Here are the most popular government contracting topics of 2016

News items on The Academy’s web site were read more than 48,500 times last year.  

That’s very gratifying to us because we work hard each day to post information items that we hope will be beneficial to you in your everyday work.  To you — our students, our clients, and visitors — we say thank you!

We monitor visits to our web site to determine what interests you.  Just in case you missed something important last year, listed below are the top 15 most popular news stories, with each one hyper-linked to the full article.

2016’s Top Stories

1. Federal acquisition thresholds to change Oct. 1, 2015

2. SBA’s advocacy office objects to impact of DoD’s cybersecurity rules on small businesses

3. Does ‘Kingdomware’ apply to non-VA FSS orders?

4. Former GSA official and husband indicted in $1.3 million government contracting scheme

5. Defense authorization bill addresses DCAA audit backlog

6. Congress appears poised to gut government contracts for small business

7. DoD acquisition workforce ordered to take ethics training annually

8. GSA launches contract database for small businesses

9. DoD now awarding more than half its contract spending without competitive bids

10. President-elect Trump and federal procurement: Who woulda thunk it?

11. ‘Fat Leonard’ case takes down former DoD supervisory contracting officer

12. Owner of sham veteran-owned company sentenced for $100 million fraud

13. Consulting firm found guilty in DBE fraud case

14. Opportunity knocks: Getting vendors in the door

15. State Department employee indicted in $2 million contract conspiracy

The 15 Hotest Topics

What were the most popular topics viewed on The Academy’s web site during 2016?  They are listed below, each hyper-linked to corresponding resources:

1. Negotiating Rules (10 basic bargaining rules followed by win/win negotiators)

2. Simplified Acquisition (an explanation of what it is)

3. Bribery, Kickbacks (news of corruption in government contracting)

4. Authority for Modifying a Contract (the rules for contract mods)

5. DFARS (news related to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement)

6. Government Contracting News (a link to all the latest developments)

7. Fair and Reasonable Pricing (an explanation of this government standard)

8. Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (trends in LPTA contracting)

9. GSA Schedule Workshop (consulting services to obtain a GSA Schedule contract)

10. Micropurchasing (news involving micropurchases)

11. Bridge Contracts (news of risks associated with bridge contracts)

12. Better Buying Power (developments involving this DoD initiative)

13. Acquisition Training (the need, the requirements, and the resources)

14. Acquisition Workforce (developments impacting the government’s acquisition workforce)

15. Interagency Acquisition and GWACs (an explanation, with resources)

Worldwide Interest in the Contracting Academy

While 80 percent of visitors to The Academy’s web site are based in all 50 of the United States, our analysis shows that personnel on U.S. military bases around the world — as well as contracting officials from federal agencies such as USAID, CDC and the State Department — are among the many international visitors to our site.

A Pair of New Year’s Resolutions

What do we recommend to you for the New Year?  Two things:

1. Keep visiting The Academy’s web site for the very latest news and information on government contracting — there is new content posted every business day!
2. Stay in touch with our latest training and educational offerings by regularly visiting our course and workshop listing here: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/training

Happy New Year!