<FONT SIZE=2>	The General Accounting Office was working off an inaccurate benchmark when it reported on OMB's 24 e-government initiatives, said Mark Forman, associate director for information technology and e-government. "We used a commercial e-strategy best practice approach. It's all documented in both the president's [fiscal 2003] budget and e-government strategy, including the use of a rigorous multi-attribute scoring algorithm to pick initiatives that met the strategic criteria," he said in a statement.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	The Small Business Administration integrated its small business database, PRO-Net, with the Defense Department's Central Contractor Registration system. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	Government contractors can now receive interest payments if their federal agency clients do not reconcile invoices within 30 days for interim payments on cost-reimbursement contracts, according to a new Office of Management and Budget rule published Dec. 30 in the <I>Federal Register. </I>The regulation implements Section 1010 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2001. OMB still must publish a regulation on how to compute interest. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Two laws passed late last year are giving new hope to small companies and new entrants into the federal marketplace that say they have innovative e-government and homeland security-related technologies but have lacked a reliable pipeline to agency decision-makers.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Over the past few years, there has been a big push toward arbitration and away from resolving disputes through traditional litigation processes. The common claim of alternative dispute resolution enthusiasts is that arbitration is faster and cheaper than litigation. But is arbitration indeed a more streamlined, economic method of resolving disputes than litigation?</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service has a requirement for 1680 MHz (ART) Type IIA radiosondes, balloon-borne instrument platforms with radio transmitting capabilities. Only radiosonde models on the applicable NWS Qualified Products List may be offered for this solicitation; information regarding the list may be obtained by contacting Richard Petersen at (301) 713-2093, ext. 102.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	The government intends to solicit for professional operations management support services as required by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve. Specific services sought include implementation of an existing corporate level strategic plan.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>	The Social Security Administration is going to conduct a public-private A-76 study for information technology and telecommunications systems help-desk services. There is no solicitation yet, but the agency is seeking information from interested sources to assist in planning its acquisition strategy. Details can be found at FedBizOpps.gov, Solicitation No. Reference-Number-SSA-A76-HELPDESK. Questions should be directed via e-mail to Randall Pickwell, contract specialist, at randall.pickwell@ssa.gov.</FONT>
A new report projects federal spending on information technology outsourcing services will increase from $6.6 billion to nearly $15 billion by fiscal 2007.
Federal agencies that make late interim payments to contractors on cost-reimbursement contracts now are required to pay an interest penalty, according to an Office of Management and Budget final rule.
The Small Business Administration and the Defense Department last week took the first step toward completing the Business Partner Network for government contractors. SBA integrated its small business database, PRO-Net, with DOD's Central Contractor Registration system.
The number of businesses and homes with high-speed connections to the Internet grew 27 percent in the first six months of 2002, the government reports.<br>
<FONT SIZE=2>Ellen Minderman, a vice president of operations for FGM Inc., said the software and systems engineering firm would prefer to be the prime contractor on its government work. But she knows that FGM, with only 200 employees, is too small to be the prime on many jobs. And so the company spends considerable time trying to nail down subcontracting roles with the bigger government players.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>The federal government is extending its buying power to state and local governments through a small provision in the E-Government Act of 2002, which Congress passed last month.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Last April, the congressionally mandated panel to review and recommend changes to the process for public-private competitions for government activities issued its report. The report included several recommendations to reduce the advantages that government employees hold when competing with industry under the Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76. In November, OMB released for public comment major proposed revisions to Circular A-76. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Federal computer systems security got an overall failing grade for the second year in a row, according to an annual report card by Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif. The government's overall score was 55 out of 100, up from 53 a year ago. </FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>The General Services Administration will lower the fee it charges to use the Federal Supply Service schedules to 0.75 percent from 1 percent of a contract's value. The new fee structure will go into effect Jan. 1, 2004. A General Accounting Office report in July found that the GSA schedules program had a surplus of more than $56 million in 2001. In fiscal 2002, agencies spent a record $22 billion on the schedules, and GSA earned about $210 million in fees.</FONT>
<FONT SIZE=2>Information technology projects at the Immigration and Naturalization Service have not received needed oversight by the Justice Department, according to a report from the General Accounting Office.</FONT>
