Single face to vendors advances

As expected, the government issued a proposed rule on Monday that would designate the FedBizOpps Web site as the single online point of access to governmentwide business opportunities.

The FedBizOpps site (formerly called the Electronic Posting System) gives industry a single place to go to access agency synopses and solicitations on the Internet. The site provides vendors with online access to business opportunities throughout government and sends companies e-mail notifications related to a specific area of business interest.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council published the proposed rule in the Federal Register, which gives agencies until Oct. 1, 2001, to complete their transition to, or integration with, FedBizOpps. Many agencies already use FedBizOpps (www.fedbizopps.gov), including NASA and the General Services Administration.

Under the proposed rule, agencies would no longer furnish separate notices to the Commerce Business Daily, but would instead rely on the FedBizOpps site to electronically forward the notice to the CBD.