GSA looking for cost-effective information-sharing concepts

Got any creative ideas for how the federal government can do a better job of storing, retrieving and sharing its vast amounts of data? If so, the General Services Administration wants to hear from you.

In conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget, the GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy has issued a request for information about "efficient and effective information retrieval and sharing."

In addition, GSA is looking for ways to determine whether search engines have improved to the point that it is no longer necessary to add metadata tags in entering and organizing information.

The RFI lays out several scenarios representing feasible search requests that might be submitted to federal databases?for instance, researching unexplained illnesses among defense contractors or sharing law enforcement information across jurisdictions?to which respondents can propose solutions.

GSA will hold an industry day to discuss the RFI in the Washington area on Tuesday, Sept. 27, and another in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sept. 29. Registration information can be found in the RFI. Responses will be due to the agency by Oct. 7.

Patience Wait is a senior writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.