Auditors Cite Misuse of IT Schedule Contracts The General Accounting Office has ruled that contracting officers may not stretch the definition of GSA’s information technology schedule 70 in order to purchase services that are only tangentially related to IT. GAO sustained a protest over NASA’s use of the IT schedule to buy searches of scientific and medical literature. The growing popularity of GSA schedules with federal buyers has led to complaints that the schedules are being used to bundle contracts for different types of services, circumventing competitive procurements. NASA contended that the IT schedule could be used for its procurement because the statement of work called for IT services as well as research. NASA sought a contractor to search scientific and medical journals for articles to be added to the SPACELINE database, an online guide to research in space life sciences. The database is a joint project of NASA and the National Library of Medicine. The statement of work also called for preparing promotional materials and planning, managing, and maintaining the database. NASA sought offers from four GSA schedule 70 contractors. Information Ventures Inc. protested, and GAO agreed that the statement of work was beyond the scope of the IT schedule. The auditors recommended that NASA cancel the procurement. The General Services Administration’s inspector general found last year that several regional offices were using GSA’s IT schedule to procure construction work, for the convenience of the buying agency. GSA said it has instituted additional review of its contracting officers. Purchases through GSA schedules have nearly tripled over the past five years, to $28.5 billion in fiscal 2003 – about 10% of all federal procurement. GSA officials said purchases in the first few months of fiscal 2004 were running about 40% above last year. The GAO decision is case number B-293743, available at www.gao.gov.