The Federal Acquisition Service is pushing forward on modernization efforts around the use of data analytics to drive competitive pricing alongside targets in contract cycle times, stakeholder engagement and innovation, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.Jason Miller writes that FAS Deputy Commissioner Kevin Youel Page has highlighted the initiative to help agencies leverage the pricing data that FAS collects and analyzes to guide acquisition decisions.
Page told the station the General Services Administration is communicating with vendors on price differences for the same or similar offerings.
“The expected outcome is that by the end of the year we’ll have entered into discussions … and have some answers to whether those prices should be reduced, or whether the value that they are offering at those higher prices is worth continuing to keep on the schedule in the long term,” he said.
“In the short term, our objective is simply to have the conversations and to become more sophisticated in our approach to industry.”
Page noted that transactional data is about both price and transparency on buying behavior.
Miller reports that FAS will also launch an automated price reductions tool on May 9 to update GSA Schedule contract holders on price changes.
