Acquisition
VA awards Salesforce $1.6B contract for veteran care and services
The contract adds to existing Salesforce deployments for suicide prevention, health care communications and more.
Acquisition overhaul is providing needed ‘discretion’ for tech adoption, procurement chief says
“If it's not in the FAR, and it doesn't tell you you can't do it, then you should consider it,” Office of Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Kevin Rhodes said.
IARPA launches new acquisition marketplace
The IARPA Solutions Marketplace is designed to help the intelligence community more rapidly procure innovative products from industry.
GSA is eyeing OneGov savings beyond software and tech, official says
GSA Deputy Administrator Mike Lynch noted that many of the roughly two dozen firms participating in the OneGov initiative “offer multiple products to federal government,” meaning that the strategy can ultimately lead to a broader range of cost savings.
GSA’s draft AI procurement rule has improved but needs further reforms, contractors say
Contractors have until Aug. 3 to give GSA feedback on a proposed overhaul to large language model procurements.
DOD suspends CMMC Phase 2, launches 60-day ‘reform’ review
Citing prohibitive costs for small and mid-size contractors, the Defense Department will keep Phase I self-assessments in place while a new task force studies the cyber and supply chain security program's future.
OPM’s HR systems award clears protest window
None of Oracle’s competitors have filed objections to the $396 million Federal HR 2.0 contract.
AWS includes government in BVR Competency program
The Business Value Realization Competency focuses on optimizing AWS partner spending, giving agencies proof of impact for AWS products and services.
AWS launches Secret Cloud for industry’s classified workloads
The company made several announcements geared towards its government customers, including up to $1 billion in cloud credits for U.S. intelligence agencies.
GSA taking measured approach to SEWP takeover
Continuity is the General Services Administration's top priority as it embeds staff in NASA’s SEWP office to lay groundwork to transfer the $60 billion IT vehicle.
GSA’s centralization push is a return to its roots, not just a Trump priority
The General Services Administration's acting acquisition chief says the consolidation drive mirrors the founding mission laid out by the Hoover Commission 77 years ago.
FAA awards software and AI contract as part of air traffic control modernization
The agency’s contract with Air Space Intelligence includes deployment of a system that it says will serve as “the new technological backbone” of a modernized Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
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Revolutionary FAR Overhaul moves to formal rulemaking with first batch of proposed rules
Four proposed rules covering 13 Federal Acquisition Regulation parts are to be published Tuesday. Small business rules and others are on the way.
SBA partners with Perplexity to launch $25M Main Street AI Accelerator
Administration officials have stressed the importance of supporting small businesses amid the global AI race between the U.S. and China.
DHS finalizes first Cumulus cloud contract with AWS
The Homeland Security Department is working on contracts with the other three major hyperscalers and a separate, multiple-award competition for support services.
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GSA is preparing an AI-specific acquisition reform rule
The updated rule is expected in the next couple weeks and will set a preference for fixed-price models, making the GSA a “more predictable business partner” to original equipment manufacturers.
GSA inks latest OneGov agreement with Snowflake
Under the deal, federal agencies will potentially be eligible “for higher-tier discounts of up to 50% reduced consumption cost on compute, as overall usage increases.”
OneGov’s discounted deals are ‘a first step’ to longer-term contracts, officials say
The General Services Administration has asked some companies to re-up their temporary price cuts while it continues to talk with them about becoming direct contractors on its Multiple Award Schedule.
Commerce goes direct to hyperscalers with $4.1B cloud pact
The department cites artificial intelligence, weather modeling and scale as reasons to narrow the competition.
OMB seeks details from agencies on their commercial buying, or lack thereof
A new White House budget office memo also outlines what agencies have to do if they want to go down the non-commercial contracting route and who has the approval power over it.
