The General Services Administration and Office of Management and Budget jointly released an implementation plan for phase two of a procurement directive that seeks to implement the use of e-commerce portals, GSA said Thursday.
As part of Section 846 under the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, GSA is required to consult with OMB on the development of a program that will enable agencies to purchase commercial offerings through a commercial e-portal. GSA and OMB noted in their proposal to Congress that they intend to implement an initial proof of concept based on an e-marketplace model and limit procurements to the micro-purchase threshold to avoid risk and accelerate adoption.
They also proposed to increase the threshold from $10,000 to $25,000 over a five-year period, applicable only to purchases made through the GSA-approved portals. The agency noted that this will “provide a higher-value proof of concept and test the full potential of streamlined buying.â€
According to GSA Administrator and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Emily Murphy, the imitative intends to reduce the burden of small businesses and customer agencies while creating greater value for taxpayers.
“GSA has received valuable feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders throughout this process and we look forward to continuing our work with our partners in Congress, industry, and across federal agencies as we move towards an initial proof of concept,†she noted.
Phase two, which covers market research efforts, comes ahead of the implementation guidance stage which sets a launch date for the new system by the end of 2019. GSA expects to release a draft solicitation during the third quarter of fiscal 2019 to support the effort.
