GSA should run IT 'storefront' not schedules, Kundra says
The federal CIO says federal government needs a procurement system that can keep pace with the rapid changes in technology.
As part of a revamping of the federal procurement system, the General Services Administration could replace its schedule contracts with a Web-based “storefront” modeled on consumer Web sites, says Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra.
Kundra, in an interview with InformationWeek, said such a system would make it easier for agencies to get access to the latest in technology.
These days, technology goes through major changes every 18 months. "Unfortunately, if you look at the processes, if it takes 18 months to two years to go through a procurement cycle, you've already missed one revolution," he said.
Kundra said such an overhaul would require the support of many stakeholders, including policy-makers, CIOs, the acquisition community and GSA.
The federal CIO also has been talking up Data.gov, the Obama administration’s initiative for making government data more accessible to the public.
In an interview with Wired.com, Kundra discussed the importance of “democratizing” government data, giving the public access to as many streams of information as possible.
“The premise behind behind Data.gov goes to the philosophy around transparency and open government that the president has been talking about," Kundra said. "What we want to do is democratize data and democratize information and put it in the public square. The default setting of the United States should not be that everything should be secret and closed.”