“Next year will be a big one for small-business governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs) at the General Services Administration, said Laura Stanton, assistant commissioner of the Office of Information Technology Category.”
“The $50 billion STARS III solicitation for small IT businesses closed in August and will be awarded in fiscal 2021, while a second, Polaris, is being geared toward emerging technologies like 5G and artificial intelligence.”
“GWACs — intended to help agencies buy innovative software and IT systems — are pre-competed, multiple-award and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. And Polaris, in particular, is being used to introduce competition at the task order level and expand the government’s pool of small business contractors.”
“A draft request for proposals (RFP) is coming soon, Stanton said, without giving a set date.”
“’I would say that the future is fairly near in this case,’ Stanton said, during an AFFIRM webinar Wednesday.”
“The RFP will be released on beta.SAM.gov, but GSA set up an informational page in the meantime on its Interact website.”
“GSA hopes Polaris will grow the number of women-owned and HUBZone IT contractors agencies work with…” Read the full article here.
Source: Small business GWAC awards and a new RFP are coming soon, GSA official says – By Dave Nyczepir, December 9, 2020. FedScoop.
