Here’s what interested you in 2017

News items on The Academy’s web site were read more than 57,800 times last year.  

That’s 15% growth compared to 2016!

To you — our students, our clients, and visitors — we say thank you!

We monitor visits to our web site to determine what interests our readers.  Some of the most popular web content was read hundreds and hundreds of times!  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.

2017’s Top Stories

1. Micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds raised for Hurricane Harvey response

2. DoD raises micro-purchase threshold to $5,000

3. Changes coming to SAM.gov

4. How to cut costs and improve performance

5. A practical program manager’s guide to requests for equitable adjustment

6. 2017 NDAA restricts DoD’s use of LPTA procedures

7. Navy officer sentenced in ongoing ‘Fat Leonard’ contract fraud and bribery investigation

8. Senate passes $700 billion 2018 NDAA, including procurement reforms

9. Common feedback to unsuccessful bidders

10. Federal agencies sometimes struggle with creating postings on FedBizOpps

11. More ‘Fat Leonard’ fallout: Admiral and 8 other officers indicted in fraud and bribery scheme

12. Alternate FAR search engine is available

13. CDC contracting official indicted by federal grand jury

14. IT firm agrees to pay $45 million to settle alleged false claims on GSA contract

15. DoD contractor agrees to $4.5 million settlement for alleged False Claim Act violations

The 15 Hotest Topics

What were the most popular topics viewed on The Academy’s web site during 2017?  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. Authority for Modifying a Contract (the rules for contract mods)

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

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

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

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

8. Rule of Two (what to do when the CO reasonably expects that at least two eligible small businesses will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price)

9. Fat Leonard (developing news about the contract corruption case involving more than 60 admirals and hundreds of other U.S. Navy officers)

10. Micropurchasing (news involving micropurchases)

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

12. Contracting Officer Representatives (news about and resources for CORs)

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

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

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

Worldwide Interest in the Contracting Academy

While 86 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!  Bookmark this site: http://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/category/government-contracting-news
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!