GovCon & Trade

JANUARY 22, 2024

The Procurement at Issue On February 10, 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued an RFP for the procurement of a geostationary extended observations (GeoXO) sounder (GXS) instrument for the weather satellite program. Generally, agencies are afforded broad discretion when evaluating whether an OCI exists.

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Bidding Procurement Evaluation Influencing 147

SmallGovCon

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

May 23, 2023). The post COFC: Lapsed SAM Registration During Proposal Evaluations Makes Offeror Ineligible for Award first appeared on SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog. The type of failure to comply may vary, but a common form of non-compliance, and the one subject to this protest, is the failure to register in SAM.

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Evaluation Bidding Negotiation Government Contracts 78

GovCon & Trade

DECEMBER 5, 2023

On November 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing that the terms of a solicitation were biased and that the awardee failed to comply with a mandatory solicitation requirement. It is insufficient to show that an agency made an error in its evaluation process.

Bidding 147

Bidding Evaluation Consulting Import 147

Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

The Government Accounting Office (“GAO”) receives numerous protests alleging that the time allotted from publication of a solicitation to submission of offers is unreasonable. On January 11, 2023, the Army published a pre-solicitation synopsis for a Positron Emission Tomography or Computed Tomography (“PET/CT”) on the SAM.gov website.

Consulting 52

Consulting Government Contracts Quality Sustainability 52

FedScoop

APRIL 9, 2024

As the IRS’s Direct File pilot approaches the end of its 2024 runway, a new watchdog report finds that the tax agency’s cost estimates for the program were incomplete and would need “a comprehensive accounting” ahead of a potential takeoff in 2025.

Accountability 108

Accountability Price Electronics Data 108

Government Contracts & Investigations

JANUARY 31, 2024

Since our last Bid Protest Hub article in November, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has published 37 bid protest decisions, two of which have resulted in decisions sustaining the protester’s challenge. Below, we cover a few important GAO decisions you should know from December 2023.

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Bidding Negotiation Evaluation Sustainability 52

Government Contracts

JANUARY 16, 2024

Attorneys at Bradley Arant discuss noteworthy 2023 bid protest decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, offering perspectives on standing, document production, agency deference, System for Award Management registration requirements and mentor-protégé joint venture proposal evaluations.

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Bidding Import Evaluation Accountability 52

GovCon & Trade

DECEMBER 5, 2023

On November 21, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied an unsuccessful bidder’s protest, arguing that the terms of a solicitation were biased and that the awardee failed to comply with a mandatory solicitation requirement. It is insufficient to show that an agency made an error in its evaluation process.

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Bidding Evaluation Consulting Import 130

American City & Country

AUGUST 16, 2024

Between 2019 and 2023, there was a 40% increase in the number of job openings for police officers. The goal: to bring accountability and consistency to the performance management process, boosting morale and improving retention over the long term. At the same time, the number of applications per job decreased by 39%.

Management 94

Management Evaluation Efficiency Collaboration 94

FedScoop

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

The AI Research, Innovation and Accountability Act of 2023 , introduced Wednesday by Sens. Companies deploying “critical-impact” AI would have to perform risk assessments consistent with NIST’s existing AI Risk Management Framework, and these evaluations would then have to be submitted to the Commerce Department.

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Transportation Transportation Innovation Risk Management 103

Government Contracts & Investigations

DECEMBER 6, 2023

Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2024, the Government Accountability Office has published 35 decisions, but only two of which resulted in decisions sustaining the challenge. Two categories of successful protest arguments discussed in our previous blog are Improper Past Performance Evaluations and Flawed Best Value Analyses.

Bidding 52

Bidding Sustainability Evaluation Thresholds 52

Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

The Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released its annual bid protest report to the Congress for fiscal year 2023 on October 26, 2023 (B-158766). The GAO sustain rate increased substantially from 13 percent in FY 2022 to 31 percent in FY 2023. GAO’s two year average sustain rate in FY 2022-2023 was 22 percent.

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Sustainability Bidding Evaluation Government Contracts 52

Public Contracting Institute

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

In a recent protest, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) held that although performance risk was not specifically listed as an evaluation criterion, an agency may always consider risk that is intrinsic to the stated evaluation factors. B-421406, April 25, 2023. South Dade A/C and Refrig.,

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Evaluation Quality E-procurement Government Contracts 40

Inside Government Contracts

OCTOBER 9, 2023

This pilot program could provide an opportunity for the DIB to become more directly involved in CMF operations and evaluations. Section 1533 of the House bill would require a comprehensive review by the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) of DoD’s readiness to conduct cyberspace operations. CMF Occupational Resiliency.

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Networking Data Evaluation Government Contracts 173

Public Contracting Institute

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

A recent decision confirms that in a source selection, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) saw nothing unreasonable in giving credit to an offeror that exceeded the solicitation requirements but could provide value to the agency during contract performance. May 11, 2023. Awardee’s evaluated price was $64.98

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Evaluation Price Government Contracts Consulting 40

AWS Public Sector

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

The impact of inefficient processing is evident globally: In 2023, Ireland received 20,650 naturalization applications while grappling with a backlog of 15,000 applications from previous years , resulting in an average processing time of 19 months. Proof of residency for three years, evaluated using a scoring system.

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Evaluation Data Import Utilities 52

Government Contracts & Investigations

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

6] DCAA is authorized to examine contractor records related to proposals, discussions, pricing, and performance to evaluate the accuracy, completeness, and currency of cost or pricing data. [7] and evaluate significant variances for potential defective pricing. [48] and evaluate significant variances for potential defective pricing. [48]

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Negotiation Price Government Contracts IT 98

AWS Public Sector

APRIL 15, 2024

Aether has a DynamoDB first policy for databases, evaluating if DynamoDB is viable and using Aurora for use cases that require a relational database. Improvements will support technical transfer from PNNL AWS accounts to sponsor-owned accounts when required.

Risk Management 122

Risk Management Management End to End Data 122

AWS Public Sector

OCTOBER 13, 2023

In June 2023, StateRAMP updated their security baselines to align with 800-53 revision 5 (R5). First, AWS Config , a service that continually assesses, audits, and evaluates the configurations and relationships of your resources on AWS, on premises, and on other clouds, offers a conformance pack for NIST 800-53r5.

Accountability 123

Accountability Data Management Government 123

FedInsider

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 12:00PM – 5:00PM EDT | 3 CPE | Washington DC Cybersecurity has always contended with evolving threats. Carahsoft is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education of the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

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Media Leadership Evaluation Management 52

FedScoop

APRIL 15, 2024

We’re very concerned about, again, to what extent DHS is really able to provide accountability and oversight over ICE and whether ICE’s words or actions can be trusted,” said Julie Mao, co-founder and deputy director of Just Futures Law, a legal organization that focuses on immigrant rights.

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Data Impact Assessment Purchasing Electronics 143

FedScoop

JUNE 28, 2024

There is a draft version of the guidance, according to Michelle Sager, managing director of the Government Accountability Office’s strategic issues team, but the GAO has not seen it. The GAO isn’t the only federal entity waiting on the guidance — a September 2023 letter from Sen. 28, 2023, but the senator never received a response. “At

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IT Data Transparency Inventory 95

SmallGovCon

JANUARY 20, 2025

We started discussing the Act back in early 2023 after it was passed in late 2022, and I outlined my predictions at the Court of Federal Claims judicial conference. While its hard to know exactly what Congress is referring to, it could mean professional standards such as those established by industry groups including public accounting rules.

Influencing 105

Influencing Contract Consulting Internal Control 105

AWS Public Sector

JANUARY 24, 2025

As Liz Popwell, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Stony Brook Medicine, noted in 2023 , Weve stopped calling ourselves a health system and started calling ourselves a health platform because weve got to have partnerships to make this happen. Integrated modern healthcare and life sciences services ecosystem.

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Innovation Integrity Integration Data 52

Government Contracts Legal Forum

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

The following is an installment in Crowell & Moring’s 2023 Bid Protest Sustain of the Month Series. All through 2023, Crowell’s Government Contracts Practice will keep you up to date with a summary of the most notable bid protest sustain decision each month. B‑421740, B-421740.2, In Guidehouse, Inc. , View the full article

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Sustainability Bidding Evaluation Consulting 40

Government Contracts

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Government Accountability Office that a $1 billion contract for services supporting the Office of Refugee Resettlement's program for unaccompanied children was awarded based on a flawed evaluation, making it one of Law360's 2023 Government Contracts Practice Groups of the Year. Hogan Lovells convinced the U.S.

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Government Contracts Government Government Contract 52

Select GCR

DECEMBER 3, 2024

Additionally, having a solid accounting system that adheres to generally accepted accounting principles is essential for maintaining compliance and ensuring successful contract management. Since May 2023, it has replaced FedBizOpps.gov, becoming the central point for finding contracts over $25,000.

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Bidding Government Government Buyers 52

Government Contracts Legal Forum

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

On October 26, 2023, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its Annual Report on Bid Protests for Fiscal Year 2023. The total number of protests filed and the number of protests sustained by GAO increased significantly compared to Fiscal Year 2022—and GAO’s “Sustain Rate” jumped to 31%.

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Sustainability Bidding Evaluation Price 52

Federal News Network

AUGUST 20, 2024

29, 2023 with a minimum viable capability release (MVCR) providing automated contract writing and the ability process requirements from inception to award, while incorporating flexibility to interface with other electronic systems,” Rodriguez said. million in 2023 and requested $6.5 ePS went live on Sept. The service received $5.9

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Procurement Electronics Contract Evaluation 117

ivalua

APRIL 18, 2023

Redwood City, CA, 18 April, 2023. Ivalua, a global leader in spend management , today announced that it has been named as a market leader in the Ardent Partners 2023 ePayables Technology Advisor. Accounts Payable will need increased agility and control, because this is more about taxes than invoicing.

Supplier 52

Supplier Media Accountability Evaluation 52

The Coalition for Government Procurement

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

ASPR reports that in 2023, healthcare organizations saw a 128 percent increase in ransomware attacks. Implementing an HHS-wide strategy to support greater enforcement and accountability. The award decisions received protests on the evaluations of small business participation, veteran employment, and relevant experience.

Logistics 52

Logistics E-procurement Supply Chain Procurement 52

SmallGovCon

APRIL 4, 2024

GAO first analyzed FAR 52.204-7 and found that the text of the FAR provision requires offerors to maintain SAM registration throughout the evaluation period (i.e., 650 (2023) , that FAR 52.204-7 “requires offerors to maintain their SAM registrations without lapses during the solicitation period” (which we blogged about here ).

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Bidding Evaluation Government Contracts Procurement 81

GovLoop

OCTOBER 9, 2023

The different stages —initiating, planning, executing, evaluating and closing — are all going to take a certain amount of time and have their own substages and steps forward (and sometimes back.) Outside vendors may be involved, and you’ll have to account for their processes. Part of innovation is just trying new things,” said Woody.

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Innovation Capacity Evaluation Management 98

Tracker Intelligence

NOVEMBER 4, 2024

These agreements take on even greater importance under the Procurement Act 2023, with greater emphasis on transparency, competition and sustainability. Impact of the Procurement Act 2023 on Framework Agreements New regulations included in the Procurement Act 2023 seek to boost public procurement’s transparency and accountability.

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Framework Agreement Procurement Supplier Tender 52

Federal News Network

JULY 10, 2024

So ASG got this award in 2023. So some of those are things that can be mitigated, usually impaired objectivity, which means basically, that you’re evaluating your own work from another contract. Tom Temin Even if they could say, well, this subcontractor will continue to evaluate this data. Tom Temin All right.

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Bidder Contract Evaluation Data 83

SmallGovCon

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Back in 2023, we wrote about Congress’s late-2022 mandate to update and clarify various rules surrounding organizational conflicts of interest (or OCIs). 44, 58 (2023). That example refers to a contractor helping to “develop a system for evaluating and processing license applications.” United States , 165 Fed.

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Government Contracts Contract Bidding Government 105

Public Contracting Institute

MARCH 20, 2024

In a recent solicitation by the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) for a ten year, indefinite delivery, indefinite contract for supply chain modernization services, IBM protested that the evaluation criteria assessing offerors’ financial liquidity and solvency are unduly restrictive of competition. International Business Machines Corp.,

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Evaluation Supply Chain Consulting Government Contracts 52