“There are now more than a dozen federal databases and systems with information relevant to federal contracting,” Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said at a hearing Tuesday before Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on contracting oversight. “These systems have been the subject of criticisms from federal auditors, members of the public and Congress for being difficult to use … and for not containing the timely, accurate information necessary to the government and vendors.”
The General Services Administration is expected to award a contract by November to design a way to integrate procurement databases and improve their quality. As GSA moves forward with the contract, it must engage all the stakeholders to ensure the system gives everyone what they need, said McCaskill, the subcommittee chairwoman.
Many of the current systems, particularly the Federal Procurement Data System, are unreliable because they contain inaccurate, incomplete and out-of-date information, said William Woods, director of acquisition and sourcing management for the Government Accountability Office.
Adam Hughes, federal fiscal policy director for OMB Watch, said current systems “were designed to input vast amounts of information, but they were not designed to export or use that data once it was in there.” A new database should tap the latest technologies to allow easy viewing and analysis of information, he said.
The Office of Management and Budget must lead this effort, said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, ranking member of the subcommittee.
“I understand the M in OMB is basically silent, that they spend 95 percent plus of their time on the B and very little on the M, but this has very significant B consequences,” Bennett said.
Vivek Kundra, OMB’s administrator for electronic government and information technology, said his office, along with the OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy and GSA, has worked with end-users through the interagency Acquisition Committee for E-government to ensure that GSA is building a system that makes both technological and business sense.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Elise Castelli
Quelle/Source: Federal Times, 29.09.2009
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