DHS buys into EMall

The Homeland Security Department today announced it will use a tailored version of the Defense Department’s electronic shopping mall to buy goods and services from existing DOD contracts. EMall will also carry items that can be procured through DHS contracts.“The powerful [EMall] portal will significantly aid DHS’ quest for an efficient means to strategically acquire the goods and services,” DHS undersecretary for management Janet Hale said in a statement.The portal will open up access for DHS agencies to 383 commercial catalogs that collectively contain more than 12 million items. It uses the of the Extensible Markup Language.