GAO Faults New Procurement Database Government Accountability Office investigators questioned the capabilities of the upgraded federal procurement database, saying it is difficult to use and its accuracy is in doubt. GSA began using the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation last year and is scheduled to complete the transition to the new system this month. The system was developed and is operated by a contractor, Global Computer Enterprises Inc. Katherine Schinasi, managing director for acquisition and sourcing management at GAO, questioned whether Next Generation has “achieved the intended improvements in the areas of timeliness and accuracy of data, as well as ease of use and access to data.” She reported GAO’s findings in a letter to OMB Director Joshua Bolten. With the new system, contracting offices are able to enter data on individual contracts automatically, eliminating the potential for manual data-entry errors that plagued the old FPDS. While 90% of federal agencies are using the automated system, the Defense Department will not be online until sometime in fiscal 2006. Defense accounts for about 60% of government purchases. GAO found that the new system does not track procurements through GSA schedules and other inter-agency contract vehicles such as governmentwide acquisition contracts. The auditors recommended that this capability be added. GAO has placed inter-agency contracting on its “high-risk list” of programs that are vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse. GSA has touted the new system’s capability to allow users to create their own customized contracting reports, but GAO auditors said that function is not user-friendly and does not work very well. After being trained on the system, Schinasi wrote, “We repeatedly encountered significant performance problems, including system time-outs and delays, when trying to generate…reports.” In response to the GAO findings, GSA it plans to improve the system’s reporting capabilities and to generate more governmentwide reports. However, GSA said it will not include inter-agency contracts in the system unless OMB orders it to do so.