OMB tests government transactions portal

By July, the Office of Management and Budget expects that 24 agencies will be able to process their rent and reimbursable IT services payments through a new interagency transactions portal.OMB officials last month launched a prototype Web site for five agencies to test over the next several months, said Janet Allen, OMB’s portal project director.The system is part of the Integrated Acquisition Environment E-Government project that is being managed by the General Services Administration. OMB is in charge of this piece of the IAE initiative, however.During the test, the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Science Foundation will use the portal for rent payments to GSA, and the Geological Service for IT services payments to the Interior Department’s National Business Center.“We have established two basic transactions with the system,” Allen said. “The first is the electronic transfer of the order and bill between the buyer and seller. The second is the disbursement of money from the agency buyer to the seller through the Treasury Department.”