Survey to check attitudes on privacy, services

The General Services Administration wants to know if people want to receive information about the federal government via online services such as Facebook and YouTube, according to a GSA announcement on FedBizOpps.gov.

GSA plans to conduct a series of online market research surveys to learn what people’s opinions and preferences are regarding government programs and services, according to the solicitation made Feb. 9.

GSA wants the survey to measure how much people trust the government with privacy and security issues. The agency also wants to know if people think Web tools such as Facebook and YouTube could enhance customer services provided by the government.

The survey must also discover if people expect the government to use Facebook and/or YouTube to disseminate information.

GSA also wants to learn if Web services can be improved when used in conjunction with other services such as phone calls, e-mail messages, printed material and emerging technologies.

Contractors who bid to conduct the survey must provide all the information technology infrastructure necessary to conduct the surveys and analyze the resulting data, and the contract will be 100 percent set aside for small businesses, according to GSA's announcement.

To ensure the survey is statistically valid and includes people who are not connected to the Internet, the contractor must provide alternative means of conducting surveys, such as by telephone, GSA said.

GSA said it plans to survey people on a variety of topics and issues that will affect all government agencies, and it anticipates that other federal agencies will use the contract.

View the announcement here.