The General Services Administration (GSA) is planning to revamp its Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) to make it easier for small businesses from several socioeconomic categories to work with the Federal government on IT acquisition projects.
GSA is cancelling the Alliant 2 Small Business (A2SB) solicitation to replace it with a new, enhanced small business GWAC program that “better reflects the changing landscape and addresses the needs of agencies to access the expertise of small businesses,” per a July 2 press release. The new acquisition vehicle will support cybersecurity, emerging technology, and supply chain risk management developments for women-owned, HUBzone, service-disabled veteran-owned, and 8(a) small businesses.
Later this month, GSA will issue a request for proposals through the recently boosted 8(a) STARS III GWAC vehicle as a part of the new strategy. GSA recommends that agencies looking to fill IT services from small business prime contractors are encouraged to go through existing channels such as 8(a) STARS II, VETS 2, and Multiple Award Schedule – Information Technology.
“GSA is committed to finding ways for our GWACs to reflect the current IT marketplace so that we can maximize the opportunities for small and women-owned, HUBzone, service-disabled veteran-owned, and 8(a) small businesses to contract with the government for cybersecurity, emerging technology, and IT supply chain risk management needs,” Laura Stanton, GSA acting assistant commissioner of the Office of Information Technology Category, said. “We are working to expand the number of master contract awards to highly qualified small businesses on our GWACs, while focusing on technology requirements that support our customer agencies for future mission success.”
