It’s a common problem in Washington. Someone comes up with a good idea, but finding the money to make it happen is the real challenge.

Such is the case with Interact, GSA’s online social networking/community system. “We want Interact to become a forum for straightforward, clear advice on the federal government’s acquisition process,” says GSA’s Charley Schollaert, part of the Interact management team. “It’s proven itself as a viable platform for opening up the acquisition process to larger community of both acquisition staff and contractors.”

The site is still in beta, with much work needed before it can become the hub of online activity originally envisioned. But steady progress has been made in Interact’s development, with sources telling Set-Aside Alert that the social community site is expected to move out of the beta stage by the middle of this year.

Since going online in October 2010, Interact, http://interact.gsa.gov, has been slowly attracting a following among government employees, contractors and other interested parties. The online community currently has more than 7,200 registered members. According to the site’s recent demographics data, the top ten federal agency users are Defense, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Homeland Security, Interior, HHS, Commerce, Justice, SBA and Transportation.

Schollaert says Interact was put together on a shoestring budget and is powered by an open source (i.e. free-of-charge) version of the Drupal Commons system (drupal.org).

Like most social media/community sites, users have profiles, join forums, and engage in discussions with others. Online inter- and intra-government events and training sessions are also listed, along with webinar schedules and the like. Interact also has a section for downloadable documentation, presentations, and other useful information.