Manufacturing hubs

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama urged creation of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, consisting of regional hubs for adopting and utilizing new manufacturing technologies. The first hub was set up in Youngstown, OH last year, focusing on 3-D printing.

Obama has asked Congress to authorize up to 45 hubs as public-private partnerships.

More information:
http://manufacturing.gov/welcome.html

Debt ceiling debate

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling as soon as possible, saying the nation will hit the debt limit on Feb. 7 and extraordinary measures may prolong the deadline only until late February.

Republican leaders say they are still undecided on whether to try to use the debt ceiling vote as leverage to achieve another round of spending cuts or possibly policy changes.

CBS News reports that GOP leaders may seek concessions on either the Keystone pipeline or on provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

White House officials have said negotiations on the debt ceiling are a non-starter.

More information:
CBS News story: http://goo.gl/MZPQ4j
Washington Post story http://goo.gl/l2jGHE

IT reform bill

Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-CA, and Gerry Connolly, D-VA, introduced a draft bill that aims to reform IT procurement.

It would establish within the White House’s Federal CTO Office a new office for digital government, responsible for reviewing IT procurements before they begin and keeping them on track. The lawmakers cited the poor initial performance of Healthcare.gov as an example of why oversight is needed.

A Senate IT reform bill focused on CIO authorities was submitted previously by Sens. Tom Udall, D-UT, and Jerry Moran, R-KS.

More information:
Eshoo-Connolly bill http://cl.ly/3Z0R0c1Y2L2R
FierceGov story http://goo.gl/ic8Gxo

STARS II sets records

The GSA’s Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resources for Services (STARS) II small business contract hit a record $626 million in sales in fiscal 2013 and it expected to reach or exceed that level again this year, Federal Times reported.

More information:
Federal Times story http://goo.gl/uIujw1

Octo Consulting

Octo Consulting, an 8(a) firm in McLean, VA, has won two management consulting and architecture-engineering contracts totaling $29 million with U.S. Agency for International Development, according to Washington Technology.

More information:
http://goo.gl/UztO9D