There are ways to learn who is buying what from whom for how much, when, and where, and this information is now available in just one database, for the public to use. You can now make smarter purchases, or on the flip side, sell more to the government. Here’s an example of just one solutionRead… Read more »
Lawmakers need to draft a stronger information technology procurement reform legislation that gives agency chief information officers greater control of the infrastructure and business systems, former DHS CIO Richard Spires writes in a column for FCW. He noted that the Obama administration’s HealthCare.gov website woes have thrust the business of buying and managing IT toRead… Read more »
In following the conversations with over 500 members of the broader civic tech network at the 2013 Code for America Summit , I was struck by a shared commitment from the community: a commitment to speak candidly and honestly about the barriers we must address and the collaboration required to reduce those barriers. Many challengesRead… Read more »
The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics reports the number of “open” jobs — positions that employers advertise but have not found “qualified” applicants for — has doubled from 1,900,000 jobs in June 2009 to 3,900,000 vacant positions in June 2013. Most of those positions fall in the IT category. “Government and Industry need to workRead… Read more »
Want to know what your neighbor, or competitor, is up to with government sales in federal, state, and public markets? There are tools out there that can do this, and they are readily available for you. One of these tools is SmartProcure, the database of government spending from local, state, & federal agencies. With thisRead… Read more »
One of the central goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is the appropriation of billions of federal dollars to be used to fund thousands of public construction projects in the U.S. Construction procurement opportunities can be found in one of several places, but the best places to start is to searchRead… Read more »
81% of government business is awarded without any competitive bidding Many people have an understanding of the basic principles of public procurement: in the U.S. it is, essentially, the process in which businesses and agencies from the private sector are allowed to bid on opportunities to produce goods and services for the public on behalfRead… Read more »
This post was originally published on cpsrenewal.ca. I find myself thinking about the launch of Healthcare.gov with a bizarre frequency. I think it’s fascinating as a case study and, I believe, emblematic of a broader unaddressed problem. The Long Story Short Healthcare.gov launched on October 1, 2013 to serve as a hub for US citizensRead… Read more »
From the Air Force to Health and Human services, 2013 proved to be an exciting expensive year for government contracts. These large federal contracts run into the billions, so smaller businesses or companies will have a more difficult time competing. However, for any contractor of any size, it is interesting to see what the governmentRead… Read more »
This post was co-authored with Rebecca Williams of the Sunlight Foundation and Code for America’s policy intern Ryan Driscoll. This summer, Code for America, Omidyar Network, and the Sunlight Foundation joined forces to investigate municipal procurement trends, best practices, and potential areas of improvement across the country with the Local Government Procurement Survey. The surveyRead… Read more »