self-certification | The Contracting Education Academy

September 15, 2020 By cs

Big tech moves against certification as a government solution for cybersecurity

The trade association for the industry’s largest companies recommends relying on vendor declarations.

If governments are going to insist on using certification schemes — like the Defense Department’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program — in efforts to improve cybersecurity, they should at least consider technology vendors’ own assessments, the Information Technology Industry Council said in new policy principles.

“Governments should consider alternatives to certification, such as supplier’s declaration of conformity/vendor attestation,” reads the policy recommendation released two weeks ago.

The suggestion is among six items the group offered for governments’ consideration, amid the Defense Department’s high-profile rejection of “self-attestation” in developing its CMMC program.

ITI Senior Vice President for Policy and Senior Counsel John Miller said the guidance is meant for a global audience, and highlighted the traction certification schemes have had not just within the U.S. and the European Union but also in countries like Brazil and India.

“Cybersecurity certification is not a comprehensive, one-size-fits-all solution, nor should it be considered a solution of first resort,” the document reads. “Nonetheless, if governments choose to set regulations to mandate certification schemes even after recognizing the limitations of certification, we recommend they follow six key considerations.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2020/09/big-tech-moves-against-certification-government-solution-cybersecurity/168230/

August 4, 2020 By cs

SBA looks to tighten up certification process for women-owned small businesses

Women-owned small businesses, take note: the Small Business Administration is changing the certification process for doing business with the federal government.

Following a 2015 mandate from Congress, SBA will end its self-certification process for women-owned small businesses on October 15. This comes after the agency’s inspector general found contract awards were going to vendors that didn’t meet the criteria for the program.

Business owners since last Wednesday have been able to submit their applications through the online platform, but SBA will only begin issuing decisions on those submitted applications on Oct. 15, the last day of the self-certification process.

Alisa Sheard, a program manager in SBA Women’s Contracting Office, said businesses already certified through the WOSB program must also go through the new certification process, requiring business owners to copy information found on their SAM.gov profile and transfer it to SBA’s online certification platform.

“Everyone will still need to submit answers to questions and upload documents because there’s no data migration. Those documents that were in the different system are not in this beta certified system, so they will have to upload all of those documents,” Sheard said in an interview.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contracting/2020/07/sba-looks-to-tighten-up-certification-process-for-women-owned-small-businesses/

May 21, 2020 By cs

SBA issues final rule implementing certification for women-owned small businesses

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on May 11, 2020, published its long-awaited Final Rule implementing important changes for Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (WOSBs) and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (EDWOSBs) participating in the Procurement Program for Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (Program).

Among other things, the Final Rule requires a certification for businesses competing for set-aside or sole source contracts under the Program, and to those seeking to be awarded multiple award contracts for pools reserved for WOSBs and EDWOSBs. It also changes EDWOSB requirements to be consistent with the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program.

The rule becomes effective on July 15, 2020; however, it’s important to note that many of the specific changes do not go into effect until Oct. 15, 2020.

Some of the important points are summarized here in more detail: https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/government-contracts-procurement-ppp/934468/sba-issues-final-rule-implementing-certification-for-women-owned-small-businesses

March 21, 2018 By AMK

Ineligible SBIR contractor pays $12 million to settle False Claim Act allegations

TrellisWare Technologies, Inc. has agreed to pay $12,177,631.90 to settle civil False Claims Act allegations that it was ineligible for multiple Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) contracts it entered into with the Defense Department.

TrellisWare is a majority-owned subsidiary of ViaSat, Inc., a global broadband services and technology company headquartered in San Diego.

The SBIR program is designed to stimulate technological innovation by funding small businesses to engage in federal research and development efforts. To be considered a small business for purposes of SBIR awards, a contractor must not be majority owned by another company.

Between 2008 and 2015, TrellisWare was awarded multiple SBIR contracts to provide the Navy, Army and Air Force with a variety of technology services and products involving communications and signal processing systems, including wireless networks used in military tactical environments. TrellisWare self-certified that it met the small business size requirements for eligibility to receive SBIR funding. But based on certain disclosures that TrellisWare later made about its ownership relationship with ViaSat, the government conducted an investigation into TrellisWare’s eligibility for SBIR awards. The government contends that TrellisWare was not eligible for SBIR awards because it was actually a majority-owned subsidiary of ViaSat at the time it was awarded and performed on SBIR contracts.

This matter was investigated by auditing personnel of the Affirmative Civil Enforcement Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in coordination with Special Agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Army Criminal Investigation Command; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and Small Business Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-communications-company-pays-more-12-million-settle-false-claim-act

March 25, 2016 By AMK

COs told to check with SBA on WOSB certifications

On Wednesday, March 23, 2016, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced on its website that for the next “several weeks” federal Contracting Officers (COs) will need to check with the SBA to verify self-certifications submitted by women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) competing for contract set-asides.

The reason for this temporary change is a planned migration of WOSB records from SBA’s General Login System (GLS) repository to a new portal to be located at https://certify.sba.gov.

SBA says that the on-line repository where WOSBs have been uploading ownership and control documentation has been inactivated. SBA’s notice indicates that the WOSB repository will be replaced within “several weeks” by a new portal that will support the WOSB program.

The new portal is located at https://certify.sba.gov however, as of March 25, the website is marked: “This site is a work in progress.”

SBA’s existing rules stipulate that small businesses interested in responding to a solicitation set aside for WOSBs must first submit a checklist of certification documentation. Once certification uploads are submitted, Contracting Officers are responsible for checking the repository to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

During the period where the new portal is not fully functional, it is unclear how WOSBs that have not previously uploaded their certification documentation will satisfy the 13 CFR 127.300(e) certification requirements.

Until SBA’s new portal is fully functional, the SBA is directing Contracting Officers to contact the SBA to request verification of self-certification compliance by specific WOSBs.

The instructions SBA has issued are as follows:

SBA will review the Repository on behalf of a CO. A CO may request that SBA review the Repository on their behalf by sending an email to wosb@sba.gov(link sends e-mail) with the following in the subject line:

“PENDING AWARD UNDER FAR 19.505(e) VERIFICATION REQUEST- SOLICITATION NUMBER [insert solicitation number].”

In the body of the email, the CO should provide the following: provide the apparent successful offeror’s DUNS, EIN, FIRM NAME, OWNER NAME; indicate whether the pending award is a WOSB or EDWOSB set-aside or sole source award; specify the NAICS code assigned to the procurement; and identify the State where the CO is located. Within 2 business days, SBA will perform the necessary check to determine whether the apparently successful offeror has filed all the required eligibility documents and provide the CO with an email response which either: (a) notifies the CO that all required documents have been provided or (b) identifies which documents are missing in order to allow the CO to file a status protest in accordance with SBA regulations and the FAR.

Emails for this information will be processed only for Contracting Officers.

More information on the WOSB program and the features of the new portal can be found at: https://www.sba.gov/content/women-owned-small-business-program.

The trade association for the industry’s largest companies recommends relying on vendor declarations.

Women-owned small businesses, take note: the Small Business Administration is changing the certification process for doing business with the federal government.

TrellisWare Technologies, Inc. has agreed to pay $12,177,631.90 to settle civil False Claims Act allegations that it was ineligible for multiple Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) contracts it entered into with the Defense Department.

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