8(a) STARS III awards in June

      The General Services Administration expects to begin making awards on the potential $50 billion “8(a) STARS III” governmentwide IT services and solutions contract this month, Laura Stanton, GSA’s assistant commissioner for the Office of Information Technology Category announced.

      The contract is for purchases of innovative technology from vetted firms in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program.

      Awards will be made to an initial group this month, with another round awarded later this year, after “discussions,” Stanton wrote in a blog entry.

      The “discussions” are a second chance at an award: “GSA is pleased to hold discussions which will afford firms an opportunity to revise their offers in order to qualify for an award,” Stanton wrote.

      8(a) STARS III is a multiple-award IDIQ contract for IT services-based solutions. It is a follow-on to the 8(a) STARS II GWAC, which was so popular that it hit its $15 billion ceiling in April 2020, more than a year before expiration in August 2021. GSA added $7 billion to the STARS II ceiling in June 2020.

      GSA also raised the 8(a) STARS III ceiling to $50 billion. The agency released the RFP in July 2020 with an expanded focus, to include robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other emerging technologies and to allow performance outside the United States.

More information:
Stanton blog:https://bit.ly/3fseVAW

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8(a) STARS III awards in June

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