November, 2024

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Document AI Saves Agencies Time and Money

FedTech Magazine

The federal government relies on forms and other documents. Many important forms sit on the web, while others sit in storage boxes. The wealth of information available to government agencies is often locked in these forms due to a lack of manpower to process and analyze them for correlations and relationships. Unlocking this data requires significant work due to the requirements for data entry, validation, and proper routing and categorization of the information.

Data 279
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OpenAI further expands its generative AI work with the federal government

FedScoop

The federal government is continuing to invest in generative AI technology produced by OpenAI, with a handful of agencies recently inking deals to use the enterprise version of the firm’s ChatGPT platform. The increased activity comes as policymakers weigh potential concerns with the technology, while also trying to exploit its potential benefits. It also shows how OpenAI is developing as an early frontrunner in providing the government with generative AI technologies on both the defense and civ

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Innovation Through Procurement: Across Europe

Public Procurement Intl

Spurred by the report on The Future of European Competitiveness led by former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, institutions across Europe are examining how to promote innovation through public procurement. On November 13-14, 2024, GW Law’s Christopher Yukins met with his colleagues in Europe about these ongoing initiatives. Photo : C. Yukins, N.

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New survey: Public sector poised for generative AI revolution

AWS Public Sector

Amazon Web Services (AWS) , in partnership with Market Connections , is excited to announce the results of a recent study on how public sector leaders are approaching the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (AI). The survey asked 839 IT decision-makers in US government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations about how their organizations envision incorporating generative AI into their unique missions.

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How to Create a Blueprint for Fleet Resilience

Speaker: Jeff Dickinson - President and CEO of Railgistixs Transport, Supply Chain and Logistics Thought Leader

Despite the ongoing transformation of the supply chain and logistics landscape, the steadfast importance of carrier safety remains a core principle. From prioritizing preventative maintenance to optimizing fleet utilization, the fundamentals persist. If you’re overlooking and neglecting essential safety precautions today, this could result in expensive repairs and potential safety hazards in the future. 🚧 Join Jeff Dickinson for a conversation on how to mitigate risk, enforce compliance,

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Dell Whistleblower Suit Leads to $4.3 Million Settlement over Non-Competitive Bids to the Army

Whistleblower Network News

On November 19, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Dell Technologies Inc. and Dell Federal Systems L.P. (collectively Dell), located in Austin, Texas, agreed to pay $2,300,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting non-competitive bids to the U.S. Army. Iron Bow Technologies LLC (Iron Bow), located in Herndon, Virginia, also agreed to pay $2,051,000 for its role in the scheme.

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GSA Schedules: A Guide to Simplifying Federal Procurement

USFCR

GSA Schedules: Your Path to Federal Contracting Success The General Services Administration (GSA) plays a vital role in simplifying government procurement. Through GSA Schedules , also known as Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) or Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) , businesses can access a streamlined pathway to sell goods and services to federal, state, and local governments.

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The federal government wants to teach workers about AI prompt engineering

FedScoop

The Federal Acquisition Institute, a career development resource housed within the General Services Administration, recently released a credential focused on artificial intelligence prompt engineering. The credential is more evidence that federal interest in purchasing AI technology continues to grow. The tool is specifically designed to help government acquisition staff evaluate large language models, the type of technology built by OpenAI and Anthropic.

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ICAPP 2024 – Dublin

Public Procurement Intl

On November 10-12, 2024 academics and public procurement professionals from around the world gathered at Dublin City University for the inaugural International Conference for Advancing Public Procurement ( ICAPP 2024 ), coordinated by colleagues from Florida Atlantic University and launched with the kind support of NIGP, The Institute for Public Procurement.

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Empowering the public sector with secure, governed generative AI experimentation

AWS Public Sector

Across industries, generative artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is revolutionizing the way we work, from enabling new capabilities to streamlining inefficient processes and improving service delivery. Successful adoption of generative AI, especially within the public sector, requires organizations to enable systematic experimentation and exploration, with their own data, for their workforce and constituents.

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Webinar Event: Legal Updates 2024 hosted by the Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship, November 20, 2024

SmallGovCon

The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship is hosting this helpful, virtual workshop on Legal Updates 2024. In this webinar, government contracting attorneys, John Holtz and Gregory Weber will discuss the most important legal developments for federal contractors in 2024. Specifically, we will discuss important new small business rules, updates to the 8(a) rules and application procedures, joint venture changes, updated SDVOSB certification requirements, key provisions of the recen

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Agencies Are Finding They Need the Speed of Wi-Fi 6E and 7

FedTech Magazine

CDW is working with agency components of varying sizes to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and even Wi-Fi 7 depending on bandwidth requirements. Those components currently prioritizing the increased bandwidth that comes with the transition generally have high device density on their networks. The Federal Communications Commission decided in 2020 to open 1.2 gigahertz of spectrum covering the 6GHz band for unlicensed use to enable Wi-Fi 6E to deliver performance increases.

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Ransomware presents a growing threat to vulnerable local governments

American City & Country

In the past, cities and counties were not a prime target for ransomware attacks, says Rahul Mahna , a partner who leads the Outsourced IT Services team at Eisner Advisory Group LLC. The company is a licensed independent CPA firm providing tax and business consulting services to their clients, which includes governments. Mahna has more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and information technology.

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IBM wins $903M GSA contract to modernize federal travel and expense management

FedScoop

The General Services Administration announced Wednesday that it has awarded IBM a 15-year, $903.5 million contract to provide a next-generation travel and expense management service for the federal government. A modernized version of the E-Gov Travel Service (ETS) called ETSNext, the system will provide a “more intuitive experience for booking federal travel” and improved access to commercially available features such as a mobile interface and charge card integration, according to the release.

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DOE Awards Potential $1.1B DUF6 Conversion Contract to Mission Conversion Services Alliance

GovCon Wire

The Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center has awarded a contract to Mission Conversion Services Alliance for the continued management and operation of all uranium hexafluoride activities at the Portsmouth Paducah Project Office, or PPPO. According to an award notice posted on SAM.gov on Friday, the contract is potentially worth $1.

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Procurement Methods vs. Solicitation Tools: What Every Procurement Professional Needs to Know

The Procurement ClassRoom

Throughout the evolution of project and public procurement management, terms and expressions in the field have increasingly been used interchangeably. Yet, these terms—such as Request for Quotations (RFQ), Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI), and Invitation for Bids (IFB)—are technically indicative of distinct concepts.

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GSA is cooking up a new, comprehensive procurement data source

Federal News Network

The government both creates and runs on data. Given that agencies spend hundreds of billions of dollars on goods and services the more procurement data it has, the better it can understand trends and ‘manage’ procurement. That’s the idea behind a data source effort known as Hi-Def. GSA’s assistant commissioner for the office of strategic innovation, Charlotte Phalen, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin for more details.

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GovCon FAQs: Do I need an SBA MPA for a JV?

SmallGovCon

We at SmallGovCon are excited to announce this first in a new line of blogs we call GovCon FAQs. Our firm handles a wide variety of federal procurement and contract matters, from bid protests, size protests, joint ventures, socio-economic certifications, to everything in between. Often, when talking to blog readers and contracts we hear the same sort of questions pop up.

Bidding 105
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Reverse Auctions in the U.S. States: Join GW Law Seminar

Public Procurement Intl

On Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 6 p.m. Eastern , join a GW Law presentation online by GW Law student Justin Duffy (Class of 2025) on reverse auctions across the U.S. states. He will discuss the recent federal rule endorsing electronic reverse auctions ( prior webinar ), and a proposed federal rule which would bar reverse auctions for construction services.

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What is a GSA Schedule?

USFCR

GSA Schedules: Your Path to Federal Contracting Success The General Services Administration (GSA) plays a vital role in simplifying government procurement. Through GSA Schedules , also known as Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) or Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) , businesses can access a streamlined pathway to sell goods and services to federal, state, and local governments.

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Bipartisan House bill to modernize government data would extend CDO Council

FedScoop

Congressional efforts to extend the Chief Data Officer Council past the end of the year got a boost Monday when a bipartisan House bill was introduced as the companion to earlier Senate legislation. The Modernizing Data Practices to Improve Government Act ( H.R. 10151 ), introduced by Reps. Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., calls for an extension to the council’s lifespan until 2031, while also requiring the CDO Council to report to Congress about data governance challenges that prevent

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Okta Gets FedRAMP High Authorization for Automation Platform

ExecutiveBiz

Okta has received the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program’s High Authority to Operate designation for its cloud-based no-code automation and orchestration platform used for complex identity processes. In a blog post Thursday, Katy Mann, senior vice president of public sector at Okta, said Okta Workflows is now available for FedRAMP’s high customers and eligible moderate customers.

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GSA taps IBM to support next-generation federal travel and expense platform

Federal News Network

Plans for a next-generation governmentwide travel and expense management platform are coming into focus, following a recent contract award central to its day-to-day operations. The General Services Administration awarded a 15-year contract to IBM to provide technology-managed services for ETSNext, the next generation of the agency’s E-Gov Travel Service (ETS).

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Qui Tam Whistleblower Awarded Nearly $4 Million After Alleging Improper Billing by UCHealth

Whistleblower Network News

On November 12, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that University of Colorado Health (UCHealth) agreed to pay $23 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act through fraudulent billing for emergency department visits. The settlement stems from a qui tam lawsuit filed by a whistleblower. According to the DOJ, UCHealth “violated the False Claims Act in seeking and receiving payment from federal health care programs for visits to its emergency departments, by f

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Webinar event: The SBA and DoD Mentor-Protégé Programs, December 3, 2024, hosted by Kansas APEX Accelerators

SmallGovCon

Please join us on December 3, 2024, 9:30-11:30am CST for this webinar event. Touted as a game-changer when it was first introduced in 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s All Small Mentor-Protege Program isn’t new anymore. Known now as simply the SBA Mentor-Protege Program, it is still extremely useful for large and small contractors alike.

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Harnessing cloud solutions to tackle water challenges

AWS Public Sector

Climate change is a global issue, but its localized impacts can vary significantly across different regions. While some areas are experiencing extreme drought, others are witnessing devastating flash floods. These extreme events, and water quantity and quality issues more broadly, are pressing concerns in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, further aggravated by the uncertain impacts of climate change.

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VA needs bigger budget to draw better cyber talent, CIO says

FedScoop

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ top IT official told House lawmakers on Wednesday that a larger budget and the ability to pay certain government workers more would improve the agency’s cybersecurity posture. Kurt DelBene, the VA’s assistant for information and technology and chief information officer, called during a House Veterans Affairs (HVAC) subcommittee hearing for the entire federal government to “take steps to increase the salaries” of tech workers who are classified as GS-2210

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Aleut Books USACE Contract for Environmental Support

ExecutiveBiz

Aleut Environmental Remediation, a subsidiary of Aleut Federal, has secured a $48 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, to support the Environmental Quality Program across Alaska and the Pacific Ocean Division Area of Responsibility, including Guam, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Wake Island and the Northern Marianas Islands.

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What is Cooperative Purchasing & How Does it Benefit Public Sector Procurement?

American City & Country

In today’s fast-paced and budget-conscious public sector environment, efficient procurement practices are more crucial than ever. Cooperative purchasing , by combining the needs of many agencies, not only lowers costs but also improves access to quality products and services, simplifies procurement processes, and ensures compliance with regulations.

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Wheelie good procurement: How Mexico City halved costs and improved its bike share scheme

Open Contracting Partnership

Mexico City is a leader in urban mobility, with a public bike share system that is the longest-running and largest network of its kind in Latin America. After operating the environmentally friendly and affordable service for ten years, the city sought to expand the popular “Ecobici” program to cover more neighborhoods, and upgrade the design and technology at a reasonable cost.

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SmallGovCon Week in Review: October 28-November 1, 2024

SmallGovCon

Hello, Blog Readers and happy November! We hope you have had a productive month and are looking forward to finishing strong this year. It’s that time of year for looking at fall colors and going to the pumpkin patch, and handing out candy to trick or treaters. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and can get out a enjoy the fall weather in your neck of the woods.

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Transactional Data Reporting: Understanding the GSA Requirement and Its Impact on Federal Contractors

USFCR

Federal contractors know that staying compliant is a top priority. One such compliance requirement from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is Transactional Data Reporting (TDR). TDR may initially sound intimidating, but it’s an essential aspect of doing business with the federal government—and can even work to your advantage once you understand it.

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Modernizing Public Infrastructure: The Power of Strategic Procurement

The Procurement ClassRoom

In his article “ The Future of Public Infrastructure is Digital “, Bill Gates envisions a world where infrastructure is smarter, more efficient, and digitally integrated. This vision aligns with the aspirations of many governments: leveraging technology to enhance public services , reduce costs, and promote sustainability. However, one critical element often overlooked in these discussions is public procurement.

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ELB Services Secures $600M Air Force Deal for Mission Planning Support

ExecutiveBiz

The U.S. Air Force has awarded ELB Services a $600 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide mission planning support services. Under the single-award IDIQ, which will run for 10 years, the Georgia-based company will support the service’s joint mission planning, portable flight planning and joint precision airdrop systems, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

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Public Safety Starts with Smart Procurement

American City & Country

Ensuring public safety at large-scale events, whether concerts, sports games, or community gatherings, comes with unique challenges. With the responsibility of protecting attendees, crowd control, and maintaining security, procurement teams play a critical role in making sure the staff has everything they need to execute the event. From acquiring security staff and surveillance technology to event-specific safety gear, having a well-coordinated procurement plan is essential for effective crowd a

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Understanding the new Procurement Act 2023: What suppliers need to know - Part 2

VWV

The Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) introduces a range of reforms aimed at simplifying and enhancing transparency in the procurement process, which should be good news for suppliers. In Part 1 of our FAQs for suppliers , we covered key changes to the procurement process and what suppliers can do to get ready for the Procurement Act. In Part 2, we're diving into what suppliers need to be aware of at the selection and award stages - this includes understanding the new debarment list, changes to con

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NHS National Services Scotland Case Study –  Carbon Reduction Evolution in a Complex Commodity – Sustainable Procurement Tools

Scottish Government Procurement

The latest addition to the Sustainable Procurement Tools website is a case study from NHS National Services Scotland (NHSS). NHSS is aiming to accelerate sustainability within its frameworks in collaboration with suppliers. Describing the approach to the procurement of Haemodialysis Machines and Consumables, this case study provides a range of useful lessons learned for NHSS and others to help with this evolution.