The General Services Administration has conducted its first public meeting to discuss the use of e-commerce portals by federal agencies to buy products and services in compliance with a provision in the fiscal 2018 defense policy bill, FCW reported Tuesday.GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said the e-commerce portal seeks to help federal agencies build up their procurement processes and increase sellers’ federal market presence.
Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner of the office of strategy management at GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said the agency intends to have an implementation plan in place for the portal by March.
Representatives from online retailers said that striking a balance between regulations and federal economic and social priorities such as set-aside programs for minority- and veteran-owned businesses would help the e-commerce platform generate interest from vendors and federal buyers.
Brock Lyle, associate general counsel at Overstock.com, noted that GSA should establish “basic requirements†to ensure security of vendors seeking to offer products and services on commercial online tools.
