Labor Dept. Asks the Private Sector to Make Sense of Federal Contracting

The Labor Department has a question: Does anybody know what’s up with federal contracting?

The department’s Office of Procurement Services is looking to the private sector as it tries “to determine if the capability currently exists to provide online acquisition knowledge services as a subscription,” according to a document posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Assuming the capability exists, it sounds like a great idea. So simple, really. The service would include:  

• Regular acquisition news updates,
• Government Accountability Office and other legal decisions,
• Access to forms, templates, and checklists, and
• Other acquisition related tools and information.

The request for information doesn't obligate the department in any way. Labor is just sending out feelers on the topic, which may never show up in a contract.

I admit I’m new to the daily scouring of FedBizOpps, but already I see how a service like this could help. Thing is, helping agencies get contracting right seems like a pretty governmental opportunity for government itself -- and a service worth sharing, too. How about 18F, GSA’s new group of technology specialists, for the job?

In the meantime, I humbly suggest reading Nextgov and GovExec.