GSA's short list of emerging technologies

WHAT: A General Services Administration request for information and vendor survey on a list of developing technologies that could be incorporated into GSA's Alliant I and Alliant II government-wide acquisition contracts.

WHY: The GSA wants to know how much experience vendors have with emerging technologies like big data, autonomic computing, three-D design, predictive analytics and 14 other newer technologies. The agency's Alliant II GWAC Acquisition Team developed the list of 18 Leading Edge Technologies (LETs) it is considering including in evaluations of vendors' past performance and relevant experience -- and perhaps as part of the scope of the new Alliant contract.

The 18 LETs included in the survey are:

• Autonomic Computing
• Big Data
• Pervasive Computing
• 3D Printing Design & Implementation
• Agile Software Development
• Application Streaming / Virtualization
• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented Reality
• Bidirectional Health Information Exchange (BHIE)
• Biometrics (Including speech recognition & biometric access control systems)
• Extended Cybersecurity
• Internet of Things
• IT Virtualization
• Mobile Virtual Enterprise
• Predictive Analytics
• Robotics
• Semi-structured data management and/or synthesis

The agency said the list was the result of several months of agency and industry research and more LETs could be added. It also noted that GSA is not looking too far over the horizon, but rather at relatively stable innovative tech. 

"LETs do not imply the newest, untested, or the highly riskiest technologies," the RFI states. "Those types of IT developments, which we are not specifically addressing in this RFI, are typically referred as "Bleeding Edge Technologies."

Click here for the full RFI, and here for the survey.