GSA prepares FirstGov site for upgrade

As a part of its package of 23 e-government initiatives, the Office of Management and Budget said the portal would move beyond the search engine and hot link capabilities it features now. Eventually, it will include online transactions, grant applications and regulatory filings, and a host of similar applications.Before that, however, the General Services Administration will perform a minor redesign of the site.GSA released a request for proposals last month for a vendor to conduct focus groups and develop FirstGov’s new look.In the RFP, GSA asked vendors to survey customers on how to best organize the portal’s content to highlight online transactions, procurement, topical information and interaction among government agencies, businesses and citizens. Proposals were due last month.The agency’s interim redesign will have repositioned content, new categories and better graphics.