy New Technologies
Aug 1, 2017
Deploying and adopting new technologies can be a large undertaking; however, when crafting a deployment strategy for new technology, there are best practices that allow for easier implementation. In a commentary for Federal Computer Week, Jason Parry of Force 3 outlines five ways organizations can...
Effective August 1, 2017, the SCA Health and Welfare Benefit Rate Will Increase to $4.41 per Hour
Jul 28, 2017
On July 25, 2017, the Department of Labor released Agency Memorandum 225, increasing the health and welfare (H&W) rates for contracts under the Service Contract Act (SCA). Effective August 1, 2017, the H&W rate under the SCA increases to $4.41 per hour from $4.27 per hour. The Memo also discusses...
SmallGovCon Week In Review: July 24-28, 2017
Jul 28, 2017
July has flown by. Soon, my kids will be back in school, the leaves will start to turn, and the annual craziness at the end of the government fiscal year will be here. For now, I’m enjoying a few more weeks of summer. I hope you are too.
Before we head into the last July weekend of the...
Supporting Public Procurement in Europe – Recommendations for Open Data Sharing Published
Jul 28, 2017
The Research Data Alliance (RDA) builds the social and technical bridges that enable open sharing of public sector data across Europe. Supporting Public Procurement in Europe it released this week (24 July) 4 Recommendations for Open Data Sharing published as ICT technical specifications. The...
Guidance for Public Sector Bid Challenges
Jul 27, 2017
The Technical and Construction Court (TCC) has published guidance for UK authorities, bidders and specialist procurement lawyers on how they should conduct public procurement claims in court. It gives easy to follow steps they should take when bringing a claim and the key points of the guidance...
Camo in the Desert? A Senator Demands Answers
Jul 27, 2017
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is probing a recent report by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction about the Pentagon’s purchase of $28 million worth of uniforms with a forest camouflage pattern for the Afghan army. “These failures raise the question of whether or not DOD...
Drone Demand Expected to Soar
Jul 26, 2017
Government Product News reports on a market study conducted by The Freedonia Group that predicts a surge in government spending on drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles. By 2025, the study predicts that government spending will be at $250 million, with federal agencies accounting for $170...
DoD Micro-Purchase Increase Is Now In Effect
Jul 26, 2017
The increase to the Department of Defense’s (DoD) micro-purchase threshold mandated by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act is now in effect.
A Class Deviation issued earlier this month provides, effective immediately, that the DoD micro-purchase threshold is $5,000 for many...
GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service Upheaval Continues
Jul 25, 2017
The General Services Administration (GSA) announced that four long-time staff members of the One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) professional services program are moving to its FedSIM program. Several sources confirmed that Todd Richards, the program manager of OASIS, told a...
Tech Spending in State and Local Governments
Jul 25, 2017
According to the Center for Digital Government’s database, state and local governments spend $26.4 billion on health and human services, making it the largest category of technology spending followed closely by education at $22.3 billion. Those two categories are far ahead of other categories of...
GAO: Defense Logistics Agency Sold Sensitive Military Surplus to Fake Agency
Jul 25, 2017
Government Accountability Office (GAO) auditors set up a fake law enforcement agency and successfully persuaded the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to sell sensitive military surplus. GAO’s effort to test agency controls against improper payments included the creation of a fake agency website that...
Government Tenant Liable For Damaging Leased Space
Jul 24, 2017
A government agency was liable for damaging leased space, even though the lease didn’t contain an explicit clause requiring the government to repair the space.
In a recent decision, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals held that the VA was required to compensate the landlord for damage to the...
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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 …