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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Set-Aside Alert exclusive analysis:Agency Procurement Forecasts: Pots of gold or buried treasure?Annual reports useful, but some are hard to find onlineUnder a 1988 law, federal agencies are required to publish annual forecasts of their anticipated procurements for the coming fiscal year, in theory creating a very useful planning tool for small business contractors. In reality, the forecasts historically have been a hodgepodge. Some are excellent, some just OK, and some nonexistent. Some are easy to locate online, while others require digging. Various labels and formats make some of the forecasts less than user friendly. This year brings familiar concerns, although things are improving. Set-Aside Alert reviewed civilian and defense agency forecasts for fiscal 2021 and found the situation significantly better than in fiscal 2020. Nonetheless, there is room for more user-friendliness. Set-Aside Alert’s Review The Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988 (Public Law 100-656) orders federal agencies to publish forecasts of contract opportunities each fiscal year. The government’s Acquisition.gov Website is the repository for ostensible Web links to 21 civilian agency and 21 defense agency procurement forecasts for fiscal 2021. Many of the Web links take users directly to the procurement forecasts, making them easy to find. However, not all the Web links lead directly to the forecasts in a straightforward manner. Some of the forecasts require additional searching. We found that 18 out of 21 civilian agencies (86%) and 7 out of 21 defense agencies (33%) published their fiscal 2021 procurement forecasts in easy-to-identity locations directly linked from Acquisition.gov. Overall, six agencies’ forecasts required additional searching, and 11 were non-existent, outdated or otherwise unavailable. Those results were a significant improvement over the findings in Set-Aside Alert’s review of January 2020. At that time, only 11 out of 21 civilian agencies, 52%, posted forecasts that were easy to find because they linked directly from Acquisition.gov. Only three out of 22 defense agency forecasts, or 14%, did so. To help business owners locate the forecasts, Set-Aside Alert is publishing its own list of Web Links to the forecasts below. Interactive Procurement Forecasts Several federal agencies are offering interactive and customizable formats for their acquisition forecasts, including Health & Human Services, Homeland Security, Labor Dept., Veterans Affairs and the General Services Administration. Those interactive formats hold the potential of delivering great content to users. At the same time, there is a bit of a learning curve to using them--and even to finding them. There was some guesswork required in accessing those sites for the Labor Dept. and the VA.
More information:
Acquisition.gov Procurement Forecasts: https://bit.ly/3t8Dpmi
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Washington Insider:
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