Photo: Governor’s Office of Emergency Services

Newsom’s first-day executive order prioritizes government technology procurement reform

California Governor Gavin Newsom wasted no time on his first day in office addressing what many see as the most critical — albeit bureaucratic — issue impacting the state’s government technology challenges: procurement.

‘War Dogs’ and government procurement

Regardless of whether you’re interested in the business of war, there’s enough references to government purchasing to make it fully entertaining for those of you who are proud procurement enthusiasts.

The future of government technology procurement

The General Services Administration and 18F recently held an open request for quotation related to a new blanket purchase agreement for a federal marketplace for agile delivery services. The transparency throughout the entire process was refreshing and provides a window into the future of procurement as well as what FedBizOpps could and should be.

Sofman joins SmartProcure as government sector EVP

Former Code for America Chief Program Officer Bob Sofman has joined procurement startup SmartProcure as government sector executive vice president.

Thoughts on the new acquisition.gov

The General Services Administration announced a new re-design of acquisition.gov, the official website for the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

USAspending.gov gets an official GitHub repo, feedback loop

For those unsatisfied with the recent USAspending.gov re-launch and would like to submit public feedback, there’s now an official GitHub repo for that.

GovTribe brings a better user experience to federal government acquisition

In an industry that constantly talks about transforming government procurement, one startup is been quietly making a go of it, and it just keeps getting better.

OpenFBO: re-imagining the next generation FedBizOpps

Inspired by a recent General Services Administration request for information to create a “new and improved” FedBizOpps, OpenFBO is a community experiment to re-imagine the next generation FBO.

U.S. Custom House, San Francisco, California (Photo: GSA)

GSA takes a big step towards baking agile into federal procurement

The U.S. General Services Administration is working to make it easier for agencies to procure agile development services via a government-wide blanket purchase agreement, which could be finalized as early as the end of this year.

Reinventing government procurement

Reinventors is hosting a live, online government procurement roundtable with key nonprofit, business and media leaders on Thursday, July 31, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. PT.

Startup.civ: SmartProcure

SmartProcure is a government purchasing database that helps agencies improve purchasing decisions and vendors win more government business.

Photo: House Oversight and Reform Committee

Government contracting: An example of cheating and the solutions

Ahead is a case of recent government contracting fraud along with the solutions that will soon be implemented in order to keep it from happening again.

Government contracting: Business size and the implications of cheating

Acquiring government contracts is hard work. So, when some businesses hear that there are set-aside federal contracts that are awarded specifically to small businesses, is it any wonder that some businesses try to misrepresent their size to try and win a bid?

Breaking the wall in Chicago

Over the past few years, the civic innovation movement has grown tremendously. It’s exploded really. Ten years ago, who would have imagined that Chicago would be a national leader in open government data?

Can Clay Johnson save federal government procurement?

Clay Johnson has been talking about procurement and how it’s America’s big problem since (at least) 2010, and he has yet to let up. Knowing Clay, he’s not going to, so we might as well give him a shot at fixing it.

FreshWrap: CfA Summit, procurement, healthcare.gov and more

A wrap-up of this week’s civic technology and open government news.

New North Carolina iCenter lets state ‘try before you buy’ tech products

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and Chief Information Officer Chris Estes cut the tape on a new state innovation center Thursday that gives employees a chance to test-drive technology products before the state procures.