Government to Consolidate Nine Contract Performance Databases

GSA (General Services Administration) awarded a contract to IBM to consolidate nine acqusition-related databases that track pre and post award contract data across the entire federal civilian and defense acquisition communities. Readers of this blog are familiar with many of these databases and will certainly welcome this effort to make the federal acquisition process more efficient and transparent.

According to GSA, the consolidated databases will

“...improve the efficiency of the contracting process by providing federal acquisition professionals with a streamlined tool for all of their pre-and post-award reporting and tracking work ... It will also improve transparency of the process by providing the public with a single, comprehensive source for contracting data from all levels of government.”

The nine separate databases tagged for consolidation are:

• FedBizOpps - The single government point-of-entry for posting solicitations over $25,000, allowing commercial business suppliers to search, monitor, and retrieve opportunities in federal government markets.
• Wage Determinations On-Line - This governmentwide Web site makes Service Contract Act (SCA) and Davis-Bacon (DBA) wage determinations easily accessible by the contracting community. 
• Central Contractor Registration - Vendors wanting to do business with the government are required to register in CCR and revalidate annually. This provides payment information, validates Small Business Administration certifications as small, disadvantaged, 8(a), or HUBZone businesses, calculates business size, and validates taxpayer IDs with the IRS. 
• Federal Agency Registration - Information about federal entities that buy and sell from other federal entities can be found on this government-only registration system. 
• Online Representations and Certifications Application - This Web-based application allows vendors to enter Representations and Certifications once for use on all federal contracts. Vendors update these "reps and certs" annually. 
• Past Performance Information Retrieval System - The federal acquisition community can access timely and pertinent contractor past performance information via this Web-enabled, governmentwide application. 
• Excluded Parties List System - Parties excluded from receiving federal contracts and certain subcontracts are identified on this Web-based system. Also identified are individuals excluded from certain types of federal financial and non-financial assistance, including benefits.
• Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation - This online repository provides data on all federal contract actions over $3,000. Standard and custom reports are easily accessible.
• Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System - This system is designed for prime contractors to report accomplishments toward subcontracting goals required by their contract.