The General Services Administration’s ongoing journey to develop multiple e-commerce platforms for agency buyers will continue for a bit longer, this time due to the urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency has been working for more than two years on a pilot program — colloquially called “Amazon for government” — to partner with digital purchasing platforms to enable other federal agencies to more easily buy goods under the $10,000 micropurchase threshold. Originally, GSA planned to have at least two platforms up and running this year, though the coronavirus outbreak has thrown that timeline into limbo.
“Not surprisingly, GSA’s resources have shifted to support the COVID-19 response, and we’re having to prioritize certain activities to support the immediate needs of the federal government,” Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner for category management for GSA’s Information Technology Category, wrote in a post on Interact. “As a result, the contracting team for the commercial platforms proof of concept has also had to shift their focus to COVID-19 response efforts.”
Stanton said the program is now expecting a delay in the contract awards.
Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/04/covid-response-delays-awards-gsas-e-commerce-platform-pilots/164321/
The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/
