Industry Archives

Foreigners who aspire to work for federal contractors can now use a Spanish-language website to make sure their correct immigration status is on file with the government before their employers are required to do so -- avoiding potential unemployment.

All personnel doing business with the government must pass muster with e-Verify, an online system that U.S. businesses use to check the employment eligibility of new hires. In March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, began offering an English-version of the system - e-Verify Self Check -- in a few states for foreign jobseekers to check that their personal information is accurate.

On Tuesday, USCIS announced a Spanish version is now available and the service has been expanded to 16 additional states. Nationwide rollout is expected by the spring.

Federal vendors often complain e-Verify contains errors such as missing Social Security numbers that generate messages showing a hire has no legal documentation. If that happens, the employee only has eight days to start working with the Social Security Administration to resolve the mistake. Otherwise, the staffer could lose his or her job.

You can try e-Verify Self Check if you live in California, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The State Department's Office of eDiplomacy hosted a conference Friday that sought to connect technology innovators with those interested in "diplomacy and development to enable 21st century statecraft." More than 300 people from federal agencies and the private sector attended Tech@State, held at the agency's Harry S. Truman Building in Washington. The focus was on open source software.

A few noteworthy items from the conference:

Chief Technology Officer of the United States Aneesh Chopra said all federal agencies now have Congressional authority to pursue prize-based challenges, such as those for developing new applications. "No general counsel can stand in the way of our movement [on] this philosophy," he said.

The White House is considering imposing some type of consistency standard for .gov websites, said White House New Media Director Macon Phillips. The administration wants to interject a little more rhyme and reason to the sites, Phillips said.

State will continue to consider open source technology where it makes the most sense, said Chief Information Officer Susan Swart. Specifically, the agency will look at internal applications that can be hosted using open-source software, she said.

Next week, the Health and Human Services Department will launch a HealthData.gov community on the U.S.'s open data site data.gov. It will be a one-stop resource for health data innovation, said Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. Part of the site will serve as a virtual apps expo, where Park expects people to find problems with the data the agency puts out, as HHS simply does not have enough manpower to check all of it.

Perhaps the best quote of the day came from Park, who said HHS wants to provide developers with the raw data and let them take the lead in creating the software and tools to use it. The agency wants to be a "data sugar daddy," he said to laughter.

White House officials on Wednesday circulated a memo, obtained by Nextgov, that encourages procurement officers to communicate with contractors before finalizing solicitations, in an effort to dispel misperceptions about conflicts of interest.

The idea is that companies know the costs and features of current technology better than the government so potential bidders should be consulted early in the process of drawing up system requirements for contracts.

"Although industry may have had their best technical representatives engaged with the program manager, the contracting officer should communicate to vendors as much information as possible about the government's needs as early as possible," states a copy of the guidance, signed by Federal Procurement Policy Administrator Daniel Gordon. "As a result of early communication, the contracting officer may learn some things that suggest that an approach somewhat different than planned may cause increased competition, more small business participation, lower prices, or even a better definition of the government's technical requirements."

Fears of contract protests or signing unauthorized deals have prevented some acquisition officers from talking to vendors, according to the memo. At the same time, industry may stay away -- out of concern that stepping over boundaries may bar them from future government business.

The document requires agencies by June 30 to develop plans for communicating with contractors. After the plans are reviewed by the White House, they must be made publicly available within a month.

Wednesday's memo takes pains to stress that nothing within the guidelines should be interpreted to "alter, or authorize violations of, applicable ethics rules, procurement integrity requirements, or other statutes or regulations that govern communication and information sharing."

After discussions with company representatives and agency staff, the White House identified the 10 most frequently-mentioned misconceptions about contractor-government fraternization:

1. "We can't meet one-on-one with a potential offeror." Fact: Government officials can generally meet one-on-one with potential offerors as long as no vendor receives preferential treatment.
2. "Since communication with contractors is like communication with registered lobbyists, and since contact with lobbyists must be disclosed, additional communication with contractors will involve a substantial additional disclosure burden, so we should avoid these meetings." Fact: Disclosure is required only in certain circumstances, such as for meetings with registered lobbyists. Many contractors do not fall into this category, and even when disclosure is required, it is normally a minimal burden that should not prevent a useful meeting from taking place.
3. "A protest is something to be avoided at all costs -- even if it means the government limits conversations with industry." Fact: Restricting communication won't prevent a protest, and limiting communication might actually increase the chance of a protest, in addition to depriving the government of potentially useful information.
4. "Conducting discussions or negotiations after receipt of proposals will add too much time to the schedule." Fact: Whether discussions should be conducted is a key decision for contracting officers to make. Avoiding discussions solely because of schedule concerns may be counter-productive, and may cause delays and other problems during contract performance.
5. "If the government meets with vendors, that may cause them to submit an unsolicited proposal and that will delay the procurement process." Fact: Submission of an unsolicited proposal should not affect the schedule. Generally, the unsolicited proposal process is separate from the process for a known agency requirement that can be acquired using competitive methods.
6. "When the government awards a task or delivery order using the Federal Supply Schedules, debriefing the offerors isn't required so it shouldn't be done." Fact: Providing feedback is important, both for offerors and the government, so agencies should generally provide feedback whenever possible.
7. "Industry days and similar events attended by multiple vendors are of low value to industry and the government because industry won't provide useful information in front of competitors, and the government doesn't release new information." Fact: Well-organized industry days, as well as pre-solicitation and pre-proposal conferences, are valuable opportunities for the government and for potential vendors -- both prime contractors and subcontractors, many of whom are small businesses.
8. "The program manager already talked to industry to develop the technical requirements, so the contracting officer doesn't need to do anything else before issuing the RFP." Fact: The technical requirements are only part of the acquisition; getting feedback on terms and conditions, pricing structure, performance metrics, evaluation criteria, and contract administration matters will improve the award and implementation process.
9. "Giving industry only a few days to respond to an RFP is OK since the government has been talking to industry about this procurement for over a year." Fact: Providing only short response times may result in the government receiving fewer proposals and the ones received may not be as well-developed -- which can lead to a flawed contract. This approach signals that the government isn't really interested in competition.
10. "Getting broad participation by many different vendors is too difficult; we're better off dealing with the established companies we know." Fact: The government loses when we limit ourselves to the companies we already work with. Instead, we need to look for opportunities to increase competition and ensure that all vendors, including small businesses, get fair consideration.

The Homeland Security Department has begun the process of contracting to replace the border security network it scrapped last week, by issuing a request for information on interconnected surveillance towers, department officials said on Wednesday.

The market research is part of the department's new plan to acquire proven, ready-made technology tailored to the terrain of each border region, as opposed to the now-defunct $1 billion Secure Border Initiative network. The SBInet program ran into cost, schedule and performance problems in an unsuccessful attempt to install a one-size-fits-all virtual fence composed of monitoring devices, intelligence databases and communication links.

Depending on budget decisions, a formal request for bids on the project might be issued late this fiscal year, with contracts awarded several months after that, DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler said.

The RFI for so-called integrated fixed towers, which was posted Tuesday on the contracting bulletin board FedBizOpps, asks vendors for comments on market conditions and scientific advances to help shape "an acquisition strategy for technology solutions that detect, track, identify and classify illegal incursions." The technology is intended to provide border agents with a full view of activity between ports of entry to stop drug smuggling, illegal immigration and terrorist-related activities. Comments are due Feb. 8.

"The RFI approach is one tool available to us to involve industry at an early stage in our process," Chandler said.

Department officials will start procuring stand-alone tower parts this fiscal year, Chandler added. He said the decision to move ahead with the non-integrated tower elements was based on the priorities of DHS' Customs and Border Protection bureau.

DHS is looking for tools that will offer automatic, continuous wide-area surveillance that are largely open, or not tied to any one brand's proprietary technology, according to Tuesday's notice. Contracting officers envision a system consisting of several towers, where each one is equipped with a suite of sensors for constant surveillance; supporting power; and communications.

The applications will instantly identify humans, animals, vehicles and other suspicious items, as well as provide agents with video to inspect the scene manually for backpackers or people carrying certain weapons. The video will enable border personnel "to classify the threat in terms of group size, whether they are migrant workers, smugglers, etc, and whether they are armed," the RFI states.

The system will display the precise location, speed and direction of suspicious activity, according to the notice. The technology also will draw from pre-existing data feeds that were launched during the SBInet program. The tower equipment and network connectivity must withstand extreme weather conditions and harsh environments, such as the Arizona deserts and mountains where DHS initially had begun deploying SBInet.

White House officials on Friday sent agency chief information officers and senior procurement executives a memo directing them to weigh open source options when buying technology.

Open source refers to technology based on nonproprietary parts, which allow third-party developers to improve and modify the product without having to pay the technology's maker. Advocates have said a move toward open source in the government could save taxpayer dollars and bolster security.

For example, in planning software purchases, "agencies should analyze alternatives that include proprietary, open source and mixed source technologies," states the policy, co-signed by Federal CIO Vivek Kundra, Dan Gordon --- Office of Federal Procurement Policy administrator, and Victoria Espinel, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

The guidance reminds agencies that, according to existing policies, buying decisions should "be free of preconceived preferences based on how the technology is developed, licensed or distributed."

Agency officials "should follow technology neutral principles and practices," which include selecting suitable technology on a case-by-case basis by considering factors such as performance, cost, security, compatibility, ability to share or re-use and availability of quality support, the one-page document states.

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday launched a competition for researchers and software developers to create applications to help consumers "foster, measure and protect Internet openness."

Challenge.gov encourages the development of apps that provide users with information on the consistency of their fixed or mobile broadband Internet services with the open Internet. That would be to detect whether a broadband provider is interfering with DNS responses, application packet headers, or content, according to an FCC news release. The contest challenges researchers to write academic papers that analyze relevant Internet openness measurements, techniques, and data.

"This challenge is about using the open Internet to protect the open Internet," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Our goal is to foster user-developed applications that shine light on any practice that might be inconsistent with the free and open Internet. Empowering consumers with information about their own connections will promote a vibrant, innovative, world-leading broadband ecosystem."

The deadline for the contest is June 1; click here to enter. A panel of judges will award category winners and then the public will pick a people's choice. All winners will be invited to FCC headquarters to present their work to the commission and attend a reception, and will be featured on the FCC's website and social media outlets.

Hewlett Packard has nabbed a 10-year NASA megadeal potentially worth $2.5 billion to manage employees' personal computers and peripheral technology, space agency officials announced on Monday.

The job entails providing, securing and servicing most staff computers, agency software, mobile technology services, printers and other supporting infrastructure. Herndon, Va.-based HP Enterprise Services, formerly EDS, will be responsible for outsourcing some of the tasks to other commercial vendors under the contract known as "ACES," for Agency Consolidated End-user Services.

The fixed-price pact covers four base years of work, with two three-year option periods. Program managers will be based at NASA's shared services center in Mississippi.

ACES is part of a larger NASA effort, the IT Infrastructure Integration Program, intended to save money by consolidating procurements and centralizing information technology services. The new HP deal will replace an older long-term contract currently held by Lockheed Martin Corp. called the Outsourced Desktop Initiative (ODIN).

In February, Lockheed, one of the most established NASA business partners, announced the space agency had awarded the company a $230 contract extension for ODIN that ends in Oct. 2011.

The Mississippi facility where ACES will be managed -- operated by NASA, Computer Sciences Corp. and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana -- supports operations at all 10 NASA space centers.

The Small Business Administration launched a redesigned website Tuesday, along with SBA Direct, a Web tool with a variety of features that aim to help small businesses "start-up, succeed and grow."

Improvements include a small business search tool that offers better accuracy and more relevant search results, and navigation that allows one-click access to information, according to an agency press release.

SBA Direct filters content based on business type, geography and needs and then delivers relevant and targeted information on all aspects of running a business. This could include tips on getting a business off the ground, growth strategies, and how to stay compliant with current laws and regulations, according to the press release.

"With the launch of the new SBA.gov, we have reached a significant milestone in how the agency has evolved in using interactive web tools, social media and blogs to engage with, and better meet the needs of small business owners," SBA Administrator Karen Mills said in a prepared statement. "While the SBA website has traditionally been an information-rich site, we wanted to make it easier for small business owners to navigate. With the new improved SBA.gov, business owners can access the answers they need, specific to their business profile, in an instant -- it truly presents the face of the future of SBA."

Some federal agencies have laid good groundwork for the move to the next generation of Internet protocols, but others aren't nearly as far along, according to a report from Government Computer News.

"I really don't think they get it yet," at some agencies, said Peter Tseronis, chairman of the Federal CIO Council's IPv6 task force, according to the report.

IPv6 is the long-anticipated upgrade to the way information is sent across the Internet. Currently, the most widely used communications protocol is IPv4. With IPv6, agencies will have more Internet addresses, better security and increased automation.

By the end of fiscal 2012, agencies are required by the Office of Management and Budget to enable the new protocols on public-facing servers and services. They will then have two years to upgrade internal client applications to operationally use native IPv6, according to GCN.

"They have a clear mandate to meet by 2012," Tseronis said during a meeting of the Association for Federal Information Resource Management, GCN reported. "The onus is on the agencies, the carriers and the service providers to make it happen."

According to the report, the council will brief the White House next month on the readiness of agencies to begin the transition.

Video game consoles are now more than just for fun. An Air Force supercomputer, built from off-the-shelf components, includes 1,716 PlayStation 3 game consoles.

The machine, known as the Condor Cluster, is estimated to be one of the greenest computers in the world. And if that wasn't enough, it also is the 35th or 36th fastest computer in the world, said Mark Barnell, director of high performance computing and the Condor Cluster project at the Air Force Research Laboratory, reported Government Computer News.

One of the main reasons to use PS3 processors was cost. Condor cost about $2 million to build, compared to $50 million to $80 million for a similar supercomputer, the Air Force said in a news release.

The computer also can read 20 pages of information per second, which makes it about 50,000 times faster than the average laptop, CNET reported.

Initial tasks for the machine, located in Rome, N.Y., include neuromorphic artificial intelligence research, in which programmers will teach the computer to read symbols, letters, words and sentences so it can fill in human gaps and correct human errors, CNET reported.